DANGEROUS "Holy Roller" mentality

My late and revered mother taught that if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. You can talk about anything - just don't be rude and acting like you were raised by wolves or didn't get any proper home training. If we're going to talk politics, we need to be talking about what's wrong with politics today and discuss how we can fix it - and protect our democracy from external influences. We've been talking about sex and religion and, far as I know, no one has their panties in a bunch.

 

Well, MATURE men who KNOW how discuss ANY subject and to "agree to disagree" with restraint and good taste, and to carry on a MATURE discussion (again, on ANY topic) without anyone getting offended or starting WW3.

It should be that SIMPLE, no matter WHAT you are discussing, and WHOM you are discussing a given topic with.

And, in today's overly-PC society, I feel this is key.............

 

......remember when "holiday trees" were still CHRISTMAS trees?

When "holiday decorations" were STILL referred to as CHRISTMAS decorations?

Remember when watching television news broadcasts/commercials (or listening to them in the radio) it was "Merry Christmas" and NOT "Happy Holidays?"

From what I can see, Christmas is pretty much the ONE holiday where PC attitudes have indeed run amok.

During my 1960s childhood, it was always great fun to turn on the radio during December, and listen to hours of cheery Christmas tunes, old and new.

Something indeed went WRONG, somewhere...............

 

Somebody got offended by the use of Christmas, Merry Christmas, etc., and people started getting all PC about the holidays.

 

It just takes ONE rotten apple to spoil the barrel.......

 

Somebody made up the controversy about that.

 

The last holy roller that I failed to avoid was going on and on about how the world was going to hell and the only way to save it was to embrace religion again and I'd asked them how that was going to work when we have so many different flavors of religion and... they got this blank look on their face. While they stared, I added the fact that there are a lot of religious scholars - all they do is study religion - who can't and don't agree with what the bible says or how other religions are interpreting things and my question was if these worthy men can't agree on what religion is supposed to mean, how is religion going to heal the world?

Lots of hemming and hawing at this point. They changed gears and went to the place they shouldn't have gone to: Sexuality. I politely listened to them moan and groan about men having sexual congress with each other - and that made me laugh because 'sexual congress' is a phrase I heard when I was 10 - and the evils of anal sex and I called them out because they didn't have anything to say about lesbians or bisexual women but, then again, I knew that they wouldn't; all they were doing was putting their own spin on what the OT says about homosexuality. And then... I bitch-slapped them with some truths about sexuality and the lies that religion tells about it even though, at one point in our existence, we needed to make more babies - but that situation isn't a problem because [again] we can make babies without any sex happening so if homo- and bisexuals want to indulge each other, what's the problem?

As expected, they had no answers. Any time a holy roller starts a sentence with "The bible says..." all they're doing is parroting dogmatic rhetoric that's been around since day one of religion. I'd asked them what religion is supposed to do with politics - which is one of the world's biggest problems - when religion was created before politics came into existence and... no answers but it was an unfair question to begin with. I politely told them that if religion wasn't going to be part of the solution - and I couldn't see how it could be - then it needs to stop being part of the problem and reminded them that just because they believe does not mean that everyone does - or should.

As I walked away, they said, "Jesus loves you!" and I replied, "I know..." and kept walking.

 

Merry Christmas is Merry Christmas --Christmas trees are Christmas trees and will always be so! Fuck that shit and fuck religious nuts also!! The world is obviously chock full of weak minded people.

 

AMEN, my friend.......right on the mark!

 

KD23:

Once again, a SUPERLATIVE response, one brimming with both insight and simple common sense.

Ever wonder WHY so many people believe that THEIR religion is the only TRUE religion, and all others are second class?

Too, I often wonder WHY there is always so much stressing which religion is better than the others?

Think of this (this is my own personal view).....

Say we are talking about thousands of commuters heading into Manhattan to get to work.

Some take buses.

Some take subways.

Some take commuter trains.

Others take ferries.

Still others drive.

My point is that all of these thousands upon thousands of people heading to work ALL have ONE common destination:

The WORKPLACE!

Now, as a basis of a given religion is the seeking of a Supre Being, what does it matter if we are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc.?

We mere mortals are ALL utilizing DIFFERENT "routes", but are using these routes to reach a COMMON destination!

Just my way of thinking..............

 

I would learn that some wars in those early times got started because "my god is better than your god!" or some other major religious disagreement and the typical human behavior of being tribal about stuff and my way is the right way and your way ain't shit, so you need to do it our way or... it means war or, worse, we're gonna just have to kill you because our god says to kill all nonbelievers.

And it just doesn't make sense given that all of the religions believe in a supreme being; all religions have a creation story and a story about how people came to be but because these stories are different, we can't really see how similar they are and how this commonality should bring us together - instead, it continues to divide us and if you're not with us, you're against us. What does it matter? It matters because we say that it does and that it should matter and... I don't know about anyone else, but I don't have the time or the patience to deal with this.

 

KD23:

So much for "Holy Wars".

For all of our technical advancement and scientific knowledge, the human race today in 2024 is hardly what you would call "civilized".

Think about it........the mass shootings, senseless killings, deadly terrorist attacks....all almost daily happenings these days, indeed reveal a barbaric culture, one in which we are steadily heading back to the days of our ancient Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal ancestors.

Indeed amazing how so much violence, hatred, and bloodshed takes place virtually daily in the name of a "Supreme Being", who is supposed to represent goodness, light, and love...............

 

Here's the problem with humans: When there's some shit going on that we don't like, violence is the way to take care of the problem - and we are creatively violent by nature. We're not going backward: We have never been able to get past our violent and tribal nature and, by the way - if you're not with or like us, you're against us... and you will be dealt with, and we do not mean peacefully. True enough, a lot of the violence is done in the name of a supreme being and the people calling for this violence pretty much says that the supreme being told them to do this.

We like to think that we're civilized and enlightened and... not so much; the only thing that's changed is how we choose to invoke violence and, by the way, the holy rollers really don't have an answer to this dilemma except to tell us that we need to bow our heads in prayer and like this violent nature of ours is going to get prayed away. Ideology is all well and good until reality comes along and kicks it in the balls...

 

KD23:

Well said.

Just because we can perform laser surgery, put men on the Moon, invent phones that can take photos and videos, and fly supersonic aircraft, does NOT mean that we are "civilized".

Advanced?

Yes.

Civilized?

Well, that's open for debate..................

 

Life is no different than it was some centuries ago. You eat and breathe. Fuck and make babies. Make war and peace. Pay taxes and die. The difference is the way it is done. What holy rollers don't get (and some comments here don't either) is the Bible, Koran, Torah, Vedas, Tripitaka, and so many other religious texts are actually political in that they are deemed to control the masses. That in essence is what politics is all about. Mass human control.

Israel followed the laws found in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Egypt used Hieroglyphs for explaining how to live. Even the Incan society had writings known as Quipu. Under the Roman way of communication Christianity, which spawned Holy Rollers, put together a set of rules known as the New Testament. All these texts were and are used to control and guide humans mostly through fear tactics. A total oxymoronic way of thought. Suck a dick and you'll die and go to hell. Except it is written in their little book that God loved the world he sent his only son, the basic character Christmas is founded on, to die so we all, gay, bisexual, straight, or otherwise, will never die and be with God in heaven for eternity. Really? Please tell me which way it is? Death or eternal life! You can't have it both ways.

 

No matter what our orientation might be, religion is still a subject that is often quite confusing, not to mention contradictory.

Simplest "route of travel"?

Simply go with your gut feelings, as well as your own common sense, as well as your personal beliefs..............

 

I have avoided reading this entire thread. Just responding to get if off my highlighted threads.

I'm an atheist. Theology is...well BS to me. Get over it, stop trying to justify it. It doesnt exist.

 

One can easily get into an in-depth discussion with several theologins, talk (and debate) for hours on end, and STILL find opinionated differences and different explanations (and interpretations) of just WHAT is "so" and "not so" within the pages of the "Good Book".......................

 

But the point of this thread isn't whether there is a god or not but the obnoxious attitude of those who believe such nonsense and refuse to listen otherwise.

 

Right on the mark, my friend!