highwindows wrote: 
It's all been done before

 Painted_Turtle wrote: 

Sounds yummy!!
Just don't offer any to Tom Cruise

 cc_rider wrote: 
...that reminds me....I'd forgotten.  I need to thaw out the 3 lbs of frozen hamburger for the meatballs & home made spaghetti sauce I'm making for my out of town holiday guests for tomorrow nights dinner.  they just LOVE meatballs!  the meatballs need to simmer in the sauce all day long tomorrow....

....yes, its' all starting to make sense...everything in the universe is connected...what synchronicity!

 geordiezimmerman wrote: 

Go invent a religion Geordie. Could make you a millionaire overnight!
I guess I can respect some religions.....but Scientology...please...it's a joke!!

 justlistening wrote:
I'd say man's best attempt to do that has been through the rule of law. You don't get very far with just loving a god and your neighbours (in context, usually the members of your tribe). People need specifics and clauses.

You're not allowed to kill, unless it's an enemy or an adulterer, etc.

 justlistening wrote: 
The purpose of religion is to corral a bunch of like minded people into a group and control them with dogma. I am sure it served a great purpose when people needed someone smarter than themselves to give them direction in lives. But it has been used as much for bad purposes as it has for good.

Politics does the same thing; religion is just a different version of politics.

 geordiezimmerman wrote: 

I wouldn't go so far as to say all baloney.  I kind of like the thou shall not kill part.  I think religion embodies mans best attempt to codify a moral society.  Is there a lot of questionable stuff involved with it too?  Yes.  But you can't throw out the baby with the bath water.

 highwindows wrote: 


I've always said that i think anyone who believes in God is suffereing from a mental illness. Many people laugh at Tom Cruise for his belief in scientology but to me that is no more far fetched than believing the bible or any other religous text for that matter. It's all baloney as far as I'm concerned, quite laughable actually.

 hippiechick wrote:
 
Y'know, that's something I noticed about Archbishop Tutu when he was on Craig Ferguson. He giggled a lot, and was very funny. Hmmm...

 beamends wrote: 
He giggles all the time! Maybe the happiest person in the world.

 justlistening wrote: 

 

 cc_rider wrote: 

 (if I may be so bold to borrow the meatball image :)

 hippiechick wrote: 
Lovely bloke. He is a boxing fan, and has had a few rounds sparring with Brian Blessed, which seems to me to be a bit bizzare.  Also a very weird (funny) interview with Michael Palin.

Why Religious People Are Scared of Atheists
Religious believers commonly attack atheists simply for existing. Do out-of-the-closet atheists — even polite ones — challenge attempts at theocracy?

 highwindows wrote: 

the Meatball snickers at your lack of belief. 

For me, one, (and there are many) of the key problems of invokling (any) Deity is akin to that of suggesting that we have a little man (a homunculus) inside our brains, controlling things. You immediately hit the insanity of infinite regress. Viz: the god who created the god, who created the god etc.
As for organised religion, why should I listen to some old fool in a frock coat, claiming (??) he's in contact with some Deity & instructing me how I should run my life? Madness!

 cc_rider wrote: 
Fair enough on the "one-name" thing, but the FSM connection hadn't occurred to me until you brought it up. 

       Cheesmakers
                           

 

Basically the way I see the difference between the Eastern and Western Religions is that Western ones emphasize an external divinity of which you are held accountable to. The Eastern ways tend to be more emphasis on the divine being within you and reach Enlightenment thru deep understanding. As I recall the Dalai Lama commenting on Eastern religions as simply a different path for Enlightenment.

 Kundon I believe was the movie Scorcese made about the current Dalai Lama and how they are chosen.

On a completely other note, I recently watched Life of Brian. It rather excellently skewers many a religious notion, but then blessed are the cheesemakers.

 cc_rider wrote: 
Since they pick the new one as a child, after the old one is dead, I assume there is a large gap. The current guy is so awesome!