It's like art Some people see things others do not. Part of them even see different things than the others.
I don't have time for my art critic rant, but suffice to say I think they have even less "authority" to make judgements than the religious leaders do. Subjectivity would be just fine if it weren't so darn subjective.It's like art Some people see things others do not. Part of them even see different things than the others.
"Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof." -- Ashley Montague
Indeed and so I proved it with the Human rights thingie JennyM was so certain about. You can read everything wrong and use it for your own purpose, or you can read it like it was meant to be and make a better world of it.I get a bit worried when the stock response to questioning is, "Oh, you're reading it wrong." How does one decide the "right way"? Who's the guy that knows the right way? Jimmy Swaggart? Osama? Perhaps Corwin and Bart? It's all so arbitrary and seems to lend credence to my theory that (100% real, 100% fiction, or somewhere in between) it's all designed to give a select group of people power over the masses.
(highligthed passage by me)You can read everything wrong and use it for your own purpose, or you can read it like it was meant to be and make a better world of it.
Friedrich Dürrenmatt once said, "Einstein used to speak of God so often that I almost looked upon him as a disguised theologian." I do not believe these references to God can be dismissed simply as a façon de parler, for God had a deep, if rather elusive, significance for Einstein which was not unimportant for his life and scientific activity. It indicated a deep-seated way of life and thought: "God" was not a theological mode of thought but rather the expression of a "lived faith."[/I]
I can't prove God exists (or doesn't), else there would be no need for Faith. However, I can KNOW that He exists in many ways. Ever seen 'miraculous' inexplainable (by doctors) healings after prayer? I have!!
It is impossible to refute the hand of god in this world. Jessica Alba is my case in point. Science cannot explain where everything came from nor can explain the paradox of eternal time.
Discussion closed. Jessica Alba 1: Science 0.
Such a display of arrogant ignorance!!
That's true, except I don't know a lot of religious people who think I'm a worshiper of Satan or demons. Most of them know the differences between good and evil.
They also know killing isn't good. So, again, is it religion in its self which is bad or their leaders which make people do bad things?
Then the US might relive the European middle ages if they become too powerful. hehe
I think every voice should be allowed to speak. Just don't let them get power and it'll be alright.
So listen to what you're saying. Religion in itself isn't bad, extremism is. Any form of extremism is bad for the world and doesn't allow for the other side to speak their mind. Religion however, as long as practiced normally, gives hope to people, helps other people live their lives in happiness (and actually reduces the number of divorces ).
What *I* see when I look around the world is millions of starving people on various continents, child abuse/molestation/pornography, terrorist blowing up just about anything and everyone, good old slave trade for the sweatshops in Asia or for prostitution in the rest of the world, rape, murder, civil war or plain old regular war, the rich taking advantage of the poor and corporations like Monsanto (if ever there was born the Antichrist he would be working on the executive floor in the Monsanto corporation) ... I could go on and on.I can't prove God exists (or doesn't), else there would be no need for Faith. However, I can KNOW that He exists in many ways. Ever seen 'miraculous' inexplainable (by doctors) healings after prayer? I have!!
(highligthed passage by me)
And then we're back to the original question: Who decides how it is meant to be read/understood?