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April 27th, 2012
04:40 AM ET
Belief Blog's Morning Speed Read for Friday, April 27
By Laura Koran, CNN Here's the Belief Blog’s morning rundown of the top faith-angle stories from around the United States and around the world. Click the headlines for the full stories. From the Blog: CNN: Ryan defends budget in face of Catholic critics
CNN: Dalai Lama: World belongs to 'humanity,' not leaders Tweet of the Day: From @pewforum: Have views on abortion among religious groups changed over the past 5 years? Check out latest Pew survey: http://pewrsr.ch/I5HpqO Enlightening Reads: The Guardian: Pope calls in Opus Dei troubleshooter to uncover source of Vatican leaks The New York Times: A Mixed Legal Outcome for an Egyptian Comedian Catholic News Service: Celebrating in different languages, pope sees translation troubles The Christian Post: Fla. Pastor Terry Jones Vows Again to Burn Qurans, This Time for Youcef Nadarkhani Quote of the day:
Rep. Paul Ryan, speaking at Georgetown University on Thursday about his budget proposal. Ryan has come under fire from Catholics who say that his budget does not reflect the church’s commitment to helping the poor. Today’s Opinion: CNN: Our Take: Name-calling is ‘rhetorical pornography’ Join the conversation…  Romney leads big among very religious Americans, but Obama dominates among the moderately religious and unreligious. CNN: Survey: Religion a key factor in determining support for Obama vs. Romney
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke and Eric Marrapodi with daily contributions from CNN's worldwide newsgathering team and frequent posts from religion scholar and author Stephen Prothero.  |
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I grew up in the CULT of Jehovah's Witnesses. And truly, they are one of the worst. They've split up many families, at one time, mine(luckily my family came to their senses and we are closer than ever). But now my closest friend who disassociated herself from them, is facing Jehovah's Witnesses' worst side.
Normally, when a person is 'disfellowshipped' or 'disassociated' (excommunicated in another form) no one from the religion is allowed to speak or even look their way. But some families get confused and believes it applies to them as well, separating husbands & wives, parents & children, etc. On this occasion my friend's family chose to keep in touch with her. But the other day, the South Congregation in Coos Bay, Oregon, actually spied on my friend and her family having dinner, took PHOTOGRAPHS, and blackmailed the family with it, saying that they would all be excommunicated if they continued associating with their 20 year old daughter. Now the family cut off ties with her, brainwashed by so-called 'christians(although stalkers would be more appropriate).' The people that took the photographs? They call themselves "elders," guiding this congregation. I hope that someone reads this and is spared the same pain and confusion! These people give a bad name to all christians. Hypocrites, indeed! Hopefully their harmful acts will not go unpunished...
Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things
"Prayer changes things"
Prayer doesn’t not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.
An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!*!
Religious dogma is unhealthy for all living things.
What Christian denomination is the most Christ-like?
Islam
Judaism clearly......
The opposite of whatever Westboro Baptist Church is.
Ah, your Christian denomination is the currency of Christ when they practice Romans 12. Hold your church up to that light and if they practice this they are the most Christ like.
@Chuckles – your family can practice Romans 12 also as Christ is only mentioned once. Take the Jefferson Bible approach to this chapter if needed. Jews and Gentiles can get to the promised land by this chapter alone.
Seventh-day Adventists, Mennonites, Baptists who don't live in the south, Jehovah's witnesses (although they have some strange doctrines they try to atleast live like Christ), and Jews that believe in Christ (there may be others that deserve mention but I cannot think of them right now).
Denominations that aren't Christ like: Anyone who tells you to go to hell and be tortured eternally for a mere 70 or so years of sin (Catholics, southern baptists, all Christians other than a few such as JW's and SDA's). Any church that openly breaks God's commands while knowing it's wrong (catholics who removed the graven image commandment, people who have gods like IDOLS such as important people they revere more than God etc) and once again many other groups.
Although you must know by now that ALL denominations have sins and short comings. We belong to denominations to learn the right things about God with people like us. We are saved by our personal relationship with God though.
None. Christ is not found in a denomination, Christ is a person, the second of the Godhead and is met and followed by those who accept him. True Christians may be found in any Christian "denomination" but not in all groups that use the name Jesus. Mormons and Jehovas Witnesses for example by their doctrines and teachings cannot be Christians.
Prayer changes things
Prayer doesn’t not; you are such a LIAR. You have NO proof it changes anything! A great example of prayer proven not to work is the Christians in jail because prayer didn't work and their children died. For example: Susan Grady, who relied on prayer to heal her son. Nine-year-old Aaron Grady died and Susan Grady was arrested.
An article in the Journal of Pediatrics examined the deaths of 172 children from families who relied upon faith healing from 1975 to 1995. They concluded that four out of five ill children, who died under the care of faith healers or being left to prayer only, would most likely have survived if they had received medical care.
The statistical studies from the nineteenth century and the three CCU studies on prayer are quite consistent with the fact that humanity is wasting a huge amount of time on a procedure that simply doesn’t work. Nonetheless, faith in prayer is so pervasive and deeply rooted, you can be sure believers will continue to devise future studies in a desperate effort to confirm their beliefs!*!
Prayer changes things
Proven
From post about the Guardian article: "Vatican staffers who have been leaking embarrassing letters about corruption and nepotism inside the tiny city state are to be hunted down by a crack squad of cardinals led by a senior member of the religious group Opus Dei."
What? Nobody is going to confession now? Or they aren't confessing?
I can only laugh at this clear proof that the RCC is a criminal organization of international scope.
To quote a J.R.R.Tolkien character: "Oft evil will shall evil mar."
Time to invade the Vatican with crack troops, confiscate everything down to the smallest scrap of paper in the lowest of the dungeons, charge them all with the relevant crimes against humanity in a non-corrupt international court, and then let them be executed or imprisoned for life.
And time to do the same to every religious organization in the world, including the state-run theocracies, the brainwashed totalitarian regimes, the dictatorships, and every bit of corruption in the world.
And let's not forget the robber barons, the sociopathic wealthy and powerful, the shameless bribe-takers, and anyone else who wants to violate the human rights of other people and toss them into prison while confiscating their ill-gotten criminal gains.
Sounds like a tall order, doesn't it? Well, it is. The tallest. The best I could come up with in five minutes. Take it or leave it.
Let me just add that, to protect the human rights of the mentally ill, some parts of my "tall order" would need to be modified in terms of gradual de-programming of as many people as possible and letting them live out their lives in some relative peace but with strong protections against them so that they do not "infect" any new generations of people.
Many crimes can happen, not all of them religion-based. It was just a thought experiment. Don't freak out people!
Too late, my freak is no longer contained.
There is a much easier way to tear down the RCC, as well as any other religion. Simply take away their tax-exempt status, and the RCC will have to hock their artwork and gold pillars to pay the bill. Then tax the other religions. A lot of countries will probably see a budget surplus once those taxes are paid.
You will pardon me for saying this of course, but I can't help but notice that if I were to say the exact same thing about those of the Jewish faith (addressing 2u's original post here) I would get branded with ol' 'bigotry' iron.
I will not back down from seeking the end to all delusion, all insanity. To this end I seek the end of all religion, yet merely healing people of mental illness would have the same effect because religion is a delusion and a snare.
Jews have the dubious distinction of being labeled with a name that also serves as a tltle to their culture, their perceived ethnic group, and their religion, so replacing the main aim of my post with "Jews" as the target, I would have needed to clarify what I meant by "Jew" and rewrite and modify yet again.
Is it bigotry to oppose insanity yet pursue a medical solution that would give sanity to anyone who didn't have it?
Is it bigotry to oppose criminal behavior simply because it hides behind a religion?
Is it bigotry to oppose religion as a form of criminal indoctrination and motivation?
Religion needs to go. We have so much insanity going on that removing the criminal elements of religion would go a long way towards helping humanity as a whole to progress in a positive and healthy way into the future.
I was just making a wish-list sort of thing as a though experiment, for the causes of sociopathic and psychopathic behavior are legion, yet can be concentrated in religious followers due to the schizoid nature of religion.
Nobody lives forever. I'm just trying to find some small way to help all of humanity before I die. Something I can do to oppose the horrific crimes I see on all sides, so many of which are caused by mental illness.
Were I to volunteer at a soup kitchen, I have no doubt that I would despise the lies being bandied about so freely, so pervasively, that do so much damage, even to just one person somewhere along the road and would likely leave in disgust.
This saves time. I don't have to put up with con-artists, frauds, or their sincere yet woefully misguided and schizophrenic victims and can blow them out of the water with my arguments written much more clearly than if I tried to speak or otherwise confront such lies and the batsht crazy people who spread them in person. Much safer, too.
You can't trust crazy people to not go postal over their religious delusions. Just look at the Muslims and their murderous intolerance. No, I can write, but I would need serious protection in person. Religion deserves no freedom of expression for it is insane and dangerous in the extreme. I've got hundreds of millions of dead people I can honestly list as victims of religion.
Someday humanity might put a stop to it, but I will be long dead before anything like that happens in this world filled with willfully ignorant schizophrenics. They run the whole show and will waste and do anything to keep the status quo.
Just because they are crazy doesn't mean there is hope that they might listen to reason. I have seen too much otherwise.
I'll take it !!!