How can religions have credibility in their teachings when it so often leads to violence?
How many wars exactly have started from religion?
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Christians are used to getting rejected because of our faith like Jesus said "You will be persecuted for my name sake",mean when you try to talk about how faithful and the goodness in his name that it will lead to violence. To me it's better for me to share my faith with anyone so they will know the Truth. I don't care what people think about me because I am a 100% follower of Jesus Christ. I think the reason that talking about so called "religions" lead to violence is because the person teaching them is basically judging the person instead of explaining it to them through love, it's sort of like you are forcing the person to give praise to their god. That is why I talk peaceful to people who are willing to be willing to listen. If they don't I go the other way. Great debate though. mean when you try to talk about how faithful and the goodness in his name that it will lead to violence. Matthew 10:34, Jesus said "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." Now I don't know about you, but that quotes speaks for itself To me it's better for me to share my faith with anyone so they will know the Truth if they consider what you have to say as truth they are already on your side, I don't care what people think about me because I am a 100% follower of Jesus Christ Really? Well do you live in poverty voluntarily and give all your worldly possessions to the poor and commit your life to helping the lowest of the low in society, do you believe that demonic possession causes disease and perform exorcisms? I find that prospect to be highly dubious and you can say you are a 99% follower of Jesus, but don't pull the 100% bs on me. Now sure Jesus said a lot of stuff that is great to live your life by, but you do not follow every word he said and there are some things you should question before accepting them, get some autonomy in your life, letting a book make all your decisions for you (100% as you claim) is a dangerous prospect in a modern world. I think the reason that talking about so called "religions" lead to violence is because the person teaching them is basically judging the person instead of explaining it to them through love, it's sort of like you are forcing the person to give praise to their god. Religions lead to violence because their fundamental beliefs are in disagreement with another person's and that person is willing to resort to conflict. If the fundamentals are of peace, there will be no violence. Take the religion of Jainism for example, A Jain fundamentalist will never resort to violence or cause wars because they are too concerned with watching their step as to not harm a bug, they won't drink wine or eat cheese because bacteria are killed when it is made, that's how extremely peaceful they are and committed to protecting life. They have a profound concern for peace and their actions of those who follow that religion exemplify that. The reason there is conflict from Christianity, Islam, etc is because the fundamentals are not truly of peace. Now either people are twisting the religion to support their own agenda, or the fundamentalists aren't always peaceful because peace is not the fundamental. That is why I talk peaceful to people who are willing to be willing to listen. That's all fine and good, peace is something great to value, I am a very peaceful person in my actions and I try my best to never harm others, but I don't need Jesus to tell me to do that, i don't need a heavenly reward to coerce me to act peaceful, and I don't need threat of hell to prevent my violence. The thing is you do not need a religion to have or value peace, it's great if they do and I can have respect it for that. But I am a peaceful person because of the goodness peace brings to my life and that of others, not because someone told me to 2000 years ago. 1
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Silas, you have it spot on. You freaking nailed that point with a hammer so big that atheists cannot even pick it up. I couldn't have put it better than that, and all I can add to it is that I too am a 100% follower of our Lord Jesus Christ and I have been persecuted for His name's sake and will continue to be as will many other Christians. I turn the other cheek in such instances and do so proudly for my Saviour. Peace be with you, brother. It's pretty difficult to delineate wars started because of religion, and wars where religion is used as a front for political gains. Or if such a distinction can be made at all. Islam has no more or no less calls to violence than does Christianity, so why does it seem that (at least in modern times) that Islam is so much more violent? How people interpret their holy books seems to be largely influenced by their socio-economic environment. The middle-east is a harsh place, daily life is a struggle there, so this may be part of the reason why Islam is used as justification for violence. The same can be said of Europe during the middle-ages. These are simply my thoughts on the topic. |