[mos6507]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'P')erhaps Mythology that is guarded and kept alive is a necessary factor in keeping people relatively sane in an insane world. I don't know, just speculating.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', '
')
All of those things you mentioned are totally independent of any kind of dogmatic religious belief.

[Fredrik]

This "Jesus = Horus/Osiris/Buddha/whoever" meme has spread far and wide thanks to popular documentaries like Zeitgeist, but even most skeptic scholars rejected these far-out comparative religion arguments during the early 20th century. The majority of scholars who can be justifiedly labeled as A) skeptic (they don't regard the Bible more trustworthy than any biased religious text) and B) experts in the study of New Testament and the culture and history of the NT era do consider Jesus to have been an historical person. For example, of the 200 members of the skeptically oriented Jesus Seminar, only one (Robert M. Price) has expressed doubt about Jesus's historicity.

The idea that a group of Jews adopted an exact copy of an ancient Egyptian god figure as their Savior, while retaining the Old Testament scriptures as authoritative, is rather unlikely.

Besides, that the Jesus story is not conceptually unique is not an argument against Christianity per se. Dying and rising savior figures are known in many cultures, including such that have no direct or indirect connections to the Middle East. Rather than being "work of the devil", they could be expressions of a universal, "built-in" human yearning for the Messiah, as C.S. Lewis proposed.

[killJOY]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Frederik', 'T')his "Jesus = Horus/Osiris/Buddha/whoever" meme has spread far and wide thanks to popular documentaries like Zeitgeist, but even most skeptic scholars rejected these far-out comparative religion arguments during the early 20th century. The majority of scholars who can be justifiedly labeled as A) skeptic (they don't regard the Bible more trustworthy than any biased religious text) and B) experts in the study of New Testament and the culture and history of the NT era do consider Jesus to have been an historical person. For example, of the 200 members of the skeptically oriented Jesus Seminar, only one (Robert M. Price) has expressed doubt about Jesus's historicity.

The idea that a group of Jews adopted an exact copy of an ancient Egyptian god figure as their Savior, while retaining the Old Testament scriptures as authoritative, is rather unlikely.

Besides, that the Jesus story is not conceptually unique is not an argument against Christianity per se. Dying and rising savior figures are known in many cultures, including such that have no direct or indirect connections to the Middle East. Rather than being "work of the devil", they could be expressions of a universal, "built-in" human yearning for the Messiah, as C.S. Lewis proposed.

[katkinkate]

Religion is a set of blinkers placed to block your vision of most of the universe, either while you were young by your parents, or willingly donned by yourself at some later point in your life. Faith is the drug you are required to accept as a condition of membership in the religion, that turns off your rational brain and your imagination, so that you can accept whatever vision/version of the universe the guy at the pulpit tells you is actually real, despite the all your own experience and the scientific evidence.

[grassland]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'W')hat is Christianity?

The belief that a cosmic jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because the first human female, who was made out of one of the first human male's ribs, was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree whose fruit gave her and her mate some sort of forbidden knowledge. And if you don't believe this, when you die you'll go to a hot horrible place devoid of all hope which is run by a red-colored horned angel who will torture you for all eternity.

and, umm... oh yeah... be nice to each other!

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('grassland', '.')..whatever you believe, no matter how wrong, doesn't matter, its your future yo are throwing away.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('grassland', 's')atanic ritual abuse paganism.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('grassland', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'W')hat is Christianity?

The belief that a cosmic jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because the first human female, who was made out of one of the first human male's ribs, was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree whose fruit gave her and her mate some sort of forbidden knowledge. And if you don't believe this, when you die you'll go to a hot horrible place devoid of all hope which is run by a red-colored horned angel who will torture you for all eternity.

and, umm... oh yeah... be nice to each other!

[grassland]

Google satanic ritual child abuse survivors.
These scenarios are used on little children: Invented by the naziis. Reason
: If a child ever tells on the adult they are laughed at.

It works/ not many are caught.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('grassland', 'G')oogle satanic ritual child abuse survivors.
These scenarios are used on little children: Invented by the naziis. Reason: If a child ever tells on the adult they are laughed at.

It works/ not many are caught.

[POAlex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'W')hat is Christianity?

The belief that a cosmic jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because the first human female, who was made out of one of the first human male's ribs, was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree whose fruit gave her and her mate some sort of forbidden knowledge. And if you don't believe this, when you die you'll go to a hot horrible place devoid of all hope which is run by a red-colored horned angel who will torture you for all eternity.

and, umm... oh yeah... be nice to each other!

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('grassland', 'G')oogle satanic ritual child abuse survivors.

[keehah]

Bill and Larry were interviewed on The Hour recently. I liked what he was saying, I think his message is the right one to bring to the public.

During the interview, in essence IMO he is as aware as any doomer. We are a minority group: rationalists. Most religious beliefs hinder rational thinking. We need to demand our minority group rights eh? We should not be discriminated against.

But the irrational demand we be more positive or we will be discriminated against. The message is forward thinking, not a trap like doomer label.

The sheep will not move towards awareness of the crimes of the past (and present?). Thus the focus on forward thinking. Free others from the discriminating control memes that are intolerant to rational thinking.

I have respect for everyone as a human being. However intellectually, if you are irrational, you will only get my tolerance, not respect.
Bill Maher & Larry Charles on The Hour Video

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'Y')ou won't understand the reason for Jesus until you understand God's holiness and man's sinfulness.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('POAlex', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Carlhole', 'W')hat is Christianity?

The belief that a cosmic jewish zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because the first human female, who was made out of one of the first human male's ribs, was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree whose fruit gave her and her mate some sort of forbidden knowledge. And if you don't believe this, when you die you'll go to a hot horrible place devoid of all hope which is run by a red-colored horned angel who will torture you for all eternity.

and, umm... oh yeah... be nice to each other!

[Denny]

Its too bad that Bill Maher's brilliance is not being used to honor God instead of disparaging him. He must realize along the way that this was gift to him, not something earned, and to to turn it against his creator is a pity.

Why does Bill pick out all the extremist forms of faith? For instance, we can find Christians who are kooks, but what about the Christians who are thoughtful, peaceful and intellectual? It really ticks me off to see Christians depicted as a war like group, as some seem to think. I guess its just like news, the snake handlers make for an interesting story, but I know, and I would be willing to bet Bill knows, of Christians (and likely Jews or Muslims too) who devote their time and talents selflessly. Folks like Jimmy Carter and his habitat for humanity, for instance. Or, looking back in history, people like Christopher Columbus and Samuel Champlain.

[Ludi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Denny', ' ')It really ticks me off to see Christians depicted as a war like group, as some seem to think.

[charliebrownout]

I don't care if someone believes or doesn't--Bill Maher is a one note bore.

Just a smug, smarmy, attention-starved one note bore.

[Fredrik]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('katkinkate', 'F')aith is the drug you are required to accept as a condition of membership in the religion, that turns off your rational brain and your imagination, so that you can accept whatever vision/version of the universe the guy at the pulpit tells you is actually real, despite the all your own experience and the scientific evidence.

[Carlhole]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Fredrik', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Ludi', 'M')aking fun of religion doesn't convert people to atheism.