I identify myself as an agnostic atheist

"Sadly, I'm not too clued in on the eastern religions and their beginnings." Like the rest of the fairy tales they have high points and low points but I don't recommend wasting more than a cursory look.  Given the chance I will kick the 14th Dalai Lama in the groin so hard he will reincarnate as the 15th. Scientology fascinates me in a way, the same way that Nazi Germany does.  I honestly think the only reason they have celebrities members is due to blackmail.  Although I will say researching Scientology introduced me to Jack Parsons and he is one fascinating dude. The Abrahamic religions were what I was referencing when I said "Nothing good ever came from the desert".  I can't wait for the day Xtianinty is exposed for the fraud it is & all those idiots will have to choose between Judaism or Islam to continue worshipping the same God. [image: 81356_1400443369669.jpg]

Hi guys. I have a thought in this matter: @assoom: According to Christianity, Jewish, and Islam, homosexuality is forbidden. Nonetheless, I have met a few strange gay guys who are believers and moreover fundamentalists! How can anybody be gay and a believer at the same time? And the disaster is to be a fundamentalist! I can't say much about Jewish and Islam. I'm a Christian and can say that I see several stages of faith. One of them is what is called "believing", another is "transforming". A christian can believe in the absolute power of God and in all His commandments but not choose to hand over their lives totally to Him. They don't transform into another person. They tend to hand over what hurts them to Him and keep what gives pleasure. Like a baby playing with paper and a pointy scissor, when the father, who knows the danger of that, stands his hands asking for everything he receives only a piece of paper. Common dad, scissors are so much fun!  Well, that's why I think its not so hard to be gay and a believer at the same time. That's why I think I'm still gay and a believer myself. I could be a fundamentalist if I had convinced myself that it would somehow redress my sin. And would feel superior to others as a bonus, after all I was "defending" my God! Probably those guys you met don't know yet that things don't work that way, at least in Christianity. @assoom: Some say God is forgiving!! Well, maybe right (to them) but to logic, God is forgiving when it comes to a sin, two or even 10, not one big unforgivable sin that is part of you and your daily life. Christians learns that the God's only intent toward mankind actually is reestablish the original relationship. By logic, it is impossible if He does not forgives mankind sins. As far as I know, in Christianity, there is only one big unforgivable sin. All other sins are likely to be forgiven by God, homosexuality included, no matter how many times they are committed. Is wonderful to be a Christian, you know that you can jump in God's arms at anytime, they are always open for you. The worst part is when you wanna jump with your pocket full of all kind of "scissors". Those "scissors" you've been carrying for so long that you think is part of you. You know, when you became aware of those "scissors" and pretend they are not a problem and try to make your way to God, you look like that strange guy you met. Anyway, I agree with you, they have to make their mind! At some point I have to make up my own. But scissors are so much fun!  :cool2:

As a person that suffers from depression, I find it odd that people would willingly choose to believe such a sad thing is real - that there is no God. Imagine if that is true, then life itself is meaningless. Meaningless things, like that idiot who drove 80 km/hr on the highway obstructing traffic, MUST PARISH. I hope one day, we come up with the technologies to kill those traffic-obstructing morons who do no respond to honking when driving 80 km/hr on the highway, without leaving traceable evidence. Perhaps some slick tomato sauce on the road, or a nice big 10 Liter metal can of it, through his/her/their wind-shield.

it's a sect

I'm not Muslim and never have been, but I come from a Muslim family. I'm not sure I understand the question, but I'll try: Before praying, you make wudu, which is cleaning certain parts of your body with water. It's supposed to wash off impurities, both physical and spiritual. Five times a day there's salaat, which is a ritualized form of prescribed prayer. There's similar traditions in Catholic or Orthodox Christian ritualized prayers, with motions and prostrations. (I think Catholics these days do kneeling instead of prostrations, and a lot of the Orthodox do a sort of bow-touching-the-floor thing instead of prostrations, but prostrations are native to both traditions). It also has to be made in Arabic, because it is supposed to be the language that God himself spoke to mankind in when he sent down the Qur'an. The heartfelt and personal prayer is dua, where you send up petitions to God in your own language and your own words. Then there is Qur'an recitation, which is akin in spirituality to taking communion in the Christian traditions.

Marketing  ::)

We can only pray that there will be someone, somewhere on this Planet to pick up the Torch and try to replace Hitchens  :blownose: [image: RIP.jpg]

Waking up this thread because I miss Agis sexy tenor voice and because, ahem I found this hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQcGXBo8HP8 the point being "why is there ambiguity in the written texts of religions about morality, one time being said do this or suffer that, the other being do what you want."

This Homophobic Bakery will Cater Dog Weddings but Not Gay Civil Unions the Atlantic Wire ~ By Alexander Abad-Santos On May 1, Colorado took a step toward civil-rights progress when it began recognizing same-sex civil unions. There was joy. There was acceptance. And it was a big move for a state that's had a contentious history with gay rights and that, just seven years ago, saw its voters approve a ban on gay marriage in the state's constitution. And in 1992, Coloradans approved Amendment 2, a law that would have prohibited gays and lesbians from being a protected class — until it was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1996. RELATED: This Is What Colorado's First Same-Sex Civil Unions Look Like hXXp://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/05/colorados-civil-unions-photos/64755/ The civil unions have also helped businesses, as the Colorado Springs Gazette reports. But there remain some small-business owners like Christian baker Jack Phillips (above at right), owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in the town of Lakewood, who took one big step backward. Phillips refuses to make wedding cakes for gay weddings, and he's now the subject of a formal complaint sitting at the Colorado Attorney General's Office. You can find the formal complaint (courtesy of the ACLU) , but here's the key part: The law cited in the complaint says that business owners can't just refuse to serve someone based on who the person is. The law has a specific discrimination clause: It is a discriminatory practice and unlawful for a person, directly or indirectly, to refuse, withhold from, or deny to an individual or a group, because of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, or ancestry, the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of a place of public accommodation … Note that the law applies to "a person." Phillips, the baker, makes cakes for dog weddings, just not gay-person weddings. Stephanie Schmalz and her partner, Jeanine, wanted to get some cupcakes to celebrate their commitment ceremony, the ACLU reports, and like several gay couples before them, they were refused. So Schmalz called up Phillips, telling him she was planning a wedding for her dog: "She told him that the dog wedding cake would need to feed 20 people and should be decorated with the names 'Roscoe' and 'Buffy,'" the ACLU writes. "Without hesitation, Phillips quoted her a price and asked how soon she needed it." The policy at Masterpiece Cakeshop isn't new, or reacting to the new Colorado legislation per se. Phillips has actually been telling people since last July that he wouldn't be supplying baked goods for same-sex celebrations. "Phillips said he isn't a homophobe, and that he would gladly serve any other baked good to a gay couple — just not a wedding cake," Fox Denver reported at the time. "I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, so you could say this is a religious belief," Phillips told them. We're assuming the dog wedding of Roscoe and Buffy was a heterosexual wedding, and thus approved — doggy-sex be damned. Phillips's hearing won't arrive until September, but it hasn't taken long for the fallout to reach the social-media sphere. Though Phillips said business was booming ever since he announced that he wasn't serving gay wedding cakes, Yelp says otherwise: And only some of those negative reviews are due to his anti-gay cake policy.

sodoma and gomorrah and other 2 cities had nothing to do with sexuality their sin was closing the door to jews which desired to touch their market of nafta, I already discussed this in the sticky topic. There are at least 6 direct references to Sodom and Gomorrah, telling why they were destroyed and not a single one even mentions sex/sexuality.  Only Sodom was supposed to be guilty of gay sex/rape.  Jesus mentions Sodom and Gomorrah 3 times and not once did he link their destruction to gay sex, but rather he said it was greed. BTW, it was 7 cities destroyed that night, 4 of which are directly named. this cities were in a sismic activity zone, actually you can explain the exact scene in detail as protrayed by the bible threw logic… This is also the case with Jericho. It is/was in the center of a seismic area full of methane pockets.

@pastol: You selected a great "teacher" in Ray Bradbury. I love that man and his writings. Your post was moving and enjoyable. The English was nearly perfect. One note: stay away from slang. Your writing is better than that. (thingies, fellas, wanna) Use the proper words (things, fellows, want to) your writing deserves it. Thank you pastol. Let alone the contents Ray writes in a very Italian way. Concerning slang I was trying to remember but, as far as I can dig back, you must be the first to ask me for that. After all it could be the generation gap indeed. I'm 52.