Abrahamic religions

Historically the Christian religion has been the most violent religion of any.

Christmas and Easter existed before Christianity half-inched these festivals and stuck new names on.

Most people of all religions or no religion have no wish to kill anyone. Religion is just a reason given to excuse their behaviour.

Mind you, God isn't exactly the most peace loving creation. He has a tendency to be cruel and heartless even to those who follow him. He destroyed the world with a flood because he didn't like the way his creation was living, he divided humanity with different languages, he created a rule that allowed for a father to sell his daughters into slavery (Exodus 21;7) and he impregnated a 13/14 year old girl without her consent and, if that wasn't bad enough, at a period in history when the punishment for unmarried pregnant women was to be stoned to death.

Perhaps humans are just following his lead.

However, the argument that Islam and Christianity are similar doesn’t hold water. There are many similarities between Judaism and Christianity, but few to none between Islam and Christianity. Neither Jews nor Christians either want nor need to kill the infidels but this is the intention of Islam. Fortunately many Muslims don’t think they have any need of killing unbelievers, but unfortunately too many do. This is evidenced by the regular terror attacks seen in recent years.

Culturally Britain is a Christian country. The vast majority of people celebrate both Christmas and Easter. Our laws are based on Christian values and the Ten Commandments. Huge numbers of people get their children baptised, get married in church, and choose a Christian burial/cremation, whether or not they actually attend church. We have church schools and Christian representatives in the H of Ls. Our Head of State is a practicing Christian and is also Head of our national church. Anyone who says Britain is not a Christian country isn’t looking at our national life and institutions.

Caleo

Grantanow, the blood spilled in the name of religions is because peoples used to believe that religion was the same as politics. OT stories show this was the case with old time Judaism, and Christians too conflated religion and politics.
Zionism is a conflation of religion and politics,

That's largely true. It has taken centuries for many nation states to separate religion from society/politics but the identity still remain remains in for example states such as Iran and in organisations such as Islamic Jihad, Hamas, etc., as well as in Israel whose citizenship is based on Judaism. And religious leaders still make claims that the UK is a Christian country.

Luckygirl3

*It is not religions that are the problem, it's man's interpretation of them*

But religions do not exist per se - they are the work of humans.

Luckygirl 👍

fancythat

Witzend

vampirequeen

God made man in his own image. Says a lot about God.

IIRC some ancient Greek writer (Herodotus?) said that everyone imagines their particular god to resemble them. So e.g. Nubians (dark skinned) would imagine a dark skinned god, Thracians would imagine a red-haired one* and horses would imagine a horse-god.

*I was fascinated on reading that, to realise that a lot of Thracians had evidently been red haired!

Apparently in a church in Israel, there are stained glass windows given by each nationality. And each nationality depicts baby Jesus as looking like their own nationality.

Although he was a Jew.

Witzend

vampirequeen

God made man in his own image. Says a lot about God.

IIRC some ancient Greek writer (Herodotus?) said that everyone imagines their particular god to resemble them. So e.g. Nubians (dark skinned) would imagine a dark skinned god, Thracians would imagine a red-haired one* and horses would imagine a horse-god.

*I was fascinated on reading that, to realise that a lot of Thracians had evidently been red haired!

Apparently in a church in Israel, there are stained glass windows given by each nationality. And each nationality depicts baby Jesus as looking like their own nationality.

vampirequeen

Callistemon21

vampirequeen

Callistemon21

Oreo

vampirequeen

God made man in his own image. Says a lot about God.

It’s only man who says that tho, not God.

Yes!!

If, as you say, man only says that he's created in the image of God, then God, who is omnipotent, must have know he was creating a flawed creature. Why did God do this? If he is all loving etc. then surely he would have created a perfect creature that didn't destroy itself and everything it came into contact with.

🤔

Why did God do this?

Did you not know that God gave man free will?

If, as you say, he gave man freewill then he set man up to fail by creating a flawed creature. He then sat back and watched man tear himself and the world apart. Strange behaviour for an all loving being.

He did give freewill.

Some will go to Heaven.

Jews believe in part of the Bible.
Christians believe all of it. Including importantly, the Risen Jesus.

Is lam does think Abraham was a prophet. But not much more of the Bible than tha

The Bible and Islam are poles apart.

Let’s accept that a god of any sort does not exist.

We can then look dispassionately at all the main deity religions, and begin to understand why they have certain qualities in common, overlaid with culture throughout the millennia.

Callistemon21

vampirequeen

Callistemon21

Oreo

vampirequeen

God made man in his own image. Says a lot about God.

It’s only man who says that tho, not God.

Yes!!

If, as you say, man only says that he's created in the image of God, then God, who is omnipotent, must have know he was creating a flawed creature. Why did God do this? If he is all loving etc. then surely he would have created a perfect creature that didn't destroy itself and everything it came into contact with.

🤔

Why did God do this?

Did you not know that God gave man free will?

If, as you say, he gave man freewill then he set man up to fail by creating a flawed creature. He then sat back and watched man tear himself and the world apart. Strange behaviour for an all loving being.

A lot of Italians have strawberry blond hair and blue eyes!!

Some people say God is a woman but I doubt that.
She would have more sense.

vampirequeen

God made man in his own image. Says a lot about God.

IIRC some ancient Greek writer (Herodotus?) said that everyone imagines their particular god to resemble them. So e.g. Nubians (dark skinned) would imagine a dark skinned god, Thracians would imagine a red-haired one* and horses would imagine a horse-god.

*I was fascinated on reading that, to realise that a lot of Thracians had evidently been red haired!

vampirequeen

Callistemon21

Oreo

vampirequeen

God made man in his own image. Says a lot about God.

It’s only man who says that tho, not God.

Yes!!

If, as you say, man only says that he's created in the image of God, then God, who is omnipotent, must have know he was creating a flawed creature. Why did God do this? If he is all loving etc. then surely he would have created a perfect creature that didn't destroy itself and everything it came into contact with.

🤔

Why did God do this?

Did you not know that God gave man free will?

Callistemon21

Oreo

vampirequeen

God made man in his own image. Says a lot about God.

It’s only man who says that tho, not God.

Yes!!

If, as you say, man only says that he's created in the image of God, then God, who is omnipotent, must have know he was creating a flawed creature. Why did God do this? If he is all loving etc. then surely he would have created a perfect creature that didn't destroy itself and everything it came into contact with.

It is not religions that are the problem, it's man's interpretation of them

But religions do not exist per se - they are the work of humans.

It is not religions that are the problem, it's man's interpretation of them, their stubborn determination that they are right and others are wrong and it is the divisions caused by that and the fight for land which is often in the name of religion but has nothing whatsoever to do with God.

Oreo

vampirequeen

God made man in his own image. Says a lot about God.

It’s only man who says that tho, not God.

Yes!!

vampirequeen

God made man in his own image. Says a lot about God.

It’s only man who says that tho, not God.

Each version of god ,of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, imitates the political and social needs of the tribe or people the god pertains to.

Grantanow, the blood spilled in the name of religions is because peoples used to believe that religion was the same as politics. OT stories show this was the case with old time Judaism, and Christians too conflated religion and politics.
Zionism is a conflation of religion and politics,

God made man in his own image. Says a lot about God.

There's plenty of blood spilled in the Old Testament and the various Abrahamic religions have been at each others' throats ever since, witness the many wars of religion conducted by the Catholics and Protestants especially and their attacks on other groups such as the Cathars and Anabaptists as well as the Crusades, the Islamic conquests of Spain, etc., not to mention the oppression of other minority groups by the Inquisitions, the Anglicans post-1660 especially in regards to the Quakers, the French suppression of the Huguenots and the armed struggles of the Jews and Palestinians.