"Touchdown Jesus" Burns....

[layoutshooter]

Turtle, you make some good points. Some religious jokes are funny, many are offensive and are meant to be that way. As are all other jokes.

I don't recall belittling the Muslim religion or it's beliefs. I do recall and will continue to belittle and condemn the perversion of those beliefs by the small minority of people that use that great religion to spew hatred for no other reason than to insure there own power. If I did belittle the religion or it's beliefs I apologize, I was unaware that I had and did not intend too.

Religion has never itself been the problem that people claim it is in the world. The problems are all caused by the wish of a few to control the many, either through religion or politics. That will never change. Religion is just the weapon of choice for some.

 

[Dave Johnson]

hey dreamer, the difference is if you make fun of Jesus in a show, the modern day Christian doesn't write to the show, threatening to come to the producers house, burn it, kill his family, if they don't remove the offending episode...(south park and the mohammed episode comes to mind?).it' s ok to make fun of people if you don't think there will be violent repercussions! you wont see a joke on here about a gay, black muslim!

You probably don't remember me, I used to hang with your brother don about 20 years ago. we ran for the same fleet owner leased to Roberts back in the day. I think you were the bouncer knockin skulls at that **** hole little biker bar outside of WCH back then. someone told me the other day they heard Don had cancer, that right?


Dave

 

[Turtle]

Just click the link and read it. It's funny.

There's really nothing to apologize for, tho. My point is that it's perfectly natural to deride or make fun of our enemies, or those who are different from us. I think it's also important, very important, to learn to laugh at ourselves. If you believe in salvation, I believe that one of the very first steps on the road to salvation is learning to laugh at one's own mistakes, beliefs and shortcomings. Christians (and Muslims and most other religions) have no problem deriding or making fun of other religions, but it's a real problem when the shoe is on the other foot. I wonder why that is? I believe that only when we are in touch with our own flaws can we truly open ourselves to the saving power of God, if you believe in that sort of thing.

When God told 100-year old Abraham that he and Sarah were to have a child, Sarah busted out laughing. Was God offended? Newp. Instead, the Lord was gracious to Sarah and did for her as he promised.

When the baby was born they named it Isaac, which is Hebrew for "laughter". It's true, says so right there in the Bible. Look it up. It also says it's OK to laugh about it, in fact it was God who brought the laughter to Sarah and to all those who will hear about it. Don't you people ever actually read the Bible?

Christian Humor doesn't have to be an oxymoron, you know. It's OK to find the joy and humor in life, wherever it may be.

And you know how I know that? The Bible tells me so.

This is bound to offend someone. Sorry.

 

[Turtle]

you wont see a joke on here about a gay, black muslim!

Yes you will...

 

[Dreamer]

hey dreamer, the difference is if you make fun of Jesus in a show, the modern day Christian doesn't write to the show, threatening to come to the producers house, burn it, kill his family, if they don't remove the offending episode...(south park and the mohammed episode comes to mind?).it' s ok to make fun of people if you don't think there will be violent repercussions! you wont see a joke on here about a gay, black muslim!

You probably don't remember me, I used to hang with your brother don about 20 years ago. we ran for the same fleet owner leased to Roberts back in the day. I think you were the bouncer knockin skulls at that **** hole little biker bar outside of WCH back then. someone told me the other day they heard Don had cancer, that right?


Dave

Dave,
Wow. That was a lifetime ago. Don passed away in October. I'll drop you a PM.

Dale

 

[Number28]

Here are a couple of the quotes from Maher's movie, still not sure if they are factual.

We've got Krishna who was in India


1,000 years before Christ.
Krishna was a carpenter,


born of a virgin, baptized in a river.


Are you saying that
was written in history?


That was written down in history,
is that what you're saying?



Absolutely, there's the Persian god
Mithra, 600 years before Christ.


Born December 25th,
performed miracles,


resurrected on the third day,


known as the Lamb, the Way, the Truth,
the Light, the Savior, Messiah.

I was hoping someone with more knowledge than me on this subject, might just enlighten me. So here is one more try.

I have been thinking about religion alot today. Just wondering if anyone else has ever had this thought, cause the theory seems to make some sense. Here is my theory.

God created everything just like many religions agree. Early man was informed but like a game of telephone line where the story gets changed ever so slightly from person to person, religions began popping up. Seriously, what if God exists and accepts all prayers from all religions and understands that the masses are all misinformed to some extent. Some religions could have been started for power some for money and some due to misinformation, C,mon we are talking about thousands of years and not the greatest record keeping. From what I understand the ressurection was written some years after the event, and not by eye witnesses to it.
Please I am not bashing any religion here.

Has anyone read the book God's Dust? It is a short read but pretty well done, I think by the author of Dilbert comics, it made me wonder.

 

[Number28]

To Dreamer with all due respect:
You said that your prayers to Jesus have been answered and changed you into who you are. Is it possible that it is God that answers prayers to Jesus.
I have trouble with various religions that believe all the others are doomed. I have a real problem with thinking that all Jews, Hindus, Muslims etc etc etc that are peace loving and pray to God are going to burn because they believe a different book. I know the Christians say the ONLY way to heaven is through Jesus. I cannot believe a loving God would burn good, god fearing, humble, charitable people for being taught the wrong story.

 

[greg334]

You are also forgetting about the Great Buddha.

In all honesty and this will offend some, I think the religion was hijacked for political reasons at the First Council of Nicaea. It wasn't until that time the trinity existed and since then making God equal to man was wrong with a lot of people and even with other religions.

There were a number of people who rejected the Doctrine, especially Arius, his followers and later on Constantine II.

God has yet to confirm that the Doctrine is what he had in mind.

With that said, when you compare some of the stuff Jesus has done and said, it looks like he spent some time with some Buddhist and was trying to introduce some Buddhist teachings into Judaism.

 

[layoutshooter]

Greg, Man has long hijacked religion and used it as a weapon. This is still going on today. In this Nation we enjoy freedom of religion and have the RIGHT to practice ANY religion we chose, at least for now.

That RIGHT has NEVER allowed us or others to restrict or ridicule others beliefs. The ONLY way to insure these freedoms is to insure that ALL religions, or lack of religion is respected. That rule MUST be followed by Jew, Christian, Muslim and non-believers alike, or all lose their basic human rights granted to the PEOPLE under our Constitution.

 

[Dreamer]

To Dreamer with all due respect:
You said that your prayers to Jesus have been answered and changed you into who you are. Is it possible that it is God that answers prayers to Jesus.
I have trouble with various religions that believe all the others are doomed. I have a real problem with thinking that all Jews, Hindus, Muslims etc etc etc that are peace loving and pray to God are going to burn because they believe a different book. I know the Christians say the ONLY way to heaven is through Jesus. I cannot believe a loving God would burn good, god fearing, humble, charitable people for being taught the wrong story.

28,

Ive wondered about some of that myself, as I have met what i would call holy men of different faiths. I dont know the answer.

When I say Jesus, that is interchangable with God, as we believe in a triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Muslims pray to Allah, which is their name for God of the Christian old testament. However, they stayed with the law version, and do not accept Jesus as the son of God, nor do the Jews. They believe he was a good man, but not God. They say it would be blasphemy to believe that man could kill God, even if He allowed it...and was going to ressurect. Thats where Christians split off. We believe Jesus was indeed the Earthly Incarnation of God, as He said. We believe either everything He said was true, or else He was the worlds biggest liar. Cant be halfway, not just a good man. I do pray to Jesus and or God interchangably, and my prayers are answered and The Holy Spirit gives us comfort.

As for Buddha, he himself said he wasnt a god. I believe he was a very wise man, and Proverbs is indeed very similar to his writing.

I am not a theologian by any stretch of imagination, but my daughter just graduated with degrees in Ministry and Intercultural studies. The things she learned have made me want to know more. Ive been around gentlemen with doctorates in theology and ministry lately, and that has made me decide to return to school so i can answer more in depth questions.


Thanks for the questions 28, well put, and not disrespectful at all!


Dale

 

[dabluzman1]

It's not just humor that offends some religious people, it can be simply questioning the beliefs. "The DaVinci Code", remember that? Oh, the outrage!!, that someone might have the gall to suggest that something other than The Word may be true. When that movie was out, there was a group of Catholics set up at the theater encouraging people not to see the movie. Seems that they didn't have much confidence in their beliefs. If they were truly confident, why not just say, "Oh yea, bring it!!"

Catholics arent shaken in their belief, more like shaking and cautious,

"Oh yea, bring it"

I believe the last Catholic to say that was, ummmmm
crucified.

 

[layoutshooter]

Catholics arent shaken in their belief, more like shaking and cautious,

"Oh yea, bring it"

I believe the last Catholic to say that was, ummmmm
crucified.

Only governments can destroy true faith, or at least they can try. Russia could not do it. China has not been able to nor has any other government. This one will likely not succeed either, despite what some might wish.By the way, who was the "last Catholic" to be crucified?

 

[Turtle]

Man has long hijacked religion and used it as a weapon. This is still going on today.

I've spent nearly my entire life studying religions, individually and comparatively. It's all part of my study of social science, human nature, the study of what makes people tick. It's not so much that man has hijacked religion for use as a weapon, but rather religion was invented as a means of control, and for use as a weapon to keep that control.

Don't confuse faith and religion, as far too many people do, as they are very different things.

With almost no exceptions, within every single culture in all of recorded human history there is a belief in a god or gods, or some kind of higher power, a supreme being of some sort. This belief is arguably innate within humans, either because there is something to it, or because of the equally innate need to explain the world around us, even when we can't explain it. Often times, explanations are invented to explain things.

Comets are signals from God to go to war, the volcano god is angry, God works in mysterious ways. We have a deep need to explain what we do not understand. Many times these explanations are incorporated into religions, and when the real, actual explanations are discovered, religions must change to accommodate the irrefutable. That one simple fact alone should give one pause when it comes to blind faith in a religion, versus blind faith in God.

If there is one true God, one must ask the question - Why is there more than one religion? Why are there many sects within the same religion, where one group handles rattle snakes during worship and another group disallows women to paint their faces and yet another group encourages it, and still another group demands their follower engage in unwanted and obnoxious behavior to spread their views of their religion? How is it possible that the Word of God can be interpreted in more than one way, much less misinterpreted by so many in so many ways?

The answer is not that man has hijacked religion, but rather man has used religion to hijack faith.

There are thousands of variations of different religions. The chances are that one of them out there is right. The chances that your particular flavor of religion just so happens to be the One True and Correct Religion are pretty slim, regardless of how many others happen to believe in the same things and the same ways to worship God.

The biggest mistake the frailty of man makes is when they let their own religion hijack their own faith.

 

[highway star]

I believe the last Catholic to say that was, ummmmm
crucified.

Who was that?

 

[layoutshooter]

Who was that?

I could not find out their names but it seems that the last Catholics to be crucified was in 2009 in the Sudan.

 

[cheri1122]

Greg, Man has long hijacked religion and used it as a weapon. This is still going on today. In this Nation we enjoy freedom of religion and have the RIGHT to practice ANY religion we chose, at least for now.

That RIGHT has NEVER allowed us or others to restrict or ridicule others beliefs. The ONLY way to insure these freedoms is to insure that ALL religions, or lack of religion is respected. That rule MUST be followed by Jew, Christian, Muslim and non-believers alike, or all lose their basic human rights granted to the PEOPLE under our Constitution.

So can you explain why you published the post [linked by Turtle, post 109] that ridiculed the beliefs of Muslims?
Like I said before: I respect faith and sincerity, it's hypocrisy that ticks me off.

 

[layoutshooter]

So can you explain why you published the post [linked by Turtle, post 109] that ridiculed the beliefs of Muslims?
Like I said before: I respect faith and sincerity, it's hypocrisy that ticks me off.

I did. I said that I did NOT INTEND to ridicule the BELIEFS of the Muslim religion and then said that if I had I apologize for it. I take it you missed that post. I DO knock what some extremists are doing in the NAME of the Muslim religion. That post was an email that I got and should NOT have posted. It was in poor taste. It is not always hypocrisy, just human weakness. You believe as you wish. You, as everyone, have your prejudices as well.

 

[Dreamer]

You made some good points there Turtle. There is a big difference in Religion and Faith. My faith is my relationship with God. My religion, even my denomination is the practices I choose to follow while worshipping Him. Of course I believe God is the true god, or I would not try to serve Him...those methods of worship, are open to interpretation.

Too many people have seen the "Christians" who are all about their "rules", and never show the peace that comes from seeking God's will for your life, and the joy that comes from living in His light.

For me....its. not about the "rules" , its about the peace.

Thats just me.

Dale

 

[greg334]

Dale,
I find a lot of Christians remove the meaning of Christ from their everyday lives. It is like they want the non-believers to bow down to them because they are the enlighten ones but fail to understand the works, meaning and teachings. Very narrow minded people.

I applaud you for this

For me....its. not about the "rules" , its about the peace.

But with that said, I have to correct something that is a misconception.

Islam believes that Jesus was a prophet, as they believe Moses, Abraham, and others were also prophets. These were not just good men but men who spoke for God and were leaders in their faith. In some parts of Islam there seems to be a belief that Jesus will return to earth and fight the anti-Christ but there is a matter of opinion what his purpose is after that within the religion.

 

[Dreamer]

Dale,
I find a lot of Christians remove the meaning of Christ from their everyday lives. It is like they want the non-believers to bow down to them because they are the enlighten ones but fail to understand the works, meaning and teachings. Very narrow minded people.

I applaud you for this

For me....its. not about the "rules" , its about the peace.

But with that said, I have to correct something that is a misconception.

Islam believes that Jesus was a prophet, as they believe Moses, Abraham, and others were also prophets. These were not just good men but men who spoke for God and were leaders in their faith. In some parts of Islam there seems to be a belief that Jesus will return to earth and fight the anti-Christ but there is a matter of opinion what his purpose is after that within the religion.

Thanks Greg, see, I learned something new. I didnt know they even acknowledged Him as a prophet.. I believe he was more tho.

I personally believe the Bible is absolutely clear on some things. Irrefutable "laws" if you will. Other things have developed from peoples interpretation of the rest. As Turtle said, some focus on a style of dress, a method of worship, etc. I grew up in a VERY conservative denomination, and some of them are very different from me now. For instance, my hair and tattooos are very objectionable to some, but others are very welcoming.

We may not worship the same way, or look the same, but if we worship the same God....how can the God in my heart not get along with the God in yours?

Too many Christians are so caught up in trying to prove their denomination or method of worship is the right one, they forget there's a whole lot of people who are not even sure there IS a God.

Actions are more important than words.


Dale