religion

[KagatobLuvsAnimu]

lol

[paulgiamatti]

Originally Posted by katrik [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

I don't have a 'big' problem with religion. I do believe that it sets the human race back as a whole, with the absence of needless wars and focus on advancement/science. But, culture is not a bad thing.. religion helps people cope with the reality of death, helps out local communities, helps feed the poor, etc. I do have a problem with extremists.. every religion has them.. which stinks. I'm an atheist, but i'm not in your face about it. I'm private about it, as I think all religion/beliefs should be.

I agree with a lot of this, especially the last sentence, but culture can and should be just as robust and vibrant and spiritual without religion as it is with religion. This idea that atheism somehow detracts from all the good things we enjoy in life, like music and the arts, or self-transcendence and enlightenment, and that these things can only be provided by religion is just simply false. Atheism is not acultural, nor does religion have some kind of monopoly on or secret keys to culture.

Every good thing you just mentioned that can be done with the help of religion can also done by the irreligious, except helping people cope with the reality of death - religion doesn't help people do this in any way whatsoever.

[paulgiamatti]

How very subtly racist of you.

[KagatobLuvsAnimu]

Originally Posted by paulgiamatti [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

How very subtly racist of you.

That's not what racism is. That's not even close to what racism is. Please try again.

[paulgiamatti]

Yeah, actually it's more overtly racist than just racist subtlety.

[KagatobLuvsAnimu]

White southerners were never slaves. Black southerners are descended from slaves. The bible not only condones but specifically endorses slavery as 'a legitimate practice'.

Do the fucking math you moron.

[KagatobLuvsAnimu]

Originally Posted by paulgiamatti [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

How about you develop some kind of a moral conscience instead of painfully defending your racism instead?

Defending? I'm openly racist. The world would be a much better place if the middle east (Israel included) was walled off and never looked at again. Liberians are the morons of the month, raiding and destroying ebola quarantine zones, they deserve whatever happens to them. It would bring me the greatest amount of pleasure possible if someone nuked the fuck out of Puerto Rico considering at least a percentage of Mexicans actually try yet the fucking parasitic spics are never mentioned. Fuck the Irish, fuck the south, fuck Jehobos, fuck magical underpants mormons. I don't much care for the french and I've never met a Cambodian containing a hint of civility.

That my friend, is racism. It's emotionally motivated, rooted in stereotype and anecdotal evidence.

Originally Posted by KagatobLuvsAnimu [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

White southerners were never slaves. Black southerners are descended from slaves. The bible not only condones but specifically endorses slavery as 'a legitimate practice'.

That is an observation. It's based upon empirical evidence backed up by observational study.

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[RobotElvis]

Originally Posted by KagatobLuvsAnimu [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

White southerners were never slaves. Black southerners are descended from slaves. The bible not only condones but specifically endorses slavery as 'a legitimate practice'.

Do the fucking math you moron.

It seems as if you are changing history. There were plenty of white slaves in antebellum south. The Irish slave trade was thriving in England and the colonies long before the African slave trade. In fact the Irish were viewed as more profitable because of being cheaper than African slaves. And in the Protestant south there was just as much bigotry toward a catholic Irish slave as toward a black African slave.

So there are southern whites that descend from slaves.

[paulgiamatti]

How about you develop some kind of a moral conscience instead of painfully defending your racism instead?

[Glenzig]

Consider the following regulations included in the Law given through Moses:


● Kidnapping a man and then selling him was punishable by death. (Exodus 21:16) However, if despite all the provisions made to prevent poverty, an Israelite found himself deeply in debt, perhaps as a result of poor management, he could sell himself as a slave. In some cases he might even be able to earn a surplus by which he could redeem himself.—Leviticus 25:47-52.


● This was not the oppressive kind of slavery that has been common in many lands through the ages. Leviticus 25:39, 40 says: “In case your brother grows poor alongside you and he has to sell himself to you, you must not use him as a worker in slavish service. He should prove to be with you like a hired laborer, like a settler.” So this was a loving provision to care for Israel’s poorest.


● A person found guilty of stealing who was unable to make full restitution according to the Law could be sold as a slave and in this way pay off his debt. (Exodus 22:3) When he had worked off the debt, he could go free.


● Cruel and abusive slavery was not allowed under God’s Law to Israel. While masters were allowed to discipline their slaves, excesses were forbidden. A slave killed by his master was to be avenged. (Exodus 21:20) If the slave was maimed, losing a tooth or an eye, he was set free.—Exodus 21:26, 27.


● The maximum time that any Israelite would have to serve as a slave was six years. (Exodus 21:2) Hebrew slaves were set free in the seventh year of their service. The Law demanded that every 50 years all Israelite slaves p. 29were to be set free nationwide, regardless of how long the individual had been a slave.—Leviticus 25:40, 41.


● When a slave was released, the master was required to be generous toward him. Deuteronomy 15:13, 14 says: “In case you should send him out from you as one set free, you must not send him out empty-handed. You should surely equip him with something from your flock and your threshing floor and your oil and winepress.”


Later, in the days of Jesus and his apostles, slavery was an entrenched practice in the Roman Empire. As Christianity spread, it was inevitable that individuals who were slaves and others who were slave owners would come in contact with the good news and become Christians. Neither Jesus Christ himself nor his apostles preached a gospel of social liberation, as if trying to reform the existing system. Rather, both slaves and slave owners were admonished to love one another as spiritual brothers.—Colossians 4:1; 1 Timothy 6:2.