Just when you think America can’t get any crazier…

[Foxholer]

Pretty much not political rather than genuinely scared where their country is heading...

It's been scary for some time!
Any country that decides Ronald Regan or Donald Trump are the best folk to be in charge (and even in charge of the Nuclear button) is seriously flawed!

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

At least atheists don't go door to door telling people/children to accept Jesus or they will burn in hell forever.

And neither to the majority Christians…only those of certain and specific denominations do that - most obviously JWs. And most of us also do not believe or preach this sort of stuff.

 

[Foxholer]

At least atheists don't go door to door telling people/children to accept Jesus or they will burn in hell forever.

Are you saying children aren't people?
FWIW. The 'door to door' proselytisers get short shrift from me! I have occasionally invited them in to 'test their faith' wrt Genesis, their particular 'flavour's' peculiarities and the wealth of their organisation, but that got a bit tiresome after a while.

 

[Hobbit]

And neither to the majority Christians…only those of certain and specific denominations do that - most obviously JWs. And most of us also do not believe or preach this sort of stuff.

I’ve had many religious door knockers down the years, and liking a good debate I’ve invited many of them in, including JW’s. I’ve never heard the old “burn in hell” phrase. Heard some dubious interpretations and had some great ding-dong sessions with them but never had the “turn to god or else…”

 

[bobmac]

Are you saying children aren't people?

I'm just highlighting that these door to door preachers are quite happy to threaten children as well as adults
Get them while they're young
Proverbs 22:6

I’ve never heard the old “burn in hell” phrase. Heard some dubious interpretations and had some great ding-dong sessions with them but never had the “turn to god or else…”

Mathew 10:28
''And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.''

 

[Leftitshort]

I’ve had many religious door knockers down the years, and liking a good debate I’ve invited many of them in, including JW’s. I’ve never heard the old “burn in hell” phrase. Heard some dubious interpretations and had some great ding-dong sessions with them but never had the “turn to god or else…”

I heard it from one fella. A born again Christian I used to work with. It wasn’t his religion that was a issue, it was the fact he was a nut job. Religion is a smoke screen, it just gave him and others, as in this case, an excuse to be a bit of a dick

 

[bobmac]

And neither to the majority Christians…only those of certain and specific denominations do that - most obviously JWs. And most of us also do not believe or preach this sort of stuff.

So I guess you'd class yourself as a 'cultural christian' rather than a 'biblical christian'?

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I’ve had many religious door knockers down the years, and liking a good debate I’ve invited many of them in, including JW’s. I’ve never heard the old “burn in hell” phrase. Heard some dubious interpretations and had some great ding-dong sessions with them but never had the “turn to god or else…”

…and I too will often enter into discussion with JWs, challenging their interpretations of various things we can read into biblical text if we so choose.

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

So I guess you'd class yourself as a 'cultural christian' rather than a 'biblical christian'?

I am not a biblical literalist and I do not need to be one to have a Christian faith.

You can choose your own classifications/categorisations - I have never before heard of your form of ‘discrimination/differentiation’…why not just accept that different denominations have different understandings of what is written, and consider how they draw their understanding, rather than just coming out with a form of differentiation that simply demonstrates your own specific view of religion through use of what I might consider to be an insult (albeit one that I can bear lightly), ignoring completely what it means to have a faith.

btw…would you tell a Muslim who does not believe literally and act accordingly on every word of the Quran that he or she is a ‘cultural Muslim‘…?

 

[Swinglowandslow]

Religion is not ‘simply’ about bringing joy to people’s lives, it’s more about a way of thinking and a way of living for the individual, and how they can contribute to and support others in society. It is very difficult for very many Christians that some evangelical Biblical literalist denominations choose to interpret out of context writings in books centuries old that were written at different times and in the contexts of their very different times.

When I, and those of my denomination (I cannot speak for other denominations), read or listen to any extract from any of the books of the Bible, I listen for the word of God, I do not listen to the word of God. There is a very big difference. That those on the evangelical Christian right in the US choose to take what is written literally and interpret and apply it to support and justify their specific views on any matter is very difficult and indeed upsetting for very many of us having a Christian faith.

Just saying.

Yes, religion is about a way of thinking about how you behave etc, but "how they can contribute to and support others in society. " is not an integral part of it.
Sure, in some religions some individuals do see " how they can contribute to and support others in society. ", but then so do all other decent and civilised citizens of this planet.
What religion has always done is made it a major effort of itself to persuade others to believe as it does, ranging , in the case of Christianity, from the Spanish Inquisition to knocking on doors, and including the making of Laws to enforce their beliefs.
Which is what is happening in U.S at the moment.
And this Clarence fellow, to whom Ethan refers, is a prime example of religious fervour.
Perhaps, without religion, we may reduce conflict and embrace instead thoughts along these lines.

"We long for a Parent to care for us, to forgive us our errors, to save us from our childish mistakes. But knowledge is preferable to ignorance. Better by far to embrace the hard truth than a reassuring fable. If we crave some cosmic purpose, then let us find ourselves a worthy goal.”
Carl Sagan.......

Just saying.

 

[Foxholer]

...
Mathew 10:28
''And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.''

You are doing exactly the same as what I object to when it's done by the 'door to door evangelists' you mention. Quoting a single verse out of context. The whole of the chapter, in this case Matthew 10, should be read, not simply 10:28. Though, given your (and probably my) attitude to Door to Door evangelists, it's unsurprising you choose to quote from that chapter.
FWIW, I don't find anything objectionable in that verse, though there is some perhaps 'iffy' verses later.

 

[Swinglowandslow]

I’ve had many religious door knockers down the years, and liking a good debate I’ve invited many of them in, including JW’s. I’ve never heard the old “burn in hell” phrase. Heard some dubious interpretations and had some great ding-dong sessions with them but never had the “turn to god or else…”[/QUOTE

Like all good salesmen, the unsavoury small print is left till last or not revealed at all.?

"NO Man cometh to the Father except by me"?

 

[bobmac]

People have told me if they want to be religious I should let them be.
Fine.
However, I draw the line when they use their religious beliefs to make laws that affect the way other people live their life.
Unfortunately, I think Roe v Wade is just the beginning.

 

[Orikoru]

Absolute farce. Can we just lock them away from the rest of the world and throw away the key? There's a reason why in every blockbuster movie 'saving the world' really just means saving America. They have absolutely no concept of what's going on in the world. When Trump said 'make America great again' he really meant take America back to the 1970s again. Considering they seem themselves as some of sort leaders of the free world, they're so backwards it's unbelievable. Their recent history plays like the introduction flashback scenes of a post-apocalyptic disaster movie.

 

[Fade and Die]

Absolute farce. Can we just lock them away from the rest of the world and throw away the key? There's a reason why in every blockbuster movie 'saving the world' really just means saving America. They have absolutely no concept of what's going on in the world. When Trump said 'make America great again' he really meant take America back to the 1970s again. Considering they seem themselves as some of sort leaders of the free world, they're so backwards it's unbelievable. Their recent history plays like the introduction flashback scenes of a post-apocalyptic disaster movie.

Don’t know if you have caught Star Trek “Strange new worlds” but this is exactly what has happened. They used flashbacks of recent American civil unrest as a precursor to a 2nd civil war and then onto WW3!

 

[Brads]

So more likely to get shot then?

Nope not really.
People seem terrified of guns for no good reason.
I wouldn’t think for a second about getting shot in America.
What I do think though is their right to keep firearms is a positive and something that should never have been removed here.
It was only removed here to stop workers revolting after the Second World War.

 

[Brads]

At least atheists don't go door to door telling people/children to accept Jesus or they will burn in hell forever.

Jehovah’s witnesses
Vile people.

 

[Orikoru]

Nope not really.
People seem terrified of guns for no good reason.
I wouldn’t think for a second about getting shot in America.
What I do think though is their right to keep firearms is a positive and something that should never have been removed here.
It was only removed here to stop workers revolting after the Second World War.

I guess you're not black or a schoolchild then. Alright for some!

 

[bobmac]

Nope not really.

You said you'd prefer to live in a red state, I was just pointing out you'd be more likely to be shot in a red state than a blue state

 

[Swinglowandslow]

Nope not really.
People seem terrified of guns for no good reason.
I wouldn’t think for a second about getting shot in America.
What I do think though is their right to keep firearms is a positive and something that should never have been removed here.
It was only removed here to stop workers revolting after the Second World War.

I think you will find that there were Firearms Acts prior to world war 2 controlling acquisition, possession and use of firearms.
Firearms Act 1937 was one.