Could people really be this gullible?

[billvon 2,426]

>Yeah. That whole Easter business is nothing more than a trivial footnote. Irrelevant, really.

Not irrelevant at all. It's part of the story of his life.

But there have been excommunications and wars over the definition of easter, and the definition of the trinity, and the authority of the papacy. In my book, a man who spends his life killing other christians to defend the "true meaning" of easter is not a christian at all. A man who lives in peace with people - even people who disagree with what Easter means - is the true christian.

The words don't matter. The actions do.

[NCclimber 0]

What a lovely contrast.

Unfortunately it's irrelevant to the matter of believing in Christ's divinity. I'm not sure how someone can consider hisself a Christian without it.

[billvon 2,426]

>I'm not sure how someone can consider hisself a Christian without it.

I don't know why someone would care what you think of their religious beliefs.

[dorbie 0]

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A man who lives in peace with people - even people who disagree with what Easter means - is the true christian.

The words don't matter. The actions do.

You don't have to be a Christian to do that. In fact many atheists live exactly like that and would object to being called Christians.

It also presents a tautology that presupposes a Christian is necessarily good. All you're doing is imposing a filter that denies the true nature of Christianity.

Christians throughout history have butchered with the best of them. Denying that people were Christians who clearly were simply because they did things you find morally objectionable is simple revisionism. They belived that Christ was their savior, probably more devoutly than most Christians today. In fact you have to read the bible pretty selectively to conclude that going out on a genocidal spree is universally objectionable in the Christian religion.

Sorry, you don't get to retroactively excommunicate Christian brethren in an attempt to cleanse the record. Christians did this in the past and an irrational belief system no matter how you window dress it always has the potential to revert to it's earlier ways, it just takes a literate Bible scholar to take the "Good Book" at it's word.

[rhys 0]

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Arguing over these details seems pointless to me. Everyone thinks the details are a little different, and that's fine. The important part is to try to follow in the footsteps of Christ.

It surprises me that you say that.

Is it not completely obvious that the whole thing (religion) is an elaborate scam and as the title of this tread suggests, you would have to be completely gullible to believe it?

As a scientist you cannot argue against the fact that there is concrete evidence to the contrary of the teachings of the bible.

In my opinion it is all a load of crap and only useful for installing relatively good morals in lost individuals.

But what do I know!

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

[Royd 0]

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I think the central message of the New Testament is what Christ taught.

There are any number of people who have taught that we should be kind to others. Why didn't they get hung on a cross? Maybe his message has a point that pissed a lot of people off back then, and still does.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for the derision.

[idrankwhat 0]

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I think the central message of the New Testament is what Christ taught.

There are any number of people who have taught that we should be kind to others. Why didn't they get hung on a cross? Maybe his message has a point that pissed a lot of people off back then, and still does.

Otherwise, there would be no reason for the derision.

Probably because they weren't reformist rabbis who chose to come into town on a donkey and start flipping over the tables with the money on them. I'll bet that if I started exposing Pat Robertson's sins and threatened his cash I wouldn't be around for long either.

[billvon 2,426]

>There are any number of people who have taught that we should be kind
>to others. Why didn't they get hung on a cross?

They were. Many others were hanged, or burned at the stake, or shot.

>Maybe his message has a point that pissed a lot of people off back
>then, and still does.

Yep. Sadly, many of his followers simply disregard that particular part of his message for any of a multitude of excuses.