Anyone notice that the christians are still around?

[Zen Dog]

Dudes,did you all buy PPI? Did you all get psychologicaly mugged? There appears to be a fair degree of uptightness taking place here.
Belief systems are just that.Enlighten up,take it easy.History/myth is history/myth.Is anyone currently pissing on your rug?Is there blood on the carpet?
The past is another country and some countries have still to catch up.Shit dudes,that's just the way it is.Nothing we can do,they have to come to it in their own time.
And please bare in mind dudes, that sometimes I am fucking pissed.

[Hominid]

And to add to ZD's point, every religion has it's idiots and zealots who take things too far. Don't blame religion itself - blame the assholes who do the stoning, etc. I know people who aren't religious but are extremist in their own beliefs... religion just provides an easy excuse for asshole behavior...

[DigitalBuddha]

Are we still here dudes? I don't know dudes...this could all just be like an illusion.

I'm still here, so is my special lady friend. 

[Andrea Da Fino]

And to add to ZD's point, every religion has it's idiots and zealots who take things too far. Don't blame religion itself - blame the assholes who do the stoning, etc. I know people who aren't religious but are extremist in their own beliefs... religion just provides an easy excuse for asshole behavior...

Perfectly correct, however there are religions in the world who has a much higher percentage of zealots than others; we have almost none, our Buddhists and Taoists compeer more or less the same, others have an 80% of zealots and fundamentalists. Might be it depends from where people live and not only from the specific religion. If a religion, however uptight it is, finds no asshole then it dies; if it finds assholes then it lives, like the one based on extraterrestrial things having an influence on human beings. I'm sure you know its name.
The problem, so to speak, is always the durned human nature; not that we have to accept everything submissively anyway. Imho

[meekon5]

...wait ten years from now when Muslims will be the majority everywhere and see if you'll still think the same. They stone people still today.

Just my opinion though. 

They may end up the majority of people of faith (but never forget to count the Buddhists, just because they are not making much noise), but I truly believe that the vast majority of people will still be atheist.

Look at the seventy percent drop in those people claiming to be christian in Britain in the last census because of the humanist campaign to have the religion question better worded.

Remember it is the vast majority of people who are not making the noise that you should look to not the idiots getting in your face or shouting at the camera on the news, All IMHO of course

[Andrea Da Fino]

Actually, dude, the new correct nomenclature is imdo, in my dudely opinion. 

Well, it might be, but I guess the vast majority is spiritual and toward monotheistic religions than atheists, imdo. I've dabbled in humanism for a while but I received the impression that most of the times they are just copying other religions without having the intention to be religious. Like people is spiritual or religious so we try to be neither spiritual nor religious but at the same time copying, more or less, what spirituality and religions do. Like using margarine instead of butter. Imdo obviously. I find cooler to talk with buddhists, pagans and whatever but again, that's just my lane. Not that if there is a cool atheist I don't dig his style, only that it's pretty difficult to find a cool one, in the sense of not being uptight or having a limber mind. 

I agree that it's the vast majority of calm people which should be taken into account, but keep in mind also that it's because they are calm and quiet that assholes, criminals, paraquats, nihilists and real reactionaries are spreading everywhere. The good gardener takes away weeds as soon as possible before they spread and fuck up the whole garden. Also many times the silent majority is like a bunch of sheeps who just follow the prevalent wind. Not always but, well, you know.

As for Muslims I don't know there but here, quietly and calmly they are spreading everywhere and being that they have a bigger percentage of zealots than other religions, well, that's a problem. And given that a good muslim has the duty to help fellow muslims whatever they do it doesn't really matter the percentage. Probably there are enlightened muslim countries around the world but in most of them if you go around wearing different religious things you get kicked, usually in the head. At least that's what I know.

You can be quiet but it can happen that one day suddenly you find that your own little garden is no more yours.

Is there any muslim dude around the forum? I mean not someone who has changed his religion and later become muslim, someone born muslim who has later joined dudeism. Is there one around? Just curious. 

[meekon5]

Actually, dude, the new correct nomenclature is imdo, in my dudely opinion. 

Oh that's what that is. That's been bugging me for weeks.

"imdo"

Didn't get that one at all. Must have been out of the playground whilst that was being talked about.

[Sailing Dude]

As a wise man once told me a christian church is just a hospital for sinners that's why I hold my dudest church on our sailboat daily and partaque in daily sacriment so light one up folks.

[Hominid]

As a wise man once told me a christian church is just a hospital for sinners that's why I hold my dudest church on our sailboat daily and partaque in daily sacriment so light one up folks.

If you're meaning to say that we're sinners just because the christian church says we are, well, there's lots of opinions that say otherwise!  Anyone else want to have a go at this one?

[meekon5]

As for Muslims I don't know there but here, quietly and calmly they are spreading everywhere and being that they have a bigger percentage of zealots than other religions, well, that's a problem.

After the fall of the USSR it became necessary to have a new bogeyman for the military to  blame and fight wars against so the munitions companies didn't loose any business.

Please remember that the scarf wearing Arabic fundamentalist muslim, that we see plastered across our TV screens and newspapers, actually only represents a minority, in fact a minority of a minority. Islam is mostly represented as an arab religion.

There are many Islamic states that are rarely shown on television.

We don't see Malaysia represented who have been part of The Organization of Islamic Conference since 1969. A very progressive state, westernised, but not a good image if you want to engender hate and war mongering.

And given that a good muslim has the duty to help fellow muslims whatever they do it doesn't really matter the percentage.

It's also the duty of a good muslim to obey his wife, to quote a good muslim friend of mine, who came from Casablanca, again a very under represented state.

Probably there are enlightened muslim countries around the world but in most of them if you go around wearing different religious things you get kicked, usually in the head. At least that's what I know.

Again not an experience I have had, but then we each live our lives differently.

And do remember that the CIA trained Bin Laden to attack the Russians in Afghanistan, then were surprised when he turned on them.

Is there any muslim dude around the forum? I mean not someone who has changed his religion and later become muslim, someone born muslim who has later joined dudeism. Is there one around? Just curious.  

This is a good question do we have any Dudeist Muslim who can comment please?

I just think one should be careful about the fact that though we feel free and believe we receive information that is balanced and unbiased we are only as free as we are allowed to be. (please watch "wag the dog")

All media is filtered. All media is controlled.

(better to be paranoid and to find they are not out to get you than not to be and find they are!)

[Sailing Dude]

Do you go to a christian church every sunday or not ? or Do you hold your own meetings and partaque in a smoking sacriment and abide in the faith of Dudeism and forgiveness. Soo much negitive in modern christian churches has us looking for non-negitive folks to live like, Jesus was not negitive.

[meekon5]

Do you go to a christian church every sunday or not ? or Do you hold your own meetings and partaque in a smoking sacriment and abide in the faith of Dudeism and forgiveness...

Um no!

Dudeism is an explanation of the way I have lived most of my life, a title I can finally give people like my family so they can stop asking what religion I am this week.

[Sailing Dude]

Do you go to a christian church every sunday or not ? or Do you hold your own meetings and partaque in a smoking sacriment and abide in the faith of Dudeism and forgiveness...

Um no!

Dudeism is an explanation of the way I have lived most of my life, a title I can finally give people like my family so they can stop asking what religion I am this week.

I totally agree

[Andrea Da Fino]

M5, your answers are always well documented, and well thought. Even if I miss a bit Rev. Ed point of view. Anyway, very interesting picture, especially about Hinduism, well, at least they should be pretty open minded.

While I agree that news are fundamentally biased, no one talks about what's happening in Iceland and soon no one will talk anymore about Greece, real popular democracy is something to be avoided at all costs, the use of fear or enemies to control people, etc. my point is still that there are religions much more dangerous, or uptight, than the Christian one, even if in its Catholic form. I just don't like the every religion or non religion is good except the Christian one.

As for Islam actually I haven't yet read their sacred book but from what I know in reality women are usually just a step above dogs in many Islamic countries. Men can marry women from different religions after they've joined Islam because this way they spread Islam, women cannot leave Islam for other religions. It might be that there is freedom is Islam but I can't see it. That's why it would be interesting to hear the voice of a dude from an Islamic country. It might be that the kind of islamic religion we know here is different from the one in their own country.

But I wonder if even in the more enlightened countries other religions are allowed to have temples or similar place of worship as Muslims are allowed to have in the West.

Another interesting thing from your picture is how many different sects constitute Christianity. From a simple idea so many complicated churches. But that's human nature.

Also Sharia and genital mutilation are a feature of some Islamic branches who anyway say they're sticking to the Qumran. It might be that they are just crazy but I've never heard one of their church bosses say something against it. Or put a Fatwa against them.

But I also know that there are the Sufis, who are pretty cool about their point of view on religion and in fact from time to time they get beaten because they are too cool.

My point is not that Muslims are all bad but that there are other religions beyond the Catholic one and other mislead branches of Christianity who are as uptight and sometimes much more than Catholicism.

If Islam is not in reality as bad as it seems this certainly can be applied to almost every other religion, right? Even Catholicism and Christianity, probably not Scientology though. Imdo. 

[meekon5]

My point is not that Muslims are all bad but that there are other religions beyond the Catholic one and other mislead branches of Christianity who are as uptight and sometimes much more than Catholicism.

If Islam is not in reality as bad as it seems this certainly can be applied to almost every other religion, right? Even Catholicism and Christianity, probably not Scientology though. Imdo. 

Andrea  I see what you are saying now.

As an aside if you look at the period when Sicily was actually Muslim during the dark ages (10th c to 11th c ce). It was actually more balanced and enlightened than it's Italian neighbour, allowing many people to freely practice their religions (even christianity).

But yes again we do sometimes appear to be very anti-christian here, that may be people working off their issues though.