I feel like it's fairly applicable

This is like going to McDonald's and getting a dead bird in a stale bun. My expectations were already low, fucker

Thank god for people like Stefan

Without loving people like Stefan, my mother, one of my best friends, and so many other honest and well-meaning religious people I would be atheist, because no God would corrupt every worshipper

https://thesatanictemple.com/
"The mission of The Satanic Temple is to encourage benevolence and empathy among all people, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense and justice, and be directed by the human conscience to undertake noble pursuits guided by the individual will. Politically aware, Civic-minded Satanists and allies in The Satanic Temple have publicly opposed The Westboro Baptist Church, advocated on behalf of children in public school to abolish corporal punishment, applied for equal representation where religious monuments are placed on public property, provided religious exemption and legal protection against laws that unscientifically restrict women's reproductive autonomy, exposed fraudulent harmful pseudo-scientific practitioners and claims in mental health care, and applied to hold clubs along side other religious after school clubs in schools besieged by proselytizing organizations."

But humble, genuine, loving people are evidence that hey, maybe the idea of God's alright, it's just not something I actively experience

@Stefan Payne Thank you again, my friend

You put my faith back in faith, and although I'm never going to commit to a faith know that I'm happy to be living alongside fellow good people

c:

The satanic temple is cool, but the church of satan(levayan satanism) is full of edgy hedonist losers

My belief, or lack thereof, is not contingent on the perceived moral output of an unprovable being. 0% religious

everyone group has the same subset of people to different degrees

But I usually get along well with the religious, once those few initial barriers are passed

the same type of people that gave the religious a bad name, turned "liberals" and atheists into bad names

I usually get along well too because I only bring up my beliefs when directly asked, and by then people tend to have seen enough of me to judge me for who I am rather than how many fathers I may have.

People of faith are generally good. I oppose demagogues who bastardise the holy books to fulfil their own bigotry

See I'm just inquisitive, so people like that until/unless I ask the "wrong" question

And I'm willing to put forth the thought process

I've had some lengthy discussions with a Protestant and an Orthodox Christian in another discord

Which is where I pulled the Heathen Catholics thing from. You wanna hear some fucking trash being talked, ask a devout Orthodox Christian about the Pope and Saints

Literally if religious people follow the tenets of their own religions and stop being assholes to other people, they're cool with me. It's just people ignore scripture. Like, Islamic terrorists ignore that Muhammad literally forbade attacking Christians

Muhammad's Promise to the Monks of St. Catherine's Monastery Until the End of Days :



"This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them.



Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by Allah! I hold out against anything that displeases them.



No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries. No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims' houses.



Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God's covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.



No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray. Their churches are to be respected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants.



No one of the nation (Muslims) is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day (end of the world)."

When you can focus on the ideas, and ignore the people, you can have productive discussions

That depends severely on the fundamental tenets

Religious reform happens for a reason, divine word or no

Yes, but generally most religions fundamentally base themselves in order, justice and benevolence for your fellow man

Most major ones at least

Eh, I don't know about that either. It's situational

You look at the text and shit's fucked

At one or more points

Oh definitely a lot of laws are archaic but it's more about how those laws are written

Part of the aim of theological philosophy is to understand why the laws are what they are, and therefore to interpret the will of God and act accordingly

Would've been nice of God to actually tell us what he meant. Or to give us an updated version for the 21st century with a guide explaining it all objectively.

if you don't take the texts as literal, then you can use historical context to try and figure out the goal of what was written

You say most religions.

Can you name any that aren't rooted from Judaism?

@Vigil

Yes

Buddhism and Hinduism mainly

Zoroastronism

Gnosticism