Simple question?

Quote: pew

It's a fact that some people believe/opine that people have come back to life after being very dead

I don't care, just don't state it as a fact.
You can't know it's a fact, that's where
the word 'belief' comes in. They hope
it's true, they believe it's true, but they
can't know for sure. No matter how many
times they say it. And you can say I don't
know if it's true either. But I have actual
physical law on my side, I can site billions
of instances where it never happened.

Quote: Evenbob

I don't care, just don't state it as a fact.
You can't know it's a fact, that's where
the word 'belief' comes in. They hope
it's true, they believe it's true, but they
can't know for sure. No matter how many
times they say it. And you can say I don't
know if it's true either. But I have actual
physical law on my side, I can site billions
of instances where it never happened.

You are correct.

Quote: petroglyph

Well, it is a big deal. I live across the street from a big church that is forever remodeling, spending lots and lots of money to make their form of control more attractive. The street between us has sewer and water running underneath it. I have to pay for that utility with my taxes through the fruit of my labor, while all their property is tax free. Not only is all the real estate across the street valued in the millions of dollars tax free [because I pay for the services they receive, because I am not tax exempt] but the members of the church get to deduct whatever they donate to this church from their taxes.

I don't know about in your state but all the Churches I know of pay a utilities bill for water and sewage and garbage disposal and the like. The reason the property tax is exempted is because of what Churches do that the government cannot pay for. Your daycare might be an example of that if it perhaps for students who cannot afford daycare or if the public schools do not or cannot offer it. I just came back from LA and if the Churches even for a day stopped the multitude of services they provide for the homeless there the government and city would come into a huge crisis. Government buildings don't pay property tax and those buildings that serve the public also do not. There is no fee to belong to a Church and anyone can utilize their services for free.

Quote:

Look at the harm religion has done over the century's. Look at the family's destroyed and the psychiatrists enriched, the property stolen, kids mutilated, all in the name of your god.

If a new medicine harms 3% of the people that use it, it is removed from the market. Consider how many peoples lives are forever altered through religious dogma or child molestation. You guys need to re-evaluate your guide book.

I can not believe how you can believe in God, and religion, at the same time.

I am saying the so called "religious", and especially the priests, had better pray there is no God.

You need to check your stats and review your history. All the so called "religious" violence and wars combined do not equal the destruction cause by governments in the 20th century alone. More people have been helped through their religious faiths than have ever been helped by the government or psychiatrists, etc. Again this is all free as well unlike the taxes and fees that are paid for the good services and help provided by government agencies and psychiatrists.

Quote: Evenbob

I don't care, just don't state it as a fact.
You can't know it's a fact, that's where
the word 'belief' comes in. They hope
it's true, they believe it's true, but they
can't know for sure. No matter how many
times they say it. And you can say I don't
know if it's true either. But I have actual
physical law on my side, I can site billions
of instances where it never happened.

When you believe in something and have had experiences that confirm it doesn't it make sense to believe it is indeed a fact? Couple this with the historical evidence and miracles through thousands of years and everything points to its confirmation. As pew has said you can believe as you would like concerning the historical Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, but unlike me I don't know how you can claim as fact that He was not God and did not Resurrect from the dead.

Quote: FrGamble

All the so called "religious" violence and wars combined do not equal the destruction cause by governments in the 20th century alone.

Here we go AGAIN, for the hundredth
time, it seems. The argument that the
Church makes over and over and over
is, sure we're bad, sure we've been just
awful, but not as bad or awful and others.

I'll say it for the hundredth time. This is
NOT a defense. You cannot go to court
and say "Sure, my client killed 4 people
in cold blood, but look at Jeffery Dommer,
he killed dozens!" This will not get you off
the hook. Neither will claiming how all your
good works balances your evil works.

Quote: Evenbob

Here we go AGAIN, for the hundredth
time, it seems. The argument that the
Church makes over and over and over
is, sure we're bad, sure we've been just
awful, but not as bad or awful and others.

I'll say it for the hundredth time. This is
NOT a defense. You cannot go to court
and say "Sure, my client killed 4 people
in cold blood, but look at Jeffery Dommer,
he killed dozens!" This will not get you off
the hook. Neither will claiming how all your
good works balances your evil works.

I agree it does not get anyone off the hook for the evil committed. However, you can't say, "Look at the 4 people that person killed they are the worst person in the history of the world!"

Quote: FrGamble

I agree it does not get anyone off the hook for the evil committed. However, you can't say, "Look at the 4 people that person killed they are the worst person in the history of the world!"

But you can say "Look at the four people this guy murdered as a means of helping them. He's the worst person in the history of the world."

And that would be only a slight exaggeration.

So, point blank: does burning someone for heresy help them in any way?

Nope.

Quote: FrGamble

Nope.

Then how do you justify the many people burned at the stake, for whatever reason, during the Catholic Ages (as there is a backlash to calling the Dark Ages "Dark Ages," I thought I'd go with the next best option for dominant influence of the period in Europe)?

Quote: Nareed

Then how do you justify the many people burned at the stake, for whatever reason, during the Catholic Ages (as there is a backlash to calling the Dark Ages "Dark Ages," I thought I'd go with the next best option for dominant influence of the period in Europe)?

I don't think you can justify the burning of anyone at the stake. The historical reasons it was done I think has something to do with the political situation, lack of the separation of Church and State, and the danger of false ideas in the age before mass communication and the internet.