The Blasphemy Challenge
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7QVbJnSPQE



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2.../Deviltini.jpg

Your thoughts?

bloody brilliant.
i've always thought that if satan/lucifer/the devil etc, was really the enemy of god, then he wouldnt be doing gods dirty work by punishing people. he would be letting people sin and do what ever they want.

so where would you rather do, make a few mistakes and sin on earth and go to a place where you will most likely be able to do what you want. or live a boring life on earth where you can't wipe your arse without asking for forgiveness, only to have an eternity in heaven where most likely, the rules will be a little stricter than down here.

i deny the existance of the holy spirit...and the holocaust.

Mine will be on Mon if I am up to it... "I deny the existence of the Easter Bunny, conservatives in the Republican Party, Santa, Zeus, Allah, Brahman, Kali, Amun-Re, Tiamat, Amateras, Medb, Quetzalcoatl, many more… and, of course, the holy spirit".
It will be my first, in person, YouTube.

I deny the existence of Australia. I believe people claiming to be Australians are just people who picked up a cool accent and decided to be anywhere but this mythical land called Australia.

This entire theory is based on the fact that I've never been to Australia but have met too many Australians for there to be anybody left on that continent.

Q.E.D.

(I met more Australians in the CR than I met Czechs.)

What can be GAINED from the denouncement?

To whom will it prove a point?

We aren't 100% sure one way or another, so why take the risk in the event it is true?

Corps...God... and Country.

You gain a free DVD.

Update for Mon... I think:

"I deny the existence of the Easter Bunny, Conservatives in the Republican Party,
Santa,
Zeus,
Allah,
Brahman,
Kali,
Amun-Re,
Liberals in the Democratic Party,
Tiamat,
Amateras,
Medb,
Kachinas,
Baal,
Wotan,
Ahura Mazdā,
Gaia,
Quetzalcoatl, many more…
&, of course, the father, son & the holy spirit".

see my post. hell will be fun

so why take the risk in the event it is true?

I doubt "just in case" belief counts as actual faith.

Wasn't the idea of hell stolen by the Catholics from a play?

The orginal Jews didn't believe in hell (I don't know if they do now).

Exactly, they had a "place of darkness", sheoa(sp?) that was just to be removed from the sight of God... it was not permanent.

Well I like the budhist notion that we're already in hell and it can only get better from here. Of course, I deny the existance of budhists.

LOL... where'd I go!?

Did someone say something?

I think it's Sheol.

hell was invented so that satan represented the pagan god (a guy with horns) and the christians said this guy was evil and if you followed him you'd be damned for all eternity.

I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. Sinners have much more fun.

Only the good die young.

Name the song and artist?

I thought satan was styled after Pan?

Do I have to? Didn't I pay my debt to society by listening to that song 37 million times?

But it's true, Catholic girls rock!

Billy Joel? I heard it yesterday in the car and all my friends were singing it (very badly) so I am scarred.

haha...good work fellas!

It is a great song though. I love it.

I may have to record my rant about how Jehovah is suffering from a self-image problem of supergalactic proportions, what with needing people to praise Him constantly. I mean, here we are, building all those churches, being in fear of being smote by an irrationally angry deity, or worse, tortured like Job or forced to nearly sacrifice your own son just to prove you love Him. Does this seem like a well-adjusted personality to you?

Think about it...an omnipotent, mentally ill deity.

Scary, ain't it?

Why would a god need us to praise him? If he is real, he is better than us and shouldn't need our approval.

You really want to know?
There are stories of fifteen year olds of getting kicked-out of their home when announcing their disbelief.
Being locked in their rooms and attempts at programing.
Shunning by the entire family.
Hate, rage, disgust, being told they will suffer and be tortured for eternity at the hands of their "loving god", while seeing replies of the same in the threads and YouTube comments.
These people feel, felt alone for years, many have felt alone and have said nothing until the challenge.
This gives them a voice among many, lets them know they are not alone, not the only one going through what they are dealing with.
It gives them a community, a support structure to deal witht he persecution that they deal with.
It is important and a good thing.

Plus, if you've committed an "unforgiveable" sin, maybe they won't try to convert you anymore!

Don't forget being placed in mental hospitals. Selene used to do the same sort of work that Wolf does, namely, intake for a local private psych facility. A significant number of the teenage girls there were there, at least in part, because they had been reading about witchcraft.

Strangely, she never once met a teen who cited rampant Christianity as one of the reasons for their confinement...at least, not on the part of the patient.

Yeah... good luck.:rolleyes:

Oh, try to find a sobriety program as an atheist. I have had to do this alone and it has NOT been easy.

Even if this is the case you're taking the risk that your god isn't the real god. So, why wouldn't you practice all religions in order not to offend any of the possible gods out there?

As Stephen Roberts said:

"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours."

Exaclty, no reason to belive in Yahweh over Zeus other than it is the frat of the moment.

Jesus died for somebody's sins...



But not mine.



Name THAT song&artist!

I guess it's the public part of it that throws me off. I agree one should practice any belief freely. God or no god.
I just don't see where a statement on the www could confirm and complete my spiritual preferences.
Spiritual has always been personal to me. After all, why should I give a fock who knows /agrees/disagrees with my belief. As long as I'm happy with it personally.
IMO there should be no promotion of religion....no evangelists..no missionaries, etc. If folks want to be christians, well, cool. And likewise with the atheist. It has become quite a commercial adventure to say the least.
Just some of my thoughts.

Interesting topic. :thumb:

First, they make no money off of this in any way... I don't see how you could get "commercial" out of it.
Again, the reason it is the way it is, is to form a community, a support system for people who normally feel quite alone. To show that they are not... it feels different on a day to day basis, I can tell you from first-hand experience.
This is simply the most efficient and a free way to do it... the least commercial, actually.
I agree with your scenario, the day religions stop trying to convert others we can have it.

If there were no missionaries or preachers etc, then no one would know about religion/s. Jesus told his followers to share the word of God, so they did. The same with all the other religions. It's a competitive market out there. Preaching began with the origin of religion so therefore forms an integral part of what religion is. If no one ever preached religion, we'd all be going to hell. ;) Or comming back again to get it right next time, or going to the dark place, or having a hot cocoa with the devil, or...or...or...

Nooooooooo.....not Billy Idol!!!!!!

(I really don't care but I wanted to make it dramatic)

Without googling I'm gonna say Kanye West.

I think if there were no missionaries then everyone would have to figure out for themselves what they believe about religion. That'd be a lot better in my opinion than believing something for no other reason than because that's what your family has believed for x number of years.

Well if that were the case, I'd say that unless you had a personal visitation from said God or some miraculous event occured in your life, you'd never believe in any God would you, or me, or anyone? In fact, you wouldn't even have a concept of what a God is.

I'm not sure that's what I meant. If for some reason it's in human nature to need a religion and a set of doctrinal beliefs, they will manifest whether or not there's an organized religion. I think that's how it occurred orignally.

Also, religions such as Buddhism and Taoism are don't even have a god per se. People believe in those religions despite this and in the absence of miraculous events as well.

That's an interesting point ck, although I'd suggest that buddhism isn't really a religion in the strict sense of the word although it does require one to look inwards to find the truth. That being said, there are a lot of wackos in every religion. I've read a series of books by a buddhist monk, one of which he claims was 'written' by his cat.

We needed religion to explain the world, now we have science.

p.s. That in NO WAY implies that science is a religion

Ah you edited before my last post. I still think it'd be for the best. My first example wasn't for religion to not exist at all. It was in accord with the earlier poster's stance on missionaries. There would still be churches, mosques and temples in my community to research, but they wouldn't pressure me into a choice and I'd feel comfortable making that choice.

As far as Buddhism goes, dictionary.com defines:

re·li·gion
–noun
1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

Buddhism fits this bill, in my opinion. Reincarnation, karma and nirvana follow this definition.

Reincarnation is not a dogma of Buddhism, it just exists in many areas where people believed in it before it was there. Karma is Hindu.
Nirvana is not dogma, just an idea. There is no dogma for the afterlife, some sects teach it, but they are, again, basing their beliefs on previous religions (Tibet- Bon).
Read the Suttas before you speak... Dictionaries also call atheism a religion, as do governments.
Buddhism has no set dogma other than the diagnosis of pain and the ending of suffering, everything else is up to the individual.
If you want to call that a religion, fine, so is medicine.

We do not need evangelism, that is what bookstores and Internet searches are for.

Forgive me. I'll go back to watching TV and being mediocre at life.

ck...move over. I'll bring the chips.

denouncing something requires that you believed it at one time. Rejecting something lends it substance. (equal and opposite reaction)

Getting together to renounce Christianity seems like an assbackwards way of teaching it. While i've often taken the stance that christians are all fucked up....this seems like the same shit from the opposite direction. why bother?

It is not that, I agree with you and there is a great video from Sam Harris on that topic.
One day, yes, no need for the word "atheist".
The day when young people are no longer healed hostage in their heads by fanatics who wish to force ideas upon them.
If you do this with some ideas you will be accused of abuse.
The day when they do not need the feeling that they are not alone when they are being persecuted by their friends and family and the net or a book is all they have to keep them from feeling like they are an island in the world that feels this way.
It will go when no teenager gets exorcised, committed, kicked-out of their home, no young person gets divorced for announcing their disbelief and have no idea who to talk to or how to begin to find them.
On the day when nowhere someone does not knock on your door and tell you something is wrong with you because you wish to be rational... that day is the day "atheist" will die and we will rejoice.

Plus, it is not an either-or scenario, no one went, "Gee, I sure like Jesus, but meeting him is a loooong way off... these guys will give me a nifty DVD now!! Aw heck! I'll do it! Maw, where's tha' camera?".
This is by atheists, for atheists, the religious don't enter into it.

Those two women are fucking idiots.

"They are atheists, they believe in nothing."
Atheism is not nihilism.

"Christians are strong, Atheists are not strong"
How does religion have anything to do with strength?

& people wonder why some atheists have a chip? I am not one of them, but when I come across them I am never surprised.
A black (the other lady said it once too), female, journalist telling a minority in the US, repeatedly, that we need to "shut-up".
Where would she be if blacks, sufferjets and previous fighters for free speech and press just "shut-up"?
On the back of a bus, not voting being purchased for her next master while no one was writing about it, that's where.

Amazing how people cannot see themselves in others.

The freedom from religion and the freedom of religon is the same.

The closer the state gets to the church the more it will try to influence the church... how it is that the church only sees the influence going one way? Separation protects both.
Either way, it is part of why this nation was founded and should not be breeched under any circumstances.

She also talked how we keep on pushing. It is like someone shoved you against the wall and then started complaining when you push yourself from against the wall. There were so many stereotypes and hypocrisy in that video. I was seriously pissed off for a good 45 minutes after seeing that and I don't consider myself an atheist.

I wondered that when I watched it, "I wonder how agnostics and compassionate Christians are gonna' see this"?

disturbing. i was just checking my emails.

I will admit that I haven't read the posts in this thread but I did watch the video and a few posts after that. I, a non-Christian, feel that the stance of the people in the vid is very wrong. Ok--deny Jesus as a divine person---but DON'T deny God/Goddess, the Essence of the Universe. I, as the worst sinner, KNOW that the Spirit is there---I've felt it, I've tapped into it, I've had love from it---I still do have a continuous love from the Spirit of the Universe. To me, Jesus was the embodiment of the Spirit. He said that we could do what he had done----transcend time, place and situation. He is my role model if not my god. I would NEVER blaspheme Jesus or Buddah or any of the peacemakers. Those who do---hateful creatures who spread hate.

How is something stated for self alone spreading hate?
Illogical.

If it was for self alone it wouldn't be on the internet.

Very logical.

Not at all... a public announcement so one does not feel alone is for self. As stated before, try reading the previous posts.

If you believe and promote the idea that I am going to suffer eternal torment and punishment

it is not "spreading hate" for me to merely beg the question.

Well, I for one have never had the misfortune to be indoctrinated into Christianity. In fact, I'd say my beliefs are incredibly progressive. I don't believe that Dante's Hell or anything anywhere close to it has ever existed or will exist. I believe that the teachings of Christ (New Testament) advocate the BEST possible way to live life...With the exception of all the added goodies like TV and The Cellar of course.

I strive to look at the Bible and it's teachings from a philosophical perspective that depends not on the Historical-Chronological-Narrative (correct term for the commonly used word "literal". got chewed out for using literal to much one day heh.) idea that so often becomes the center point for heated debate.

Between all of the books of the New Testament Christ references to hell but 14 times. In these references he speaks of a hell on earth, caused by the greed and ambition of man. Though my peers and I still discuss hell from time to time it is a general consensus that it is not a physical hell but a separation from God.

Anyways. I just can't see how this is intended to spur anything but the violence and discrimination that the author condemns Christians of in the beginning of his film.

Everybody's experience may vary, of course, but in nearly 15 years I have not had anyone try to admit their teenager for reading about or practicing witchcraft, or even had that mentioned in the course of the discussion about the need for admission. Of course, I'm not in or anywhere near the Bible Belt, so that could certainly account for some of the difference.

I would expect, however, based on my experience outside of the workplace that a lot of disturbed or distressed young folks, particularly the ones who have turned to either cutting or Gothiness as a way of finding an in-group, will also tend towards alternative religion as a means of self-expression and rebellion.

More importantly ... rzen, did you get a submission uploaded in time to qualify for the free video?

They are not.

It is one thing to advocate for the free exercise of religion. This, I think, is a fine thing, and one of the founding principles of this country, a basic right. You can choose your means of approach to faith and worship, or make the choice not to follow a faith-path, without a government mandate to do so. That's freedom of religion. That's IT. I, having the freedom of religion, will make choices different from yours.

I do not presume, however, to restrict your, or anyone else's public expression of your religion. I am not in any way harmed by the posting of the Ten Commandments on the courthouse wall, nor am I offended by a nativity in the public square. One person wears a cross, another a pentacle, yet another a crescent. So what?