They walk among us!

YY1 said
You will never win this argument.

The winning answer is always "I believe..."

What gets me is that almost all if not all of the "major" religions essentially say the same two things-

Don't kill people, and don't screw people over.

For myself, I have deduced that there is no reliable way to tell which religion, if any is "correct".

Therefore I submit that the intelligent philosophy is to admit that.

I do believe that there is a certain order to the way things happen, but this could be "big nature" just as easily as an "intelligent creator". In fact, they may be one and the same.

I find it fascinating that those who believe Christianity the most, seem to be the least concerned with respect for a habitable planet and the most eager to kill or ostracize others that do not believe the exact same way.

It's almost as if they read the book over and over, but still do not get the meaning.

Something else that's often overlooked is that the particular book in question was translated how many times?
...and even rewritten by a king, perhaps to more closely follow his own personal beliefs.

If you understand the way the human brain works (OK, at least a cursory understanding), you can see how easily the manufacture of "gods" to explain all sorts of things, including human behavior, really is.

Again, I submit- don't kill people, and don't screw people over.

I do not need the threat of eternal damnation to live by those simple rules.

Oh man, do I agree with every word you said.
The most devastating loss of life on the planet is and always has been over differences in religious beliefs.

The ten commandments covered it all, but the bible and it's followers go on to add threats in case we don't mind the word.
I never needed my Mother to threaten me with "You just wait till your Dad comes home" because I respected my Mother's wishes as it was the right thing to do.
This is exactly what threats of hellfire for eternity or a really hot place with an asshole that likes to torture the bad kids are in my opinion.
A way to try and threaten people into behaving in a decent manor to each other.
I didn't need threats of Dad coming home, and I don't need the threat of going to hell to keep me from screwing my neighbor over.
I'm not going to screw them over because it's wrong and I know it, so I don't need to be threatened to not do so.

Please know that I am not trying to judge or put down people that feel the need for religion as it is absolutely necessary for some people to believe there is something bigger and better than them.
I'm just not one of them, so the threats of rapture and hellfire have no more meaning to me than waiting till Dad gets home did.