# CHRISTS MESSAGE: God Hates Religion! **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 21, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888 "2002-11-21T06:24:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![RedFury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ec9cab/32.png) [@RedFury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedFury)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888/301 "2002-11-29T13:38:34Z")
I’ve plowed through most of this thread and I thought I’d take a minute to thank most of the participants. It reads like one long advertisement for atheism. Well done! ---
**Author:** ![Cyrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Cyrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyrin)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888/302 "2002-11-29T13:59:41Z")
I think the bigger point here is that, YES by DEFINITION we ARE RELIGIOUS! I concede! You all win! I am ignorant Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… NOW, my point, is that the term religion carries a different meaning in the biblical context. When I talk about sheding my religion (which I did in the last year or so) I am refering to the idea of rituals, rules or specific acts which would be necessary for my “closeness to God”. I used to live that way, now I make my purpose relational. That is, if Christ was risen from the dead, then he is a living person with whom I can relate and follow his example and live my life out of Love. Another example would be Christ vs. Law in his time. Christ made special effort to reject the commonly accepted ideals of religion, to go against them. His message was that we need not further bind ourselves with religious acts. “It is ALWAYS ok to die for your faith. It is NEVER ok to kill for it” Çyrin ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888/303 "2002-11-29T14:11:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\*There is overwhelming evidence that modern man is the result of evolution. Whatever you may want to define as “proof,” the only way to deny the evolution of humanity is to invoke the Divine Weasel. > > Evolution is a fact. We have witnessed it. > > The _Theory_ of Evolution is the best current explanation for _how_ that fact has occurred throughout the history of the world. And as theories go, it is one of the best developed. Expressed originally in 1859, every single challenge to it has been met with more evidence supporting the original expression of it. This despite the fact that Darwin never knew about Mendelian genetics or DNA or the nuclear engine of the sun or any of several hundred other pieces of information that have since come to light, _each of them providing more support_ for Darwin’s conjecture. \*\* I do not invoke the Divine Weasel, don’t believe the Creation story in the Bible either. The evolution of man is theory, and will remain theory until the evolution of man can be observed and experienced. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2002, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888/304 "2002-11-29T17:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by His4Ever \* > **You can’t assume that because someone says their religious, that they know Christ as Savior.** No, of course not, because they might be Buddhist, Jewish, Zoroastrian, whatever. If they do know Christ as Savior, then they are a member of the Christian religion. Count me among those who have absolutely no frickin’ idea what you are talking about, and where you are getting this idea that Christianity is not a religion, or is somehow above or beyond “religion”. Could you point to a verse in the Bible that explains it? Now, I do understand how a person could be very “religious” but not very good. A Pharisee would be the prime example. But saying explicitly that Christianity is other than a religion - that’s doing violence to the language as we know it. If you have Biblical justification (or otherwise) from excluding Christianity from “religion”, please share it with the class. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![lynn73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@lynn73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lynn73)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888/305 "2002-11-30T18:05:27Z")
Allright, I will concede that Christianity could be called a religion. But I consider it to be the true religion. I prefer being called a Christian rather than religious for reasons I’ve already posted. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888/306 "2002-11-30T18:13:15Z")
**MeBuckner** - You have quite a few good points: Orwell-I’ve never gotten around to reading _1984_ myself. However, in _Animal Farm_, Napoleon(Joseph Stalin) makes Communism into something greatly resembling a state religion. The skull of Old Major(Lenin) is made into a holy relic. The laws written on the barn (despite near total illiteracy[Rather like the RC Church during the Dark Ages] on behalf of the animals) are the 10 commandments as well as _Das Kapital_. Superstition- I wouldn’t phrase it that way, but I agree with your point here. I believe in God. I have no evidence whatsoever. I’ve felt and experienced things. These have been enough proof for me. IMO anybody who points to anything physical and claims that it proves God’s existence, is a moron. Evolution- **Darwin’s Finch**! Paging **Darwin’s Finch**! Please pick up the white courtesy phone. For starters, theory has a specific meaning when used regarding science. An explanation of data that has not been verified is _hypothesis_. An explanation which has been verified repeatedly is a _theory_. ---
**Author:** ![scotth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9e5f3/32.png) [@scotth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotth)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888/307 "2002-11-30T18:14:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lekatt \* > \*\*I do not invoke the Divine Weasel, don’t believe the Creation story in the Bible either. > > The evolution of man is theory, and will remain theory until the evolution of man can be observed and experienced. \*\* Even then, it will remain a theory. That the earth travels around the sun is still a theory. That you and I are made out of atoms is still a theory. That we are related to earlier proto human creatures is nearly without question. That a pattern exists in the fossil record where simpler forms precede more complex forms in deposits of different ages is (pretty much) completely without question. Any idea that does not take this information into account is without merit. The incredible detail with which we have studied this data is staggering. You should look at it for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888/308 "2002-11-30T18:30:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by His4ever \* > \*\*Allright, I will concede that Christianity could be called a religion. But I consider it to be the true religion. I prefer being called a Christian rather than religious for reasons I’ve already posted. \*\* Everyone believes that their religion is the one true religion, otherwise they wouldn’t believe in it. I highly doubt that your level of belief is substancially greater than anyone else’s. I think that I will continue to consider you to be religious, and not separate your particular sect of Christianity as being above all others and thus not religious. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2002, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888/309 "2002-11-30T18:35:43Z")
Lekatt, i don’t think you understand what the term 'theory" means in science. It does not mean “hypothesis,” it does not mean “unproven.” It simply a frame of reference, a paradigm for coordinating certain observed phenomena within a given field of study. No amount of verification can turn a theory into a law. Gravity is a “theory,” Lekatt, do you have any doubt that it exists? Do you believe in electricity? The atom? can airplanes really fly? They depend on “theories” of aerodynamics. Evolution has absolutely been substantiated as much as any of these things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christs-message-god-hates-religion/137888.md?page=15)