# Stupid religious idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 15, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928 "2015-01-15T20:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**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:** [May 4, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/101 "2015-05-04T16:27:57Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > Well of course, that makes it ok to shoot them up. Because free speech that you don’t like shouldn’t be protected. Is _that_ what you got from what I said? I said there was stupid on _both_ sides, but in no way did I imply that one stupid justified the other-it just added to it. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/102 "2015-05-04T22:29:31Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > This may just be a small blip, but there seems to be an increasing number of [haredi objecting to being seated next to a woman on the plane](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/10/us/aboard-flights-conflicts-over-seat-assignments-and-religion.html). And they cannot ask a flight attendant for a different seat, being that most of them are women, so they insist on the woman herself moving. These Hasids sometimes make the muslims look downright progressive. If I were a woman, I’d touch them all day. I’d drape myself over them and tug on their beards and get them kicked out of heaven or something. And I’d wipe my menstrual blood on them ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/103 "2015-05-06T20:19:17Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > I know they like to kick it old school, but even school children figured this out. > > \*Circle, circle. > Dot, dot. > Now you got your cootie shot. \* [Not enough for \*full \*protection!](http://www.gocomics.com/tomthedancingbug/2015/04/02) ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/104 "2015-05-07T15:22:31Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > If I were a woman, I’d touch them all day. I’d drape myself over them and tug on their beards and get them kicked out of heaven or something. And I’d wipe my menstrual blood on them I don’t know I might take a more friendly tone, Just smile, give them a quick pat on the hand, saying “That’s quite all right we all have our little quirks, with me its the thought of having to come in contact with Jews that disgusts me. So I totally get where your coming from.” ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/105 "2015-05-07T16:22:50Z")
What amazes me is that if there was a God, and he made us and loved us so much he gave us his son, why would he not want us to enjoy everything he put on this green Earth for us? It reminds me of The Color Purple - “I believe that if you pass the color purple in a field and turn to admire it God gets mad. What does he do, when he gets mad? Creates something else for us to admire.” But no - sex is bad loving is bad pigeon racing is bad kite flying is bad talking to the opposite sex is bad dressing how you want is bad eating meat is bad (sometimes) eating shellfish is bad wearing certain types of fabric is bad talking to women is bad menstrual blood is bad women having positions of power is bad women being allowed to talk is bad women being seen is bad drawing pictures of your god is bad marrying someone you love is bad (in certain circumstances) It is ridiculously clear that the Rules were made by humans who wanted to control those around them. In particular, old men. Maybe we needed that control in the Stone Age. Maybe we needed to be told “marriage is between a man and a woman, not a man and that pretty camel with the long eyelashes”. But it’s 20-fucking-15 and we are still supposed to follow these antiquated rules. And not just the believers! Oh no, the one-god-followers expect that everyone has to listen. So I am not Christian but my rights to have an abortion or be on birth control are steadily being eroded. I am not Muslim but heavens forfend I draw the Prophet. And apparently I am not even allowed to criticize religion or make fun of it. Well, if there is a God you know the very bestest thing he gave us? Our sense of humor. So damn right I’m going to laugh at people’s foolish beliefs or I might just cry. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/106 "2015-05-07T20:10:32Z")
There was an old, old comic strip where God creates Adam, and, specifically, Adam’s penis. Adam is enjoying it, flapping it around, jumping up and down to watch it jiggle, and he’s praising God. “This is great, this is wonderful, thank you, I’m so happy.” Then God says, “Oh, just one thing: you can’t use it.” ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/107 "2015-05-07T20:37:41Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > But it’s 20-fucking-15 and we are still supposed to follow these antiquated rules. And not just the believers! Oh no, the one-god-followers expect that everyone has to listen. So I am not Christian but my rights to have an abortion or be on birth control are steadily being eroded. I am not Muslim but heavens forfend I draw the Prophet. Both the christains and the muslims are pantheists. The say there is just one God, but then they add in the cherubim and seraphim and the prince-of-darkness-bringer-of-light and all his demonic horde. They need to be reminded, repeatedly, that they worship more than just the unitary deity. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/108 "2015-05-07T21:49:06Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Both the christains and the muslims are pantheists. The say there is just one God, but then they add in the cherubim and seraphim and the prince-of-darkness-bringer-of-light and all his demonic horde. They need to be reminded, repeatedly, that they worship more than just the unitary deity. Well, one ill-defined god is boring. It’s like Superman without the Justice League. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/109 "2015-05-07T21:53:35Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Both the christains and the muslims are pantheists. The say there is just one God, but then they add in the cherubim and seraphim and the prince-of-darkness-bringer-of-light and all his demonic horde. They need to be reminded, repeatedly, that they worship more than just the unitary deity. Oh, please. This isn’t true. I’m a Catholic. And I’m totally on board with criticism of the Catholic Church. Believe me (and I probably know better than you), it deserves it. But we’re not pantheists. To believe that angels (and Lucifer, the prince of darkness, is just another angel, along with his hordes) exist is \*not \*the same as worshipping them. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/110 "2015-05-07T21:58:36Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > If I were a woman, I’d touch them all day. I’d drape myself over them and tug on their beards and get them kicked out of heaven or something. And I’d wipe my menstrual blood on them Well I’m past that point, but will consider strapping on a holster for a tampon dunked in ketchup and whipping it out should needs be. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/111 "2015-05-07T22:22:13Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Oh, please. This isn’t true. > > I’m a Catholic. And I’m totally on board with criticism of the Catholic Church. Believe me (and I probably know better than you), it deserves it. > > But we’re not pantheists. To believe that angels (and Lucifer, the prince of darkness, is just another angel, along with his hordes) exist is \*not \*the same as worshipping them. I just do not get this “worship” thing. Why would you worship a deity? It is just doing its job, it has better things to worry about than whether you adore it. But, really, the bible thing is full of pantheism. Jehovallah gets pissed off that people are turning to Baal, he is a _jealous_ god, after all. And his origins are from a pantheon in the first place, Moses just liked him best. The whole monotheism thing just falls flat. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2015, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/112 "2015-05-07T22:37:04Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The whole monotheism thing just falls flat. Well, I guess one could say that an omnimax single god is dramatically unsatisfying - either such a god allows human suffering or is incapable of stopping it. Polytheism at least allows for the pseudo-explanatory concept that when bad things happen, they’re the result of various gods squabbling among themselves, their unending conflicts manifesting in wars and natural disasters and whatnot, including using humans as pawns. When Catholics and Protestants go to war, there isn’t a single god casually watching - it’s that the god fissioned, creating a Catholic version and a Protestant version, who will then use their worshipers as game pieces. If any sufficiently determined monotheist wants to demonstrate to me why this interpretation is incorrect, I invite them to do so. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/113 "2015-05-08T00:16:25Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > I just do not get this “worship” thing. Why would you worship a deity? It is just doing its job, it has better things to worry about than whether you adore it. > > But, really, the bible thing is full of pantheism. Jehovallah gets pissed off that people are turning to Baal, he is a _jealous_ god, after all. And his origins are from a pantheon in the first place, Moses just liked him best. > > The whole monotheism thing just falls flat. Uh, no. The whole message of the Bible is that those gods aren’t real. And the message of the Bible is that Yahweh picked Moses, not the other way around. I don’t know what makes the Dope think that belittling something counts as an argument. When you belittle, you make it seem like you don’t have a valid counterargument. Mocking is what people do when they can’t argue. You can’t convince people that you are right, so just make fun of them instead. And also, announcing “I don’t get X” is saying I have not done enough research on the subject to have an opinion on it. Acting like that somehow gives you a valid opinion on the subject is ridiculous. You’re knowingly ignorant. There are smart people who dissect theology based on a position of knowledge. And then there are the religious intolerant, who hate on things they don’t even try to understand. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/114 "2015-05-08T00:19:25Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > If any sufficiently determined monotheist wants to demonstrate to me why this interpretation is incorrect, I invite them to do so. Kinda simple. Neither group believes there is more than one God. The argument is only over the message that God has given to his people. And they agree much more than they disagree, to the point that all Catholics and most Protestants believe that both are Christians. You can’t just go making up beliefs that neither group has to try and repudiate their beliefs. You can’t argue form a position of ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/115 "2015-05-08T00:38:01Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > I’ll never understand why people-- many religious people-- don’t understand it is not proper to flail your religious fantasies around in general public. Save it for your cult of worship on the weekends. But the minute you clock in for work (real work, not religious), hop on a plane, enter a public establishment, etc., you SHUT UP about your faith. It’s no longer in play. > > Any shithead, curly-q men who expect the world to obey their made-up fantasies just should be denied a plane ticket. Walk, young friends of Moses and other made up fools. The bearded guy will guide you on your walk! :rolleyes: The same reason every other protected class doesn’t have to stop being a protected class in public. And the same reason you don’t stop ridiculing religious people the second you go out in public. Freedom of religion is a right. You are using anti-religious epithets and advocating that religious people should be discriminated against. You want to deny them the right to use airline services. There are other people who don’t “get” religion, who argue from ignorance. But at least that’s better than your active bigotry. You want a “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” for religion. You don’t even try the separate but equal schick the homophobes go for. You just loudly proclaim that religious people should be treated like lesser citizens. There’s a legitimate thread in here, but bigots like you won’t let it happen. I should have remembered this was _that_ thread. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/116 "2015-05-08T00:38:25Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Kinda simple. Neither group believes there is more than one God. The argument is only over the message that God has given to his people. And they agree much more than they disagree, to the point that all Catholics and most Protestants believe that both are Christians. > > You can’t just go making up beliefs that neither group has to try and repudiate their beliefs. You can’t argue form a position of ignorance. I’m not repudiating their beliefs, I’m asking them to, well, “pudiate” them. What evidence is there for a single god over multiple gods as I have described? For that matter, what evidence is there for a single god over any of the polytheistic pantheons that have been sincerely believed at various points in human history? In lieu of evidence, I indeed _can_ offer up any number of arbitrary interpretations of theism. If you can demonstrate why certain lines of hypotheses should be closed, please do so. If instead, it’s “Catholics/Protestants/Christians/Monotheists believe what they choose to believe, with no need for evidence in favour nor dissuasion by lack thereof”, then it’s of no more significance than their choice of favourite sports teams. It only remains to resist the efforts some of them take to get legislation passed in support of their choices and to the detriment of those who choose otherwise, if at all. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/117 "2015-05-08T00:56:43Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Surely that’s a parody site…I mean, it has to be, right? :smack: I am aware of an argument about Pokemon, but it’s about evolution, not homosexuality. And then there’s the perennial “things that are popular that we don’t understand are demonic,” with BS research used to prove it. I’ve never heard anything that is about them leading to homosexuality. I also know that Creflo Dollar is a prosperity preacher. His name is hard to forget. He’s gotten people to donate to get him luxury goods and such. While it’s possible he said something that stupid, it doesn’t really seem to be up his alley. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creflo_Dollar#Finances) (wiki link) is what Creflo Dollar is known for. This thing sounds more like a Pat Robertson quote or something. The guy’s ministry is public. He broadcasts his sermons on TV and online. You’d think there’d be video evidence. And I haven’t found it, though I admit I just looked at the places where I’d expect it to show up, and didn’t do any sleuthing myself. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/118 "2015-05-08T00:57:03Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > You want to deny them the right to use airline services. No, he doesn’t. He just wants them not to expect special rights and privileges on an airplane (and elsewhere in public) based on their religion. I agree with him in that. There is hyperbole in his post, but it is not the real point. If a hyper-religious man has a problem sitting next to a woman on an airplane, that is his problem, not the woman’s problem and not the airline’s problem. It is exactly the same if a hyper-religious man has a problem seeing a woman’s face in public - that is his problem, not hers. Unless, of course, the society and culture and government are controlled by similarly-minded hyper-religious men. Such control doesn’t make their opinions correct or their behavior right, it simply gives them the power to enforce the completely unreasonable. Fortunately, this is not (yet) the case in this country. Mostly. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/119 "2015-05-08T02:23:50Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > . . . When Catholics and Protestants go to war, there isn’t a single god casually watching - it’s that the god fissioned, creating a Catholic version and a Protestant version . . . Something like that is happening now, for many Christians deny that “Allah” is the same as “God.” Yet…they pretty much have to be, as they both (so to speak) created the world, created Adam and Eve, wiped out Sodom, sent the Flood to destroy the world except for Noah, led Moses out of Egypt, arranged for Abraham to have children late in life, asked (and then reneged) for the sacrifice of Isaac, etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![OwnRules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ea666f/32.png) [@OwnRules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OwnRules)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928/120 "2015-05-08T02:45:55Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > …I’m a conservative catholic and, at work, I’m telling my divorced and re-married colleague “you’re going to hell, Donna”. If she were to ask me the Catholic perspective on divorce and I told her and then she yelled at me I’d be pissed off. > As someone said (for Christians): “preach always, sometimes with words”… If you got pissed-off I’d be great, for you’d realize what a crock of hideous shit you wrote above and think about not doing it again. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-religious-idea-of-the-day/709928.md?page=7)