Why Christianity is important, even for a non-believer.

[Sneaksuit]

Ok, so the decision is to replace religion with psychotropic drugs?

Replace? Drugs have been used in a religious context as long as humans have walked the Earth. Christianity appeared yesterday in comparison.

I personally would rather choose to be spiritual through something that I have a conscious choice over and can control (such as the choice of whether to believe in a God or not) instead of choosing to be in a state of complete hallucination (such as DMT).

Why choose any "belief system" at all? Be yourself and experience the universe. There are many practices that people use to help understand who they are. There are even Christians who use DMT[1]. Don't let some authority dictate how you must go about it.

1. http://www.ayahuasca-info.com/ritual/ and http://www.christianmagazine.info/chris ... rest-peru/

[Oxl3y]

I completely disagree. One can be eminently moral and ethical without the trappings of Christianity or any religion.

I completely agree with this statement. I often see religious people use the argument "If you don't believe in heaven or hell why bother being a good person?" Personally I believe if you need fear of consequences to be a good person I don't think you were ever a good person in the first place.

[Mr Danksworth]

^
Agreed. I do think it is important to know the workings of religion so that we can protect ourselves, and society as a whole, from "moral' incursions of any particular religion.

[cliffy1]

I completely agree with this statement. I often see religious people use the argument "If you don't believe in heaven or hell why bother being a good person?" Personally I believe if you need fear of consequences to be a good person I don't think you were ever a good person in the first place.

Not sure how often I have heard that bit of nonsense, but it does come down to , some people are good and some are not. Those that are not, need religion. If it wasn't for religion scaring the sociopaths in line, life might not be so pleasant for decent folks. I'm always reminded of the Mafia. Each crime family had a priest to tell their sins to so they could kill without punishment from god. Some twisted logic there.

[kina]

So your above statement is a complete prejudice against all religious individuals. You have, with that one sentence, placed them all under the category of "bad people". How can we engage in conversation properly when your views are already so narrow minded?

[cliffy1]

So your above statement is a complete prejudice against all religious individuals. You have, with that one sentence, placed them all under the category of "bad people". How can we engage in conversation properly when your views are already so narrow minded?

Sorry, I can see how someone would interpret what I said as bigoted. It wasn't meant to be, just badly phrased. Not all religious people are bad but a lot of sociopaths hide in religion and are kept under wraps within the dogma. I know a lot of people who are religious and good people (except for their judgmental attitudes toward all those who do not subscribe to their particular brand. I do, however, think that most religions are divisive.

[Sneaksuit]

Not sure how often I have heard that bit of nonsense, but it does come down to , some people are good and some are not.

It sure would be nice and easy to label people as either good or bad but who is to judge? Everyone is born into different circumstances which shapes who they are. I think it's more sensible to blame our conditioning.