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Reasons you left the LDS church.

This board has helped my narrow mindedness out so much. The thing I can't stress the most that would make this world a better place, regardless of beliefs, is tolerance.

That is a very safe thing to say. Not many would disagree. But what exactly is tolerance?
 
Not any more than atheist telling people who believe in god that it's made up and BS.
When you catch me actively trying to convince people to not go to church, then draw that comparison all you want. You won't, because I haven't.

And in case there's any confusion, my stating my beliefs does not qualify as proselytization.

EDIT: let me start over

I don't think you'll catch many atheists telling people outright that they should stop going to church. I can't speak for anyone else, though.

And in case there's any confusion, a person stating their beliefs does not qualify as proselytization and I've never heard of an atheist missionary. Maybe there are people that go door to door preaching the gospel of atheism or shouting from street corners, but I've never heard of nor encountered one.
 
I don't believe what I want. I'm actually fond of a version of God as described by Jehovah's Witnesses. I accept what I see as real, regardless of what I want.
No I mean in regards to being ok with how others believe. A better way might be to say I can't understand how someone who is religious says "To each their own". Like you have found salvation in a religion and someone else found it in theirs and you are ok with that.
 
It's a perfect religion full of imperfect people. That's why Salty isn't a member. You can't be perfect.
 
It's a perfect religion full of imperfect people. That's why Salty isn't a member. You can't be perfect.

I'm not sure I'm following what little logic there is in this post.

So are you perfect yet? Or does that only happen after you're dead?
 
I'm not getting too involved here after this post, but i always like these kind of discussions :) I'm german so my knowledge of this church is rather basic to say the least. Until i was ten, i went to church(evangelical), but i never really believed in god. i got more and more suspicious of this mystrious stuff that the old people believed to be true. now i'm 22 and (hardcore) atheist.

Just two things, that i always tell religious people:

1. You probably have a specific believe because of the environment you were raised in.

This is especially true for your religion with these kind of specific rules and believes.

To say that all religions are basically the same and there is only one god is naive. In most cases the religion is based on a prophet who can speak to god or received his message in another way. How can there be more than one religion with totally different books and rules that claim to be the word of god?

If you say: well, my religion is the only real one: First you are really lucky to not be born 3000 years ago when your religion wasn't "invented" yet. And second, you are lucky that - of the people currently alive - you are chosen to have this particular believe. I would be quite satisfied if a south-american tribe consisting of 50 members praying to the god of their holy tree-gods is the one who is right and the other 50 billion people on earth including me are going to hell.

2. The positive effects of religion can be achieved without a church or religion. Religions only convey(maybe the wrong word) the morals and the culture of the region they are created or practiced(!) in.

This is also very much the case with the lds church, which is based on a religion that originated in the middle-east and changed it so that it would fit their cultural identity. Why do you need a god to like the values behind a specific religion, for example to value family or the community or be a "good" person in general.

There are only three options when it comes to God. 1) You have seen Him and therefore know that He lives. 2) You believe in Him, and the words of those who have seen Him. 3) You don't believe in Him. For those who choose not to believe, why do you think that just because you have never seen God that nobody else has? I can't prove to anyone that Joseph Smith (for example) saw God, but at the same time they can't prove that he didn't. In the end it comes down to knowing for yourself (or having a spiritual understanding) and not worrying about trying to prove it to everyone else because you will never be able to take something of a spiritual nature out of you and use it to prove something to someone else. Just my thoughts.

Well,you must really like terrorists, who have seen a god and fullfill his plans or other crazy people, who justify their "evil" acts with a god. The degree or outcome of an action is of no importance: Either you are totally wrong or right about believing in your god. For me, forcing your believe onto children who have no choice but to believe what you are telling them until they are old enough to think about it for themselves, is pretty "evil". The bad thing is, that by then, they cannot be neutral on the subject:

I was a very active member until I was 19-- I was even ready to go on a mission, before I finally renounced my religion. Honestly, it was the hardest part of coming out.
 
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LOL, Numberica going tilt leaving me neg reps: How can a person so stupid act like such a smart @#!*% ?

What a tool.
 
How many of you have become more interested in religion/Mormonism after a tough experience?

I think that's another key to this whole debate. Often times your "faith" isn't really anything until it has been tried. Perhaps people who aren't normally interested in religion, become so after a tough/life threatening experience.
 
How many of you have become more interested in religion/Mormonism after a tough experience?

I think that's another key to this whole debate. Often times your "faith" isn't really anything until it has been tried. Perhaps people who aren't normally interested in religion, become so after a tough/life threatening experience.

Ah, the good old "no atheists in the foxhole" hypothesis. Religious people often convince themselves that disbelief is a side-effect of luxury. That is why stories about Darwin's "deathbed conversion" are so widely circulated in religious circles. They think atheists somehow revere Darwin's view, as they do with their prophets.
 
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