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No

Only Judeism

Only Islam

Yes to both Judeism and Islam

[penguinofhonor]

Do you really have a problem RPing a fake religion? I think God will know you don't mean it.

[Helgoland]

One could imagine a RP where you manage a religion. And you can choose how to run it: Power-grabbing, business-like, dedicated to poverty and altruism, omnicidal, anarchistic...

[smeeprocket]

You really can only look at it one of two ways:

All things like RP and video games are wrong because they promote (most of the time) critical thinking skills and often contain things that could be construed as false idols. (critical thinking skills: Martin Luther once said "reason is the enemy of religion" and you'll find that most churches and even other faiths are none too pleased if you start asking questions about what are considered unquestionable details.)

or

This is not real, you are not actually worshiping a "false idol" and Jesus never said anything about RP or video games.

If you are going to get intensely strict and specific about somewhat benign entertainment, keep in mind, the bible also wants you to stone witches and homosexuals. Also, slavery is all good as long as you treat your slave well.

So unless you are following all the sometimes contradictory commands of the Bible, getting specific about things it doesn't cover is silly. You are just enacting arbitrary restrictions on yourself.

I mean, when I make a character in an RP game, I don't actually start to worship Gorthak, God of Pestilence and Decay, because I am not my character, and also because he is imaginary.

[Frumple]

(critical thinking skills: Martin Luther once said "reason is the enemy of religion" and you'll find that most churches and even other faiths are none too pleased if you start asking questions about what are considered unquestionable details.)

And you'll also find that huge swaths of christian theology as well as other huge swaths of churches specifically hold that reason and faith both can and must intertwine.

... you're also misrepresenting other things in there, but... blegh.

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

I'm fine with video games and RP it's all fun games and make believe but i just don't really care for fake religious stuff I mean I know it's fake but I just generaly nope away from it in game. Or I use it in game simply for 'it gives me bonuses' sake so ya
It's not that big of a problem but I just don't care for it

[smeeprocket]

(critical thinking skills: Martin Luther once said "reason is the enemy of religion" and you'll find that most churches and even other faiths are none too pleased if you start asking questions about what are considered unquestionable details.)

And you'll also find that huge swaths of christian theology as well as other huge swaths of churches specifically hold that reason and faith both can and must intertwine.

... you're also misrepresenting other things in there, but... blegh.

no offense, but you can't believe in something that has no basis in reason, and has no evidence of existing, and then also promote reason.

Faith is the opposite of reason. You can't have it both ways.

Either you have faith that what you believe is real, or you have the ability to question it, and must come to the logical conclusion that there is no evidence of its existence.

That is why Christian groups are so strongly opposed to science, in general.

I mean, you technically can believe in both, but it's sort of a twilight where you just decide arbitrarily what you will have faith in and what will require empirical evidence, and that is nonsensical.

[Frumple]

... faith and reason are not opposites. They're different things. They don't apply to the same issues, don't work the same way, etc., so forth, and so on. They handle different epistemological problems. Basic faith claims, of the not-yet-justified sort, are also absolutely vital is such things as freaking science. You don't get to just throw faith out the window or ignore its impact and importance, nor downplay the interaction between it and other things (like reason and logic) in regards to religious beliefs. It's not a simple subject and it can't really be boiled down to something pithy.

You're welcome to state that you can't believe in something that has no basis in reason and still support reason, but in regards to a christian belief discussion, you are doing so in explicit contradiction to literally centuries of christian theology working to integrate the two. Huge swaths of the church has disagreed with your position over the years. From outright stating that the christian position is the rational one, to holding that faith and reason can stand side by side, and all sorts of related variation, christian theology and belief have a tremendous interrelation with reason and rational thought. There's a reason the relation between faith and knowledge, and exactly what faith is, is the subject it is in the fields of theology and more general religious thought. It's a tremendous freaking deal.

You're also incredibly misrepresenting things when you note christian opposition to science without mentioning christian support of science, which is very, very much a thing.

I mean, I get it, you're running of the (oft times living, to be fair) caricatures of extremist christian thought, but one of the bloody important things to remember about that is that isn't all of it. To a darn fair extreme, it's not even a notable fraction. There's a tremendous depth and breadth to christian beliefs, for all that there's some vocal schlubs out there nowadays doing their damnedest to shit all over the more nuanced parts of them.

[smeeprocket]

Christian faith has really only ever opposed reason. I don't know what you are talking about with regard to support. The catholic church was always very intent on prosecuting those whose findings did not line up with their teachings, any scientist of that time had to either conform to their beliefs or suffer imprisonment or worse.

The thing is, reason should not be used for different things. You are just saying "I'll use reason for A" and "I'll use faith for b" Which makes no sense since reason, and evidence are vital to both.

You either believe blindly that a thing that has no proof of existence is, or you have to accept the existing data and admit that that thing is probably not out there, and that it is irrational to worship something that exists solely to fulfill the desires of a specific part of your brain that ultimately, yes,  causes these sensations of faith.

Faith is believing unquestioningly, science involves the exact opposite. It questions everything, tests everything, and is not based in any manner on faith. It also changes as new things are discovered, whereas religion is unchanging, because it is based on the idea that an invisible higher power has passed along its teachings, and therefore they can not change.

It is not inherently wrong to want to be religious or spiritual, if it helps you, then embrace it. But do not claim that it has a place with science or reason, because it does not. I have experienced spiritual sensations during events involving body modification, and I enjoyed them, but I am also acutely aware that this is a product of my own mind. It is a manufactured sensation. That does not mean that the feeling is invalid, however.

But let's not pretend religion can go hand in hand with science. You either have to partition off a spot in your brain that ignores science in certain instances and also ignores the contradictions of an omnipotent and omniscient god combined with free will, or you have to accept the most likely reality.

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

Does it oppose reason to want to forgive, or to be kind and give back to the world, or to help others?
Not all religious teaching oppose reasons
Ones based in faith can but that's why it's faith, I have faith that my lord exists, I don't care what findings are done to say he doesn't, I know he does and I will believe it with child like ignorance if I have to
Got a problem with it, get over it's my choice

[smeeprocket]

Does it oppose reason to want to forgive, or to be kind and give back to the world, or to help others?
Not all religious teaching oppose reasons
Ones based in faith can but that's why it's faith, I have faith that my lord exists, I don't care what findings are done to say he doesn't, I know he does and I will believe it with child like ignorance if I have to
Got a problem with it, get over it's my choice

yea I literally just said in the last post that I don't have a problem with you believing things via faith (as long as you don't use it to oppress others.)

But morality is something that simply does not require faith and is actually supported by reason simply because it is beneficial to society as a whole. morality based on religion can actually be detrimental, however, because, rather than base your morality on what is beneficial, you base it on the words written by others with the assumption that it is an edict of your god. This overrides logic when it comes to morality, and can result in some very immoral morals.

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

Such as?

[Baffler]

You either believe blindly that a thing that has no proof of existence is, or you have to accept the existing data and admit that that thing is probably not out there, and that it is irrational to worship something that exists solely to fulfill the desires of a specific part of your brain that ultimately, yes,  causes these sensations of faith.

Can you show me some of this data?

Edit: Made less confrontational.

[Orange Wizard]

Please don't turn this into Science Versus Religion again. We've done that, what, half a dozen times?

As far as I care, science is studying the observable universe, and religion is what lies beyond it.

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

Please don't turn this into Science Versus Religion again. We've done that, what, half a dozen times?

As far as I care, science is studying the observable universe, and religion is what lies beyond it.

+1

[Cheeetar]

God of the gaps, Orange?