Very inspiring message.

[NateDawg]

Many times people think God should just do everything we ask right then and now. However, God only does things in his timing. I know this is a touchy subject, but it ins't meant to offend anyone. Especially those who do not believe.

I encourage you guys to watch(read) what the message is saying. Again, it's not meant to point anyone out individually. It's just something that makes you think...

Sorry, in advance if it does offend you. Again, it's not meant to.

http://media.causes.com/324263?p_id=25501509

[Greggers]

I wonder how long until someone shows up on the thread to bash the video or make some joke about it or Christianity...

I hope people have the decency to let others have their "pursuit of happiness", even if that includes believing in a religion they dont. Cause guess what, even if every religion is dead wrong, it at least gave the people hope and peace of mind. For what its worth, just let everyone have that. Please.

I for one loved the video. I am a firm believer in God myself. I dont know who he really is, but i know he is out there. Ive seen him work miracles in my life before. I could choose to look at them as extreme coincidences, but i choose instead to have some faith and call them what they are. I loved the story in the video and it WAS very inspiring so thank you ConfusedDude

[NateDawg]

You're Welcome! I hope people keep an open mind to the video in general. I, Too, am a Firm believer in God. I do, however, know whohe is personally, but I've been raised in church since I was ten years old. I know discriminating against what people believe is wrong and God will not tolerate it. I know without a shadow of a doubt that just because we are who we are doesn't mean we can't believe in God. Being a Christian has nothing to do about having a religion anyways. It's about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. All of these people out there that think one choice or what ever you want to call it is wrong then we're going to hell. I believe God is bigger than that, and will not judge me for who I am.

I pray it inspires more people!

[olides84]

I think that a pre-eminent strike against people who would 'bash' the video is unfair. Here's my take. If the video was just to speak to other believers in Christianity and help inspire them, well then ok. But it attacks atheists through its words, promotes talking about a specific religious prophet in schools and the workplace which is something I'm completely against, and of course the whole story about the USC philosophy professor who runs out of the lecture hall as he becomes witness to God's influence is hardly believable (though maybe it's not supposed to be).

On a larger note, I'm all for people believing what they want. I'm all against people using those beliefs in higher powers to the detriment of others who do not believe or do not follow religious teachings or may in some way be, according to the teachings, 'sinful' That's I think why religion threads get a bit heated, especially in an LGBT forum.

By the way, I was curious. Here is the original YouTube of the video, with its 8 million views and 49,000 comments

+ YouTube Video

[NateDawg]

sure. God shouldn't be taught in a public school. If they want their kids' to knwo a bout God then send them to a private school. However, i feel God should'nt be released from being talked about by others in school with a specific group. It's not saying ANYTHING about degrading athiests. It's just a story on someone that is an athiest and was teaching the kid's God didn't exist. Then one kid stood up for him and God and the professor didn't like it and was proved wrong. (According ot the video).

[Greggers]

Originally Posted by olides84

I think that a pre-eminent strike against people who would 'bash' the video is unfair.

You said it yourself, its going to happen because we are talking religion on an LGBT forum

Its not a "strike" against anyone, its clearly a desperate plee.

Anytime someone posts something about christianity, in swoop a handful of disrespectful non-christians to argue or debate. Anytime someone posts something about atheism, in swoop a handful of disrespectful non-atheists to argue or debate (im sure ive been one of those in the past). Its not everyone, but ive never seen a religion thread go down quietly. I just think its about time we wave the white flag and agree to disagree.

(i was going to stop posting here, but that quote was in-directly directed to me)

[olides84]

I understand the story and agree with standing up for what you believe. But my comment about attacking atheists is that it portrays the atheist professor quite negatively as a self-righteous know-it-all, not open to other ideas and opinions, making others cower in fear, etc. I don't favor those qualities in any person, whether professor or religious leader or anyone else.

[ColdSnap]

I thought that was a really awesome video

at least up until the 2:40ish mark, then It kinda lost me and I noticed it was bullshit

I'm all for respecting other people's beliefs, but can we keep the Jesus peddling to a minimum? I think you have to respect that to most athiests the idea of Jesus being real is as likely as Thor, Zeus, and Ursula from The Little Mermaid being real, it's a two way street.

Originally Posted by Greggers

(i was going to stop posting here, but that quote was in-directly directed to me)

lmao, oh Greggers you scamp

[NateDawg]

Originally Posted by olides84

I understand the story and agree with standing up for what you believe. But my comment about attacking atheists is that it portrays the atheist professor quite negatively as a self-righteous know-it-all, not open to other ideas and opinions, making others cower in fear, etc. I don't favor those qualities in any person, whether professor or religious leader or anyone else.

I'm having problems just believing the whole professor leaving part...

The story was to pursue that people just stand up for their beliefs when being basically preached to and being told they are foold for believing different than you..

Originally Posted by ColdSnap

I thought that was a really awesome video

at least up until the 2:40ish mark, then It kinda lost me and I noticed it was bullshit

I'm all for respecting other people's beliefs, but can we keep the Jesus peddling to a minimum? I think you have to respect that to most athiests the idea of Jesus being real is as likely as Thor, Zeus, and Ursula from The Little Mermaid being real, it's a two way street.

I agree here. I believe it ALL except the chalk "slippin" and professor "leaving"

[Revan]

If you want my opinion, then just go to the link and read it. I'm not really wanting to copy and paste.

[techie01]

Faith is self discovery and its a personal journey that if you want to you can share but you don't have to do I think. Your relationship with whoever you believe in is yours alone and if you can identify with others then great I just feel that with everyone trying to attack or impose their beliefs on the other is just not good etiquette you know? Its only ok to inform others when they want to know more! Great video

[olides84]

Originally Posted by techie01

I just feel that with everyone trying to attack or impose their beliefs on the other is just not good etiquette you know? Its only ok to inform others when they want to know more! Great video

Yeah I agree with your statement. But the problem is that it's refuted in the video. First you got a professor forcing his beliefs. Then the story ends with the stand-up student then preaching about Jesus' love for 30 minutes to the 'brainwashed by the professor' students.

Anyway, a quick google (good for anything that seems like urban legend) found this, straight from USC: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/d...iloso.04c.html
And more stuff about it here: http://www.positiveatheism.org/mail/eml9908.htm (beware: atheist site)

[Tim]

Originally Posted by Greggers

I wonder how long until someone shows up on the thread to bash the video or make some joke about it or Christianity...

I am not religious, nor do I have a specific religion, however, people are allowed to post what they want, as long as it doesn't break the rules. Anyone who does bash the video or makes a joke about a religion needs a reality check.

However, as I have yet to see a source for said story, it is, and will be just a story to me. It's not inspirational to me, as I see it as just that, a story. No, I'm not bashing the video, I'm simply stating my opinion of it.

I do feel the need to ask though (as Olides pointed out): How is the student who stood up and lectured the class ABOUT god any different than the teacher who lectured them on God not existing? They were both saying their beliefs, and yet it seems some of this thread are feeling the teacher was in the wrong, but the student wasn't. *shrug*

[xequar]

Originally Posted by Greggers

I wonder how long until someone shows up on the thread to bash the video or make some joke about it or Christianity...

This long.

This video is nothing more than a bunch of drivel meant to attack those mean ol' evil Atheists. The students all feared the evil professor, who apparently only taught that god was fake, because of his logic according to the video, and then it goes on a screed about how the entire Universe has gone to shit because people have stopped believing in god and how the poor Christians are persecuted because people look at them like a bunch of daft loons and they can't cover the workplace with religious trinkets. Oh, and then there was the part where the professor was slain by the mighty Christian as the chalk randomly hit his pant leg and didn't break, causing the vanquished professor to flee from the battlefield, likely to run home crying as he realized what a pathetic waste his life has been.

So yes, I'm going to bash your video. I'm going to bash it because it was a stupid video meant to bash "evil" Atheists and blame them for the world going to shit. If you like, I'm sure I can find a boatload of videos showing how reason and logic won the day and showed that god was a silly superstition and post them all over the place.

But I won't. I have more respect than that.

Edit: Oh, and thanks for the pre-emptive strike against anyone that might disagree with you, you know, so that if anyone made a post like mine that we'd instantly look like evil bad people that are persecuting you, even as the video posted was an attack piece. That was classy.

[Owen]

Originally Posted by xequar

This long.

This long too.

Originally Posted by xequar

Edit: Oh, and thanks for the pre-emptive strike against anyone that might disagree with you, you know, so that if anyone made a post like mine that we'd instantly look like evil bad people that are persecuting you, even as the video posted was an attack piece. That was classy.

Though I agree with you, xequar, let's keep the sarcasm to a minimum. That's how the heated discussions that close threads get started.

ConfusedDude, although I'm sure your intentions for posting the video were good, I agree with previous posters that it unfairly uses a malicious stereotype to degrade an entire group of the population and has a double standard that favors the religious student. Also, since the video provides no proof for it's story, I doubt every word of it. Then again, the story is just the medium for the message, so it's not productive to bash it. Instead, I'll look at the meaning of the video.

I think that blaming Atheism for the problems of the world, which the video did, is really missing the bigger picture. The world is screwed up because people have no morals, and religion is just one way to instill morals in people. The thing is, religion has had varying success when it comes to getting people to do good. Certainly, many good things have been done in the name of religion (Mother Teresa's works, countless charity works, etc.), but so have many bad things (the Inquisition, the Crusades, etc.). I don't blame religion directly for these things, but I blame the fact that so many religions include beliefs that all other religions are wrong and their members will go to hell. Thing is, most religions in their original form never actually included those beliefs. I'm certain the founders of some religions thought that other religions were perhaps taking the wrong route to salvation, and it's easy for that belief to evolve into "all others shall go to hell."

In their original forms, most religions were used as a way to promote behavior that was beneficial to the human race. If you want the human population to proliferate, then you tell everyone that they should remain faithful to one person. That way, they can take care of their children so that more survive and they can try to have as many as possible. If you want people to be nice to each other, you tell them that God said they should. That way people cooperate and thus the society works better. If you want people to be happy so that they can work more productively and enjoy life more, you tell them God said that they should be happy because he is there for them. That comforts them and helps them with their woes. Really, religion is just a tool used by society to run more effectively, with mixed results. To the theists who may be offended by that statement, I am not suggesting that your faith is simply a construct of civilization that is completely utilitarian in nature. I am only saying that it does serve that purpose, in addition to all of the wonderful things it does for you.

Truth is, you cannot tell a true Christian from a true Humanist, which is a person who believes in being nice to other people just for the sake of being nice to other people and because it's the right thing to do. To say that promoting belief in God is the only way to solve the world's problems (which the video implies) is incredibly short-sighted, because that would simply be a more complex way of promoting humanism. Thus I think the video is misguided in its intentions. As a sign on a British bus said, "Why believe in God? Just be good for goodness sake."

[Jeimuzu]

I thought this said Very Inspiring Massage.

Immediate thought was "I had one of those the other day..."

[Beachboi92]

i am personally not religious in any way associated with organized religion. But i do believe in a god in a different way. I think that faith has an amazing power and is important wether it is faith that god will help you or that things will just work out. I think that pushing religion or any beliefs on someone the way the professor supposedly did is wrong just as pushing religion on someone is wrong. It is something you should figure out for themselves.

Personally i have had one sort of faith that has always protected me and helped me.
Know that things will work out, do what you can, and let the rest run its course.
That philosophy is not religious, but it has always worked for me

[MusicIsLife]

I loosely call myself agnostic/spiritual.

The story in that video looked to be like another one of those urban legend type stories, like it happened to a friend of a friend of a friend of mine, but it reality never actually happened.

I respect your beliefs, but for me I feel that christianity is a religion for the straight, white, homophobic, racist, sexist male. JMO.

[Jeimuzu]

Originally Posted by Gamer am I

As a sign on a British bus said, "Why believe in God? Just be good for goodness sake."

I love this statement. I've always believed that if your religion leads you to do good things, you're already doing them for the wrong reason.

Let's compare.

Two people both do a good deed. Person A is religious, and has £20 in his pocket he doesn't need. He thinks "If I put this in that charity box, that's another step towards eternal bliss!" in some sort of absurd pension plan. So he puts it in, feels good about himself, and goes home.

Person B is an atheist, has £20 in his pocket and puts it in because someone has to look after the homeless kids, and because he tries to empathise with them, he thinks "They'll get more good out of this than I will." So he puts it in, feels good about himself, and goes home.

Am I the only one who thinks that B has made a bigger step towards heaven, if it does exist, regardless of his own religious faith?

Let's say God exists. Am I the only one who'd think it'd probably be easier to get into his good books if you DIDN'T believe in him? If you are self-sufficient, don't constantly need to beg him for help, yet still do good by your fellow man simply because it is what is right, surely he'd want that more than someone who spent his life trying to be his servant?

[Owen]

Originally Posted by Jeimuzu

Let's say God exists. Am I the only one who'd think it'd probably be easier to get into his good books if you DIDN'T believe in him? If you are self-sufficient, don't constantly need to beg him for help, yet still do good by your fellow man simply because it is what is right, surely he'd want that more than someone who spent his life trying to be his servant?

This. Going by his previous example, person A is doing it for completely selfish reasons, but person B is being selfless (unless he has been following the studies that prove that the only way money can make you happy is if you give it away, but that's another topic). Person A may also be doing it out of fear, which is hardly a noble cause.