The Energon Pub

Counterpunch wrote:

High Command wrote:

Cyber Bishop wrote:It's all about faith.

You know what I can never figure out is why is everyone always trying to debunk just Christianity and no other religion. Will we ever see a documentary trying to debunk Mohammad? I seriously doubt it.

There are more Muslims on th planet than any other organized religion but no one ever question them and their belief system like this.

Actually some people do but they usually end up getting murdered like that Dutch film maker recently.

Likewise people rarely criticise Judaism for fear of being labeled as anti-semitic.

It's not that people can't see faults in those religions it's just that the negative consequences of saying anything bad about them are enough to put most people off.

So, Christians are the ones that will let you speak your mind on things...

Gee, what will all of the self-righteous, 14 year old, "I know everything in my short time on Earth", Christianity bashing philosophers have to say about that?


(I'm not even arguing for the Christian faith in this post, just pointing out the usual blind ignorance that most people who attack the faith use as their guidepoint)

I'm not so sure that's the case. Rather that traditionally Christian countires are also now the most demcratic, with greatest freedom of speech. However I don't think this is because these countries have a Christian tradition, as the church has always been in opposition to change over the centuries rather then being in favour of it. You just have to look to the Christian-right of America to see the evidence of that.
Because of the freedom of speech we enjoy, we are able to say what we like about things like religion, without fear of punishment.
Notably whenever something like the Danish cartoons is published that causes such great offence to muslims, riots break out not in the country where the cartoons were published, rather violent protests were carried out in Muslim fundimentalist countries, where freedom of speech is a semi-alien concept.
It's fear from external groups that causes people to self censor with regard to muslims as they fear attack from radical groups targeting them from abroad.

The anti-semitic reason for not criticising Judasim is somewhat different. Post WW2, anti-semitism is akin to being a Nazi, still one of the worst names you can attach to a person, along with child-molestor. Whether or not a criticism of Judasim is anti-semitic, it's quite likely that it'll be labeled so, again causing people to self-censor, despite freedom of speech.

Cyber Bishop wrote:It's all about faith.

You know what I can never figure out is why is everyone always trying to debunk just Christianity and no other religion. Will we ever see a documentary trying to debunk Mohammad? I seriously doubt it.

There are more Muslims on th planet than any other organized religion but no one ever question them and their belief system like this.

So glad you noticed.

High Command wrote:

Counterpunch wrote:

High Command wrote:

Cyber Bishop wrote:It's all about faith.

You know what I can never figure out is why is everyone always trying to debunk just Christianity and no other religion. Will we ever see a documentary trying to debunk Mohammad? I seriously doubt it.

There are more Muslims on th planet than any other organized religion but no one ever question them and their belief system like this.

Actually some people do but they usually end up getting murdered like that Dutch film maker recently.

Likewise people rarely criticise Judaism for fear of being labeled as anti-semitic.

It's not that people can't see faults in those religions it's just that the negative consequences of saying anything bad about them are enough to put most people off.

So, Christians are the ones that will let you speak your mind on things...

Gee, what will all of the self-righteous, 14 year old, "I know everything in my short time on Earth", Christianity bashing philosophers have to say about that?


(I'm not even arguing for the Christian faith in this post, just pointing out the usual blind ignorance that most people who attack the faith use as their guidepoint)

I'm not so sure that's the case. Rather that traditionally Christian countires are also now the most demcratic, with greatest freedom of speech. However I don't think this is because these countries have a Christian tradition, as the church has always been in opposition to change over the centuries rather then being in favour of it. You just have to look to the Christian-right of America to see the evidence of that.
Because of the freedom of speech we enjoy, we are able to say what we like about things like religion, without fear of punishment.

I think there is a double edge sword when it comes to speaking about religions in the U.S. Yes, the U.S. has the freedom of speech. We're permitted to say hateful things about Christianity. However, if you say hateful things about the Jewish or Isalmic faith, then it's considered a hate crime.

Fender Bender wrote:As I see this to become a heated debate, I'm moving it to the Philosophers Forum.

It should have been posted there in the first place.. Shadowman you should know better.

I'm still calling bullshit on Cameron.

While I was at the gym this morning, I was watching an interview with one of the film makers on one of the big-screen televisions. He specified that they had "found the tomb of Mary Magdalene--Mother of God . . ."

MARY MAGADALENE IS NOT THE VIRGIN MARY.

The New Testament told of two Marys . . . the Virgin Mother and one who is widely purported to have been a prostitute before joining Jesus' ministry in roughly 32 AD.

If the filmmakers can't even get that right on national television than I have no confidence in their claims.

Secondly: I have little belief that we could find a specific tomb of a specific man who died 2000 years ago, whether he was the Messiah or not. We can't find King Arthur; we can't find Hitler (1945 AD;) hell, we can't even find Jimmy Hoffa, and they want me to believe that they waltzed into one of the most war-torn places in the history of the world and found the tomb of the Son of God that full European armies couldn't find.

DNA: this has been covered extensively. If they did indeed collect DNA from a 'relic' associated with Jesus, then I'm going to call bunk on it. There's been many Spears of Antioch; many True Crosses; many Holy Grails. Just like homeless people sell fake Ray-Bans on the streets of New York for a quick buck, you better believe that people did the same during the Middle Ages.

I'll post more later, but I've gotta go to work.

I find it quite interesting that Christians don't try to bring this in and embolden the existing facts and say "We have our Messiahs remains." I do believe the desecration of anyone's tomb is an atrocity, but they did it anyway. 1000's of people will rush to an overpass that bears the likeness of the Virgin Mary or claim they witnessed a statue cry or a cross bleed. And they believe it.
Christians are viewing this the same way as the drunk dad whose daughter comes home and says she's pregnant then tosses her out on the street. If they can believe that a potato chip that looks like Jesus is somehow holy, why is it so hard to wait to hear the evidence before disavowing that before them.
The remark that the Vatican would likely have the remains seems more likely than the one we are currently hearing on the news these past few days, but stranger things have been known to happen.

DISCHARGE wrote:I find it quite interesting that Christians don't try to bring this in and embolden the existing facts and say "We have our Messiahs remains." I do believe the desecration of anyone's tomb is an atrocity, but they did it anyway. 1000's of people will rush to an overpass that bears the likeness of the Virgin Mary or claim they witnessed a statue cry or a cross bleed. And they believe it.
Christians are viewing this the same way as the drunk dad whose daughter comes home and says she's pregnant then tosses her out on the street. If they can believe that a potato chip that looks like Jesus is somehow holy, why is it so hard to wait to hear the evidence before disavowing that before them.
The remark that the Vatican would likely have the remains seems more likely than the one we are currently hearing on the news these past few days, but stranger things have been known to happen.

Well most believe he ascended to heaven on a cloud, so I think proof of the converse would put a kink in their chain. But, of course, the faithfuls can always deny such evidence, no matter how glaring.

DesalationReborn wrote:

DISCHARGE wrote:I find it quite interesting that Christians don't try to bring this in and embolden the existing facts and say "We have our Messiahs remains." I do believe the desecration of anyone's tomb is an atrocity, but they did it anyway. 1000's of people will rush to an overpass that bears the likeness of the Virgin Mary or claim they witnessed a statue cry or a cross bleed. And they believe it.
Christians are viewing this the same way as the drunk dad whose daughter comes home and says she's pregnant then tosses her out on the street. If they can believe that a potato chip that looks like Jesus is somehow holy, why is it so hard to wait to hear the evidence before disavowing that before them.
The remark that the Vatican would likely have the remains seems more likely than the one we are currently hearing on the news these past few days, but stranger things have been known to happen.

Well most believe he ascended to heaven on a cloud, so I think proof of the converse would put a kink in their chain. But, of course, the faithfuls can always deny such evidence, no matter how glaring.

Hell, I'm a Christian and I'd be willing to make some concessions if the burden of proof was against me. The Bible stated that Jesus was corpreal, almost ghost-like, after His resurrection; I'd be willing to admit that He may have, conceivably, left behind a physical body.

However, the burden of proof in this instance is so far to the contrary to Cameron's claims that I won't make any concessions in this matter.

Uh-oh, Doesn't look good for the Christians. WE've (as in im christian)been editing that bible for so long the Jews won't accept our old testament.

We deny the existance of texts the did not deify Jesus and declare them as heresy. That doesn't mean they weren't true. In fact, it had to be damn important to transcribe by hand multiple copies of them.

What do they say?
Jesus is a man, jesus was married... to mary magdalene, jesus had kids, jesus didn't die on the cross.

Who said these were false?
the church that relied on the deification of christ to control the masses and profit from them.

Sounds like business to me.

Funny Satanism is about the god inside all of us and our drive to be better than the rest. Kinda how evolution works. Either I'm better than you or i should kill you so i can survive.

You think they found this tomb back in the day and that is what caused the dark ages? Possible. The church buried it when they lost control, waited generations for the people to forget and reinstituted christianity when the truth was forgotten.

WHAT THE F*CK!!!

I AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF FOR FALLING FOR THIS CRAP. I LISTENED TO ALL THE RULES AND GOT NOTHING BUT SELF INFLICTED SUFFERING. I'VE LOOKED THE EVIDENCE IN THE FACE AND MADE EXCUSES FOR IT. I just don't care anymore, man. I've been your bitch for long enough, now you're mine.

EDITED: sorry

I don't understand why one will assume that the body and spirit are not two entities emulsified into one for the purpose of life. Splitting the two as anybody else leaving this world, Jesus would very much have left remains as his spirit was free to walk amongst his followers letting them know he was in no pain. His non-corporealness can be attributed to this as a body made of flesh and bone, broken , bloody and battered would only have allowed him to hobble. By leaving his flesh behind he was ready to ascend to the Heavens. Even God would not leave loose ends such as the Church would like everybody to believe. In the dark ages the churches would compile huge libraries to store ancient documents they didn't want the faithful to be witness of. To follow the INTERPRETATION of the passages you read in your copy of whatever bible you read is up to the faithful. But it has always irked me that in the Christian faith there are so many sects. If there was truely fact to all the stories in the bible there would only be one. I 'm not completely convinced as you would think these bones would have performed some type of miracle by now such as purported by the hollow shells of the Vatican saints.

SoulOfPrimus wrote:Uh-oh, Doesn't look good for the Christians. WE've (as in im christian)been editing that bible for so long the Jews won't accept our old testament.

We deny the existance of texts the did not deify Jesus and declare them as heresy. That doesn't mean they weren't true. In fact, it had to be damn important to transcribe by hand multiple copies of them.

What do they say?
Jesus is a man, jesus was married... to mary magdalene, jesus had kids, jesus didn't die on the cross.

Who said these were false?
the church that relied on the deification of christ to control the masses and profit from them.

Sounds like business to me.

Funny Satanism is about the god inside all of us and our drive to be better than the rest. Kinda how evolution works. Either I'm better than you or i should kill you so i can survive.

You think they found this tomb back in the day and that is what caused the dark ages? Possible. The church buried it when they lost control, waited generations for the people to forget and reinstituted christianity when the truth was forgotten.

WHAT THE F*CK!!!

I AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF FOR FALLING FOR THIS CRAP. I LISTENED TO ALL THE RULES AND GOT NOTHING BUT SELF INFLICTED SUFFERING. I'VE LOOKED THE EVIDENCE IN THE FACE AND MADE EXCUSES FOR IT. I just don't care anymore, man. I've been your bitch for long enough, now you're mine.

Taken care of, thank you.

I got mine now could you do your quote?

and how do i change my avatar.

I love Buddy Christ!!

DISCHARGE wrote:I love Buddy Christ!!

You know, he was a good marketing tool.

SoulOfPrimus wrote:Uh-oh, Doesn't look good for the Christians. WE've (as in im christian)been editing that bible for so long the Jews won't accept our old testament.

We deny the existance of texts the did not deify Jesus and declare them as heresy. That doesn't mean they weren't true. In fact, it had to be damn important to transcribe by hand multiple copies of them.

What do they say?
Jesus is a man, jesus was married... to mary magdalene, jesus had kids, jesus didn't die on the cross.

Who said these were false?
the church that relied on the deification of christ to control the masses and profit from them.

Sounds like business to me.

Funny Satanism is about the god inside all of us and our drive to be better than the rest. Kinda how evolution works. Either I'm better than you or i should kill you so i can survive.

You think they found this tomb back in the day and that is what caused the dark ages? Possible. The church buried it when they lost control, waited generations for the people to forget and reinstituted christianity when the truth was forgotten.

WHAT THE F*CK!!!

I AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF FOR FALLING FOR THIS CRAP. I LISTENED TO ALL THE RULES AND GOT NOTHING BUT SELF INFLICTED SUFFERING. I'VE LOOKED THE EVIDENCE IN THE FACE AND MADE EXCUSES FOR IT. I just don't care anymore, man. I've been your bitch for long enough, now you're mine.

EDITED: sorry

I've heard a lot of pathetic excuses in my time, but "God gave me internal suffering" takes the cake. Take some personal responsibility for your own situation, stop making half-baked excuses for why you feel lousy, and then maybe I'll entertain the rest of your ridiculous diatribe. Either you're a Christian or your not, but being a vindictive former Christian because you had a crisis of faith is a waste of time and effort.

well, i just spent probably over an hour typing out a response to a couple of posts here, then got a "no post mode specified" message and lost it all. so, here's a very brief summary:

SoulOfPrimus: pretty much every claim you made has either been widely discredited in both the secular and religious communities (just as james cameron's has), or is an utterly groundless wild accusation (ie your dark ages "theory"). i had gone into rather extensive detail about much of it before my post got erased, maybe i'll type out some of it again tomorrow, so as to hopefully squash some of the more believable-sounding claims before certain other posters start pronouncing them the truth (here's one to tide you over: most of the books not included in the new testament were proven forgeries written over a hundred years after the fact by groups like the gnostics to lure people away from the church. several were traced back to the original authors, and some authors were even caught red-handed composing their own "gospels." the books were written to support the heresies, not the other way around.) in the future, please get your facts straight before posting, and save me and others the trouble of correcting them. thanks.

DISCHARGE: i addressed several points of your post (the one that mentions your problem with sects). i'll probably type it out again tomorrow, but in the mean time let me just repeat my original closing statement about the sects thing: god didn't split the church, man did. that doesn't really cover everything i had to say about that point, let alone the rest of your post, but it'll have to do until tomorrow.

Operation Ravage wrote:

SoulOfPrimus wrote:Uh-oh, Doesn't look good for the Christians. WE've (as in im christian)been editing that bible for so long the Jews won't accept our old testament.

We deny the existance of texts the did not deify Jesus and declare them as heresy. That doesn't mean they weren't true. In fact, it had to be damn important to transcribe by hand multiple copies of them.

What do they say?
Jesus is a man, jesus was married... to mary magdalene, jesus had kids, jesus didn't die on the cross.

Who said these were false?
the church that relied on the deification of christ to control the masses and profit from them.

Sounds like business to me.

Funny Satanism is about the god inside all of us and our drive to be better than the rest. Kinda how evolution works. Either I'm better than you or i should kill you so i can survive.

You think they found this tomb back in the day and that is what caused the dark ages? Possible. The church buried it when they lost control, waited generations for the people to forget and reinstituted christianity when the truth was forgotten.

WHAT THE F*CK!!!

I AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF FOR FALLING FOR THIS CRAP. I LISTENED TO ALL THE RULES AND GOT NOTHING BUT SELF INFLICTED SUFFERING. I'VE LOOKED THE EVIDENCE IN THE FACE AND MADE EXCUSES FOR IT. I just don't care anymore, man. I've been your bitch for long enough, now you're mine.

EDITED: sorry

I've heard a lot of pathetic excuses in my time, but "God gave me internal suffering" takes the cake. Take some personal responsibility for your own situation, stop making half-baked excuses for why you feel lousy, and then maybe I'll entertain the rest of your ridiculous diatribe. Either you're a Christian or your not, but being a vindictive former Christian because you had a crisis of faith is a waste of time and effort.

I think he's more talking about the aspect of hard-core dogmatic Christianity as "Oh noes! I did something bad," for something as trivial as jerking off, and the strict rules such includes. Many, like you, OR, seem to let your own opinions rule take precident over projected beliefs, a usually healthier standpoint, where as many others let their Christian beliefs rule over themselves, constantly judging themselves as worthless sinners, constantly repremanding while trying to fit into a role they were not meant to instead of seeking fufillment on their own terms. It's similar to the concept of Nietzsche's master-slave morality. In the end, breaking out is the best for such a predicament, which is what he seems to be voicing, although not quite so elegantly.

Although this isn't an issue with some believers, it does create conflict in others.

I got a GREAT idea for a film.

Movie Trailer Guy: Out in Michigan, a man who's questioning what it's all about decides to do something about. Come join Emperor Primacron the 1st, as he leads a small group of scholars, archiologists, and scientists, where they enter into the deep bowls of the Vatican and finally reveal what is hidden in the depths of its vaults.




I say we outta do that, I mean if the what's in the Vatican is all about Christianity and all it stand for, what is there to be afriad to show us? I feel there is stuff burried in the vaults of the Vatican that incriminate the church leaders, or in the very least make them less powerful. Hell, for all we know, like in the bit from Red Dwarf about what was found on a missing page of the bible found, which belongs in the front of the bible.

To my darling, Candy. All characters within this book are fictional and all resemblences to anyone, living or dead, are completely coincidental.

DesalationReborn wrote: Many, like you, OR, seem to let your own opinions rule take precident over projected beliefs, a usually healthier standpoint, where as many others let their Christian beliefs rule over themselves, constantly judging

I'm judgmental?

Perhaps. Regardless, I don't have a signature condemning the religious preference of 1.3 billion people. Nor have condemned people here for being non-believers, or sinners; I have, however, played hardball with people who haven't gotten their facts straight, or made excuses, or failed to do any research into the religion they're condemning.

I might occasionally jump to conclusions, but this street goes both ways.

Operation Ravage wrote:

DesalationReborn wrote: Many, like you, OR, seem to let your own opinions rule take precident over projected beliefs, a usually healthier standpoint, where as many others let their Christian beliefs rule over themselves, constantly judging

I'm judgmental?

Perhaps. Regardless, I don't have a signature condemning the religious preference of 1.3 billion people. Nor have condemned people here for being non-believers, or sinners; I have, however, played hardball with people who haven't gotten their facts straight, or made excuses, or failed to do any research into the religion they're condemning.

I might occasionally jump to conclusions, but this street goes both ways.

I was boxing in 2 schools of thought-- you were in the 1st, and the "judgers" were in the latter.

For clarity...
Camp #1 (Pretty Healthily-minded):"own opinions take precident over projected beliefs"

You define your own morals. You're the master of your thoughts.

Camp #2 (Problematic): "let their Christian beliefs rule over themselves, constantly judging themselves as worthless sinners, constantly repremanding while trying to fit into a role they were not meant to instead of seeking fufillment on their own terms"

Projected morals define them. They're "slaves."

That's essentially Neizstche's master-slave morality, abiet severly watered down.

EDIT: And sorry, I did have a confusing grammar error in that last post.

also it would be great to consider the name Judah translates to Praise. Being that the bible directly tells yo ass that Jesus did Rise from the grave, and reading in Acts it also states that he acended After 40 days or so (i cant recall). Why in the world would u think or pretend to know that he was Burried on earth. Believing he was burried it hopeful if anything, but its not FACTUAL. I truly DOUBT, that during the documentary, there will be anything from the bible (teaching that he HAD ACCENDED) backing up FACTUAL claims and events.

to them i say, read a good book and stfu

Kaiser Grimlock wrote: Believing he was burried it hopeful if anything, but its not FACTUAL.

[/i]

Who are you to say what is factual and what isn't. Factual in the sense of what is written, maybe. Factual in the demeanor of the truth? You have no solid proof. Only faith. And that faith doesn't apply to everyone posting here. Please don't try to impose fascist beliefs upon those posting. Stating one's views as fact must be upheld to be proven without any reason of doubt. And I believe there is certainly plenty of doubt. Just because a book says one thing doesn't make it so. Heck, I've read in the Weekly World News that Bigfoot was going to fight the Yeti in a knock down drag out fight to the death. Do I believe it because it was written? Based on the FACT that it was written I guess I should.

SoulOfPrimus wrote:Uh-oh, Doesn't look good for the Christians. WE've (as in im christian)been editing that bible for so long the Jews won't accept our old testament.

We deny the existance of texts the did not deify Jesus and declare them as heresy. That doesn't mean they weren't true. In fact, it had to be damn important to transcribe by hand multiple copies of them.

What do they say?
Jesus is a man, jesus was married... to mary magdalene, jesus had kids, jesus didn't die on the cross.

Who said these were false?
the church that relied on the deification of christ to control the masses and profit from them.

Sounds like business to me.

Funny Satanism is about the god inside all of us and our drive to be better than the rest. Kinda how evolution works. Either I'm better than you or i should kill you so i can survive.

You think they found this tomb back in the day and that is what caused the dark ages? Possible. The church buried it when they lost control, waited generations for the people to forget and reinstituted christianity when the truth was forgotten.

WHAT THE F*CK!!!

I AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED IN MYSELF FOR FALLING FOR THIS CRAP. I LISTENED TO ALL THE RULES AND GOT NOTHING BUT SELF INFLICTED SUFFERING. I'VE LOOKED THE EVIDENCE IN THE FACE AND MADE EXCUSES FOR IT. I just don't care anymore, man. I've been your bitch for long enough, now you're mine.

EDITED: sorry

Let me guess your mommy didn't hug you enough did she.

Stop blaming god for everything is wrong in your life. Perhaps if you change your mentality and attitude things might look up.

OR POSSIBLY STOP BEING A LOATHSOME EMO WANNA BE!

Do you realize once you stop blaming god and start looking at yourself inside and what's going on around your life, things may start to change.

Do you think I sit here everyday and blame god for, the world we live in, the **** thats happened to me by my own hand, the fact my youngest child almost died. NO I DON'T.

Did you ever think ig there is a "GOD" perhaps he's tired of hearing so many people blame him for their own stupid actions, and whining about their lives being crap when they wont even do anything about it.

Perhaps if people would start blaming the true reasons perhaps god would help more.

Shadowman, I really didn't think you were that gullible seriously dude.

DesalationReborn wrote:

Operation Ravage wrote:

DesalationReborn wrote: Many, like you, OR, seem to let your own opinions rule take precident over projected beliefs, a usually healthier standpoint, where as many others let their Christian beliefs rule over themselves, constantly judging

I'm judgmental?

Perhaps. Regardless, I don't have a signature condemning the religious preference of 1.3 billion people. Nor have condemned people here for being non-believers, or sinners; I have, however, played hardball with people who haven't gotten their facts straight, or made excuses, or failed to do any research into the religion they're condemning.

I might occasionally jump to conclusions, but this street goes both ways.

I was boxing in 2 schools of thought-- you were in the 1st, and the "judgers" were in the latter.

For clarity...
Camp #1 (Pretty Healthily-minded):"own opinions take precident over projected beliefs"

You define your own morals. You're the master of your thoughts.

Camp #2 (Problematic): "let their Christian beliefs rule over themselves, constantly judging themselves as worthless sinners, constantly repremanding while trying to fit into a role they were not meant to instead of seeking fufillment on their own terms"

Projected morals define them. They're "slaves."

That's essentially Neizstche's master-slave morality, abiet severly watered down.

EDIT: And sorry, I did have a confusing grammar error in that last post.

Then going by your own words, our young self-proclaimed Satanist is a slave to religion. After all, his signature and avatar suggest that his current religious beliefs are a reaction to a mainstream religion; thus, he's still defined by that mainstream religion, and thus, a slave.

I will concede that a lot of contemporary Christian movements have the intellectual capacity of a pile of bricks, but most of the responses I've seen in this thread are very broad generalizations of Christianity in general. I've seen no credence to the Christian relief organizations, or the clergy that painfully transcribed all sorts of books--sometimes at the risk of their own lives--throughout the Middle Ages and the World Wars in the preservation of knowledge.

Christianity has made a lot of mistakes. But so has every other world religion.

My hands are already tied in the argument; I can't pull out the old "it's a faith-based thing," because that doesn't cut the mustard for atheists. So I'm presenting as many facts and interpretations as possible to explain my belief system in an objective, occasionally passionate, manner.

So, to recap; I don't believe Cameron found the tomb of Jesus, for reasons listed above. And while religion can be an "enslaving" mechanism, when used by the proper person, it can also be liberating. One sixth of the world's population has embraced Christianity, at least on paper; that's a testament that there's something people can relate to, albeit for different reasons.

Operation Ravage wrote:

DesalationReborn wrote:

Operation Ravage wrote:

DesalationReborn wrote: Many, like you, OR, seem to let your own opinions rule take precident over projected beliefs, a usually healthier standpoint, where as many others let their Christian beliefs rule over themselves, constantly judging

I'm judgmental?

Perhaps. Regardless, I don't have a signature condemning the religious preference of 1.3 billion people. Nor have condemned people here for being non-believers, or sinners; I have, however, played hardball with people who haven't gotten their facts straight, or made excuses, or failed to do any research into the religion they're condemning.

I might occasionally jump to conclusions, but this street goes both ways.

I was boxing in 2 schools of thought-- you were in the 1st, and the "judgers" were in the latter.

For clarity...
Camp #1 (Pretty Healthily-minded):"own opinions take precident over projected beliefs"

You define your own morals. You're the master of your thoughts.

Camp #2 (Problematic): "let their Christian beliefs rule over themselves, constantly judging themselves as worthless sinners, constantly repremanding while trying to fit into a role they were not meant to instead of seeking fufillment on their own terms"

Projected morals define them. They're "slaves."

That's essentially Neizstche's master-slave morality, abiet severly watered down.

EDIT: And sorry, I did have a confusing grammar error in that last post.

Then going by your own words, our young self-proclaimed Satanist is a slave to religion. After all, his signature and avatar suggest that his current religious beliefs are a reaction to a mainstream religion; thus, he's still defined by that mainstream religion, and thus, a slave.

Pretty much depends on his motivations-- whether it is for the justification of himself or in reaction to an outside will. Satanism in itself strives for self-fufillment as it's utmost goal, so it's likely the former, but maybe the later. I have similar thoughts and would actually join the Church of Satan if I wasn't opposed to a binding affiliation to a certain group. I like to course to my own beat.

I'd note as well that technically Satanism, the Church of Satan, is not a religion. Although they revere Satan as a literary figure and the embodiment of the mainstream Western religion's demonization of individualistic drive, they acknowledge no god other than the "god" of the self and the strive for one's own fulfillment. In that way, it is more a philosophy, like the Eastern conceptions of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confusism.