Looks like Missouri is following Arkansas

The classes would include the contents of the Bible, its history, the literary style and structure and the book’s influences on society.

Some sources say it will be taught as social studies.

Missouri bill would allow Bible classes in schools

I don't believe in monotheism. I believe there are many Gods as there are individuals and each person is related to their own sacred energy whether they regard it as such or not.

But let's say for instance there is one true God. And this God says, there is no others before me. This God believes there are no other Gods, and it reveres itself as divine. Not only is this God an atheist, it's also an autotheist.

I like to use the term "I am" to represent how even Jesus was saying, be like...

I noticed there are quite a few Islamic users in these forum, so I was curious if any believed in punishment, like the death penalty, for apostasy? It seems like 25 Muslim countries support the death penalty or extreme punishment for apostasy under Sharia law Laws Criminalizing Apostasy.
However, I noticed this line of thinking was not only constricted to these countries. As I recall, a survey was done fairly recently in the UK to determine what Muslims thought of the apostasy death...

Why is there so little talk about moral action speech and thoughts?
Moral value is a larger part of spiritual life, is it not?

I really wanted to share this as its so easy to succumb to negativity and despair in the face of terrorist acts such as the one in Christchurch. Make friends with peoples of different faiths is the message. So simple yet so powerful.

Religion is often viewed as a force that sows divisions between people. But the world’s most prominent religious leaders have come together to present a different vision of how faith can work in the world.


In a rare move, major religious leaders ― from Pope...

I should preface by stating I understand the religions of Christianity and Islam to be idol worship: both utilize a (dead; non-existent) male central figure that serves as a model for the citizens of an empire. In both cases each utilize a book(s) which outlines the nature/behavior of such a central figure to be imitated, emulated, regarded as the perfect "pattern of conduct" etc.

The Syriac-speaking Christians (who resided in and around the Arabian Peninsula pre-Islam) had many hymnal...

If God were an objectively real being, why would he need to use men to write the bible, rather than writing it himself? Why would he speak through "prophets" rather than speak directly to mankind? It would be very easy for God to reveal his existence. He could simply directly communicate with humans, rather than needing intermediary humans to reach humans. The fact that no one ever hears about God directly from God is to me, one of the biggest pieces of evidence against the existence of...

Not all of Christendom believes all of the Bible literally. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox, and probably Anglican Churches view it as largely metaphorical and allegorical. Even when I was Christian I did not take it literally. My priest in the Eastern Orthodox Church used to say "what does it matter if Adam and Eve actually existed? The important thing is that we do exist to give glory to God". Yet there are large numbers in various Christian denominations that take the Bible...

I pose the question of the title, and then I'll have to wait for your responses until Saturday as I'm outta town tomorrow. First, to define terms:

Theism: a belief that there is at least one deity.

Agnosticism: not knowing if there's a deity or deities.

Atheism: a belief there are no deities.
Which is logically the weakest and why? I say it's the latter by far.

See yas Saturday, so play nice now.

so....an angel shows up at your door
sword in hand

do you have a sword of your own?