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Theological terrorists

Thief

Rogue Theologian
I wish that were the case. People are indoctrinated as children to fear hell. It haunts them through life in much the same way that claustrophobia haunts a child who was locked in a closet.
and the Carpenter gave instruction

Go to your closet and close the door
and the Spirit that knows you will hear your prayer

He didn't say .....which.....spirit

and you you stay put if Someone whispered in your ear?
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
there are four basic motivations for Man

God................
social drive
military drive
and economy

only one offers some notion of continuance
I see where you are trying to go with this, but NONE of those things drive me. Where does that leave your little theory here?
  1. God? Hahahahahahahahaha!!! Oh man... :tearsofjoy:
  2. Social? I have very, very few friends, and like to keep it that way.
  3. Military? I feel you would be hard-pressed to find a person less quick to physical altercation than myself. I will always default to wit, always. Physical action would only ever be in retaliation... and very likely I would feel my life would need to be in danger. People have hit me before out of anger, and my response is usually to laugh at that point. What more are they planning to do? If nothing, then they have failed to impress, and have only succeeded in being amusing.
  4. Economy? If I am buying anything genuinely for myself, it is 99% of the time meeting a necessity of some form. Food stuffs I splurge on every so often - I do love my black licorice and tamarind candies - but otherwise, I drive cars until they collapse, I wear clothes until they no longer perform their function, I don't buy music - well, correction, I bought a CD ONCE in my entire life, and yet I spend my money freely for the needs and wants of those around me that I care about. I care about comfort alone. Money is a means to that in this day and age, but I care extremely little about it.
So... if those are the "basic" motivators (an idea I do not buy at face value as you seem to be expecting me to do) then are my motivations "advanced?"
 

Thief

Rogue Theologian
So... if those are the "basic" motivators (an idea I do not buy at face value as you seem to be expecting me to do) then are my motivations "advanced?"

I first heard this from an instructor
heard it again years later from a coworker

no way these two guys have met

and you need to sit still and think
 

Vinayaka

devotee
Premium Member
As a kid, I was frightened of 'bible thumpers'. My atheist father made sure of that.
I think anyone can be a 'terrorist' in this sense. A parent can make their child afraid of vaccines, the Russians, the Chinese, people with different skin colour than themselves, and an entire horde of other aspects of life.

Some capitalists threaten their workers with firing at the mere mention of the word 'union'. Employing fear as a method of control is nothing new. Not sure if I'd call it 'terrorism'.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
I first heard this from an instructor
heard it again years later from a coworker

no way these two guys have met

and you need to sit still and think
Of course you would think something like that constitutes evidence. Of course you would. You should get that looked at.
 

firedragon

Veteran Member
There are theological terrorists also, the people who would try to frighten people of the end of days, day of judgment, eternal hells and tortures therein. They shoot with their mouth, writings and web pages.

Using that logic all the governments in the world are all terrorists. They threaten people too of life in prison, death penalty, jail for small crimes, and a whole lot of other things.

Oh what a dilemma mate.
 

MNoBody

Well-Known Member
psychological bullying, or fear-mongering..... otherwise, meddlers who like to meddle with other people maliciously...... seems to be a major human problem.
 

A Vestigial Mote

Well-Known Member
Using that logic all the governments in the world are all terrorists. They threaten people too of life in prison, death penalty, jail for small crimes, and a whole lot of other things.

Oh what a dilemma mate.
Very different situation. The systems you are trying to lump in with religious teachings do actual work attempting to discern innocence or guilt, based on real-world benefits and detriments that can be evidenced and witnessed. Religious "rules" supposedly come "from God" - an unverifiable source, and the requirements of evidence/witness for any and all religious edicts is usually blatantly ignored by the religious themselves. "If God said it, I do it." being the usual (and insufficiently compelling) mantra. Take something like the first "commandment." It's a joke.
 

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Exactly. One is free to criticize their beliefs...but calling them terrorists is slightly unfair because they do not scare anybody:p
I suspect a lot of fundamentalists, deep down, are genuinely terrified of Hell, and much of their desperate religiosity is an attempt to escape the sinful nature they were born with and find favor with the only person they believe can save them from an otherwise inevitable lake of fire.
 

firedragon

Veteran Member
Very different situation. The systems you are trying to lump in with religious teachings do actual work attempting to discern innocence or guilt, based on real-world benefits and detriments that can be evidenced and witnessed. Religious "rules" supposedly come "from God" - an unverifiable source, and the requirements of evidence/witness for any and all religious edicts is usually blatantly ignored by the religious themselves. "If God said it, I do it." being the usual (and insufficiently compelling) mantra. Take something like the first "commandment." It's a joke.

Lets say God is false. Religions are all bogus. Yet, the definition of "terrorist" applies to all governments as I said.

So you trying to prove religions and Gods are false, unverified etc etc are all irrelevant.
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Am I friend or enemy if I see you in danger and don't warn you?
It means you are a victim of fear yourself to imagine others need saving from God's imagined hatred which would torture non-believers in endless horrors forever and ever. The threat you see, does not exist in God, only in your own fear-based imaginations, stoked by fear mongers who do not know love.
 

Saint Frankenstein

Wanderer From Afar
Premium Member
I find the term Theological Terrorist such as a cool combination of words XD

Unfortunately, these groups have already been names. They are called Doomsday Cults.
But there's plenty who aren't viewed as doomsday cults who still go around scaring people with terrifying end of the world and hell crap, like JWs and other fundie Christians. Generations of people have been traumatized by this garbage. Whenever I see Christian propaganda scaring people about that stuff, I ball it up and chuck it in the trash, where it belongs.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
Sticks and stones..... much worse. :)
It can only get really bad on the theological scene when the possibility of theocracy looms.
Terrorism is not far from Religious terrorists. We have seen examples of that all through the history.
 

ppp

Well-Known Member
I suspect a lot of fundamentalists, deep down, are genuinely terrified of Hell, and much of their desperate religiosity is an attempt to escape the sinful nature they were born with and find favor with the only person they believe can save them from an otherwise inevitable lake of fire.
I agree. But I don't think it is deep down at all. It's the bugaboo that they throw at you almost immediately when they evangelize. And its the immediate response to any word or deed that does not conform to their doctrines. Growing up Baptist, the need to avoid Hellfire is interwoven into everything. I am grateful for the fact that I was not scarred by it. So many of the people around me were not so lucky.
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
There are theological terrorists also, the people who would try to frighten people of the end of days, day of judgment, eternal hells and tortures therein. They shoot with their mouth, writings and web pages.
Hard to call them 'terrorists' when they can be completely ignored if you are not interested.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
Lets say God is false. Religions are all bogus. Yet, the definition of "terrorist" applies to all governments as I said.
So you trying to prove religions and Gods are false, unverified etc etc are all irrelevant.
Yeah, there are terrorist governments and there are democratic governments comprising of representatives of the people elected in a honest way. You have the example of Idi Amin and Kim Jong-un. People authorize democratic governments to make rule and apply them. The two things are not the same.
 

Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
Hard to call them 'terrorists' when they can be completely ignored if you are not interested.
Some times they are controllable, some times they are not. Check in countries which have theological governments - Malta for example, if I am not wrong.
 

ppp

Well-Known Member
Hard to call them 'terrorists' when they can be completely ignored if you are not interested.
Only if you ignore the fact that they affect policy, laws, and culture. They prey on our children and other people in a vulnerable state.
 

Muffled

Jesus in me
There are theological terrorists also, the people who would try to frighten people of the end of days, day of judgment, eternal hells and tortures therein. They shoot with their mouth, writings and web pages.

I guess that makes weathermen terrorists also because they report tornadoes coming.
 
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