This is not the forum for discussing religious views (or "bringing the truth" to people.) The specific focus here is conspiracies in religion. Posts that begin a new thread should reflect some sort of conspiracy angle.

If your topic doesn't have a conspiracy angle, it will be moved to Faith and Spirituality in BTS.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Popular culture has discovered religious history. And, writes Jane Sullivan, the line between fact and fiction is being treated with scant respect.

It was the moment when Kath turned to Kim and said: "I'm thinking of joining Opus Dei," that I realised the code was well and truly cracked.

For centuries, we have lived with arcana, the world of secrets and mysteries known solely to the initiated few. Only a special training at the feet of the masters, a weird ritual or two or possibly a pact with the Devil would get you past the gate. Then along came popular culture and the secret was out.

www.theage.com.au...

At the time, most Americans were completely unaware of the militant agenda being preached on a daily basis across the breadth and width of America. Although it was called “Christianity” it can barely be recognized as Christian. It in fact was and is a wolf parading in sheep’s clothing: It was and is a political scheme to take over the government of the United States and then turn that government into an aggressor nation that will forcibly establish the United States as the ruling empire of the twenty-first century. It is subversive, seditious, secretive, and dangerous.

-snip-

The religion the canny thinkers founded follows the reverse of communism and secular humanism, it poured political and economic ideology into a religion and that combustible mixture produced “Dominionism,” a new political faith that had the additional advantage of insulating the cult from attacks on its political agenda by giving its practitioners the covering to simply cry out, “You’re attacking me for my religious beliefs and that’s religious persecution!”

www.yuricareport.com...

Most scientists would say that "Intelligent Design" is not intelligent science. It's not really right, though, to condemn intelligent design as bad science -- for it is not even science at all. The real problem with Intelligent Design is not that it's bad science, but that it's bad religion. And the real poison that it offers society is the implication that its advocates represent religion in a holy war against an atheistic scientific understanding of life and the universe.

whyfiles.org...

Blame it on the vast anti-Christian conspiracy. That was the explanation offered by US Representative Tom DeLay of Texas and his supporters last week for the whirlpool of legal difficulties that finally led the ex-leader of the Republicans in Congress to admit it was time to call it quits.

www.google.ca...

Once a child is being exposed to organized religion, the reasoning seems to go, it's in the child's best interests to continue this exposure, even when the child isn't interested, when stopping the exposure isn't causing disruption, when one parent thinks the exposure is unnecessary, and when the other parent would be free to expose the child himself during his time with the child. I can't see how that is consistent with the Establishment Clause principles that the government generally may not prefer religious behavior over secular behavior, and that the government may not coerce people into engaging in religious practice.

volokh.com...

"The Communists have always proceeded on the age-old theory that the most important accomplishment in all forms of warfare is to paralyze your enemy's will to resist before coming to actual hostilities. There is no surer nor more deadly form of paralysis to inflict on their enemies than religious neutralism. This is most convincingly indicated by the fact that at least two million Christians today, in the United States alone, have swallowed all or some of the British-Israel line for Protestants, or of the parallel line which is a more recent development among Catholics.

"These are the very people who should be most faithful and determined in their resistance to Communism. Instead they have been almost completely neutralized by a now gigantic scheme which the Communists themselves have been skillfully promoting for over a hundred years."

reformed-theology.org...

Of interest here is the first type, a "cabal". There are relevant discussions for a religious conpiracy based on even "theology" that may be thousands of years old.

conspiracy angle wise: i dont know how anyone can discuss a conspiracy in religion without discussing their personal religious views that they would perceive as to be the truth to themselves.

i have no idea where this invisible line is in the minds of moderators

instead of me having to worry if today is the day for the big ban hammer come down

why not just push ALL religious discussion period down to bts and thereby make all the athiests happy and the management of ats

I disagree here, one person believing in God and living by what he thinks his god wants, to me is faith.

A group of people living by this very same mindset becomes religion, and once it involve multiple people, the manipulation naturally starts, the agendas inter into the equation. All religions are corrupt, because lets face it, humans are corrupt, they will use whatever means to justify their actions or to fulfill a agenda they believe in. If religions where truly inspired by God, their would be a divine influence to counter this corruption in us all, to this point in history there is no evidence of this occurring, what we get instead is the need or requirement to attend church on a regular basis to reaffirm the faith, kinda like having to return to the gas station in order to keep your car going.

I believe God was born from mans fear of the unknown. They way man explained things that were unexplainable was to put a God face on it, hence the first religions worshiped the Sun, Moon, and nature in general.

I 100% agree with you here, the only clues we have are of human nature, primitive human nature at that.

humans are social creatures, it is in our nature.

Power corrupts even with a title of shaman did not mean these were good people

the ones with the power of reading and writing now had the power over everything, the corruption continues. The written word is very powerful and can effect people generations even a millinia after the words have been penned.

I believe most of these rules were in effect long before the ten commandments, and were a natural evolution of human society that was incorporated into religious law, but truthfully we can speculate all day on this. There is really no way of knowing.

Religion has impeded science and advancement in humans {see dark ages}

religion has destroyed more human cultures on Earth than anything else {north and South American Indians and countless others with a convert or die mentality that continues in some religions today}

religion is responsible for more deaths or murder of humans than any other belief process {inquisition, witch trials, war based on religious differences, crusades, ect} religion has directly controlled more humans than any other belief process

look at how many early humans scientists especially in old Europe had to watch what they wrote or said publicly, religion dominated All of Europe along with old world monarchies for centuries.

from my point of view, I see little Good about religion.

Awesome topic and a great discussion.

Originally posted by masqua
Nope, I don't buy that. As an agnostic, for instance, I believe that what God wants is what I feel is the right thing inside... my conscience.

As a agnostic as well, we differ on view points here, one persons view or feeling what is right or wrong varies from one person to another, remember people will goto great lengths to justify their actions and beliefs. You might have a conscience, but to assume all have this to the same degree as you is just not right. It seems to me if a person doesn't have the same conscience level as you, then it is that way because God made it that way, and relieves any wrong doing they might do Because of God.

Humans are not corrupt, they are corruptable. It takes a real effort to do the right thing while doing the wrong thing is quite easy, especially when no-one is watching. This is why conspiracies happen.

I disagree here, children are not born with morals, they are Taught morals, I have 3 kids and have witnessed this first hand. Humans are born corrupt, if they were not it would not be necessary to teach the Golden Rule, or how to act in a family or society settings, they would just automatically know how to act, there would be no need to teach them.

Take, for instance, the case of a person who goes door to door, pretending to collect for a charity. He counts on the people who want to do the right thing, but does the wrong thing by taking their money for himself (a conspiracy writ small). Now, consider an organised group who hire many people to go door to door, thinking they are collecting for a charity and then their bosses keep that huge amount of cash for themselves... a conspiracy writ large.

What I find interesting is the double standard, if this group you speak of, was a religious group, doing good things for the poor, or homeless or any charity, they and the God get the credit, yet if this same group was found out later to in fact be breaking the law, or not doing what they are supposed to, their religion is not held accountable, it becomes the humans fault alone, so when humans do good for God, God gets the credit, but when humans do bad on behalf of God, the religion is not blamed. Good public relations go along way.

Humans are not naturally corrupt. Don't say that about my mom ever again.

yeah I hear ya, the thought of my mom being born bad is hard to get my head around, but according to this

Ethical teaching interprets the Golden Rule as mutual respect for one's neighbour

I believe God was born from mans fear of the unknown. They way man explained things that were unexplainable was to put a God face on it, hence the first religions worshiped the Sun, Moon, and nature in general.

Primitive nature is instinctual and has nothing to do with thinking at all.

Sorry, I don't buy it completely as you see it. Herd instinct aside, our social structure is the result, not of nature's 'toughest and meanest' rule, but instead the 'smartest' rule. There is a huge difference. As to herd instinct, it is nature's way of saying 'safety in numbers', but in humans, it is built on community effort to the benefit of all. Big difference, imo.

So... what does that say about ATS, where over 130,000 members are able to read and discuss in civil discourse, without threat of death or injury for stating their minds? Yes, words were written and re-written, changed a bit here and there, dropping a line, adding a line... whatever is good for the one writing or hiring the writers.

what DOES stand the test of time unchanged is myth. But that's another story entirely.

Humans existed before the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments. We have not changed. Our environment has changed through our inventiveness, but human nature has not. Take any of those commandments; do you feel, in your heart, that if you were given the choice between good or bad in any given situation related to them, that you would be indifferent in how you choose? I don't think so. Only a sociopath would have no conscience.

Wrong, it is religion which has given us everything... art, science, civilization, ALL of it can be traced back to a few trying to get in contact with their Creator. Another thread.

It was greedy individuals using religion as a means to an end which caused this. Don't lay it at the feet of religion, lay it at the feet of those who use it for conquest. In other words, greed, which is hardly a religious idea.

And from mine, everything good, but fragile and in need of protection from those who would subvert the principle of the Golden Rule for lining their own pockets.