Well, since I know everything: You are at your computer desk in lingerie listening to Yanni while playing Out of this World HD edition. Because you said I know everything you must now prove it false by posting photos online proving otherwise. I COMMAND IT!!!

We are ALL flawed from the beginning Boss, no one is exempt from sin, just look around the world lately and you will see plenty of expressions of our real human nature. That is why I thank God that a way out was given through Christ. I'm still not perfect by any means but God will continue to refine me until die according to the Bible. Its all about faith baby.

But again, so you don't yell at me anymore: I don't want to censor anything for others, just for myself and per my original post I was asking if they had a patch/MOD/version that was toned down, that's all. What deviated from that, and I participated in as well, were discussions that went far deeper than that into morality, maturity, and religion, etc. So it has been very interesting to see people's opinions on these matters, even though some got very mad and some were just trolls and one a Bible Thumper(TM). Anyways, happy gaming and do stop in when I start another thread that turns into a huge controversy ;)

Peace.

Wow, this converesation took a nasty turn since I left. Sorry, BrianX. Not everyone in this community is very tolerant of religion. The last time I mentioned that I was Christian on this forum I was treated like I was an intolerant idiot. I can be an idiot but people assume that because I have faith there is something wrong with me. As long as you don't act like the bigot everyone assumes you are, then the more reasonable members won't take offense. I still think your demands are impractical and not the devs responsibility but keep the faith.;)

Yeah, I think that is why meeting face to face is better than chatting, so much is lost in translation. Personal faith is EXTREMELY powerful for people, that is why I try and respect a person's decision to believe in what they want to believe in even though I may disagree very much about that faith's ideas, system, etc. I guess it boils down to respectfully agreeing to disagree as far as differing faiths is concerned.

But yeah, I think you are right about it probably being impractical because the costs and man-power would just be too much to handle, especially for a smaller company. But you never know, the Modding community is perfect for those type of addons and modifications.

Also, I'm not mad at Boss, in my opinion he is just parroting assumptions based on bad examples he has probably had to deal with in life. I've had examples like that too even before I accepted Christ as Messiah. For example, it would be wrong for me to assume all Muslims are like Osama Bin Laden. Faith is extremely personal and, personally speaking, as I get older I am much more discerning in my beliefs than I ever was in my youth.

There's a big difference between faith and religion. I think you definitely will find that many people here do have a problem with religion (the dogma, the hypocritical rules, the corruption in the ranks, the encouragement of ignorance, etc.) but don't care one way or the other about your faith. Your faith is your business alone and as George Carlin so wisely stated in his revised commandments: Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself!

You are right about religion but there are people here that do have a problem with faith as well. However, as BrianX said there are alot of bad people out there that have left bad personal impressions of all Christians, so I don't blame them.

But that is just it, Jesus Christ has told his followers to 'make disciples of every nation (Matthew 28:19), and he didn't keep His message hidden or was ashamed to proclaim it. With all due respect to Mr. Carlin (RIP), I will follow God and try my best to do His commandments.

The key lies in HOW one goes about sharing his/her faith because it does all boil down to ideas and the sharing of these ideas. One can reject it or one can accept it, that is the personal decision that everyone who hears the message (or reads about it) can make. For example, instead of beating you over the head with a Bible or making you feel guilty, or, in a very extreme case, behead you (forced conversions during the Crusades, etc), I can share my thoughts, beliefs, and ideas in a open forum with compassion and intelligence with humility not looking down on you if you do not share my same view.

I think the New Testament records Jesus doing it this way (unless of course you were indignant or disobedient in the face of miracles only God could perform, ie, religious leaders of that time that suppressed the common people). So, in order for me to share my views like Christ, I have to 'walk' very close to Him (prayer, reading the Bible, meditation on what was read, etc). God tells us to 'renew' our minds, not to remove them.

But you are very correct, in my opinion, cogadh, that religion and faith are two VERY different concepts. But, for me, I made a choice to follow a Person (Christ), rather than a religion, even though there are very beautiful things that come from and include tradition (just look at how beauty and care went into building the Hagia Sophia or the devotion and dedication that Muslims show went it comes to going to Mecca).
Yep, God truly knows His own. He also knows how to distinguish the tares from the wheat.

Not to get into a religious debate (like we need that), but that same Bible also says things like "an eye for an eye" and other equally damaging, violent, offensive or dangerous things. You can't just pick an choose which passages suit your particular argument. while ignoring the rest. This is the problem a lot of us have with religion, but not faith. Religion relies on using the faith of the believers to put forward an agenda that is not necessarily in the best interests of the faithful or the faithless (for want of a better term). There is nothing wrong with believing or even encouraging belief in others, but "making" people believe... now you're getting into trampling on the rights of others to choose not to participate in your religion.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Keep sucking Satan's cock.

LOL amen to that my brother. :) Now the conversation turned to religion and the game is how many words or ideas can we put into our make believe God. I shall break it all down for you. Those who believe in God believe in ALIENS. I will explain. God is a higher power and has mystical powers. He supposedly runs this world and reality we all live in. The only aliens we seen are the little green man variety but if they are out there logically it makes sense since the universe is infinite (according to our knowledge) that there are others. To that extent of God i believe in aliens. And it sure sounds like most religions believe that too. They just don't say it. Too many scared people out there that hide behind their faith because they think it will absolve them of all their sins when it comes to time to die so they don't end up in hell. LOL GOOD OLE HUMAN NATURE AT ITS FINEST ROFLMAO

Maybe. All I know is that I pity you.

Look, just because this particular guy is an idiot, it's not fair to reduce the entire concept of religion (or faith) into a monolithic bunch of lies. It's just that reaching a level more refined than the epitomical "devils-with-pitchforks" takes research, contemplation and a lot of personal effort.
So - don't make fun of a more general notion that can make a certain degree of sense, stick to reasonable ridicule of what's at hand here...

I'll gladly inform you that there actually are people who interpreted religion in a similar fashion, taking note of the fact that the word translated to "God" originally was something to the effect of "those that came from the sky".
Of course - that's pretty mundane, since this interpretation doesn't really postulate any non-physical objects...

You wrote: "but that same Bible also says things like "an eye for an eye" and other equally damaging, violent, offensive or dangerous things. You can't just pick an choose which passages suit your particular argument. "

You just did that though. You took a passage out of context to 'prove' that the Bible is a violent book. Have you actually studied that passage in context in a Bible study group or read various commentaries that give good and reasonable explanations for why that was written?

And how can one MAKE a person believe? Only God could do that with a divine action/miracle, even then, according to the Bible, God wants us to CHOOSE Him and His ways/commandments. If I pointed a gun to your head and said, "Believe or DIE!" you could just lie to me and tell me you believe but truly not be 'converted' at all!

The only thing I can do in my walk with Christ among people is to plant seeds. God will do the growing when and where He desires.

So, if you want to read the Old Testament (where you got the passage from) in a Judaic context where the time period, the theocratic system (YHWH, God dwelling amongst them personally), language, customs, and sense of history was well researched, I would bet (but betting is a sin!), you would have a greater respect and understanding of that passage. This stuff isn't hard to find on Google. I also recommend a good Christian source as well at: www.gotquestions.org

Seek and ye shall find, right?

Peace.

i think you may be onto something here vestin. The Masses would panic at their beliefs being turned upside down by another pitchfork mythos. The only ridiculous thing here is the fact that brianX is modeling his life after the all mighty jesus christ. Considering the fact that the bible and catholocism are soley responsible for countless deaths of many many many people throughout the ages. Including innoccents. its ridiculous for someone of today to neglect the actual history and damage that this has caused and continues to cause.

First of all - I think you're being unfair here, although in an idealistic way - you seem to assume that the people waging those wars actually WERE naive believers ;). In reality, it's much more likely that religion was treated as a social paradigm and a tool used by real (and sometimes very cynical) people for their own gains, political or otherwise. In light of this, I don't think it can be argued that "religion made them do it", it's quite the opposite.
Secondly - BrianX is most likely a protestant, if my intuition serves me right.
Lastly - you can't really accuse him of modelling his life after Jesus, for two reasons. One - the historical figure wasn't that much of nuisance, other than bringing some unwanted Roman attention to a certain ethnic group. Two - literal following of such a path would be hard as f***, so it almost certainly isn't something he tries. He's simply a part of a quite popular movement and gets to enjoy his life with the added benefits that today's culture has to offer for him. That's as far away from the original "Jesus experience" of being a nomadic pincushion as you can get.

Yeah, this takes me back to Kierkegaard and his criticism of the "modern Christian world"... Good times.