Is anyone surprised about the religiousness of the toys?

[Pit Viper]

the crazy thing is....everyone acts like the people teaching the bible arent men..they have people that twist things like any other "evil men" do(slave owners used God to justify what they did). the fact is that Jesus was real, if u say that he wasnt, then.....read book!

 

What Book would that be? The Bible? Do you believe in Vishnu? No? Well read a book. I suggest the Vedas.

 

someone tell me how the things that are taught in the bible are bad....love, peace, happiness....those are some good things to me.

 

Sounds like some good things to me too. But then there are the bad things such as the anti-homosexual message. Is stoning people to death for being gay really love and peace? Sounds like murderous rage to me.

 

i believe in God, tell me the harm in it!, tell me what bad comes from it! i rather believe in God than man, man is ignorant, self rightous, and just men....nothing more.

 

There is no harm in believing in a god so longer as you can handle it mentally. The people who kill in it's name obviously cannot.

 

I'd also like to pint out that from an atheist point of view "God" is just man masquerading as something bigger and better. Like the whole anti-homosexual thing . . . does God despise gays or do some men despise gays to such an extent that they put an anti-homosexual message in the Bible as the supposed words of God?

 

do u think im going to put my faith science? the same science that contridicts i self every chance it gets. i refuse to believe that a big bang made thinking intellengent beings...or that a fish changed to a horse that changed to a monkey that changed into a man. do u guys really think that u were once monkeys?

 

The same science that makes your computer possible? Science contradicts itself because it is an ongoing process. As time goes on we learn more and more. That is why the science of 500 years ago barely resembles the science of today. Religion on the other hand becomes trapped in time. No matter how many advances we make the unscientific aspects of the Bible are still going to be there and if someone does dare to try and correct them they are branded a heretic.

 

As for your other comments here:

 

1. The Big Bang is not a sentient being that "makes" things. If you make it out to be such then you are making it into God.

 

2. Fish changing into a horse may seem silly but how about a fish changing into another fish, changing into another fish, changing into another fish, changing into another fish, changing into a sort of amphibian, etc.

 

Doesn't seem quite so silly then.

 

3. It's more accurate to say men came from apes than monkeys. And yes I do believe in evolution. It's sound science.

 

i dont care if u guys believe in God or not! just come up with proof that he's not......

 

And I don't care if you believe in a god or not either. However I must admit it annoys me when people reject science in order to believe. That is not necessary! Maybe evolution was programmed into living things by God so that they would not die on the planet of ever changing climate that HE created!? Just a thought.

 

As for proof. I offer no proof that there is no god. It would be foolish to attempt such a thing. However seems unfair that atheists should have no come up with proof that there is no god when theists do not have to offer proof that there IS one. And no the Bible isn't proof. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

 

i just dont see how in '08, when its very aperent that most of the country are christians, that people are in amazment that religion is being shown on figs?!

 

Well maybe that's just the thing. It's 2008 and not 1808. How many Muslims extremists are there in Cobra? How many G.I. Joe figures have a cross around their neck? When it comes to religion, toy companies have avoid it like the plague. As such it is kind of amazing that we are actually getting an Indiana Jones action figure line seeing as how there are so many religious themes (both Christian and Hindu) and the fact that every other character looks to be Muslim. And that's not to mention the Nazis.

[Pit Viper]

I just want to point out to the people saying that the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian principals that the 10 Commandments are not law. For example, I could cheat on my wife and not go to jail for it despite it being against God's Laws. In addition the Bible speaks a lot about Kingdoms and the idea that we are to be obedient to God or be punished. Who voted for God? The idea of democracy and republicanism actually comes from the ancient Romans (a pagan society I might add). So what are these principals that this country was supposedly founded upon? Yes Jefferson and others believed in a god. And yes Jefferson included "creator" talk in the Declaration of Independence. However Jefferson was a deist that didn't believe Jesus was the "Son Of God" or had performed any supernatural miracles. In fact he published a Bible that had all that stuff cut out. The Constitution of the Unites States has no such talk in it. So I don't think it is accurate to portray the United States has a nation founded on Christian principals just because a single document that was written by one man included a few words about his own personal beliefs in a deistic creator. If someone stood up in a church today and started preaching deistic views they would be thrown out and called a witch. That is all.

 

one man may have wrote it, but a whole lot more signed there name to it, and the 44 state constitutions had explicit religious content to it. Most teachers back in day taught that generation to read using the Bible. All the higher education schools were Christian, and law oriented. So how that does not permeate the country, society, or culture? You do not have to like it or think that it is right, but Christian principles just like enlightenment principles are what this country was based on. One of the biggest arguments the founding Fathers had was that they did not answer to man (king George) but to God.

 

Really that does not matter anymore. Does anyone really care how the country was founded? What matters now is what is right, NOW. What is right now is freedom of religion and separation of church and state

 

Good point. The Founding Fathers didn't believe women should vote and condoned slavery. Should we really have to live by their personal beliefs all these years later?

[jahue]

I just want to point out to the people saying that the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian principals that the 10 Commandments are not law. For example, I could cheat on my wife and not go to jail for it despite it being against God's Laws. In addition the Bible speaks a lot about Kingdoms and the idea that we are to be obedient to God or be punished. Who voted for God? The idea of democracy and republicanism actually comes from the ancient Romans (a pagan society I might add). So what are these principals that this country was supposedly founded upon? Yes Jefferson and others believed in a god. And yes Jefferson included "creator" talk in the Declaration of Independence. However Jefferson was a deist that didn't believe Jesus was the "Son Of God" or had performed any supernatural miracles. In fact he published a Bible that had all that stuff cut out. The Constitution of the Unites States has no such talk in it. So I don't think it is accurate to portray the United States has a nation founded on Christian principals just because a single document that was written by one man included a few words about his own personal beliefs in a deistic creator. If someone stood up in a church today and started preaching deistic views they would be thrown out and called a witch. That is all.

 

one man may have wrote it, but a whole lot more signed there name to it, and the 44 state constitutions had explicit religious content to it. Most teachers back in day taught that generation to read using the Bible. All the higher education schools were Christian, and law oriented. So how that does not permeate the country, society, or culture? You do not have to like it or think that it is right, but Christian principles just like enlightenment principles are what this country was based on. One of the biggest arguments the founding Fathers had was that they did not answer to man (king George) but to God.

 

Really that does not matter anymore. Does anyone really care how the country was founded? What matters now is what is right, NOW. What is right now is freedom of religion and separation of church and state

 

Good point. The Founding Fathers didn't believe women should vote and condoned slavery. Should we really have to live by their personal beliefs all these years later?

wow! what flawless logic. They also believed in freedom, liberty, and religious tolerance I guess we should throw those out too.

 

Maybe it matters becuase after 300 years most of the population still claims Christianity of one form or another. Seems to me that understanding a foundation could be useful to understanding those who now stand on that foundation

 

Please tell me you were joking when you brought up Muslims founding this country would not have made a difference. I believe women are actually valued somewhat here unlike Muslim countries. Also we would have the dominant technology here like all the other muslim countries, and when people were accused of things like lying and cheating we would not try them in courts, but would hack off body parts as is the traditional custom in Muslim countries. You're right. This country would look and be the same.

[hellion]

they should make a box set of the marvel villains "the purifiers". They are religious as hell but they are still killing mutants. read x-force.

[Pit Viper]

I just want to point out to the people saying that the United States was founded on Judeo-Christian principals that the 10 Commandments are not law. For example, I could cheat on my wife and not go to jail for it despite it being against God's Laws. In addition the Bible speaks a lot about Kingdoms and the idea that we are to be obedient to God or be punished. Who voted for God? The idea of democracy and republicanism actually comes from the ancient Romans (a pagan society I might add). So what are these principals that this country was supposedly founded upon? Yes Jefferson and others believed in a god. And yes Jefferson included "creator" talk in the Declaration of Independence. However Jefferson was a deist that didn't believe Jesus was the "Son Of God" or had performed any supernatural miracles. In fact he published a Bible that had all that stuff cut out. The Constitution of the Unites States has no such talk in it. So I don't think it is accurate to portray the United States has a nation founded on Christian principals just because a single document that was written by one man included a few words about his own personal beliefs in a deistic creator. If someone stood up in a church today and started preaching deistic views they would be thrown out and called a witch. That is all.

 

one man may have wrote it, but a whole lot more signed there name to it, and the 44 state constitutions had explicit religious content to it. Most teachers back in day taught that generation to read using the Bible. All the higher education schools were Christian, and law oriented. So how that does not permeate the country, society, or culture? You do not have to like it or think that it is right, but Christian principles just like enlightenment principles are what this country was based on. One of the biggest arguments the founding Fathers had was that they did not answer to man (king George) but to God.

 

Really that does not matter anymore. Does anyone really care how the country was founded? What matters now is what is right, NOW. What is right now is freedom of religion and separation of church and state

 

Good point. The Founding Fathers didn't believe women should vote and condoned slavery. Should we really have to live by their personal beliefs all these years later?

wow! what flawless logic. They also believed in freedom, liberty, and religious tolerance I guess we should throw those out too.

 

Maybe it matters becuase after 300 years most of the population still claims Christianity of one form or another. Seems to me that understanding a foundation could be useful to understanding those who now stand on that foundation

 

Please tell me you were joking when you brought up Muslims founding this country would not have made a difference. I believe women are actually valued somewhat here unlike Muslim countries. Also we would have the dominant technology here like all the other muslim countries, and when people were accused of things like lying and cheating we would not try them in courts, but would hack off body parts as is the traditional custom in Muslim countries. You're right. This country would look and be the same.

 

The only flawed logic is the one where you assumed I was saying that we should throw out everything the Founding Fathers believed. I never said that. But it makes an easy straw man for you to knock down when you pretend that I did. What I was saying is that just because the Founding Fathers believed in it does not mean that we should be bound to believe the same way. How many people brought up "Founding Father" arguments when they were trying to pass the 19th Amendment? Many I'm sure and yet their opinions on the subject were disregarded.

 

And no I wasn't joking when I mentioned Muslims. I was making a point. A point you obviously missed and that being democracy is not a Christian thing. I could have named Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, etc. and regardless of what the difference may be between countries founded by such group it's not as if democracy was something that could only have happened in a Christian society. That is to say I did not mean "same" as in the countries would have been identical but rather "same" in the sense that democracy may or may not have been present.

 

I find it ironic that you bring up the treatment of women here.

[amazingdm]

"wow! what flawless logic. They also believed in freedom, liberty, and religious tolerance I guess we should throw those out too. "

 

Why? Those are all good things. Except maybe for one of em hahah.

 

"Maybe it matters becuase after 300 years most of the population still claims Christianity of one form or another. Seems to me that understanding a foundation could be useful to understanding those who now stand on that foundation"

 

It seems like there are a lot of people who want THEIR religion institutionalized such as prayer in school. It's just being selfish.

 

"Under god" was not in the pledge originally but when people try to take it out people have a crapstorm. It's kind of hipocritical.

[Devilbat]

We have the creative freedom to express any idea we want regardless of others disagree. I personally find those kinds of jokes hilarious.

 

There's a difference between creative freedom and irreverence my friend. Sometimes it's just plain rude. Aren't people taught manners anymore?

 

I hate to be cold and harsh but I can see why. I have a lot of builtup anger and resentment towards particular religions, but I won't get into why.

 

See, that comment speaks volumes to me. The intended message gets twisted or ruined by so-called "Christians" that are anything but. Amazingdm, I hope you don't judge an entire religion because of a few fanatics or idiots. I feel sorry for whatever has happened to you...

 

Again what do you expect a sane, rational person to view god as when taken in that context?

 

Well, in the end it comes down to what you want to believe. I can believe that Jesus Christ resides in Heaven at the right hand of The Father alot easier than scientists expecting me to believe that all matter in the universe originated from a "big bang". So...where did the matter or elements come from that caused it? I consider myself a pretty sane, rational person. Does science insist matter can come from...nothingness? I'm not being being sarcastic; it's a serious question.

 

That's fine for you, but please, you's of the world please don't try to change our law or our freedom of speech.

 

Amazingdm...heh...I'm not trying to change anyone's laws or freedoms. Without freedom of religion, I couldn't practice Christianity without fear of being arrested or put to death like I do. I live in the greatest country in the world. Christians aren't being persecuted (yet).

 

Science has helped I think.

 

You tell me why science can't explain how the image was created on the Shroud of Turin. Science still can't completely explain how some animals communicate, or how they can follow complicated migration patterns. How does science explain the concept of love? Science can't decide if Pluto is a planet or just a big rock leftover from the beginnings of the universe. There's alot of things science can't explain. That's not to say I reject science. Quite the opposite! I love to see mysteries of the Bible explained by science. If you believe in God, then He ultimately is the author of science anyway. Why not explain things scientifically when we can? I welcome it. That wouldn't mean God didn't have a hand in it.

 

Yeah it's not being promoted, and I see nothing wrong with it. I'm just surprised by its presence at all in this PC-let's get rid of christmas-world. (I love christmas!).

 

That was part of my attempt to take up for you and see your side of it. I was somewhat suprised as well, but not really, considering the content of the films.

 

I think I started to become atheist when teachers started to say "you have to love god more than your own parents".. that was like the last straw

 

If you believe God guides us, takes care of us, and saves us from death through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, then yeah, He comes first. My family is important to me, but God has made a way for me to have them forever. If they are saved and go to Heaven, they will live forever in eternal peace and love, safe from any disease, violence, injury, fear, danger, or any other bad thing that can happen here on Earth. If He can do that for me and my family, then He's Number One in my book. Why can't you love God as much as your family? I don't think we need to love Him more, but we do need to make Him our first priority, because through His plan of salvation, our family is taken care of.

 

See that's the thing. People see the vengeful, angry, powerful God that allows people to be enslaved and punishes people for going against His will. Why do people ignore His message of love? Jesus said we have ALL sinned and come short, and that NONE of us deserve God's mercy and love. And I don't recall anywhere in the Commandments that says we have to stone homosexuals to death. Did they do it in the Old Testament? To be honest, I don't know. I'll have to research. I'm sure they did. Society was much less forgiving and understanding then than we are now. People tend to forget that the Bible is also a historical document too, and that things weren't always pretty. The newspapers sensationalize violence and crime on a daily basis. Does that make it good or right? Of course not.

 

I think in the end it comes down to whether you accept it or not. That's entirely up to you. Just don't ridicule or tear down others that do. Read it for yourself. Then, if it doesn't jive with you, or you don't agree...hey, that's your perogative. Just don't assume others are stupid, ignorant, and close-minded if they do.

[DPrime]

Heck, Atheism is a faith all on its own, because its takes as much faith to believe in a Universal Negative as it does in a Universal positive. Atheists do not pray that there is a deity, they "pray' that there isn't one.

 

That's sort of a misconception. Atheism does, in fact, literally mean an absence of belief in a god, specifically a theistic god or gods. Many scholars have made a distinction between "Hard Atheism" which does in fact constitute a belief in a Universal Negative, and "Soft Atheism", which essentially means maybe there is, maybe there isn't. It's somewhat related to Agnosticism, but the key difference there is that to Agnostic, god may or may not exist, but it is impossible to know. Of course there is a lot of people with beliefs in a sort of grey area there, but the common factor is an absence of religion or religious faith.

 

BTW, I'm not sure what you're getting at when you say that Atheists "pray" there isn't one... From my own experience it's more accurate to say that people who are non-religious just don't really make it a part of their lives, that's all.

 

 

do u think im going to put my faith science? the same science that contridicts i self every chance it gets. i refuse to believe that a big bang made thinking intellengent beings...or that a fish changed to a horse that changed to a monkey that changed into a man. do u guys really think that u were once monkeys?

 

What, you mean the same science that cured countless diseases? The same science that has allowed us to use cars and airplanes, or enjoy simple pleasures as drinking a Coke, playing the latest video game, or watching a movie? The same science that taken us to space and beyond? That allows us to communicate right now over a vast worldwide network of computers? The same science that has discovered the concept of genetics, and subsequently discovered that humans do, in fact, have a genetic difference of only about 0.8% with chimpanzees? The same science that has discovered the remains of species that existed in the past, showing even closer relationships between humans and other primates?

 

To bring it back on topic somewhat, the same science that invented the use of plastics, so that we can enjoy collecting ever more posable and detailed action figures?

 

It's such a popular line of criticism these days to talk about not putting your "faith" in science, but you put your faith in science every time you get in your car to drive to work. No offense, but instead of just repeating this line of rhetoric which I'm sure you've heard time and again from religious leaders or right-wing political commentators, think about what you're actually saying. Science has given us countless advantages in life. I'm not saying that religion DOESN'T have good things to offer either, but if you were to make a list and compare, I'm afraid religion would come up way short.

 

One of the biggest arguments the founding Fathers had was that they did not answer to man (king George) but to God.

 

I think an even bigger argument was that they had to answer to the people - isn't that what democracy is all about?

 

If anything, they were straying away from the concept of the "Divine Right of Kings"...

 

BTW, I agree that this has gone somewhat off topic, but so far everyone's been pretty civil and I'm sure we're all learning a lot from each other.

[amazingdm]

"Well, in the end it comes down to what you want to believe. I can believe that Jesus Christ resides in Heaven at the right hand of The Father alot easier than scientists expecting me to believe that all matter in the universe originated from a "big bang". So...where did the matter or elements come from that caused it? I consider myself a pretty sane, rational person. Does science insist matter can come from...nothingness? I'm not being being sarcastic; it's a serious question. "

 

Where did it come from? We don't know. That's the plain truth. What existed before the big bang? Are we inside a bigger universe? Are there elements and physics we don't know about? Yep.

The only thing we can do is keep looking for answers. A lot of people take this as an excuse to say "god did it" but that's just being lazy. When we say god did it we give up looking for answers and we'll continue to live in ignorance.

 

 

"You tell me why science can't explain how the image was created on the Shroud of Turin. Science still can't completely explain how some animals communicate, or how they can follow complicated migration patterns. How does science explain the concept of love? Science can't decide if Pluto is a planet or just a big rock leftover from the beginnings of the universe. There's alot of things science can't explain."

 

And? Isn't that the point of science? To look for answers and TRY to find a way to explain it. An absence of explanation or evidence is not proof of some supernatural thing. It just means _we don't know_ and should keep looking.

 

 

 

"If you believe God guides us, takes care of us, and saves us from death through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus, then yeah, He comes first."

 

Not to me. I'd be crazy to say I love someone who I've never seen, never had a relationship and has only let me be miserable more than my own parents who have done everything for me.

I didn't want to be an ass man but it irritates the hell out of me when people capitalize pronouns in the middle of a sentence.

 

"See that's the thing. People see the vengeful, angry, powerful God that allows people to be enslaved and punishes people for going against His will. Why do people ignore His message of love? Jesus said we have ALL sinned and come short, and that NONE of us deserve God's mercy and love. And I don't recall anywhere in the Commandments that says we have to stone homosexuals to death. Did they do it in the Old Testament? To be honest, I don't know. I'll have to research. I'm sure they did. Society was much less forgiving and understanding then than we are now. People tend to forget that the Bible is also a historical document too, and that things weren't always pretty. The newspapers sensationalize violence and crime on a daily basis. Does that make it good or right? Of course not. "

 

One of the reasons I don't like religion is because people shutoff their independent thought, their ability to make moral judgments on their own, and just seek what others say to do. That's how bad things really get started.

[DPrime]

"You tell me why science can't explain how the image was created on the Shroud of Turin. Science still can't completely explain how some animals communicate, or how they can follow complicated migration patterns. How does science explain the concept of love? Science can't decide if Pluto is a planet or just a big rock leftover from the beginnings of the universe. There's alot of things science can't explain."

 

And? Isn't that the point of science? To look for answers and TRY to find a way to explain it. An absence of explanation or evidence is not proof of some supernatural thing. It just means _we don't know_ and should keep looking.

 

I just wanted to emphasize this statement. It's short, sweet and to the point.

 

If we didn't question things (which is essentially exactly what science is), we'd have gotten nowhere as a species. Sorry to say, but that definitely includes religion.

[Devilbat]

Where did it come from? We don't know. That's the plain truth. What existed before the big bang? Are we inside a bigger universe? Are there elements and physics we don't know about? Yep.

The only thing we can do is keep looking for answers. A lot of people take this as an excuse to say "god did it" but that's just being lazy. When we say god did it we give up looking for answers and we'll continue to live in ignorance.

 

My argument was, why not adhere to both? Why is belief in Biblical and spiritual matters "living in ignorance"?

 

And? Isn't that the point of science? To look for answers and TRY to find a way to explain it. An absence of explanation or evidence is not proof of some supernatural thing. It just means _we don't know_ and should keep looking.

 

Like I said, me personally, I like both approaches. Belief in a higher power and scientific understanding is exciting and interesting.

 

Not to me. I'd be crazy to say I love someone who I've never seen, never had a relationship and has only let me be miserable more than my own parents who have done everything for me.

I didn't want to be an ass man but it irritates the hell out of me when people capitalize pronouns in the middle of a sentence.

 

That's where people don't understand the personal relationship one has when they accept Christ. And I use caps on His name out of respect and reverence. That's all. Believe me, I'm a STICKLER for correct grammar...

 

One of the reasons I don't like religion is because people shutoff their independent thought, their ability to make moral judgments on their own, and just seek what others say to do. That's how bad things really get started.

 

I still have "independent thoughts" all the time. (lol) The Bible teaches me the way to live and believe, not think. And where pray tell do your morals come from? All "morals", at least the good ones, have some root in world religions.

[amazingdm]

"I still have "independent thoughts" all the time. (lol) The Bible teaches me the way to live and believe, not think. And where pray tell do your morals come from? All "morals", at least the good ones, have some root in world religions."

 

 

No, just no.

A moral like "don't steal from someone" is NOT rooted in religion

 

 

 

MOD EDIT: This is being locked because of the religious content