Greek Paganism now legally recognised in Greece!!

[The Kilted Heathen]

Lol, sure.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Uh oh, sign of the times. The Bible says God won't tolerate that any more. The end is near.

Sheesh. No positive congrads or comments?

 

[jonathan180iq]

I'm going to play Hades' advocate here (And, yes, I know that the reference isn't entirely accurate.)

If Athena is real then how exactly can Athena help one?

The same way any god helps an individual

If there are multiple gods, then would they be like clubs in a league?

Yup. A super awesome league called a Pantheon.

If so, who are the creators of those clubs?

The gods themselves, technically, after rebellion from the Titans. They were led by Zeus.

And, who is the president of the league?

Zeus, naturally.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Well apparently his commands don't have the same amount of clout, kemosabe.

 

[Nakosis]

None whatsoever.

Acts 17:30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

Yeah, that made me wonder like what if someone wanted to know and follow the commandments of Athena and came across this.

I am Athena, thy goddess, thou shalt not have false gods before me.

• 0x1 Thou shalt not take the name of OLC in vain. (Online Learning Consortium)
• 0x2 Thou shalt not eat at Lobdell. ( A "teaching restaurant" - so student cooks)
• 0x3 Thou shalt keep holy the hour of Star Trek.
• 0x4 Honor thy professors, for they are the source of grades.
• 0x5 Thou shalt not decrease entropy.
• 0x6 Thou shalt not connect PWR to GND.
• 0x7 Thou shalt not sex toads.
• 0x8 Thou shalt not exceed the speed of light.
• 0x9 Keep holy the month of IAP for it is a time of rest. (Independent Activities Period at MIT)
• 0xA IHTFP. (It is Hard to Fondle Penguins) or (I Hate This F'ing Place)
• 0xB Thou shalt not sleep.
• 0xC Thou shalt consume caffeine.
• 0xD Thou shalt not take pass/fail in vain.
• 0xE Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's HP.
• 0xF Thou shalt not divide by zero.

Definitely some nifty commandments there.
Edit: Just added some clarification for some of the commandments in parenthesis.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

The article meant muslims in Athens. It means that Greece chose to recognize Hellenism before islam.

Actually it hasn't - Islam has been recognised as a religion in Greece for years. But since the Greek Orthodox Church has influence over government, they can apply pressure to restrict the growth and rights of religions they perceive as a threat.

 

[LuisDantas]

@sovietchild : You are bound to be frustrated if you keep expecting people who are explicitly not monotheists to feel the need to give you some justification for why they are not Abrahamic monotheists.

You are free to disagree with paganism, which is not particularly aligned with monotheism. But that does not mean that it has any duty to justify its existence to you.

People are entitled to hold religious beliefs different from your own, particularly when it comes to the nature and quantity of gods.

 

[Nietzsche]

Good. Let's hope it continues.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Yeah, people love asking me that one. I suspect they like to do that to atheists in general.

I don't think that worshipping deities makes anyone more or less valuable of a person.

Oh, I consider everyone has value as a person -- that goes with my humanist stance. But I don't necessarily consider those who worship deities -- and sometimes do daft things as a consequence of their beliefs -- to be equally well-informed, rational or fit to sit in judgement of others.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

She is a false God. How can you keep the hour of Star Trek holy when they flagrantly exceed lightspeed?

How is she a false god?

Not according to the bible or athena sacred text. Just basic english. What about her (if you believe she actually exists) is false?

Do you believe athena exists?

If not, how does your accusation make sense. Kind of like saying the very Captian Kirk is false captain when we all know Kathryn Janeway is the real captain.

First, Id actually have to known about Star Trek Voyager to make such claim. Then, to make an accusation that Kirk isnt "the bomb", Id have to know if this person is real.

She cant be false if she does not exist in your belief. How can your bible speak about gods that to many do not exist?

 

[ADigitalArtist]

Congrats to them. Athena was always my favorite religious figure growing up, though I was never a theist.

 

[Kemosloby]

How is she a false god?

Not according to the bible or athena sacred text. Just basic english. What about her (if you believe she actually exists) is false?

Do you believe athena exists?

If not, how does your accusation make sense. Kind of like saying in a very Captian Kirk is an is false when we all know Cathyrn Janeway is the real captain.

First, Id actually have to known about Star Trek Voyager to make such claim. Then, to make an accusation that Kirk isnt "the bomb", Id have to know if this person is real.

She cant be false if she does not exist in your belief. How can your bible speak about gods that to many do not exist?

Having one God leaves little room for other Gods.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Having one God leaves little room for other Gods.

Actually it doesn't. It just defines your attention and devotion. Plus the first commandment of your god really only tells the Israelites to not worship foreign gods before him. Take that word how you will.

 

[Kemosloby]

Actually it doesn't. It just defines your attention and devotion. Plus the first commandment of your god really only tells the Israelites to not worship foreign gods before him. Take that word how you will.

At the time when the commandments were given it applied only to the Israelites. Now that Jesus has spread the knowledge of God to all nations they have no excuse for their ignorance.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Oh we know, we just don't care. (Nice how you also ignore the specific wording of the commandment, which doesn't outlaw other gods and by default recognizes their existence.)

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Having one God leaves little room for other Gods.

Many gods make a family. One god makes authority. There is room for more than one god, given they are, well, gods. They can do as they please. Limiting the gods to just one god is like limiting a family to just one family member. Life doesn't work based on authority. Humans make authority. The gods (or for me, the spirits) do not.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Actually it doesn't. It just defines your attention and devotion. Plus the first commandment of your god really only tells the Israelites to not worship foreign gods before him. Take that word how you will.

Interesting. That makes sense. Why would he say "make no gods before me" if there were no other gods. Kind of like saying, "don't make any other Carlita's before me"... kinda doesn't make sense unless I know there are other Carlita's in the world and I only want you guys to talk to me.

But then, how do you know I exist out of all the other Carlita's out there.

Okay... I can create a whole skit out of this.. .carry on

 

[Unveiled Artist]

None whatsoever.

Acts 17:30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

How does this make sense to those who don't take the bible as authority over their lives?

Is there another way you can explain how multiple gods are wrong by finding shared criteria to judge whether one person is right or wrong by logic not by a person's judgement over another person's faith?

 

[Kemosloby]

Many gods make a family. One god makes authority. There is room for more than one god, given they are, well, gods. They can do as they please. Limiting the gods to just one god is like limiting a family to just one family member. Life doesn't work based on authority. Humans make authority. The gods (or for me, the spirits) do not.

Authority is one part of it. Head of the family. Using the term loosely Jesus said we are gods, little gods, small g. But the one God , big G, who created us has the power and authority.

 

[CogentPhilosopher]

Oh, I consider everyone has value as a person -- that goes with my humanist stance. But I don't necessarily consider those who worship deities -- and sometimes do daft things as a consequence of their beliefs -- to be equally well-informed, rational or fit to sit in judgement of others.

While I get where you are coming from I am still going to have to disagree.

As I find theistic belief to not be logically justified I understand what you are saying....But..

If governments where to restrict who can run for offices based on what is perceived as the rationality of a viewpoint it would destroy the free market of ideas and thus freethought would it not?

Not to mention that I know several theist that would make far better leaders than some atheists.

People can do stupid irrational things with or without religion, so I think we should simply judge them based on those things.