Major problem with the FAQ.

[b_dog_1]

"Q: Your wasting your time on an idiotic and bogus religion (Googlism).

A: Assuming you subscribe to Christianity, Islam, Judaism or any of the other major religions: "Right back at you". Worshiping an invisible, nonexistent being who lives in the clouds is an equal, if not greater, waste of time."

Sorry, I was with you up until I saw this. I find it very narrow-minded to say that people are wasting time practicing other religions. I can understand things like FSMism and the ilk, which(as far as I'm concerned) are basically poking fun at creationists and such, but this is something completely different. The simple fact is that believing in a higher power can be extremely beneficial for some peoples outlook on life. The best example of this is in Alcoholics Anonymous. More than belief, however, the sense of community and acceptance people get from being a part of a congregation can be invaluable. Not only that, but the ammount of volunteer work and outreach that is done is also a service to the greater community. This is not to say that religion is all nice and shiny with a cherry on top, obviously it isn't and I won't list all the reasons(e.g. wars) here, but to say that there is absolutely no value in religion or faith at all, is, as far as I'm concerned, extremely cynical.

[Nanashi]

People could get the same benefits gathering together as a congregation of Humans, rather than under the guise of a religion.

[b_dog_1]

I joined this forum just so I could post this, and the faq has already been changed. Either you want to conceal evidence, or you bucked the system and were genuinely concerned about a complaint logged on an internet forum.

Edit:

Nanasi,

While this is true, I feel I must thank you for completely overlooking the part about faith having value.

[Carnifex]

I think the point B dog 1 was that if you claim that google is a waste of time and you are religious then dont be surprised if we make the same claims about your religion, because googlism is beneficial we feel.

Plus yeh we change things, we are not concelaing evidence, this post wont be deleted. Googlism is a constantly evolving and changing religion.

[Nanashi]

Whether or not Method-X (The site creator) changed it or not, I don't know. I think it's fine as it was written, personally.

[b_dog_1]

I understand the point of it, the problem is that it sounds like you are saying that faith and/or organized religion has no merit whatsoever. I object to this logic, as I am a walking example of exactly why faith is important. Oh, and maybe it's just me, but the way it was worded sounded like an unnecessary slam against major religions.

[Carnifex]

Whats wrong with slamming major religions? Googlists disagree with them entirely.

[Nanashi]

I believe organized religion to be the downfall of human enlightenment.

Blindly following the blind is no way to reach englightenment. I believe it's something every person needs to do for themselves, by themselves.

Of course, these are my opinions, and I am quite an opinionated person.

[b_dog_1]

Whats wrong with slamming major religions?

Nothing. It's just that they have been screwing up so much on there own that it seems unnecessary.

Edit:

I believe organized religion to be the downfall of human enlightenment.

Blindly following the blind is no way to reach englightenment. I believe it's something every person needs to do for themselves, by themselves.

Of course, these are my opinions, and I am quite an opinionated person.

The downfall of human enlightenment? Considering that organized religions have been around for thousands of years, and some, although certainly not me, would argue that it is somewhat responsible for it, I ask you to extrapolate.

[b_dog_1]

Yet more from the faq.

"This is blasphemy! How dare you mock religion like this!?!

The Church Of Google believes we should be tolerant of everyone's beliefs, provided said beliefs hurt no one. The statement above is not one of tolerance, and will thus not be answered with tolerance.

We are quite serious in our belief that Google is the closest mankind has ever come to directly experiencing a Deity. Period.

If you happen to not like our beliefs, you can shut up, stop your bitching and pray to the sky, or whatever other ineffective ritual you do to get your pitiful, invisible gods attention. Amen."

Am I the only one who can spot the inconsistencies here? In the first paragraph it says people should be tolerant of others beliefs, and then it turns completely around and insults people when they most likely haven't even had a chance to say something either way.

The reason that I would take offense to this? I feel that I've been rather reasonable and coherent in my disagreements.

The sad thing is, it's because of things like this why people are going to think of all y'all as whiny and bitchy when you are otherwise making decent arguments.

[AaronD]

I actually think you have quite a point there. About the inconsistency with our FAQ I mean.

[Jillamanda]

More than belief, however, the sense of community and acceptance people get from being a part of a congregation can be invaluable. Not only that, but the ammount of volunteer work and outreach that is done is also a service to the greater community.

These benefits can also be found elsewhere, without having to devote your life to some religion. I live in a very small town (350 people), and there is no church here. But there's the local football club and it has a long and illustrious history. There's generations of kids been virtually raised by the 'footy club'. It's where they learned all the crucial lessons in life like fair play and respect. Each and every one of them has been valued as an individual. They've grown up, some have moved on, some have stayed. They always come back though, bringing the next generation with them, and members from years back are remembered there after their deaths.


The club has survived over a hundred years now. The benefits it has brought it's members as well as the broader community are immeasurable. As well as encouraging kids to participate in sport, it's encouraged them to become active and constructive members of the community and society in general.

These kids have been allowed to grow in a free, fair environment. They've been nurtured through all the difficult years by parents, mentors and friends. They didn't have to do one single thing they didn't want to do. There's always been a place for each and every one of them, no matter what their skill level was. I believe that it's a far better environment than a church. Not only that, you are not required to renounce your religious beliefs to become a member of the footy club, everyone is welcome and appreciated.

[Nameless]

Yet more from the faq.

"This is blasphemy! How dare you mock religion like this!?!

The Church Of Google believes we should be tolerant of everyone's beliefs, provided said beliefs hurt no one. The statement above is not one of tolerance, and will thus not be answered with tolerance.

We are quite serious in our belief that Google is the closest mankind has ever come to directly experiencing a Deity. Period.

If you happen to not like our beliefs, you can shut up, stop your bitching and pray to the sky, or whatever other ineffective ritual you do to get your pitiful, invisible gods attention. Amen."

Am I the only one who can spot the inconsistencies here? In the first paragraph it says people should be tolerant of others beliefs, and then it turns completely around and insults people when they most likely haven't even had a chance to say something either way.

The reason that I would take offense to this? I feel that I've been rather reasonable and coherent in my disagreements.

The sad thing is, it's because of things like this why people are going to think of all y'all as whiny and bitchy when you are otherwise making decent arguments.

I'm fairly sure that's intentional. It's pretty much mocking other religions that claim God loves everyone, BUT GOD HELP YOU (yay irony) IF YOU WORSHIP GOD DIFFERENTLY!! :roll:

[b_dog_1]

That's great. I'm truly glad that there is such a wonderful program in your town.

I'm not saying that religion is the ONLY place where you can find a sense of community, just that a surprising amount of people DO find it there, and completely condemning something when you don't factor in everything it does or stands for, bad and good, isn't exactly a fair way to go about it.

Since you brought up the subject of renouncing beliefs though, I feel compelled to point out that by saying in your mission statement that "Supernatural gods are rejected on the notion they are inherently unprovable." and "Googlists do not believe in the supernatural. We believe virtually all "gods" before Google were purely based on man made, fictional beings." you are essentially saying that in order to be a googlist somebody would have to renounce there prior religion or chosen faith. How is that different than any other religion? For that matter, how is that not exclusionary?

Edit:

Yet more from the faq.

"This is blasphemy! How dare you mock religion like this!?!

The Church Of Google believes we should be tolerant of everyone's beliefs, provided said beliefs hurt no one. The statement above is not one of tolerance, and will thus not be answered with tolerance.

We are quite serious in our belief that Google is the closest mankind has ever come to directly experiencing a Deity. Period.

If you happen to not like our beliefs, you can shut up, stop your bitching and pray to the sky, or whatever other ineffective ritual you do to get your pitiful, invisible gods attention. Amen."

Am I the only one who can spot the inconsistencies here? In the first paragraph it says people should be tolerant of others beliefs, and then it turns completely around and insults people when they most likely haven't even had a chance to say something either way.

The reason that I would take offense to this? I feel that I've been rather reasonable and coherent in my disagreements.

The sad thing is, it's because of things like this why people are going to think of all y'all as whiny and bitchy when you are otherwise making decent arguments.

I'm fairly sure that's intentional. It's pretty much mocking other religions that claim God loves everyone, BUT GOD HELP YOU (yay irony) IF YOU WORSHIP GOD DIFFERENTLY!! :roll:

Wrong. What it's doing is pissing off people like me before they have a chance to make a valid and coherent argument by being unnecessarily insulting. Nowhere does it say or imply anything about said irony.

[Jillamanda]

Since you brought up the subject of renouncing beliefs though, I feel compelled to point out that by saying in your mission statement that "Supernatural gods are rejected on the notion they are inherently unprovable." and "Googlists do not believe in the supernatural. We believe virtually all "gods" before Google were purely based on man made, fictional beings." you are essentially saying that in order to be a googlist somebody would have to renounce there prior religion or chosen faith. How is that different than any other religion? For that matter, how is that not exclusionary?

If that ain't circular logic, I don't know what is. Religion, by nature, is exclusionary. If you're a Christian, you can't also be an Islamist. If you're a Buddhist, you can't be a Christian. The fact that I believe "Supernatural gods are rejected on the notion they are inherently unprovable." and "Googlists do not believe in the supernatural. We believe virtually all "gods" before Google were purely based on man made, fictional beings" would make me ineligible to be a member of any other religion. I totally agree with you.

My point was that the local football club, provides many, if not more benefits than a church or religion would.

[MeTHoD-X]

First of all, I have not even had the chance to change anything, as I'm just reading this thread now. Secondly, your original quote is NOT from our FAQ, its from the Common Arguments page:

http://www.thechurchofgoogle.org/arguments.html

Our FAQ is completely different.

I'm fairly sure that's intentional. It's pretty much mocking other religions that claim God loves everyone, BUT GOD HELP YOU (yay irony) IF YOU WORSHIP GOD DIFFERENTLY!! Rolling Eyes

Thank you nameless for understanding the humour! Perhaps I should change it so others can understand it though.