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Do you believe in a God
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No. You're telling me what you think you saw, while simultaneously illustrating the human capacity for determined self-delusion.
Your statement says to me that you think you have a complete understanding of this world we live in. Do you?
How can someone be sure that someone else's life experience was a figment of their imagination, if they were never there...
I dont believe in God or in Relgion for that matter but i have a little thing to say.
OK 'if' we found out that God did exist then fine i probavly wouldn't be bothered. But all these deeply religious people i just dont get!
Ok some great all powerful being creates the Universe and all life (prrrfffttt) and give humanity 'free will' would he really want us to spend our lives worshipping him. Sounds to me that God like blowing his owm trumpet and pretty much up himself.
If a man did this then he's a dictator, crazy, selfish and so on and so forth but God thats a different matter.
The way i see it if he does exist then he's a spoilt child, holding on to as much as he possibly can.
Also as a side note i've been reading the 'Da Vinci Code' what an amazing book but for all of you out there who think the bible is the words of God please read this book. It just shows how narrow minded the human race is along with how much we are blinded by our past.
You realy need to read the new king james version of the bible. There are alot of lies out there and many people use the truth for their evil gain its like politics iand it gets worst and worst > Just think about this
to me obviously EVARYTHING has a Desighn therefor you must as a inteligent person seek God by faith and pray and ask God who he is and what he wants and ask him what the lies are. Those people that combine religions and mix them up are foolish same with the ones that take the truth and turn it into a lie. Around 2002 i realised that there is a world i cant see with my eyes =x but im not the only one some people decide to ignore it out of fear or whatever but not me.
God who?
Evolution what?
If a supreme being would excist she or he would female black dwarf im sure of it IQ 40.
But i dont give a damn what is Evolution big bang God created earth all bullshit or or not who cares.
Oh yeh 95% of world population believes in some sort of God ther bunch of idiots.
Im idiot to believe in nothing well in some sort of god or whatever.
More likely a developement of strating off this universe.
No some idiots make a lab experiment and forget about it and we rot in big mess called earth with creatures called homosapiens who are not smart enough to live in piece and harmony together.
RELIGIUS FREAKS go rot in hell burn you mothers and all supreme beings live in agony of pain for eternity:P
But then again there are no supreme beings so who cares i dont.
Play mmoprgs have fun forget god or whatever its bullshit:P
Thats my stupid opinion offended by it sorry im offended by morons who say god excist hehe.
Respect protect nature dont eat animals black white yellow or what ever color you are all same all humans all trash or or all good.
But i wish aliens came to earth take me in ther space ship and get me off this god forsaken rock of misery and bring me to a wonderfull planet with loving creatures who dont make war or polute but make love and have peace of mind all the time:)
My 2 cents or subject forget what it was.
Oh yeh i remember some bullshit about do you believe in a lunatic:P
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OS:Windows 10 64bit
First: Atheism is a religion. It takes just as much faith to believe that there is no god at all than it does to believe in a certain form of god or higher power, because neither can be proven.
Second, the idea of a god isnt really that abstract. We're getting pretty close to being gods ourselves. In the near future (my guess is in the next 50-100 years) we will be able to create artiificial intelligence. With enough computing power we can create a virtual world filled with intelligent beings who have free will and everything else we want them to have. We will be the "gods" of that world.
As for my personals belief (just what i think is a likely possibility) I think we live in such a simulation or virtual world. If the "people" in a virtual world evolve and eventually can be gods themselves and create new worlds and life, it's very unlikely that the world (and "world" could be universe or whatever) we live in is the first part of this chain.
I wanted to say more but can't remember it now
-Argwaan
Question everything
"If Atheism is a religion, then health is a disease." - Clark Adams
No-one needs to prove there isn't a god in the same way no-one needs to prove unicorns don't exist. When outrageous and absurd claims are made, the burden of proof lies with the person making those claims.
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." - Delo McKown
You do know that the Da Vinci Code is a complete work of fiction? Not one of the events in that book are based on any sort of fact, its just a good story and thats it.
Yes, i do believe in the God
You could so easily have been describing the bible, until you said it was a good story.
Actually your wrong the story of the Da Vinci Code is fictional but the histroy behind it is based on fact.
From the Priory of Sion and it's members to Opus Dei and their rituals and the hordes of symbolism in the book. Even the part about Emperor Constantine in chapter 55 saying about the 'Divintiy of Jesus' is all based on fact.
"If Atheism is a religion, then health is a disease." - Clark Adams
No-one needs to prove there isn't a god in the same way no-one needs to prove unicorns don't exist. When outrageous and absurd claims are made, the burden of proof lies with the person making those claims.
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." - Delo McKown
Yes, that's why I said that the idea of a god isnt really absurd or outrageous at all, we're very close to being gods or 'creators' ourselves.
-Argwaan
Question everything
This is just an opinion as you are entitled to yours...
I believe God is used as a fear tactic. The biggest fear people have is the unknown (scared of the dark, strangers, death...) so the churches use this "god" to their advantage. Who wants to burn in the depths of hell forever? Who wants to be stuck on earth in limbo? No one. So your brainwashed into thinking that "god" will take you to a nice place.
On the other hand, if someone takes comfort in believing that there's something more, to have piece of mind while they're on earth, so be it. Doesn't hurt me and I hope for the best for you.
Another issue that is upsetting is the fact that humans are so arrogant and egotistical. Do you really think that "god" made us in his own image? The most powerful being creating US in his image. That's pretty powerful and we should be greatful. This is nothing more then a boost to our egos. From my experiences the people who think like this are the same ones that don't believe in aliens. This is because these people honestly think that we are the most advanced creature in our universe. This is just plan ignorance. Read a book!! The universe is so big we can't even crap.
As for creation. Get with the times! We have science people. The grass isn't green because "god" made it that way and we're not here because "god" put us here. EVOLUTION. I hope anyone that replies to anything to do with evolution has read something. We know evolution is a fact of life and we see it everywhere.
-Let's all be ignorant!
I believe that people believe in God because they think God exists....
I, personally, don't.
I, however, have enough respect to leave it at that.
(oh, I have just spent about 2 hours trying to figure out if this was a wind-up. Any idea if it is or do lots of Amercains argue like this?)
Unfortunately a nasty by-product of religion is division and alienation, "Us and them".
How hard is it to reconcile to a human being who is a, "sinner" and worthy of death if they fail to confirm
to that religios belief. Perhaps when we come to the conclusion we are all inter-related in some way
perhaps we can live in a more peaceful state. Thank-you.
Yeah. I'm not American and just so you know the internet IS NOT AMERICAN. So just because somethings in English doesn't mean it's American.
Another stereotype confirmed!
-Let's all be ignorant!
"If Atheism is a religion, then health is a disease." - Clark Adams
No-one needs to prove there isn't a god in the same way no-one needs to prove unicorns don't exist. When outrageous and absurd claims are made, the burden of proof lies with the person making those claims.
"The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike." - Delo McKown
Really now? What an unbearable burden must be upon your shoulders.
"Fear not death; for the sooner we die, the longer shall we be immortal."
Do Internet history research. The creation of the Internet was in the United States in the late 1950s. The Internet's "grandfather" was ARPANET, a network created by the department of defense during the cold war.
The Internet is not in any form of human lanuage. It is protocols. However, the world wide web is a tool of the Internet, which can be viewed in many languages by the use of html, which, by the way, was created by Tim Berners-Lee, who based his design on markup language of the old punch card systems.
Please don't post idiotic things that you obviously know nothing about, you just make yourself look like an ass.
Why would not believing in a god or an afterlife be an unbearable burden? Could be quite comforting that you'll just fade away when you die...
-Argwaan
Question everything
[quote]Originally posted by tanktastic
Unfortunately a nasty by-product of religion is division and alienation, "Us and them".
How hard is it to reconcile to a human being who is a, "sinner" and worthy of death if they fail to confirm
to that religios belief. Perhaps when we come to the conclusion we are all inter-related in some way
perhaps we can live in a more peaceful state. Thank-you.[/quote
We all have the same nature we are all sinners but some are Forgiven by faith thats what the bible teaches
and the bible also says not to fellowship with unbeleivers. This makes sence because why would you still hang out with your party friend after you found out that what you used to do was sinfull and it was destrying you and its against God. I wish you would meet a true christian who has been radicaly changed and hear his testimony (It isnt a religion).
Yes I believe in good because everything that happened to me convinced me that there cant be some higher
might,but I dont insult anyone everyone should alone decide if a god exists.
1.World of Warcraft
2.Guild Wars
3.Planetside
Guild Wars is good but WOW is better!
Do Internet history research. The creation of the Internet was in the United States in the late 1950s. The Internet's "grandfather" was ARPANET, a network created by the department of defense during the cold war.
The Internet is not in any form of human lanuage. It is protocols. However, the world wide web is a tool of the Internet, which can be viewed in many languages by the use of html, which, by the way, was created by Tim Berners-Lee, who based his design on markup language of the old punch card systems.
Please don't post idiotic things that you obviously know nothing about, you just make yourself look like an ass.
You're awesome and you've just shown the world your power. If you weren't such a complete arrogant American tool you would have read my post properly. I wasn't saying the technology of the internet wasn't American I was saying that you American's always assume that everyone on these boards is American because you think you're the only country on Earth. Get off your high horse, every country hates Americans and if you weren't such arrogant egotistical pigs maybe things would be different, but your above post proves that you're just that.
-Let's all be ignorant!
No, we aren't the only country on Earth, but we are the greatest.
And that is just me showing my nationalism. Don't you say "Point taken", because you probably think the same thing for your country, whether it be Saddam torturing, keeping WWII grudges England or retreating in a puff of cigarette smoke France.
"Whoever controls the media controls the mind..-'Jim Morrison"
"When decorum is repression, the only dignity free men have is to speak out." ~Abbie Hoffman
>I hate people who hate God because he didn't prevent 9/11.
Here's a good reference for that: http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/worldtrade.html
>So perhaps these disasters, like it or not, are God's way of cutting down the populationa bit.
I don't believe that God just decides to cut down the population a bit. If he wanted to control the population I'm sure he could find some other way to do it than killing off his creation. Read Genesis 1:28. God enjoys his creation and wants more people added to his creation and to come to him and fellowship with him. However, the part of creation that does not accept God, given their free will, and rejects him is a worthless part of creation and will be destroyed. Matthew 13:37-43.
>Also, there are those who argue that if God isn't real, who created the universe?
You either have to believe in eternal matter and/or laws of science that perpetuate an eternal universal cycle and existance, or you have to believe in God. There is some theory on extradimensional causes influencing the creation of our universe. You still have to ask yourself where those dimension rose from though, so it becomes, in effect, the same sort of thing as "what's the next smallest particle to be discovered, composing the universe." I do think that an infinite being can create an infinite creation.
>Hey would you want to be in a heaven or hell forever? I wouldn't
I couldn't tell you since I've never been there.
>People only believe in god to have some hope that they are not alone.
I was reading a book a while back that addressed this issue. Simply put, it is a possibility, but not a fact. Just like everything else, it is, yes, an individual opinion. I think it is relatively safe to say that no human being at the creation of the world or the forming of the human race is still alive today and can explain to us the beginnings of human society. What we have now to go on is recorded history, however true or distorted it is, and a good part of history is also recorded in religious documents. At any rate, I do believe God is a great comfort, but to the unsure believer (as I've been at times when my faith falters or I backslide), the prospect of there being eternal condemnation outside of him is not at all a comforting aspect in which I like to hope. It could also be argued that atheists are not believers because of the many faiths, and that it's easier to write them all off as false in the back of their minds instead of exploring them since some of them condemn unbelief. Thus the prospect of an atheist facing the exploration of all the world's religions requires too much effort on his part and it is easier and more comforting to say that all religions are wrong so that they receive no burden of condemnation on their conscience.
>Do you believe in aliens?
I believe in aliens. We call them angels and demons, and we've wrapped them up in a fairytale because of mankind's past ignorance. I have a friend who is a wiccan and has told me (though I personally don't know whether his account is truth or not) that he has actually spoken with the beings I know as demons and some have asked him to do things he did not approve of and others just talked to him. I learned this when I Emailed him to warn him about the possibility of encountering demons through his wiccan faith. Obviously he had already encountered them. There's also the account of my grandmother who, years ago, encountered one in a wiccan's (I believe) house. It was a smoky form that drifted across the floor in a corner. Maybe it was smoke. I don't know. I was never there. There's also the account of my brother, though he doesn't speak about it, of a green hand tugging on the blankets of his bed at night when he was in it. He wasn't sleeping either from my knowledge. We were sleeping in a bunk bed and he was on the bottom. I remember hearing him calling for my dad and my dad telling him to pray. And my dad's not a real religious man either, but still believes in God.
>Life after death. It's another reason why people want to believe.
And there is also the same reason why many atheists, possibly, do not want to believe. They are faced with hell and damnation after death and resurrection.
>There is so many scientific facts out there that proove parts of the Bible wrong.
The KJV version, the Lesbian Bible, or the real ancient scriptures?
>No such thing, all gods are myths that people use to control others.
And that is why I do not vote for the next President because he is simply "Christian" or endorse a course of action because it was done by "members of the faith" or even abhore a course of action because it was done by someone outside of the faith. I believe in God and Christ, but I accepted this faith out of my own free will. Religion has been used to control people in the past, and I'd actually like to say that my Lord's will has some control over my own actions, but saying that all religions were created to control the populous is not a very legitimate explanation.
>There are so many religions out there.
Which I think is a good tactic for the Enemy of Creation. If a person cries wolf long enough, people aren't going to believe that person sooner or later. The person is humanity and the deception is the many religions in the world today. I think they could well have branched out from one knowledge in one God and could have been distorted over the many milennia. It just depends on your perspective which is why one should seek to attack a problem from many different perspectives. This is what I told my friend who had told me about his "visitors". I viewed them as a stumbling block to lead him away from truth and he viewed them as a sign of spiritual enlightenment - perhaps that he is priviledged enough to have these "visitors".
>If one religion's beliefs are what you think are factual, it outrules other religions, meaning that only one religion is the true "Real religion", meaning that other religeons are man made rules.
Wiccans believe that all gods and godesses are the same two beings I think. Thus any way is the right way. If you worship Odin, then you are worshiping Allah, etc. However, this does not appear to be truth because of what you just stated. The God of all creation makes known, I believe, that all other gods are false. How could this God be the same as Odin, Allah, Zeus, Ares, or Anubis? If I had to make an estimate of all the gods the world has ever had, I think I'd have to say that there has been 1 god for every 5 people in the world's history. Simply put, that is a big cry of wolf.
>Obey your family, gene pool, and do not kill
When it comes down to it, we're all related through the earth (or the universe) because we have all come from it. Humanity had to start at some point and I believe that point was between one man and one woman unless I'm misreading the creation story or unless multiple human beings were formed by another god or multiple human beings were spawned at generally the same time (which would be a very slim chance). I think Christ's rules are simple as well; roughly put, love God with your whole and love your neighbour as yourself. As for women's rights, God created woman in his image as well. To begin with, woman was man's equal partner. It was only when the woman sinned against God and her husband that things changed. The man was then to be the woman's master. The man's sin, of course, also carried penalties of its own. I have read verses, too, that tell men not to abuse their wives but if they are to be their wives' masters, then they should rule as God rules and as Christ is to be the master of man. They are to treat their wives kindly and not be a harsh tyrant. As for the verses' references, I forget, but I remember explaining them to a friend.
>God is (pure selfless unconditional) Love
I'm not completely sure about who God is - who of us is? I just know that whenever Israel sinned against God, God punished her. And when Israel repented and came back to God, God received her. I remember one verse in the Bible (and I'm sorry that I forget the reference again - I can't remember the whole of scripture!) in which God was saying that he was sorry for having to punish Israel (I think it was Israel - probably not Judah). And a verse also I remember in which it was saying something to the effect of two times the amount of joy will be given for every amount of sorrow. God is a strict God, but he is also a loving God. Anything that works for his creation, he works for it I believe. Anything that works against his creation, he eliminates with time. This is not harsh, but logical and best for the whole of creation. It could be likened to executing a notorious murderer because the murderer causes more trouble than good.
>such as Jesus, who was God's perfect example of how to espouse the above
And I might remind others around here that Christ repeatedly said that he would not say anything other than what his Father wanted him to say (something to that effect). So if you look at Christ's life, you will see anger and strictness, but also love and compassion. Not to mention endurance! The only reason I didn't list Christ as a favorite character under a thread in the off-topic discussion was because these were fictional characters everyone was listing. Christ, though, is a favorite person of mine that I like to look up to.
>During the medieval ages, the church had fisheries that allowed them to make some money on the side.
I've heard of this. The Catholic Church as opposed to anything strictly not catholic, but you can determine if a person is a follower of Christ or not by the fruit they produce. Christ himself said, "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit." A possible correlation between parables would be this one and the Kingdom of God likened to a mustard seed. It is planted and it grows to be great among trees, and its members, the followers of Christ, come from it. There is even a verse of the Bible that says something to the effect that if a person says they love God but hate their brother, then they are a liar. You can tell if a person loves God by if they love his creation. You can tell true Christians from false Christians by their deeds - it's not hard, but it's not entirely easy at times either.
>Now they had no ability to control the flow of information, and more importanlty, the content.
Indeed. The Catholic Church also tried to cut off the message of other believers. Check out the Waldensians. I think they preached outside of the clergy and they were excommunicated and persecuted or some such thing. I wonder what they would have thought of the prophets of old times and even Christ. Perhaps they would have been in the same situation of the Jewish priests in Christ's time. The thing is, you can't tell the validity of a religion by its "professed followers" because quite likely if the religion is a popular one, then you'll have favors being granted to the religion and people who are effectively not followers of the religion professing their belief in the religion simply to gain favors, etc.
>about some "lost" book of Jesus
There have been other recovered documents like the Gospel of Thomas (I think) that offer various records of Christ and his works, but are pretty shaky evidence themselves. In fact some people can't decide on when this gospel was recorded within a 4-500 year range, yet people might use it in an attempt to say, "Hey look! Here's Christ's TRUE nature..."
>not that I think he was the Son of God either
Look at some of the prophecies he fulfilled. These prophecies were recorded hundreds of years before his coming to this world in the form of man. However, I'm sure you'll find Jews in the same position as yourself. They don't believe he was and is the Messiah. Just do some research on it. I've already done a bit, but if you asked me all of the prophecies that he fulfilled I couldn't list them.
>Invariably it's probably something that would damage the church's ability to attratct followers and steal their money.
And steal their money in that they give it freely as a gift to further God's kingdom? I've thought of this myself, but the fact is if you give your money to the poor because God's message influences you to do so, God isn't stealing your money.
>So in other words, I was created without my permission
I've thought about this too. If I program a robot, should it say to me, "Go away, you merciless human. I didn't want to be your creation and I don't want to be around you or have anything to do with you." If the robot surfs the internet and gets a virus and I have a remedy for the virus should the robot say, "So you're only giving me one choice? Where's my free will? I think I'd rather just terminate than follow you and accept your gift because I didn't ask for it and I don't want it." You see, Christ's sacrifice was necessary. God is a God of justice and if God did not rest your punishment on Christ, then you would have no options whatsoever and would be doomed to die.
>God demands I worship Him
Christ said that God is looking for followers who will worship him in spirit and in truth. Man sinned to begin with and Man (humanity) continues to sin. God offers a remedy for this sin and even gave his creation free will to choose God - life and well being - or the absence of God - pain and death. Does that sound cruel to you? I recently read a reasonable bit of information that described it as heat and the absence of heat. A good amount of heat is needed to live, but without heat there is no working life. Anything other would be contrary to what we currently know as biological science. God set the rules of the universe and I believe he chooses to follow them himself when working with his creation. He's not some magical being that can give free will to everyone and yet keep them from rejecting him. A person can warn you not to touch a heated stove, but if you touch it, you did so out of your own free will and your sin rests with yourself and its effects on your hand.
>Who created the creator?
Which is what I've addressed above. You have to believe in a perpetuating universal environment or God or a combination of both (which is what I'm currently believing). I believe that there is a scientific explanation for an "thing"'s eternal existence. We just haven't found it yet. God purportedly said in Genesis, "The people have become as we are, knowing everything, both good and evil. What if they eat the fruit of the tree of life? Then they will live forever!" As for the account of Genesis, itself, I'm not sure whether to believe it as factual or metaphorical or a little of both since I think Moses wrote it. He could have copied it down from word of mouth and God could have told him about it specifically, but even then I think God speaks in riddles some times and for necessary reason. Christ did. He spoke in parables to nearly everyone.
>And yes creationism is HOPE
The belief in God is hope. Creationism offers no hope to souls who condemn themselves to hell with their own sin. They are created, but they will die.
>I can understand people wanting there to be a god. I really can but that doesnt make it true.
or false.
>and laugh at all the crazy stuff they did, promising each other they will make it even more chaotic the next day.
I'm sure you're familiar with Satan, the fallen. I notice that a lot of people don't believe in God because they say that if there were a loving and almighty God, then he'd have enough power and sense to stop all this sin and death and chaos right now. The truth is for you parents, what do you do to your kid when he disobeys you? If you ground him for a week, do you forget this act of discipline and helpful lesson and then unground him half way through? Humanity will exist on this world, I've always thought, for seven thousand years. It disobeyed God and God, I believe, has punished it by removing himself from Men and allowing those who reject him to fall to the Enemy. When God grounds his child for six days, he means six days. On the seventh his child will be free and will, again, be happy and likely will have learned a valuable lesson so as not to disobey God again. I'm not saying that this is the fundamental meaning of all existence, but it is a possibility.
>mosly because what happens in third world places like africa where children are born starving or with aids and dont have clothes.
Again, read above. I once read someone who was talking about Christ's miracles and stated that if they were Christ, they would not have healed one man of leprosy but would have removed leprousy alltogether. As I've already stated, when a parent grounds a child, they should keep their word and the child should remain grounded for the aforementioned time. This does not mean that the parent can not give food to the child, though, as the child waits in his room.
> he lives in the spirit world, we live in the physical one.
Read 1 Kings 8:27. Could Solomon have been wrong? It is possible, but if he is right, then this claim contradicts your statement. I think I know what you mean, but God is active in his creation which is both heaven and earth. If a man creates the traditional house, he can not be contained in it, but can go through the doors into every room of the house and can even exit the house to the world outside. Even Satan is active in God's creation as evidenced in Job. Satan comes to God after he has been going across the earth and through it, and then God asks Satan if he has seen his servant Job.
>He can't physically help, but if you ask he could spiritually guide you.
He certainly influenced his creation by condemning Sodom and Gamorrah to destruction for their evil acts, and by bringing Christ into the world to free it from sin. I believe that God can and has given certain people special abilities and powers. However, your heart needs to be right before God before he will consider it, unless you have another purpose (such as did Samson. He was not godly but was given special ability to free God's people.). A friend of mine asked me one time why all the miracles that were down in the old days are no longer done today. I had no answer for her, but now I do. I do believe that there are miracles done today, but they are seldom heard of because the majority of people aren't searching to find them.
>In Christianity, God is a He, Him, ect
I really don't know if God is a male or if he is genderless and we simply use the masculine to refer to him as a figure of authority. It would fit since man (a he) is supposed to be the head of a woman and Christ is supposed to be the head of a man. God is master over all, so naturally using "he" to refer to "him" is a way that we can understand his authority. We could also say "it", but that doesn't carry much authority with it; rather it makes him (or possibly it) sound less authoritative.
>another is a man with the head of an elephant
There are idols, yes. God, himself, did not want anyone making any image and worshipping it (whether it is supposed to represent him or another false god or even demon). No one alive today, save Christ, knows God's true form I'd think. And God has a few forms I think. One is Christ - who is God in the flesh, God the Father - the authoritative figure, and the Holy Spirit - the teacher and bearer of gifts. It is very hard to understand, but if any person has made a painting of Christ, they're probably wrong, and if anyone has made a sculpture of God, again, they are likely wrong.
> I want a perfectly logical reason for all the wars, shootings, tortures, rapes, murders, cruelty and pain.
It's called a choice of free will. Babies are born and grow up to be adults. Adults choose to become murderers, thieves, adulterers, liars, etc. God tells them not to be, but has given them free will and will not take it away from them. He punishes them when they do wrong, but rewards them when they do right. I don't know why people can't understand this. You should be able to. You have the power to ruin or end someone else's life or to uphold it and to give life; what you do with your life is your own decision. And the meaning of your life is what you make of it.
>You get up around the $1000 bill, and it just says "God, I Think I Can Take It From Here."
And then the Great Depression hit. People who rely on their money for stability will fall. Money can be used for good or evil. If you follow God, it will be used for good, whether you are an Atheist, Buddhist, or Christian. Anyone who helps the poor (anyone - a devil worshipper, a godly man or woman, or perhaps someone just trying to get by in life) is helping Christ.
>There are rivers that overflow, volcanoes that aren't quite sealed and tectonic plates that tend to crack over time.
Read this page: http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/tsunami.html
>So why don't you drop about 50 or so and then talk to me about what people should or shouldn't be doing with their bodies. OK?
I've noticed this too. People might point the finger at others for smoking, but they don't point the finger at overweight people drinking excessive amounts of softdrinks. As for people claiming to know his will, God has made known in scripture that the false prophet will receive what is coming to him. Those who claim to follow God and lead others astray from him by their actions will receive great condemnation if they do not turn from these ways to correct them.
>i dont believe in absolute forgiveness some deeds should stick and you should never be forgiven.
Personally I believe that the Almighty God's Son, living a perfect life, suffering and dying for those he was sent to forgive, and then being raised to life is good enough for any sin to be forgiven. God is great. His Son is great. It took a great sacrifice for great sin.
>So if god created lucifer then god had to have some evil in him, now this doesnt mean he acts with it.
Just because God is perfect doesn't mean he can't and/or won't create something that is less than him. If he wished to create Lucifer and instill him with free will and give him great power, it was Lucifer's fault that he tried to glorify himself more than God, seeing his own beauty and majesty and then thinking and aspiring to be greater than God.
>I agree that it seems like a gross mistake for God to have allowed beings the power to put other beings into torment of various sorts.
Torture is just something taken to the extreme. Many things can be torture if abused. God gave us a nervous system to tell when we hammer a nail through our hand so we can stop hammering and fix the problem. Nerves can also be used in a way other than sensing stress but for also relieving stress - a good backrub or some such thing. Sex can even turn into torture. If you abuse it, you'll likely get a few diseases and go insane if you never turn from abusing it.
>Also, God does not do more for the righteous, even for someone who believes in christianity you should know this. The Bible says this world belongs to Satan, and therefore good comes to those people not the righteous.
There is a verse that says that God sends his rain on both the just and the unjust. If not all, then most have an opportunity to do what is right or wrong. Those who do what is wrong make others suffer for it, and they too suffer from it. The Bible also talks a little about hell and heaven. Both the wicked and the righteous will get what they deserve (and some what they don't deserve). If a person shoots another and kills them, they not only have to answer to the established worldly authorities, but they also will have to answer to God. The established worldly authorities will have to answer to God as well. If the wicked do not get what they deserve in this life, they will get it when they rise to condemnation.
>Religion is created out of fear of the unknown, that is all.
Are you speaking from experience and knowledge or is that your opinion on a supreme being, this world and the possible multiverse? Granted, everything I say here is my opinion and I can not fully prove everything I say; neither can you.
>Killing 10,000 people is a tragedy, killing 100,000 because it was Gods will makes you a saint.
Unless you can make this arguement against Christ, you can not make it against Christianity. The followers of Christianity are the followers of Christ. You should be able to see who is and who is not properly following Christ. Perhaps you're not making an arguement at all, but simply stating a fact. If either is the case, know also that the priests condemned Christ in the name of God. They condemned him to die because he called himself the Messiah. I think the proper way to execute someone who claimed to be the Son of God or some such thing was to stone them, but as prophesied Christ was pierced - crucified (and all in the name of God).
>either the christians or the muslims or the bhudists or whatever.... only one group of you can be right...
And you find that out by exploring each religion. How does each religion say the world was created? Does it follow the laws of science? Much of the creation account can be reconciled with science. Just read up on this: http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/answers.html
>millions of you, or all of you
I personally don't like being classified with millions and billions of other people. We're like ants, and I'm no different. A spirit even spoke to one of Job's friends, telling that person that we were like moths to be crushed or some such thing. I do face this fact though. I don't join a religion because it is popular. In fact I prize being different as much as I prize what IQ I have. I tend, very often, to try to be different than others. Christianity is a relatively popular religion or set of beliefs, and it gives me no pride to classify myself along with a (possibly) billion others, but it does give me pride to say that my God is my Lord and that I am his servant and his child if there be truth in this. It is a constant strain on my faith to live in this society today, but 50% of the strain is emotional factors - not hidden "truths" that others have discovered - but simply others acting out of emotion to question my beliefs. They themselves give no reasonable answers for the creation of the universe or to the origin of humanity or its various religions. I've heard of a big bang and of different dimensions possibly supporting one-another. I've heard of fish becoming men. I've heard people rail against God and his followers, speaking insults and asking questions (some answerable - others not). Though in the end I remain in my faith and I go up to my bedroom each day, sit on my bed, and open the Bible and begin to read. Sometimes I'm encouraged by Christian friends and there's been a time where a Christian has hurt me, but people are fallible. I don't judge a religion by its "followers" but by its creed. You'll have to excuse me for now since I've been writing and reading for hours.
"Put your foot where your mouth is." - Wisdom from my grandfather
"Paper or plastic? ... because I'm afraid I'll have to suffocate you unless you put this bag on your head..." - Ethnitrek
AC1: Wierding from Harvestgain
No, we aren't the only country on Earth, but we are the greatest.
And that is just me showing my nationalism. Don't you say "Point taken", because you probably think the same thing for your country, whether it be Saddam torturing, keeping WWII grudges England or retreating in a puff of cigarette smoke France.
Disgusting!
-Let's all be ignorant!
Delicious!
"Whoever controls the media controls the mind..-'Jim Morrison"
"When decorum is repression, the only dignity free men have is to speak out." ~Abbie Hoffman
in fact i dont really know how one can be so foolish to believe in god or some overwhelming power above. xmmm.... i think it`s easy.
zeus was a god of thunder. as soon as science came to find some explanation for all the storms and lightning-thing zeus died a natural death of being forgotten.
so will do your gods. u believe that he can control time and teleport and do all the crazy funny things. humanity wil be able to do it. the time will take its price and your gods will die(but u will surely die sooner xaxaxa).
the faith will exist `cause of all the priests. in usa it`s not so hard but here(poland) ppl r really hardheaded and they live thinking god is helping them at every step of their life. when they do somethink right - it was god help; when they fuCk something up - it was `cause they didn`t gave god as much prayers as he wanted, so it make them fail... and here comes the question: "what must i do ?" and the answer is always "i mus go to the church and give them some money!!" here comes the priest(thief)and he is happy....
"flies around shit! bees around honey!" "send me money send me green, heaven u will meet; make this contribution and u will get the better sit!!! bow to lepper messiah!!!"
in the late 80`s there was a wave or "retribution". all the preachers made it to earn cash. all the offence was against metal music... they were saying "u heard metal ? u must go now and visit the nearest church!! hurry!! your life is in danger!!". in usa it faded while in east europe it`s still on. even when the pope died they wanted his body to be burried in a church in poland to earn more from travellers... THIS r your great teachers of your even greater god.
during the 12th century holy bible was forbiden book. church burned all the bible books or took it to vatican. punnishment for having such a book those times was death(owners were conserned as heretics). then after 100 or 150 years(historics r still arguing about this) holy bible reappeared. it was ultimately changed by high priests. if u read the bible u read words from 800 years ago not 2000(if it was not changed anymore after 13th century). so much for your "holy" book. i read bible twice myself, it`s a good fantasy book, really...
in the end there can be only one