K
Kain99
Guest
The idea of spending the rest of my life behind bars pretty much stopped me. Burning in Hell was a big stopper too!
Last edited by a moderator:
boo to religion
- Thread starter BuddyLee
- Start date
Penn
Dancing Up A Storm
The reason "God killed all kinds of people in the OT without separating the innocent from the guilty" was that these people were seen in the future to infect the conquerers(God's chosen)
with the past sins of their original lifestyles.
If the victorious ones married the women of these people, it was thought that in time, they would convert these "chosen ones" with their paganistic practices.
Then all would be for naught.
So God instructed the warriors(whatever) to kill every last man, woman and child in the villages/cities they conquered.
That is what was explained to me in the classes I took, as well as in adult Sunday School.
K
Kain99
Guest
Penn you know that I am a Christian. "A real one."
But I have my doubts about the Sunday School Mumbo Jumbo. Maybe the people of the OT just didn't understand.....so every catastrophe and every bad deed was blamed on the unseen force God. I think God gets a bad rap! People in Churches are so afraid of being realistic that they support the Bible and everything in it to the death.
Why do we get all freaked out about Science? So what if Adam and Eve looked like Apes! So what if God used a Big Bang to create the Heavens and the Earth! If we truly believed like we all profess, these scientific facts would mean nothing. We would embrace them and feel closer to understanding.
Can you imagine witnessing an Aurora Bourealis back in those days? I am certain that the sight would have driven the people mad with fear.
I personally believe that people do more damage when it comestahn good when it comes to God.
Sheeesh! I take a few hours off to drive home from work and handle dinner and a major debate blossoms.
BL - 2 things:
First off - congratulations on generating three pages worth of postings with only two (or was it three?) postings of your own. You really got people talking and thinking.
Second - Could you please follow the English language rules of punctuation and capitalization? I know it's kinda picky and I am no paragon of grammar, but your posts are sort of hard to read.
How do I know that God exists and cares about us? Because I can tell you from my own personal experience that prayer works. I have seen prayers answered in my life over and over again, with much too great of a consistency for me to credit random chance.
As for religion causing problems in the world, I can agree that religion like any social institution can be chanelled in destructive directions but that taken as a whole religion does far more good than harm.
BL - 2 things:
First off - congratulations on generating three pages worth of postings with only two (or was it three?) postings of your own. You really got people talking and thinking.
Second - Could you please follow the English language rules of punctuation and capitalization? I know it's kinda picky and I am no paragon of grammar, but your posts are sort of hard to read.
How do I know that God exists and cares about us? Because I can tell you from my own personal experience that prayer works. I have seen prayers answered in my life over and over again, with much too great of a consistency for me to credit random chance.
As for religion causing problems in the world, I can agree that religion like any social institution can be chanelled in destructive directions but that taken as a whole religion does far more good than harm.
Re: Re: im here
Seems to me the Buddy is giving his parents far too much credit for forcing and brain washing.
Buddy, do you have any kids you are raising? Most of the parents I know are frantically trying to hold on to their sanity while taking care of everything they are supposed to do to let their kids learn and mature.
I suppose somewhere Dr. Evil is raising Scott to be just the sort of little robot he wants, but to my experience the real world just isn't like that.
Originally posted by *archimedes*
Yeah, I remember college
Seems to me the Buddy is giving his parents far too much credit for forcing and brain washing.
Buddy, do you have any kids you are raising? Most of the parents I know are frantically trying to hold on to their sanity while taking care of everything they are supposed to do to let their kids learn and mature.
I suppose somewhere Dr. Evil is raising Scott to be just the sort of little robot he wants, but to my experience the real world just isn't like that.
Dymphna
Loyalty, Friendship, Love
When I was a teenager I was in a religious education class. Someone asked the nun how she knew there was a God. She replied the she didn't KNOW, she believed, but if she was right, then she'd lead a good life and would receive her reward in Heaven. If she was wrong, she'd still lead a good life and either way, she was covered.
Pascal's Wager. As good a reason as any. :shrug:
Penn
Dancing Up A Storm
Here we are again....
If you believe in God, in the Bible, then you'll follow it's teachings, it's beliefs.
Furthermore, if you've done any reading at all, if you've taken the time and effort to attend classes offered by your church, you'll find all you really have to do is believe that Jesus Christ was born, was (crucified) dead for the forgiveness of our sins, and then was resurrected and ascended into Heaven.
I used to think that doing good deeds for others would put you on the "right path" with God; that alone won't do it for you.
What I want to get across is that if you believe, if you have that faith that Jesus Christ is your Savior, suffer the persecutions of non-believers, there will be a place for you in Heaven.
For non-believers, it's a very simple choice: Believe in it or not. Follow your own road and see where it leads. Noone is going to know but yourself. Not one of us will know until about 90 seconds after our lives cease to function(guess).
(Not that we'll have any say in the matter at that point. You will have arrived, and there's no going back)
I surmise we'll know in a heartbeat whether we want to be where we've wound up, or whether we'd have been better off if we'd had taken the other road.
So, the chioce is simple: Take God's road, or follow your own.
If, in your heart you've done your best, believed and tried to live the way God wanted you to, there will be a reward in the hereafter.
If you don't choose to follow His path, never believed in the Bible, in Him, there's nothing for you to lose.
The reward was never there for you to claim in the first place; nothing offered, nothing gained.
To some, that is going to sound harsh, but that is what I've come
to understand, to believe in the last few years that I've been attending my church.
If you believe in God, in the Bible, then you'll follow it's teachings, it's beliefs.Furthermore, if you've done any reading at all, if you've taken the time and effort to attend classes offered by your church, you'll find all you really have to do is believe that Jesus Christ was born, was (crucified) dead for the forgiveness of our sins, and then was resurrected and ascended into Heaven.
I used to think that doing good deeds for others would put you on the "right path" with God; that alone won't do it for you.
What I want to get across is that if you believe, if you have that faith that Jesus Christ is your Savior, suffer the persecutions of non-believers, there will be a place for you in Heaven.
For non-believers, it's a very simple choice: Believe in it or not. Follow your own road and see where it leads. Noone is going to know but yourself. Not one of us will know until about 90 seconds after our lives cease to function(guess).
(Not that we'll have any say in the matter at that point. You will have arrived, and there's no going back)
I surmise we'll know in a heartbeat whether we want to be where we've wound up, or whether we'd have been better off if we'd had taken the other road.
So, the chioce is simple: Take God's road, or follow your own.
If, in your heart you've done your best, believed and tried to live the way God wanted you to, there will be a reward in the hereafter.
If you don't choose to follow His path, never believed in the Bible, in Him, there's nothing for you to lose.
The reward was never there for you to claim in the first place; nothing offered, nothing gained.
To some, that is going to sound harsh, but that is what I've come
to understand, to believe in the last few years that I've been attending my church.
Last edited:
BuddyLee
Football addict
im back
first of all let me say to all of you that criticized me for only making 4 post including this one. i dont stay on here all day i have a LIFE lol. with that said ill move on.
that was a very good point penncam!!!
no one knows what there is. there might be a god and there might not. no one has any actual proof. so therefore you can say that god exists or does not exist. i laugh at everyones remarks on this forum, it just goes to show you that everyone thinks they know what they are talking about but in truth they have little knowledge at all just alot of rhetoric and good word usage. lol.
i am happy that this is a good debate lets keep it going.
my main intention for starting this was to see how much controversy i could brew up. i knew this would be a hot topic.
first of all let me say to all of you that criticized me for only making 4 post including this one. i dont stay on here all day i have a LIFE lol. with that said ill move on.
that was a very good point penncam!!!
no one knows what there is. there might be a god and there might not. no one has any actual proof. so therefore you can say that god exists or does not exist. i laugh at everyones remarks on this forum, it just goes to show you that everyone thinks they know what they are talking about but in truth they have little knowledge at all just alot of rhetoric and good word usage. lol.
i am happy that this is a good debate lets keep it going.
my main intention for starting this was to see how much controversy i could brew up. i knew this would be a hot topic.
Yeah, this is the most interesting thread all day, IMO.
C, I find it interesting that a nun would fall back on the ol' "nothing to lose" argument. She, of all people, should believe that God knows what's in your heart and, if you're just faking it, you're gonna get it.
BuddyLee
Football addict
nuns
yeah but have you ever thought,,,,,,,,,what if there is no god. a nuns and priests and bishops life work would all be for nothing. i think people nowadays take religion too seriously but only those who practice it. i think they really have to look at the true history which no one really knows unless youve lived it. sure weve all heard bible stories and all that crap but is it real? i think the only person that really knows would be the people that actually lived it or atleast the time.
i have a theory for the standard bible.
you say a simple message to your neighbor and then they say the message to their neighbor and they go on and on and on around a whole circle and when the last person gets the message chances are its changed dramatically. i think that over ALL of these years and out of ALL of the people that have been around for all of these years that the bible has probably changed dramatically. one small example might be the king james version but i believe that its changed alot more so than that.
yeah but have you ever thought,,,,,,,,,what if there is no god. a nuns and priests and bishops life work would all be for nothing. i think people nowadays take religion too seriously but only those who practice it. i think they really have to look at the true history which no one really knows unless youve lived it. sure weve all heard bible stories and all that crap but is it real? i think the only person that really knows would be the people that actually lived it or atleast the time.
i have a theory for the standard bible.
you say a simple message to your neighbor and then they say the message to their neighbor and they go on and on and on around a whole circle and when the last person gets the message chances are its changed dramatically. i think that over ALL of these years and out of ALL of the people that have been around for all of these years that the bible has probably changed dramatically. one small example might be the king james version but i believe that its changed alot more so than that.
Dymphna
Loyalty, Friendship, Love
I think she truly believed in God and in her religion. I just think that at 83, talking to 13 yr olds she was trying to make a point. She believed in God and followed the dictates of the Catholic Church. In doing that, she lead a celibate life, she lived a virtuous life. She tried to help others. There was/is no way to KNOW for a fact that God exists. It is a matter of faith. But if, on the off chance, (and a slim chance at that) she was completely wrong, that there was no afterlife, there was no God, still, by living a life dedicated to helping others, she had done everything in her power to make a difference in the lives of the people she touched.
Dymphna
Loyalty, Friendship, Love
Re: nuns
If one person thinks twice before committing murder, if one person thinks twice before stealing or pimping or whatever, because the preacher told them God would frown upon them for it. Then who gives a damn if there really is a God, certainly not the potential murder victim who still lives or the poor runaway who doesn't become a hooker.
Even if there is no God, those who live and teach morality haven't lived their lives for nothing.
If one person thinks twice before committing murder, if one person thinks twice before stealing or pimping or whatever, because the preacher told them God would frown upon them for it. Then who gives a damn if there really is a God, certainly not the potential murder victim who still lives or the poor runaway who doesn't become a hooker.
Even if there is no God, those who live and teach morality haven't lived their lives for nothing.
Penn
Dancing Up A Storm
And that is true. You can lie to yourself all day and get away with it.
If you're lying to God, well, all I can say is pray a lot and ask for His forgiveness, and hope to Heaven He hears you.
But you know life can last a long time, you still may have the time to set things right.
All you have to do is make a choice; do I want to continue my life this way, or is it time to try out a new one?
I said this in another thread many moons ago: It's your choice to walk away from God. He didn't walk away from you.
The really neat thing about it is that He is waiting for you to return to His ways, and He will welcome you with open arms.
But you have to make that first step.
To me, that sums it up in a nutshell. Which is why I think atheists who are hostile to religion need to get a life and find a better hobby.
Buddy, some religions preach hellfire and brimstone. But most preach about God's love and the teachings of Jesus, which is a pretty good way to live your life no matter what you believe.
BuddyLee
Football addict
how do you know?
yeah but how do you know if there is a god? anyone could just worship something. think back with the polytheistic romans and greeks and egyptians they had many many gods such as a tree or a river or something of that nature. i mean what if me and a loooooooooooot of people started to worship a tree or for that matter any object lets take "spam" for example. now if the majority of the public is worshiping spam would you be tempted to do so as well? i think religion has a "society pressure" effect. that you have to belong to something or else your a loser atheist. lol. if you believe in something different from someone elses religion then youll burn in HELL. isnt that how things work. as i said before many religions use FEAR as a tactic to convert people. they say that if you do this and that then you will burn in an everlasting hell.
yeah but how do you know if there is a god? anyone could just worship something. think back with the polytheistic romans and greeks and egyptians they had many many gods such as a tree or a river or something of that nature. i mean what if me and a loooooooooooot of people started to worship a tree or for that matter any object lets take "spam" for example. now if the majority of the public is worshiping spam would you be tempted to do so as well? i think religion has a "society pressure" effect. that you have to belong to something or else your a loser atheist. lol. if you believe in something different from someone elses religion then youll burn in HELL. isnt that how things work. as i said before many religions use FEAR as a tactic to convert people. they say that if you do this and that then you will burn in an everlasting hell.