Take this, you Athiests!!

[reitz]

<< I don't know about the rest of you guys, but when i discover something phenomenal, i don't keep it to myself. Instead, i tell everyone i know about it. Like Krispy Kremes. You can't eat them and not tell others. >>

Thank you for proving my point.

<< You'll simply shake your head, though, and think that if only I would see it your way, I would understand. >>

 

[UG]

Isildur said: <<...eloquence can often disguise flawed reasoning...>>

Or just as often exacerbate it.

 

[UNCjigga]

Go to Church and live longer...so God keeps his faithful on this living hell of a planet longer instead of letting them through the gates of Heaven earlier??? Hmmm....

 

[NeoHC421]

What are you saying to doubt? One thing that i don't doubt is God's existence, and that i serve that one, true God. But i question my faith in God all the time. That is how i God challenges me to serve him more, and to examine how i live my life.

 

[NeoHC421]

<<

<< I don't know about the rest of you guys, but when i discover something phenomenal, i don't keep it to myself. Instead, i tell everyone i know about it. Like Krispy Kremes. You can't eat them and not tell others. >>

Thank you for proving my point.

<< You'll simply shake your head, though, and think that if only I would see it your way, I would understand. >>

>>



What point of yours did i prove and how did i prove it?

 

[skylark]

<<

<<
well guess all the other good and morally conscious non-christians are not going to heaven, hey? buddhists? taoists? hermetics? atheits?
>>


yes, because &quot;[Jesus] is the way, the truth and the life. Noone can go to the father except through [him].&quot;


<<
i dont' see any divine insight in that logic. and I don't see any logic in repentance, knowing if i don't, im going to a nasty place after i die. its a fear tactic, simple as that. >>


When the bible speaks of fearing the Lord, it is referring to a kind of fear that is derived from reverence and awe, not of fearing as in fearing for your life. There is a difference, and when you fear the Lord out of reverence and awe, you will want to repent because as you get closer to the heart of God, you will realize how sinful you are, and how holy God is. I am starting to come to this realization, and i'll tell you, you realize just how disgusting and dispiccable your own sins are, so you ask God to forgive you and change your ways.


<<
repentance is knowing by your own individual conscience THAT you need to change your disagreeable ways and negative habits, not words from a bible. The bible should be considered a reference and a guide, not absolute truth. as Buddha once said: &quot;Do not place another head above yours&quot;. Yes, that means the Bible. He is saying even after you are taught from the teachings, you must investigate and applied those teachings in your life to see if it is valid. and that means going out of your inherent belief structure to do so. Simply, don't take your master's word for it. Buddhist views like that make more sense to me than the holy words of the bible: &quot;thou shall only believe in me, to be saved and granted eternal life.&quot; >>


The bible is a reference, and oly when you truly understand and investigate those teachings, can you realize that it is the ultimate truth. Even the devil and his demons know that the bible is truth, but since they are fallen angels, they are already condemned to hell, and are on earth to take down as many people with them as they can.


<<
plus, heaven and hell is getting old. the complexity of this world and other abnormalities like spirits, planar entities, and ghosts don't fit the christian schema of the afterlife.

God is a fish in a big dark ocean, among many other fishes. He is not the totality as a governing body for this entire world, this entire universe. Do you seriously think God is it, the big kahuna? Bah..Such rapture is blindness, such beautiful rainbows you can't tear off your eyes. >>


Let me ask you this: Out of all the religions in the world, what has happened to their leaders? Buddha is dead, so is Brigham Young, and so are all of the leaders of each religion. Except Christianity. Jesus died for our sins, but then he rose from the dead. Think about it. Jesus is the only one to conquer death, and in doing so, he proved his omnipotence and also proved that he is the creator. >>



Woo nelly, I'm kinda late coming back in here.

Leaders. So what is your point? Just because it says in the Bible that Jesus did those miracles, proves what superiority Christainity has over all other religions or mystical systems? You really think Guatama is dead? What about Confuscious? what about Zoroaster? What about Lao Tzu? Quan Yin? Those are some great great philosophers who left an indelible legacy, just like Jesus.

Physical death is the means to another beginning in life's journey. For those names I've mentioned, death is the transition into transcendence for them. Their phsyical body died, not their psi-energy impressions and consciousness. They are the few and among other high masters, who've conquered physical mortality with a distinct directive: understand and learn all one can to prepare for the afterlife.

the fact is, there's no guarantee a christian will go this plane called Heaven when he/she dies. The benefit of a belief system is to give one a directive for the afterlife; what will happen; what will you do; and where will you go. Yet again as I stressed about transitions of life, the afterlife is not even the final endpoint, it is yet another transition for reincarnation.

and what you've proven to me is how small your world is, and I'll dare say its misguided and too simple. My statement about fishes was to illustrate how definitely small the Christian God is in this physical reality. And it also illustrates that God is part and a compliment of the whole evolution, not separate, divided in dimensions, and HIS powers are not above all LIFE.

Father. Once again, how egotistical of you to assume that is the only way to the final truth of salvation.

Fear. the subtlety of reverence to Jesus predicates the concept of Heaven and Hell, there's no mistake about it, it is all relative and points to the original motives of the Bible. Afterall, that is the goal of any dedicated Christian, to heaven they ascend, or to Hell if they've sinned. It's still the same to me, fear tactic, at the root of the Bible's words.

Bible and Ultimate Truth. You consider a fallen angel a devil? What if these angels were disagreeable with God's divine plan, thought what he was doing was not proper? So what does God do, kick them out of Heaven! YOur Christain God is a hypocrite. He is ALL DIVINE LOVE AND FORGIVENESS for all LIFE, ONLY IF YOU SERVE HIM, and not OPPOSE HIM?? Because this is what you are telling me, your ultimate truth.

I went to catholic school for 12 years, it never made an impression on me. I only look at Jesus' teachings, which are related to other mystical philosophies, and I look no further than that. If I only based my beliefs by only the Bible, I am the one who is very close-minded and deceiving myself that it is the only truth in this world. in fact, there no discrete permanent element of truth, just insights, progressive in nature. As nature evolves, so does our insights, wisdom and knowledge. My belief structure is never static like yours but open and agile, reacting on instinctive reflex to incorporate and analyze new data presented to me.

Peace

 

[skylark]

[datelink7]
re: your post

Yes, we all need mirrors to evaluate the important aspects of our lives.

 

[falconx88]

go to church and waste precious time....no way...

 

[Akashic]

I'm surprised the best line of argument that Christians use hasn't yet been employed. I believe it goes along the lines of &quot;The flaws you see in Christianity are due to the imperfection of human beings, so don't judge the religion by the activities of Christians.&quot; Convenient way to dismiss this really fun activity that people recall as the Crusades, apart from a host of other pleasantries the like of which we should never have known if Christianity hadn't kindly &quot;sheparded&quot; us livestock (since we seem to be either goats or sheep, although last I checked in the mirror, I was vaguely humanoid.)

Does this sound like a cop-out to anyone else?

Anyway,
FACT : The Vatican is considered one of the richest cities in the world (if not THE richest).

FACT : Many religious artifacts and symbols of office (check out the pope's dope threads) are worth a lot of money.

FACT : There are many homeless, starving people in the world today. Anyone needing proof of this kindly crawl out of your cave and please clean yourself up before you do.

FACT : Proceeds from the sale of these artifacts could go a long way toward feeding, clothing, and sheltering the NEEDY.

CONCLUSION : The Roman Catholic denomination is nowhere close to trying to ease the pain of &quot;family members&quot; (since we all appear to be brothers and sisters under god).

So much for the activities of theists.

Now let's move on to ideology,

FACT : There are many inconsistencies and flaws readily found in the bible. For a comprehensive listing, go see the Skeptic's Annotated Bible at www.skepticsannotatedbible.com .

FACT : There is an Old Testament and a New Testament, even though jesus did his act only once.
(Microsoft is probably trying to remind the good people of this using Win98 and Win98SE, Win2K and Win2k sp2. How noble.)

FACT : Even though there are only two Testaments, there are many different editions of these wonderful books.

FACT : Even though there are many different editions of these books, there are (guesstimating) ten times that many different denominations.

FACT : The focus of worship of these denominations actually differ! There isn't just god, there's also jesus, and mary, and the holy trinity, and saints, and angels, and ad nauseum.

Conclusion : If even the Christians (the collective group) can't agree among themselves, then perhaps the ideology is flawed to begin with.

So much for ideology, too.

 

[skylark]

[akashic]
Excellent arguments you have, and you won't get much opposition.

BTW - your alias is about the Akashic Records in the Astral Planes.

 

[UG]

Faith, by definition, is not reasonable no matter how logical it seems.

 

[PistachioByAzul]

Hindi is the correct religion, you must accept Vishnu, Shiva and Ganesh and your Gods in order to reach nirvana and escape the cycle of death &amp; rebirth. So in that sense, yes going to church makes you live longer (forever actually, as a pig or a dog, because you choose the wrong religion).

 

[Scrapster]

Don't mind me, just passing through. . .

 

[CyberTiger]

...yet another really long religious flaming thread.

 

[SuperTool]

<< Go to church and live longer! >>


Not if you subtract the time you are in church.

 

[skylark]

<< Faith, by definition, is not reasonable no matter how logical it seems. >>



inquiring minds don't necessarily stick to dictionary definitions. Faith is disagreable but it can be logical.

Your logic is based upon where you've lived and learn, practice, and acquired your knowledge. It's baseless to assume it fits all denominations of mystical systems.

 

[tkim]

WORD!

 

[DukeN]

Religon's for insecure and spineless people who can't bear to understand the fact that the presence of a *GOD* is unproven, plain and simple. And despite whatever people say, religion is just sh*t written by man, to more or less opress and influence fellow men.