If you see someone dunking their head again and again in the local duck pond, you'd naturally be curious as to why. If you asked the person and they said "To keep the Jabberwock away," you'd probably ask what a Jabberwock was and how dunking your head in a duck pond keeps it away. If the person replies "It just does," you could probably dismiss that. If you ask what a Jabberwock is, and the person replies "It just is," are you going to leave that person dunking their head, or try to assure them that their is no Jabberwock and that they can stop being silly and join the real world?
Praying to god for one's immortal soul, like dunking your head in a pond to repel the Jabberwock, is an ineffectual solution to an imaginary problem.
That's how you see Christians? Really?
Interesting that you don't see them visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, comforting those who've lost a loved one. Because that's what I see my Christian friends doing. We come together as a family every week to encourage each other, praise God, and study the Bible. We, and thousands of other churches in this country, have so many ministries that work with the homeless, Children, drug addicts, and on and on.
Nothing at all like your analogy of someone uselessly dunking their head in a pond.
__________________ 1 Corinthians 1:18For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.http://thegloryland.com
Last edited by The Glory Land; 11-03-2009 at 04:43 PM.
Interesting that you don't see them visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, comforting those who've lost a loved one. Because that's what I see my Christian friends doing. We come together as a family every week to encourage each other, praise God, and study the Bible. We, and thousands of other churches in this country, have so many ministries that work with the homeless, Children, drug addicts, and on and on.
Nothing at all like your analogy of someone uselessly dunking their head in a pond.
That's because nonbelievers do Charity work as well, Bill Gates being the most generous nonbeliever in the world with over 34 billion dollars going to dozens of different charities. I sometimes wonder, though, if the believer's charity is truly of a benevolent nature, or spurred on through the societal pressures of their peers...
Indeed, I'm not condemning the good works done by anyone, even if they're done so with ulterior motives. However, that's not the argument I was bringing up. Religion, with its format of begging for the salvation of something that doesn't exist, from an entity that doesn't exist, seems nothing more than an exercise in futility.
Interesting that you don't see them visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, comforting those who've lost a loved one. Because that's what I see my Christian friends doing. We come together as a family every week to encourage each other, praise God, and study the Bible. We, and thousands of other churches in this country, have so many ministries that work with the homeless, Children, drug addicts, and on and on.
Nothing at all like your analogy of someone uselessly dunking their head in a pond.
If the fundamentalist Christians had had their way back in the day there would be no hospitals for them to visit or support. Thanks to the clandestine efforts of those free-thinkers who challenged the religious powers of their day mankind has been able to develop the science necessary to offer succour to a suffering mankind.
I speak, of course, of the grave-robbers who defied the silly religious superstitions against disturbing the dead.
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"And God said, you are responsible for the fish of the sea,
and the fowl of the air, and every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
I sometimes wonder, though, if the believer's charity is truly of a benevolent nature, or spurred on through the societal pressures of their peers...
Indeed, I'm not condemning the good works done by anyone, even if they're done so with ulterior motives. However, that's not the argument I was bringing up. Religion, with its format of begging for the salvation of something that doesn't exist, from an entity that doesn't exist, seems nothing more than an exercise in futility.
You're not condemning ... yet you seem to admire Bill Gates charity, but not those works done by Believers.
one thing I need to make clear - I didn't have to "beg" for salvation. It was offered to me, freely.
You're not condemning ... yet you seem to admire Bill Gates charity, but not those works done by Believers.
one thing I need to make clear - I didn't have to "beg" for salvation. It was offered to me, freely.
This is what I've never understood:
From an "whosoever will" view point: if a holy god needed a blood sacrifice to atone for the sins of whosoever, and, if this god wasn't willing that any should perish, after Christ died and rose again (according to the story) and god had his blood sacrifice, why make a stipulation that one must believe (knowing that there would be many that would not have the ability to do such a thing). Why not just atone for all of mankind with Jesus' blood and let everyman escape the fires of an eternal hell.
And instead, just go ahead and toss old Beelzeebub and his demon friends down where the worm dieth not so they couldn't bother us anymore.
There is nothing special or spooky about the number 666. The number 666 is simply nothing more than 665 + 1 or 667 - 1 or 333 * 2. The number 666 is no more significant than the number 55 or -123 or the square root of 347!
The fact that Christians and other believers give so much credence to the number 666 is just one more indication of their superstitious nature. There is no Antichrist, never was an Antichrist, and never will be a man that Christians refer to as "Antichrist." Jesus Christ, if he ever actually lived, was nothing more than a human being after the manner of all human beings. Jesus Christ was not deity; he was not the "Son of God;" he is not the saviour of the world.
Superstition is what drives ignorance, and those who believe in Jesus Christ as the son of God, the number 666, or the Antichrist are among the ignorant.
That covers a lot of people.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Route_70
There is no "False Prophet;" no "Beast;" no "Battle of Armageddon;" no "Rapture;" no "Second Coming." All of those Christian beliefs are part and parcel of a long history of religious mythology, which casts large sections of the general populace into the abyss of ignorance.
Shame.
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It sounds an awful lot like you're trying to convince yourself.
__________________ America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw;
Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!
Katherine Lee Bates
"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men" --- Willy Wonka
You're not condemning ... yet you seem to admire Bill Gates charity, but not those works done by Believers.
one thing I need to make clear - I didn't have to "beg" for salvation. It was offered to me, freely.
I guess it's because, as a nonbeliever, there's no expectation for any good works, and because there's no pressure through expectation, I think charitable actions done by Bill Gates, Lance Armstrong, the late Carl Sagan and other nonbelievers are (possibly) more sincere than those performed by believers. Mind, I'm not criticizing the end result at all, but the motivation behind the actions seems a little disingenuous, that's all.
I guess it's because, as a nonbeliever, there's no expectation for any good works, and because there's no pressure through expectation, I think charitable actions done by Bill Gates, Lance Armstrong, the late Carl Sagan and other nonbelievers are (possibly) more sincere than those performed by believers. Mind, I'm not criticizing the end result at all, but the motivation behind the actions seems a little disingenuous, that's all.
Are you so blind in your prejudice that you don't see that Christians give because they want to help people who are less fortunate and in need? Can you be so narrow minded as to think that all the millions of Christians who are willing to reach out and help do it because of expectations for any good works, and because of pressure through expectation? Do you not realize that Christians can see a need and care enough to want to help? Are you so blind that even the good done by Christians becomes evil in your eyes?
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My favorite Veteran!
I can see your nose.
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