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i do believe in a higher power but not in jesus or the bible so i am not an atheist.
I don't think it is even necessary to believe in a god. The question is do you believe that evil exists?
Anyway what guarantees more for unity (and social control) than fear?
I mean in our capitalistic society fear sells better than sex. Like it or not, fear (of a common enemy) unites.
During WWII we had fear of fascism and during the cold war we had an irrational fear of communism and now we fear terrorism.
that is very funny to picture god being bored and doing such thing.
Well , imagine an eternity ( literally according to some) sitting on some cloud and watching lie go by really, really slowly. It seems a fair assumption that boredom and ennui would set in !
Originally Posted by nicolepsy I don't think it is even necessary to believe in a god. The question is do you believe that evil exists?
Anyway what guarantees more for unity (and social control) than fear?
I mean in our capitalistic society fear sells better than sex. Like it or not, fear (of a common enemy) unites.
During WWII we had fear of fascism and during the cold war we had an irrational fear of communism and now we fear terrorism.
I dont believe that there is an invisible evil force floating around out there ready to take hold of a person but i do know that people have the potential for doing evil things and thinking evil thoughts. they are fully responsible for any evilness that is within them (unless they are mentally ill i suppose).
Good question, I've always been a bit miffed by this one. Especially since I was taught God is Perfect and everything he creates is Good. And yet two of his experiments went horribly wrong---one was the Lucifer angel who clearly was anything but and then there was Man, the lesser, dumber version of his Angels who also went astray. So clearly...God wasn't perfect then if he screwed up twice? Or is the third time the charm?
The problem with most atheists or people that "ridicule: God and the Scriptures is that most of their statements are based on total ignorance, lack of spiritual understanding, not to mention, unresolved grudges stemming from their traumatic childhoods. First of all, God never said that all he created is good, God created the Universe with perfect balance, when we speak of balance, obviously, there will be good and evil..it would not make sense to make a world where everything is good. The reason why the Devil is "free to roam" is because humans are given the choice to follow good or evil. When the Bible describes "Satan whispering", I could not think of a better way to describe the "temptations" of this life. What I find amazing is that these atheists expect God to do everything in a way that will fullfill their very limited understanding of existance, as if God had any obligation to do so. God is perfect, you are the one that needs work!
The problem with most atheists or people that "ridicule: God and the Scriptures is that most of their statements are based on total ignorance, lack of spiritual understanding, not to mention, unresolved grudges stemming from their traumatic childhoods. First of all, God never said that all he created is good, God created the Universe with perfect balance, when we speak of balance, obviously, there will be good and evil..it would not make sense to make a world where everything is good. The reason why the Devil is "free to roam" is because humans are given the choice to follow good or evil. When the Bible describes "Satan whispering", I could not think of a better way to describe the "temptations" of this life. What I find amazing is that these atheists expect God to do everything in a way that will fullfill their very limited understanding of existance, as if God had any obligation to do so. God is perfect, you are the one that needs work!
The problem with most atheists or people that "ridicule: God and the Scriptures is that most of their statements are based on total ignorance, lack of spiritual understanding, not to mention, unresolved grudges stemming from their traumatic childhoods. First of all, God never said that all he created is good, God created the Universe with perfect balance, when we speak of balance, obviously, there will be good and evil..it would not make sense to make a world where everything is good. The reason why the Devil is "free to roam" is because humans are given the choice to follow good or evil. When the Bible describes "Satan whispering", I could not think of a better way to describe the "temptations" of this life. What I find amazing is that these atheists expect God to do everything in a way that will fullfill their very limited understanding of existance, as if God had any obligation to do so. God is perfect, you are the one that needs work!
so im thinking that what this all boils down to is that life is indeed a test to see whether you go with the good or the evil? i go with the good of course but as always, no of us are perfect.
I dont believe that there is an invisible evil force floating around out there ready to take hold of a person but i do know that people have the potential for doing evil things and thinking evil thoughts
Well I believe that evil is just as invisible as love and that it is just as strong.
I also do not believe that good will always overcome.
I find that notion naive, and such an attitude only proves a false sense of security anyway.
The evil of ‘closed’ groups is that they reject the stranger solely because he is not one of the group. It is my opinion that the only thing Jesus did within Judaism was to make people aware that we are al that stranger.
All the Christians did is proactively 'eliminating' the stranger by converting them into their fold. Against their will if need be. And they had no qualms about it since they believed to be doing the Lord’s work anyway.
Somehow I don't think this was what Jesus had envisioned. We should not reject people just because they were not born in our community or are unlike we are.
so im thinking that what this all boils down to is that life is indeed a test to see whether you go with the good or the evil? i go with the good of course but as always, no of us are perfect.
Your whole existance is a test, and God will test your faith throughout your life. Not only by throwing curve balls at you constantly, but also by testing people by giving them money, power and other "Earthly" possessions to see how they react. The biggest challenge though is believing in the "unseen", it is funny how some of these atheists expect God to show up in front of them and say " Hi, I am God and by the way, I do exist". Only a fool cannot see God's presence when it is virtually everywhere, the sky, the sunset, the sunrise, floods, earthquakes, etc. There is something from Scripture that says something like, "It does not matter what you humans do on his Earth, the Sun will still continue to rise and set as I command". Basically, even if we humans decided to kill each other off, the Sun will still rise and set like it has done for billions of years, meaning we are just insignificant grains of sand that have no control over anything! It is funny that some people have these "arrogant" attitudes like "Why I should I worship something I can't see". Universewise, you are just a little insignificant grain of sand, God says NOW and your life is over. For this reason, it is very important to humble yourself before your Creator. Praise be to God, the almighty!
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I don't think it is even necessary to believe in a god. The question is do you believe that evil exists?
Like it or not, fear (of a common enemy) unites.
We should not reject people just because they were not born in our community or are unlike we are.
