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But this makes me not able to trust God. Even if I lived a good life, he can still choose to bring trouble.
I can understand you feeling that way if God brought trouble into to your life, the truth is he is an ever present help in times of trouble. Psalm 46 i think. Stop believing that God brings trouble upon you.
But in reality that is the exact same thing. And I think about how our punishment in the end times is going to be horrible. How can I love someone, someone who claims he is love itself and not have my needs or comforts met? How do we live in love and peace knowing that our trust, hope, faith, works won't save us from trouble in this life. It's a dark side
A man who is better then me, according to the book of Job didn't get a fair deal, whether we like to admit it or not. It shows Gods sovereignty and shouldn't be questioned. I get all of this. But this makes me not able to trust God. Even if I lived a good life, he can still choose to bring trouble. People say God doesn't cause evil, but in this story the devil was obeying God in carrying out disaster to Job, and not taking responsibility. But in reality that is the exact same thing. And I think about how our punishment in the end times is going to be horrible. How can I love someone, someone who claims he is love itself and not have my needs or comforts met? How do we live in love and peace knowing that our trust, hope, faith, works won't save us from trouble in this life. It's a dark side
DJ
Have you ever heard of Sheryl Brady? Check this teaching out its on You Tube
Yep to the bolded part. IIDM has been around here for a while so calling him a "newbie" to atheism is not quite correct. I suppose I would be considered a newbie too since I have a similar situation to IIDM where I was a fundamental christian for many years and have only been an atheist for about 3 years. It is so true about the people around you....here in the South there is so much religion and church-going, literally every member of family and all of my friends are christians. I don't know of one single atheist in person that I could have a dialogue with and that's very frustrating. That's why I'm here.....in the beginning many years ago I was here to proselytize more than anything else, it was my mission to save the world. Now I just want to talk with like-minded people because I don't have that in real life.
It IS easy to flip that switch, anything out of the norm can trigger questioning and that can lead to more questioning and eventual disbelief. Once you start the process (which is simply facing the facts and reality that religion is bunk) there is no coming back from that, it's just the way it is. The reality that religion is no different than believing in the easter bunny or santa clause comes to life and the need for evidence of a deity becomes the requirement.
Doesn't make us atheists bad people, just curious and scientifically minded.
You are quite normal.
But, you can still be a Christian. Whether God exists or not is really a moot point.
I have met a Franciscan priest who is totally dedicated to help others. A man that truly emulates Saint Francis and yet he is not certain about the existence of God. Nevertheless, he has a mission and follows his order to the letter. He is the best Christian I know.
There are many agnostics in the pews. Maybe not in the South, but certainly in the Northeast.
It is normal for any person with a good dose of intellect to become an Atheist, that is rather easy and expected.
And the pews are full of people with serious doubts about the existence of God. However, these folks are afraid to confront their feelings or they don't really care.
In any event there is some faith left after full blown atheism. This faith is of much higher caliber and not based on nonsense. But, the nonsense is useful from a cultural and human perspective.
Thank you and in answer to another post of yours that came after this one, I am quite aware that there are people who still cling to elements of the Christian message who actually do not believe in the biblical god OR believe the stories in the bible are literal. Many are quite contented people and feel quite comfortable in their positions. Heck, I remember Bill Maher's Religulous where there was a Catholic priest who scoffed at those who do not believe in evolution and he was quite liberal in his beliefs or lack, thereof. I am just one of those people who sees no need to even be close to anything remotely close to respecting any deity or any religious rituals or ceremonies. I be honest, I actually live by a simple, age old maxim - do NOT do to others what you do not want done to you. No religious books, rituals, holyman, preachers, priests, religious temples needed. My "religion," if you will, is just to be kind to people and try to do right by them because I WANT to and not because of the bribe of heaven or the fear of hell.
Have you ever heard of Sheryl Brady? Check this teaching out its on You Tube
Pastor Sheryl Brady Its About Where You Are Going[/quote]
DJ,
Have you ever heard Pastor Sheryl Brady, Its About Where You Are Going?
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