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God's ways are higher than man's ways. If we rely on our conscience to guide us , our conscience can be seered and any action or belief can be rationalized as being accepted in their own minds... and many do. That is why we need our maker to keep us on the right track .
One can be a serial killer and rationalize their actions or rape or pedophilia and homosexual deviation from the norm. We are all sinners and need a savior to overcome that which God said is a sin. As Jesus said. " If you love me, keep my commandments." The word command is a strong word and Jesus was direct in his expectations of sinners to repent of their sins. That is why he died on the cross.
If you want to equate yourself to a serial killer, rapist or child molester, go right ahead.
I suppose it's because they believe in the Bible. Can you prove what they are quoting is not correct? I don't think so.
The Bible is not fact-based. Science has proven that. It is full of myths (Great Flood, for example). It is not for literal interpretation, although it contains great wisdom in the fables it conveys.
They need to know their audience. On City-Data politics forum most people are atheist/agnostic, so anybody referencing the Bible should do it differently than in the Christianity forum where most people believe it is the Word of God to at least some extent.
Well, maybe you can get him to transform it into a couple of $TRILLION to pay down your National Debt and save Social Security and Medicare.
That is not faith.
When I go to the al-Amir, I have faith that I will be served up a delicious chicken shawarma and gyro without suffering any ill health effects, because the guys who own it run a clean kitchen and are very picky about the produce and meats they select and serve for public consumption.
That is faith.
Their faith did not help catholics who were [deservedly] slaughtered during the English civil wars.
Didn't keep a pope from dying in prison either.
Not impressed with Jesus...
Mircea
Excellent.
Commending...
Mircea
You're right.
It's all about obeying and being a good slave.
Pointing out the obvious...
Mircea
Why would they want to do that? They cannot even explain the criteria by which they accept or reject ancient texts, much less explain why the accept some Old and New Testament Books while rejecting others.
Mythologically...
Mircea
Uh, wut?
What kind of god arranges for a contest between two brothers over who is the best, knowing full well who the winner will be in advance, and knowing that one would murder the other due to the choice the god made?
What kind of god creates the heavens and the Earth, and man, then runs away and hides for 4.5 Billion years, then returns and says, "I don't like how things are going and the fact that man, animals and plants have sinned and are wicked" and then destroys the whole Earth with a "flood?"
What kind of "enlightened" being condones slavery, and then sets up a chapters of boring laws about it?
You say god's ways are higher?
I say rape is wrong. Always. I say rape is a peremptory norm under jus cogens, and that there is no possible set of circumstances that would ever justify rape.
What does Jesus and Yahweh say?
Jesus and Yahweh say it's perfectly okay to brutally rape and sodomize a woman, so long as you marry her.
Your god is morally inferior to me.
And you want to worship a god like that? And then you want to ram the ideas of your morally inferior god down our throats? DSM-IV lists psychiatric conditions for that you know.
Oh, yeah?
Judges 1:19 The Lord was with the men of Judah. They conquered the hill country, but they could not conquer the people living in the coastal plain, because they had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels.
Apparently your god was too stupid to know in advance that the people on the coastal plain had chariots with iron-rimmed wheels.
And your god was too weak and pathetic to conquer them. What a loser.
James 1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights,with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.
Jonah 3:10 When God saw their actions – they turned from their evil way of living! – God relented concerning the judgment he had threatened them with and he did not destroy them.
So which is it? Your god must work at Wafflehouse because he waffles all the time. I know crack-heads on the street who are better liars than your god.
Numbers 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen.
Oooops. Adding insult to injury.
Jeremiah 15:6 I, the Lord, say: ‘You people have deserted me!
Duh! You're too stupid to know that?
Jeremiah 15:6 You keep turning your back on me.
Again, you'd have to be a mindless moron not to see that coming.
Jeremiah 15:6 So I have unleashed my power against you and have begun to destroy you. I have grown tired of feeling sorry for you!
Wow. And that is just more biblical contradictions.
So, what I'm hearing and smelling is that if I was reading the aforementioned passages wearing my Special God Glasses I would interpret it differently?
Whatever.
Here, let me help you out:
See how silly that sounds?
Laughing at god....
Mircea
God cannot be mocked. If you try ,you mock yourself. You have not been born of the spirit of the Living God and cannot understand the Word of God. It is all foolishness to you.
God is a just God. We are given a free will and we choose what path we take. God allows us to choose and if we choose to sin it is because we have that free will. God did not make us robots. We have a mind and that mind is born in the natural. If we choose to follow God we follow him through the Holy Spirit that is born within us when we choose to follow God.. Jesus was sent to overcome all sin... To choose not to follow God ,the only other alternative is to follow satan who wanted to be higher than God.. We have to serve one or the other.
In the last days satan knows he has a short time to destroy the people of God.. satan came to kill , steal and destroy God's creation. God's wisdom is to know the spirit world and that there is spiritual wickedness in high places. Satan is also spirit. His demonic spirit is working overtime in the last days to blind those who refuse to see. One must be born of the Holy Spirit to see these things.
Lets put it this way if your neighbors house is on fire wouldn't you try to save them? A good christian will do the same to save you from the flames of eternal damnation.So don't take things out of context its an act of love.....
Taratova,
good post.
Few people get that it's a relationship ,and in sted, base all their thinking on the flesh/intellect/ego/print/.
I guess that is how God seperates those that love Him, from those that only choose to use Him (if they can).
As children we tend to take for granted a lot of things we do not understand, but this is one relationship that's too important, to trust to second hand information.
Can you even emagine having a dad that want's to talk to you, but you are choosing to find some one else's thoughts concerning what they think he thinks, in sted of asking Him ?
Jesus provided us the Holy spirit to teach in His place , and men choose another way.
The Bible is not fact-based. Science has proven that. It is full of myths (Great Flood, for example). It is not for literal interpretation, although it contains great wisdom in the fables it conveys.
and the people of Noah's day thought like you ....earth should look like the moon craters everywhere but the earth heals herself and will again when we are gone...question is do you know where you are going to spend eternity ? Science has proven the flood happened in the Black Sea area don't you watch National Geographic?
Lets put it this way if your neighbors house is on fire wouldn't you try to save them? A good christian will do the same to save you from the flames of eternal damnation.So don't take things out of context its an act of love.....
It all comes down to self-interest in my opinion.
Without the brainwashing about a fear of death and 'reward' of heaven or the 'punishment' of hell, how many of the 'fire and brimstone' types would really keep following their religious sects or keep trying to spread them to others?
Others may need to believe in an authoritarian parental deity figure with black and white rules because it's too scary for them to think for themselves. They need everyone else to follow their black and white rules too. They only feel comfortable and safe if everyone else is like them.
Others may be seeking that feeling of 'unconditional love' that they may never have got consistently or at all from a parent figure as a child, and crave a 'loving' parental deity figure who makes them feel safe and 'loved'.
Others may do it because they believe it will score them brownie points with their deity, so they'll get their own 'reward'.
Others get swept up in the power of using religious beliefs to sway and control others or do it for their own material/ego benefit.
Others may feel a need to 'rescue' other people to feel better about themselves. This also requires an arrogant belief that they 'know' better than others what is best for them.
Others may get swept up in the euphoric feeling of belonging to a like-minded group and feeling 'special'.
For others who don't have the intelligence or skills to do something in this life that would make them feel worthwhile, it's an easy way to convince themselves they are 'special' rather than putting in the effort to learn or accomplish something in this life.
For others who have been disempowered in society, it's a way for them to make them feel better about their lives by having something to look forward to when they die. (That's how Christian beliefs first spread in the early days amongst women, slaves and the poor)
To me, it really has very little to do with 'loving' others. I think the ones who truly care about other people and have developed empathy for others, often end up leaving organised religion and religious beliefs and just following the 'golden rule'.
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