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So now I am a deist who believe in the Golden Rule taught by Jesus and other "holy men" : do good to others; love one another as God loves you. These are the two important things to take away from the Bible. Throw out all the rest--it's just man-made garbage.
Thank you so much for your detailed response. Fascinating to me. The small portion that I quoted above is similar to what I believe. Once I threw out the contradictions and clear falsehoods in the Bible, I realized the ONE indisputable, foundational concept running through its teachings was simply to love others.
Do you attend a church now? I'm curious if any church exists that is compatible with your beliefs. UU maybe?
I always get amused by religious folks asking for prayers when someone is ill with a serious disease.
Why?
Why do you think that who ever you think is holy will intervene, when that same entity caused the disease in the first place?
Are you gonna post on the Hallmark website cutting on the people that buy and send "Get Well" cards...or tell people that enjoy getting them they don't "do" anything?
You wanna know why?
Your bias and prejudice toward religious people (that is basically a form of hatred) has clouded your thinking: When you can understand why people feel good sending/receiving "Get Well" cards...you will be hip to "why" people pray for ill people or why ill people feel good knowing someone cares about them enough to think about them in such a way.
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GldnRule
Are you gonna post on the Hallmark website cutting on the people that buy and send "Get Well" cards...or tell people that enjoy getting them they don't "do" anything?
You wanna know why?
Your bias and prejudice toward religious people (that is basically a form of hatred) has clouded your thinking: When you can understand why people feel good sending/receiving "Get Well" cards...you will be hip to "why" people pray for ill people or why ill people feel good knowing someone cares about them enough to think about them in such a way.
Prejudice means pre-judging. I've been through the religious cycle... you know, catholic school, fundie ex wife etc. It is with hindsight I know how whack a doo some religious folks can get.
Get Well cards have noting to do with attempting to invoke an invisible but supposedly sentient entity to cure an illness. The ********* Benny Hinn would make more millions if it was at all helpful. You know, the christian faith heeler. And proven fraud artist?
Now, if someone asks me to keep them in my thoughts, you bet I will. But whether it be some bronze aged superstitious desert dwellers god or the one the local witch doctor makes incantations to, it makes no difference. Neither entity exists, nor helps the stricken. It is the height of cruelty to have that person think it does.
Sent the Get Well card. It shows your thinking of the person, and lifts their spirit. The other stuff should be relegated to the same dumpster that you threw the easter bunny into.
Prejudice means pre-judging. I've been through the religious cycle... you know, catholic school, fundie ex wife etc. It is with hindsight I know how whack a doo some religious folks can get.
And so you do now, for whatever reason, pre-judge.
You are almost obsessed with referring to the Bible writers as "desert goat herders"...you can't put up more than a few posts without it. Considering how deep and thought provoking that those writings have proved to be...Moderator cut: deleted
Quote:
Get Well cards have noting to do with attempting to invoke an invisible but supposedly sentient entity to cure an illness. The ********* Benny Hinn would make more millions if it was at all helpful. You know, the christian faith heeler. And proven fraud artist?
Now, if someone asks me to keep them in my thoughts, you bet I will. But whether it be some bronze aged superstitious desert dwellers god or the one the local witch doctor makes incantations to, it makes no difference. Neither entity exists, nor helps the stricken. It is the height of cruelty to have that person think it does.
Sent the Get Well card. It shows your thinking of the person, and lifts their spirit. The other stuff should be relegated to the same dumpster that you threw the easter bunny into.
Unless prayer is being used to the exclusion of conventional medical treatment, and it is putting one at risk...why do you care if saying prayers, and/or knowing prayers are being said, in some way make people feel better?
Does it really bother you that much?
I know it really isn't about any potential risk involved to anyone...because I don't believe that concerns you much. Otherwise you would be on websites for surfing, skiing, race care driving, skydiving, cliff and mountain climbing, etc...telling them they aren't right in the head for thinking that doing life/safety risking things is mentally enjoyable to them...and I doubt you are.
You just have a obsessive hatred for Religion and God Belief...and feel compelled to bust on people about it. It's obvious. Thread, after thread, after thread, after thread...to slam every aspect of Religion/God Belief, in every possible way...and that's just what we see here. I can't imagine how it must feel to have such angst.
Last edited by june 7th; 11-17-2014 at 03:42 AM..
Reason: Attacking
Thank you so much for your detailed response. Fascinating to me. The small portion that I quoted above is similar to what I believe. Once I threw out the contradictions and clear falsehoods in the Bible, I realized the ONE indisputable, foundational concept running through its teachings was simply to love others.
Do you attend a church now? I'm curious if any church exists that is compatible with your beliefs. UU maybe?
Believe it or not, I watch Bayless Conley every Sunday because he is the most sincere in his beliefs among all the charlatans on TBN like Mike Murdoch, Benny the Hinn, Joyce Meyer, Joseph Prince, Ken Copeland, Creflo Dollar $$$ and the rest of those nutjobs.
I also am starting now to watch Joel Osteen. I know people call his sermons "cotton candy Christianity' but that's just because they're looking for the heavy-duty stuff that John McArthur and John Piper peddle. Osteen's message is simple, "Do good to others and good will follow you". I mean if I am looking for a program tailored to my brand of belief---belief in a God who resides far far away from this earth who put natural laws in place to run this mess which is just a boot camp for eternity and that the real training and learning starts after we die---I'm just not going to find anything. Spirituality is an individual thing just like our DNA and everyone eventually finds their own system of belief if they live long enough. Those disillusioned with what Christianity has devolved to who really want to seek some answers can search the internet and eventually, if they read enough, digest it carefully, keep what makes common sense to them and discard what doesn't (like all the conflicting data one finds just tracing the first 300 years of Christianity from year 0), eventually one begins to get a broader picture of how things really are: God doesn't answer prayer anymore than Buddha does; the nativity narratives of Matthew and Luke are hopelessly irreconcilable; Jesus probably was just a man, a wise and noble prophet who gradually got deified by church leaders from about 100 AD on, Paul's epistles were probably amalgamated by a variety of individuals within the church leadership, etc.
With age and maturity I learn to accept that this is just the way things are because the other stuff in fundamentalism makes absolutely no sense except to those who wear rose-colored glasses and cower from taking a step away from the propaganda they've been brainwashed to believe since they were children. End of sermon. And someone will type after me, "Thank God for that!"
The anger (in the post) was clearly directed at God, not believers.
I wonder how atheists can not believe in a creator, with so much evidence.
So much evidence .... that we keep asking for. Again.
And again.
And again.
And all we get in return is the Bible, some anecdotal "personal experiences" that could be anything, some people walking away from a bad car wreck or surviving cancer (God protected me!!!), Pascal's Wager, arguements from ignorance (and other assorted fallacies), and ultimately threats of being tormented in Hell forevermore.
I also can't help but notice how YHWH/Jehovah/Jesus suddenly becomes a generic "creator" when this type of issue crops up. Of course we all know there's nothing generic about it.
Do you have any idea just how bad this world would get if evidence for a creator WAS found? You might want to think long and hard about that ... because I can guarantee you that everyone isn't going to turn, hug their neighbors, and sing hymns. It will be one of the blackest days in human history.
But that's not the reason why we atheists don't accept the flimsy and ambiguous (and often fallacious) evidence so far presented by believers. We refuse the flimsy and ambiguous (and often fallacious) evidence because ... well ... because it is flimsy and ambiguous (and often fallacious).
So much evidence .... that we keep asking for. Again.
And again.
And again.
Evidence you get, proof you don't.
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And someone will type after me, "Thank God for that!" 
