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The operative phrase: "so far". You're like a man on death row and doesn't even know it.
I am approaching my 69th birthday. And I am perfectly aware that all living things die. Being dead doesn't frighten me at all. Because dead things have no ability to be frightened. I have always been in robust good health, but I will admit that the process of dying worries me some. Because it involves a loss of control. I have observed that the process of dying can be painful and result in a loss of dignity. I also observe that EVERYONE goes through the process of dying, no matter what foolish nonsense they happen to subscribe to. I also observe that dead people consistently remain DEAD, regardless of all claims to the contrary. Make believe has no effect on physical reality, you see.
Last edited by Tired of the Nonsense; 07-23-2017 at 01:11 PM..
People overwhelmingly subscribe to the belief system that they were indoctrinated into by their parents. Which is why we have areas of the world that are predominantly Christian, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist. Can ANYBODY show a convincing reason to suppose that their beliefs are based on well established fact rather than unfounded assumptions and insupportable assertions, and that they don't believe as they do simply because their mommy said so?
It is probably otiose to observe that still no decent case for the resurrection is being made but all we are getting is infantile threats of divine miff after we are dead.
We are, as Raffs suggested with his neat cartoon, shaking in our shoes...not.
I really don't give a flying fig what a person does or does not believe as long as they have no intention of inflicting their beliefs, or lack of, on anyone else.
When asked why they so uncritically believe the story that Jesus was resurrected from the dead it has been my experience that Christians invariably will declare, with wide-eyed conviction, that the risen Jesus was seen by hundreds. Far to many for it to have been a mistake or a hallucination. This particular assumption is largely derived from 1 Corinthians 15:6, as jimmiej pointed out.
After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
And yet if we consider this claim even for a moment, one thing should be immediately clear. This is NOT 500 testimonies from individuals claiming to have seen the risen Jesus. This is one testimony. A testimony provided by Paul many years after the post crucifixion events, as claimed by the disciples of Jesus, were supposed to have occurred. And according to the claims of the disciples of Jesus, the reanimated corpse of Jesus had long ago bodily lifted up off of the ground and disappeared into the sky. None of which Paul witnessed personally. Paul has given us a claim of 500 witnesses to the risen Jesus that Paul himself was not personally present to witness.
And yet Christians accept the story of the 500 uncritically, as if the claim that 500 individuals had witnessed a risen dead man is the most obvious thing in the world.
Why should that be so?
And the apparent answer is that the story is contained in a book that Christians have declared to be the unquestionable Word of God. A book whose authority is not to be challenged. Why? Because they say so! And they say so because that's what they have been programmed to believe unquestioningly since their earliest memory. Just as the adherents of other religions have been programmed their entire lives to believe that the religion of their parents is assailable.
This explains why Christians are so uncritically gullible concerning their own religious beliefs. It does NOT explain why Christians are genuinely shocked and even angered to discover that those who are not invested with a lifetime of Christian programming might actually consider Christian claims with a critical eye.
Because as shocking as it might for Christians to hear, many of the claims found in their book of religious reality are not only unrealistic, they are flatly silly. And not everyone is inclined to be unquestioningly wide-eyed and gullible.
I really don't give a flying fig what a person does or does not believe as long as they have no intention of inflicting their beliefs, or lack of, on anyone else.
I'm obviously different, but don't even care or am even bothered if people do try to "inflict their beliefs" on me or others. I'm rock solid in my beliefs and convictions. That's like shooting paper arrows at a brick wall. We're in charge of our bodies (or should be), and the same goes for our minds and souls. I cannot understand how timid and weak most people are mentally. Not saying that about you, but I see that all the time (and especially in churches). On the outside they act like they are stable in their beliefs, but they do all they can to avoid others with different beliefs, and tend to tear down others to elevate and protect themselves. Instead of using minds and scripture to debate something in a civil manner, they sink down to primitive and emotional levels, and freak out.
This fear or worry is like someone saying we need to eat radishes, and we are afraid that we might cave in and eat them. Just refuse. [Now, I like radishes, but for the sake of analogy, you can figure out what I'm saying].
I'm obviously different, but don't even care or am even bothered if people do try to "inflict their beliefs" on me or others. I'm rock solid in my beliefs and convictions. That's like shooting paper arrows at a brick wall. We're in charge of our bodies (or should be), and the same goes for our minds and souls. I cannot understand how timid and weak most people are mentally. Not saying that about you, but I see that all the time (and especially in churches). On the outside they act like they are stable in their beliefs, but they do all they can to avoid others with different beliefs, and tend to tear down others to elevate and protect themselves. Instead of using minds and scripture to debate something in a civil manner, they sink down to primitive and emotional levels, and freak out.
This fear or worry is like someone saying we need to eat radishes, and we are afraid that we might cave in and eat them. Just refuse. [Now, I like radishes, but for the sake of analogy, you can figure out what I'm saying].
Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus are also "rock solid in (their) beliefs and convictions." It's obvious, quite undeniable in fact, that not everyone can be right. An awful lot of people are full of a huge amount of a common bovine waste product, but and yet are entirely secure in the knowledge that they, at least, have it right.
I'm obviously different, but don't even care or am even bothered if people do try to "inflict their beliefs" on me or others. I'm rock solid in my beliefs and convictions. That's like shooting paper arrows at a brick wall. We're in charge of our bodies (or should be), and the same goes for our minds and souls. I cannot understand how timid and weak most people are mentally. Not saying that about you, but I see that all the time (and especially in churches). On the outside they act like they are stable in their beliefs, but they do all they can to avoid others with different beliefs, and tend to tear down others to elevate and protect themselves. Instead of using minds and scripture to debate something in a civil manner, they sink down to primitive and emotional levels, and freak out.
This fear or worry is like someone saying we need to eat radishes, and we are afraid that we might cave in and eat them. Just refuse. [Now, I like radishes, but for the sake of analogy, you can figure out what I'm saying].
What if Christians managed to get a law passed which commanded that you have to attend church five times a day or be executed if you didn't?
And, it hardly needs to be said, still no shred of decent evidence for the resurrection.
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