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Moderator cut: Political material deleted. Ask other Christians what they think about that. I'll say, I'm LGBT too (genderfluid). And theyll say what happens in the bedroom is not government's business. Which answers the second one.
As for how the universe works, there are fixed rules but certain things change, based on you. There are now fish discovered that can change sex. There are also deer that mimic the opposite sex, growing of not growing antlers. We "discovered" this when an excess of LGBT people got curiouds and looked for it in nature. So saying something is for or against how the universe works is ludicrous.
no, not based on me. we are a set of events taking place is a larger set of events. There are feedback loops that play important roles in the outcomes. that's where probability comes in. we don't know all the facts so we assign a probability.
do you get that? thats where we start.
there is no need to talk about being gay without understand that first paragraph. You know blum, milli mental atheists hate me when I say we can actually change the orientation of some people with drugs. I can introduce chemicals in me that would change my sexual orientation. maybe right? but is is seriously possible.
That's just a fact. and when they shun me because I said it, I instantly know they don't care about the truth. they are out for some other reason that is almost as individual as a person's face layout. do you understand "as individual as a person face layout", it means a finite set reasons in humans. Its not infinite and anybody that claims such is hiding behind a unknown. many religious people are hiding behind an unknown.
YES, your last line is exactly correct. most people don't know and militant atheists and fundy theists don't care. they are at war and they don't care who they hurt as long as they get theirs.
Absolutely. Christians do more charity work to help the poor and hungry than any other organization.
Ever seen a soup kitchen? Many of the ones i know of are supported by Christians. And many of them hardly or never mention Jesus.
You can volunteer at events for homeless or under privileged people. You can visit prisons. You can give without getting back.
I see these things all the time. Additionally, i do these things regularly.
As do I. Like many free food kitchens, the one we volunteer with is run as a separate non-profit organization founded by a local church but separate. This allows them to be non-proselytizing and non-sectarian, or more exactly, it puts them beyond reproach in that area. That this is a move that's seen as necessary is an acknowledgment that, whether inherent or not, churches have come to be seen as having ulterior motives in the minority of work they do that, like a food kitchen, is truly humanitarian and charitable.
Most of the work any church does is the activities of a private club: membership-oriented teaching / indoctrination and socializing around it, and marketing (proselytization), mainly. Some churches de-emphasize or outright avoid charitable work, regarding it as a distraction from spreading the gospel, and in fact portraying it as "the social gospel", the substituting of temporal remedies for essentially spiritual problems and therefore diluting the true work of the church.
It's my view that any truly no-strings-attached, no-hidden-agenda charitable or humanitarian work done by a church, should be tax deductible through a mechanism similar to how my local food kitchen is independently governed and chartered, but that its private club activities and hobbies should NOT be tax-exempt.
As do I. Like many free food kitchens, the one we volunteer with is run as a separate non-profit organization founded by a local church but separate. This allows them to be non-proselytizing and non-sectarian, or more exactly, it puts them beyond reproach in that area. That this is a move that's seen as necessary is an acknowledgment that, whether inherent or not, churches have come to be seen as having ulterior motives in the minority of work they do that, like a food kitchen, is truly humanitarian and charitable.
Most of the work any church does is the activities of a private club: membership-oriented teaching / indoctrination and socializing around it, and marketing (proselytization), mainly. Some churches de-emphasize or outright avoid charitable work, regarding it as a distraction from spreading the gospel, and in fact portraying it as "the social gospel", the substituting of temporal remedies for essentially spiritual problems and therefore diluting the true work of the church.
It's my view that any truly no-strings-attached, no-hidden-agenda charitable or humanitarian work done by a church, should be tax deductible through a mechanism similar to how my local food kitchen is independently governed and chartered, but that its private club activities and hobbies should NOT be tax-exempt.
of course you do. joel olstene helps and so do atheists. Many are as helpful as theists too.
I draw the line at taxed charity, In the name of your belief that I should be paying more.
I get it. Atheism is great. It's the religion for people that can't control themselves.
I would love to be an atheist. You can do whatever the hell you want as long as you don't get caught.
I could have figured out a way to scam some unsuspecting people and make a lot of money in the process.
But yet...I am not an atheist.
I envy you though. Hopefully, you are not one of them fake atheists though. Because a real atheist will get ya and make ya put your hand in their pocket.
Try again. Saying atheism is a religion is like saying off is a TV channel. And if you want to be an atheist, be one. No one's forcing you to believe in the eternal surveillance camera. As for atheists being scammers, you have that all wrong. Churches are the ones who don't pay taxes, not atheists.
Absolutely. Christians do more charity work to help the poor and hungry than any other organization.
Ever seen a soup kitchen? Many of the ones i know of are supported by Christians. And many of them hardly or never mention Jesus.
You can volunteer at events for homeless or under privileged people. You can visit prisons. You can give without getting back.
I see these things all the time. Additionally, i do these things regularly.
This is a biased way of looking at things.
Combining all christian organizations together, and they certainly do a great deal of charity work, isn’t realistic. Christianity is not a monolithic organization, and there is no coordination between groups. If we consider the cost of the infrastructure, with every congregation needing a large building that can be used as little as once a week, Christianity as a charity is quite inefficient.
To compare all christian organizations to any one non-christian organization isn’t appropriate.
Let’s look at hospitals. Any hospital has a large charitable component, where they provide free medical care. Any college or university provides many scholarships or tuition waivers. The government provides food stamps. The Gates foundation is secular and provides billions in charitable grants, and most large corporations also have charitable foundations that they fund. These things are all charity in one sense or another, and if you combine them, they will absoluturly dwarf Christian charitable efforts.
Please be honest and truthful. You can make the case that Christians are charitable, but claiming that they are the most charitable is simply untrue.
Absolutely. Christians do more charity work to help the poor and hungry than any other organization.
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I believe my question has not been answered.
This is showing love from a Christian to another, not necessarily teaching how to love. For the majority of our time, we are not doing charitable work, which is showing love to a possible unbeliever. So when needy people are not receiving charity, are they demonstrating love to themselves and others as taught by a Christian?
Try again. Saying atheism is a religion is like saying off is a TV channel. And if you want to be an atheist, be one. No one's forcing you to believe in the eternal surveillance camera. As for atheists being scammers, you have that all wrong. Churches are the ones who don't pay taxes, not atheists.
Good one!
Talking about scammers - anyone heard of TV evangelism? Need I say more?
I'l leave to two of you to argue that out. Is Christian charitable work done just to impress people and look good? No. Not even because it is the job they are told to do. I don't doubt there are those who genuinely want to help their fellows. I won't even say that a motive is to touch all bases in hopes to get into heaven. I'll even credit that they think belief will get them into heaven, and doing good works won't make any difference, but it is what is right to do.
Well, that's why atheists do it, too, and that they don't have the resources, dosh or organization to out charity the churches is hardly eason to somehow dismiss the atheist contribution as somehow less valid.
But none of that makes any difference to whether a religious claim is true. It would be rather absurd if every year the religions had to review their charity outlay and bump it up to beat the Muslims who had increased their charity spending and had thus proved Islam True. It doesn't work that way. Nor on numbers of believers, antiquity of the belief or how many languages (1) the Holy Book had been translated into. None of that matter in the slightest.
(1) De Jesus guy Matthew 27.45 Noon time, wen get real dark all ova da place, fo three hours. 46Three clock Jesus wen yell real loud an say, “Eli, eli, lema sabaktani!” Aramaic language, dat mean, “My God, my God, how come you go way an leave me ova hea?”
47Some odda guys dat stay ova dea wen hear him, an tell, “Dis guy stay yelling fo Elijah fo come!” 48One guy wen run an put one sponge inside da sour wine, an put um on top one bamboo, an try give um to Jesus fo drink.
49But da odda guys say, “Try wait! We go see if Elijah goin come fo get him outa dis.” 50Den Jesus yell again real loud, an den he let go his spirit.
51Right den an dea da big curtain inside da temple broke in two from da top to da bottom. An da groun wen shake, an da rocks wen split up, 52-53an da graves wen open. (An you know wat? Plenny mahke guys who was all out fo God long time ago, dea bodies wen come alive again, afta Jesus wen come back alive from mahke. Dey wen come outa dea graves, an dey go inside Jerusalem, da town dat stay spesho fo God, an plenny peopo wen spock um, you know.)
54So da captain fo da army guys an da odda guys dat was guarding Jesus too, dey wen see da groun shaking, an everyting dat stay happening, an dey come real scared, an dey say, “Fo real kine, dis was God's Boy!”
55Had plenny wahines standing far, watching everyting. Befo time, dey wen go wit Jesus from Galilee side, fo take care him. 56Had Mary from Magdala, an one nodda Mary dat get two boys, James an Joseph, an Zebedee's wife dat get two boys, an had odda wahines. (from the Hawaii pidgin Bible)
Last edited by TRANSPONDER; 12-03-2017 at 10:51 AM..
Reason: some belate typios.
Absolutely. Christians do more charity work to help the poor and hungry than any other organization.
Ever seen a soup kitchen? Many of the ones i know of are supported by Christians. And many of them hardly or never mention Jesus.
You can volunteer at events for homeless or under privileged people. You can visit prisons. You can give without getting back.
I see these things all the time. Additionally, i do these things regularly.
Matthew 6
…2So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.…
Also, plenty of people that aren't religious will contribute to a soup kitchen.
…2So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.…
Or...Da Jesus guy Matthew 6. Wen you guys pray, no make like da guys dat say one ting an do anodda. Dey like stand up an pray inside da Jewish churches oa outside wea everybody go, cuz dey like da peopo see wat dey do. Dass right! An I telling you dis too: Dey wen get all dea pay awready. 6But you guys, wen you pray, go inside yoa room an close da door. Den pray to yoa Fadda. He stay inside da room wit you, wea da odda guys no can see, an he goin give you plenny fo dat. Cuz yoa Fadda can see wat da odda guys no can see.
7“Wen you guys pray, no say any kine stuff dat mean notting. Get odda peopos all ova da world dat make lidat. Dey tink God goin lissen to dem cuz dey say so plenny stuff wen dey pray. 8No make like dem, cuz yoa Fadda know awready all da stuff you need, befo you aks him.
Quote:
Also, plenty of people that aren't religious will contribute to a soup kitchen.
They can always count on me for a wrapper of glass noodles and a pack of frozen prawn -balls.
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