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The tome was written by naive goat herders who claimed to have all the answers of life and love, yet thought the earth was FLAT and had NO idea where the sun went at NIGHT, hardly any kind of people I would ever run MY entire life around things they wrote in a book by the so "perfect" one, that is chock full of errors LOL!
And to argue the likes is to do Satan's work. Let's not forget about that either!
Or there's Hell to pay...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tired of the Nonsense
When omnipotent God created Satan He got exactly the result He intended to get. Because He is omnipotent.
When omniscient God created Satan He knew what Satan would become, and do. That is what God intended, because He is omnipotent and omniscient.
Doing Satan's work IS doing as God intended.
Makes sense to stoopid people.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sculptor
The tome was written by naive goat herders who claimed to have all the answers of life and love, yet thought the earth was FLAT and had NO idea where the sun went at NIGHT, hardly any kind of people I would ever run MY entire life around things they wrote in a book by the so "perfect" one, that is chock full of errors LOL!
These three posts sum it up. Hellthreat is ineffective to people who consider that it is an invention that isn't even in the Book they believe tells them about hellthreat.
Why religions are so incredibly effective is a hard one to answer. What is not is the perennial question : "Is the Bible true?" No, it is not, demonstrably. And This what people are going to learn unless the religious side succeed in gaining control of...everything really. Five years ago I'd have said they were going to lose, irrevocably. Now I'm not so sure. But anything but keeping on the battle against ignorance, superstition and fear is not an option nor negotiable.
For the past couple of nights I was re-watching the film "Titanic". And while the film is fictionalized, I think it accurately portrays a lot of what happens during a catastrophe. Suddenly all sorts of people start praying to god to be saved. And those who happen to be saved, say god has answered their prayers, while apparently god's poor sense of hearing led him to not hear the prayers of many other men, women, and children. And then, there are people who are saved who are not religious at all. But some people are so needy in terms of wanting to believe in god that they will grasp at any straw.
When people first became aware of AIDS, I remember by grandmother saying that it was god's punishment for gay people. It didn't matter to her that most gay people didn't get AIDS. It fit her own pre-conceived attitude about sin and god's love/punishment psychosis. I let her go on with her rant till she finally ran out of steam, and then I asked, "So god punishes bad people by killing them". And my grandmother said that was true. And I said, "So Auntie Jean [who had died in her late 30s from a massive heart attack]. What was god punishing her for when she was only 39 and had her fatal heart attack?" "Oh, well that's not the same at all". "How do you know? Maybe she was being punished for not being a good christian". "She went to mass every Sunday!" "And she was an alcoholic who had problems raising her only son because of her alcoholism". You can imagine where the conversation went after that.
But I have asked the same question that you posed above. How come all these miraculous things happened in "biblical days", and don't happen today. How come we have christians thanking god for helping them find their keys, while millions of humans that he supposedly created die of hunger and malnutrition each year?
Yup. I got out of the WTC alive on 9/11. So did approximately 15,000 other people. Another 2000+ died.
We were Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Pagan, and God only knows what else, but none of that impacted who lived and who died.
I did used to joke with my Greek boss about how St. Paul's Episcopal Church was spared, while St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox was crushed to smithereens by 2 WTC, even though it was farther away than St. Paul's. (We were still a little tetched at the time, so please disregard the overall apparent crassness of that discussion.)
I did used to joke with my Greek boss about how St. Paul's Episcopal Church was spared, while St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox was crushed to smithereens by 2 WTC, even though it was farther away than St. Paul's. (We were still a little tetched at the time, so please disregard the overall apparent crassness of that discussion.)
9/11 for you is the WTC. I can't help but relate it to Irma...9/11/17, especially with another one threatening.
Should I go around and pool my community as to their religious affiliations?
Yup. I got out of the WTC alive on 9/11. So did approximately 15,000 other people. Another 2000+ died.
We were Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, Pagan, and God only knows what else, but none of that impacted who lived and who died.
I did used to joke with my Greek boss about how St. Paul's Episcopal Church was spared, while St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox was crushed to smithereens by 2 WTC, even though it was farther away than St. Paul's. (We were still a little tetched at the time, so please disregard the overall apparent crassness of that discussion.)
I used to laugh when I would have parents of kids who were not gifted come in and when they were about to leave my office disappointed because it looked like their son or daughter wouldn't qualify they'd actually say, "We'll pray on it. You'll see". Yes, I saw. The kid didn't get in because they weren't qualified. I never did hear from god in any of those cases. Guess he was on vacation.
But I am reminded of another story about my grandmother. My grandparents had taken me on several trips when I was a child, so one year I decided to take my grandmother on what would be her final trip to the West. We were traveling along in South Dakota heading for Badlands National Park, and we heard on the radio that rain was in the forecast. She said she was going to pray that god would not let it rain "here" for tourists, like us. We might better have been in Yellowstone, because I erupted. That region including the Dakotas were in the midst of a severe and extended drought. Farmers were going under. Cattle was dying. And I chewed out something awful for praying that the drought wouldn't end so we could enjoy sightseeing.
Which brings up a broader issue. What happens when two good christians pray for good things that are in opposition? Does god throw some dice or something?
These three posts sum it up. Hellthreat is ineffective to people who consider that it is an invention that isn't even in the Book they believe tells them about hellthreat.
Why religions are so incredibly effective is a hard one to answer. What is not is the perennial question : "Is the Bible true?" No, it is not, demonstrably. And This what people are going to learn unless the religious side succeed in gaining control of...everything really. Five years ago I'd have said they were going to lose, irrevocably. Now I'm not so sure. But anything but keeping on the battle against ignorance, superstition and fear is not an option nor negotiable.
I think you are probably right and the authors of those three posts are going to Hell anyway...
I used to laugh when I would have parents of kids who were not gifted come in and when they were about to leave my office disappointed because it looked like their son or daughter wouldn't qualify they'd actually say, "We'll pray on it. You'll see". Yes, I saw. The kid didn't get in because they weren't qualified. I never did hear from god in any of those cases. Guess he was on vacation.
But I am reminded of another story about my grandmother. My grandparents had taken me on several trips when I was a child, so one year I decided to take my grandmother on what would be her final trip to the West. We were traveling along in South Dakota heading for Badlands National Park, and we heard on the radio that rain was in the forecast. She said she was going to pray that god would not let it rain "here" for tourists, like us. We might better have been in Yellowstone, because I erupted. That region including the Dakotas were in the midst of a severe and extended drought. Farmers were going under. Cattle was dying. And I chewed out something awful for praying that the drought wouldn't end so we could enjoy sightseeing.
Which brings up a broader issue. What happens when two good christians pray for good things that are in opposition? Does god throw some dice or something?
It's what seems ridiculous to some as compared to others that I believe tends to make some people feel they are being called "stoopid" while others are scratching their head and wondering what better way is there to explain the likes? With regard to your question, however, about how God does what He does, we all know the "God works in mysterious ways" understanding. Nuff said...
Meanwhile, you remind me of when I worked to help working adult undergraduate and graduate students to earn their degrees (in business). I would try to help students who were falling behind or simply not getting the grades that would allow them to graduate. Because the school was a rather prestigious Christian university, there were a lot of religious students who were there in part for that reason.
When I explained to some students what they needed to do in terms of better study habits and such to keep from failing, they would explain to me that "God would help them find their way." Was always hard for me to tell with those who were those most devout, whether it was simply easier to believe God would help them out rather than actually do the work themselves, but the challenge of overcoming this sort of "attitude" was always formidable.
9/11 for you is the WTC. I can't help but relate it to Irma...9/11/17, especially with another one threatening.
Should I go around and pool my community as to their religious affiliations?
Yes. Get a list of everyone's religious affiliation and then check after the storm and see how everyone fared, and then you'll know who God's favorites are!
I used to laugh when I would have parents of kids who were not gifted come in and when they were about to leave my office disappointed because it looked like their son or daughter wouldn't qualify they'd actually say, "We'll pray on it. You'll see". Yes, I saw. The kid didn't get in because they weren't qualified. I never did hear from god in any of those cases. Guess he was on vacation.
But I am reminded of another story about my grandmother. My grandparents had taken me on several trips when I was a child, so one year I decided to take my grandmother on what would be her final trip to the West. We were traveling along in South Dakota heading for Badlands National Park, and we heard on the radio that rain was in the forecast. She said she was going to pray that god would not let it rain "here" for tourists, like us. We might better have been in Yellowstone, because I erupted. That region including the Dakotas were in the midst of a severe and extended drought. Farmers were going under. Cattle was dying. And I chewed out something awful for praying that the drought wouldn't end so we could enjoy sightseeing.
Which brings up a broader issue. What happens when two good christians pray for good things that are in opposition? Does god throw some dice or something?
I imagine it's the same as when people pray for their sports team to win.
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