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You said Jesus said it. So I'm expecting a quote from a Gospel.
Having said that, if you believe Jesus inspired Hebrews and 2 Corinthians, great. We're on the same page.
Now look at the context of them. Both of them are in reference to Christians that had trusted in Christ. It's absolutely true that God promises forgiveness of all sin based on Christ's sacrifice. That's the entire point of Hebrews, actually -- that it was BETTER than everything, especially the Mosaic Law and it's system of sacrifice.
Maybe Jesus appeared to him.
Maybe he read Jesus' mind like you claim you can.
Maybe Jesus appeared to him.
Maybe he read Jesus' mind like you claim you can.
Oh, but I forgot. He's not special like you.
The human desire to consider themselves special in God's eyes for some reason or other is a strong corrupting motive found in virtually all religions. It is nonsense. We are all God's children, period. You can understand the mind of Jesus if you make the effort to understand His descriptions, revelations, and unambiguous demonstration of the true nature of the Holy Spirit of God. But you refuse to do it and blindly rely on everything "written in ink" without TESTING whether or not what is written is compatible or consistent with God's Holy Spirit according to Jesus.
I haven't the faintest clue how that would be the case. Wars tend to occur when people seek other means to handle disputes than talking...not when they talk about their views more. Talking, too, is a means to get more people to agree with each other without the use of force. It's pretty much the best way of doing that too. Stating one's criticisms, regardless of what others think of those criticisms, is a fine way of getting those criticisms out into the open where they can be discussed.
I feel like you're seeing people as unrealistically violent.
I disagree. I think everyone relies on a very similar code of ethics to arrive at nearly all their conclusions. It goes: Does this behavior cause more pleasure than suffering? The main differences in perspectives deal with stuff like...the fact that we're all more focused on ourselves and those close to us than strangers, and tend to understand our perspectives better than that of strangers, and instinct, and various illusions stemming from ignorance.
Real ethics, that are worthy of being called ethics, are not determined through consensus. They're determined through that which reduces suffering the most and increases pleasure the most, and the more we discuss these issues, the more society will likely merge into having a much more mutually agreed upon, or at least respected, code of conduct.
How you get people to have a clearer view of that code of conduct, is to talk about it more, I'm thinking...or at least I can't think of any better way.
I don't think that's correct. In the context that I've used the term "slime-mold like traditions of group think" I figure half the planet will be in agreement with me, easily, because that wasn't a reference to anyone's religion. It was a reference to culture in general - meaning the culmination of all those mindless behaviors we do for no reasons but tradition (along with a few of the better-thought-out, more useful traditions as well, but most of these traditions will just be mindless).
I don't think you have any reason to believe that. Historically, it definitely looks to me like the best strategy we've had for dealing with racism, homophobia, and various other toxic mentalities has been to mock them into oblivion and complain about them a lot, or at least talk about them more. The negatives of these sorts of discussions seems to have been pretty much only short term...and given that most of these discussions will take place online, I can envision no possible negatives that would outweigh the positives, except for perhaps excessive rudeness, like what happened a few years ago on Youtube when hordes of recently pubescent atheists would wander over the internet, repeating comments like "Jesux Sux!" on every single video no matter ho harmless it was...but that's not what I'm advocating. I'm merely advocating discussion.
If you "haven't the faintest clue how that would be the case"...go to the Middle-East and talk & write publicly about their Abrahamic Religious Beliefs the same way you do here.
I will bet you'll have a great clue post haste.
They are chopping people's heads off...for a simple satirical picture...but you have no idea how referring to their Theological ideas & traditions as "slime-mold", "toxic mentality", "not worthy of respect", etc, would be a problem?
Those Theological ideas are held by nearly a quarter of the World's population...and growing fast, faster than any other conceptual (including Atheism) position.
You may be unaware of this, but I doubt it. You just don't wanna know.
If you "haven't the faintest clue how that would be the case"...go to the Middle-East and talk & write publicly about their Abrahamic Religious Beliefs the same way you do here.
I will bet you'll have a great clue post haste.
They are chopping people's heads off...for a simple satirical picture...but you have no idea how referring to their Theological ideas & traditions as "slime-mold", "toxic mentality", "not worthy of respect", etc, would be a problem?
Those Theological ideas are held by nearly a quarter of the World's population...and growing fast, faster than any other conceptual (including Atheism) position.
You may be unaware of this, but I doubt it. You just don't wanna know.
atheist that don't believe in something spiritual looking (undefined because there are so many different beliefs of this type) out weight the deny everything no matter what types. By a long shot. this site just focuses on activism and recovery so its a little fundy like in its appearance.
I don't think I'm insulting or mocking. I'm stating an argument that deserves to be heard. I'd think if I'd make it any more polite, I'd have to sacrifice some important components of the argument.
There's urging politeness...and then there's wanting to discourage people from discussing a topic entirely. That second urging tends to be a bad thing because it results in less discussion, rather than the solutions the first urging tends to encourage.
Can you think of any way to discuss the ethics of a hypothetical God that wouldn't be at least somewhat hurtful to someone? I can't. Because I can definitely relate to wanting to encourage less hurtful comments, but I definitely think the topic needs to be discussed in some way.
Many that hold Theological positions DO NOT want to hear or read about critical or even dissenting viewpoints.
In fact, they feel it is completely wrong that all do not fully agree and embrace the Theology as well....they also believe those that don't should be eliminated.
Good luck telling them how messed-up you think they are for that.
Better yet...do it...go to Afghanistan and let them directly. You know...."talk" to them about it & state your "argument that deserves to be heard". See how you make out with that.
some people think that when people even question a statement of belief about god we are "anti-that-statement-of-belief". But they are happy to drill others into the ground.
some people think that when people even question a statement of belief about god we are "anti-that-statement-of-belief". But they are happy to drill others into the ground.
Did ya ever notice how so many of the people that bash Theology show such a lack of fortitude?
Alotta them claim they are on a mission to shield from the oppression of the Beliefs they so fervently insult and mock.
But you never see them go to the sites & forums of those that are currently the most defensive of their Theological Beliefs and directly get on their case for months and years at a time, like they do to the devout religious here. Many believe absolutely in eternal punishment in some necro-destination for a myriad of wrongdoings, including "Lack of Belief in Their God and Their Doctrine".
But I know why they don't..they are real good at talkin' smack when they don't actually have to put anything on the line to defend it...but when it comes right down to it, they ain't got the guts!
Did ya ever notice how so many of the people that bash Theology show such a lack of fortitude?
Alotta them claim they are on a mission to shield from the oppression of the Beliefs they so fervently insult and mock.
But you never see them go to the sites & forums of those that are currently the most defensive of their Theological Beliefs and directly get on their case for months and years at a time, like they do to the devout religious here. Many believe absolutely in eternal punishment in some necro-destination for a myriad of wrongdoings, including "Lack of Belief in Their God and Their Doctrine".
But I know why they don't..they are real good at talkin' smack when they don't actually have to put anything on the line to defend it...but when it comes right down to it, they ain't got the guts!
yup. their beliefs are so weak they can't defend them. Its like they didn't actually come up with the belief on their own.
In my camp its the atheist kills and atheism is a religion thing that drives some of them wild. Its the funniest thing. Like the two easiest "assaults on atheism" to handle and they complexly lose their stuff. Atheist isn't a .... bla bla bla. or the definition is; whatever the heck the definition is. Like who cares. And no god forbid we just blow it off. They freak out with your not a real atheist, your a wanna be heist. I am like are you kidding me, who cares. Or wow, that sleepover musta went horribly wrong.
yup. their beliefs are so weak they can't defend them. Its like they didn't actually come up with the belief on their own.
In my camp its the atheist kills and atheism is a religion thing that drives some of them wild. Its the funniest thing. Like the two easiest "assaults on atheism" to handle and they complexly lose their stuff. Atheist isn't a .... bla bla bla. or the definition is; whatever the heck the definition is. Like who cares. And no god forbid we just blow it off. They freak out with your not a real atheist, your a wanna be heist. I am like are you kidding me, who cares. Or wow, that sleepover musta went horribly wrong.
but whatever.
You take a reasonable attitude.
You understand that the best assessment to determine what the deal *really* is will always be, "Comports With Observations of How The Universe Works". That's "Primo"!
But you don't get all tweaked-out if someone accepts giving people the latitude to be able to hold Beliefs & have Faith that things might possibly be something outside of what we have yet to observe or be aware of.
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