My theory on most religions, why some are contradictory to themselves

For starters, i am an athiest, i have the opinion that there is nothing more powerful than earth in the universe and no higher being like god/s,
i have the opinion that some things from religions have been exaggerated over time like chinese whispers, for example, Noahs ark! the flood could not have possibly covered the world since only Europe and its surroundings were the "known" world, australia hadn't been thought of! so it could have been a very large flood through europe and a man named Noah with a good will was trying to save animals, as he thought god wanted to clean earth and he had thought it was his duty to save animals,
Next, in christianity, people who practise witchcraft should go to hell, HA!, according to the bible, humans were first created by throwing dirt in the air, then
god created eve out of adams RIB,.... wouldn't god have to have magical powers to have done such a thought?, therefore he practised witchcraft and should be in hell now,
Which then raises the issue of where were all the other colored people?
if there were only two, then how did black, asian, white (to name a few) and many other cultures come out of two people, the scientific idea that we evolved from apes is more understandable, and plus where were all the dinosaurs?

I think the point about witchcraft is that we shouldn't have the same as God's power, and to have such power would be wrong, as we would misuse it.

With Noahs ark, it didn't cover the entire world.

This site has a lot of the answers with good arguments.

www.godandscience.org

[edit on 2-2-2006 by apex]

Originally posted by duckieboythe flood could not have possibly covered the world since only Europe and its surroundings were the "known" world, australia hadn't been thought of!

I'm inclined to believe that the continents, as we know them now, did not exist before the Flood; a lot of new land may have risen from the sea, and much of the old landmass described in Genesis, that sounds so much like Atlantis, was probably thrown down into the depths.

Originally posted by duckieboy
Next, in christianity, people who practise witchcraft should go to hell, HA!, according to the bible, humans were first created by throwing dirt in the air, then
god created eve out of adams RIB,.... wouldn't god have to have magical powers to have done such a thought?, therefore he practised witchcraft and should be in hell now

Where are you getting this "throwing dirt in the air" from? Anyway, the difference would be that what God does is miracles by His own power, while witchcraft is the attaining of paranormal abilities from demonic sources.

Originally posted by duckieboyWhich then raises the issue of where were all the other colored people?
if there were only two, then how did black, asian, white (to name a few) and many other cultures come out of two people, the scientific idea that we evolved from apes is more understandable

Macro-evolution is more understandable than micro-evolution? With micro-evolution, it is fairly easy to breed several new strains (colors, sizes, etc.) of dog out of one original stock, you simply select to remove different characteristics out of the gene pool. Even though it appears that you are adding traits with such a breeding program, you are not, you are simply bringing recessive genes to the forefront. No Creationists dispute micro-evolution. Macro-evolution is a whole different story.

www.amazon.com...

[edit on 2-2-2006 by Paul of Nisbis]

Originally posted by duckieboy
and plus where were all the dinosaurs?

Doesnt the bible say that water (and thus the earth) actually came before God? Technically the world could have been populated by dinosaurs, aliens or shapeshifting whatsamjigs, then flooded and created from scratch later

We know from later events (Noah etc) that water is apparently Gods delete button.

[edit on 2-2-2006 by merka]

There are many instances in the Bible that seem to point man's involvement in it's development. Here are a couple that stand out to me:

1. No mention of dinosaurs, the universe or undiscovered countries To me this is an example that it was written using man's thinking at the time. Man had no knowledge of these things when the Bible was written, thus didn't realise it would be seen as unusual that they were not included.

2. The 120 year limitation on man's lifespan
Back then, people lived to around 45 so living to 120 would have seemed impossible. Probably akin to living until 300 nowadays. It would have seemed like a safe bet that nobody would surpass this mark.

At the time I think it's plausable the some religions backed the Bible to help spread there message and it paid off. However as time goes by the more it is becoming evident that Bible is falling victim to man's limited knowledge of the world at the time of it's writing, thus people are turning away and christianity is suffering as a result of this gamble.

Just my thoughts of course.

Originally posted by duckieboy
i have the opinion that some things from religions have been exaggerated over time...Noahs ark! the flood could not have possibly covered the world since only Europe and its surroundings were the "known" world...
Next, in christianity, people who practise witchcraft should go to hell, HA!, according to the bible, humans were first created by throwing dirt in the air, then god created eve out of adams RIB,....
Which then raises the issue of where were all the other colored people?
if there were only two, then how did black, asian, white (to name a few) and many other cultures come out of two people, the scientific idea that we evolved from apes is more understandable, and plus where were all the dinosaurs?

1)I agree that religions get distorted and exaggerated over time.
2)The bible DID NOT originate in Europe, the old testament comes from the jews, from the middle east, think the "Fertile Crescent" Iraq, Kuwait, The Nile River Valley, ETC. THIS WAS THE KNOWN WORLD. This area is inundated with rivers, thus the idea of a flood of this area is quite plausible.
It is also backed up by an even older poem called Gilgamesh, a Precursor to the old testament and the story of the creation of man, and the flood.
3)Witchcraft...this is for another poster to!...Once the christians were no longer persecuted, they began to persecute others. If one believes in something so fully that they think everyone should believe it, they try to impose their beliefs on others, no? Witchcraft is a religion that has been a part of the human race since before we can remember. Becasue peasants, simple folk, practiced rites that celebrated the natural processes of life, those who were higher than them(who understood the complicated rituals of christianity) tried to introduce christianity to the lowers, but ended up having to meld certain aspects of the pagan beliefs into christianity. Thus, anyone who celebrates XMAS is celebrating yule, the celtic "birth of the sun-king", not that of jesus christ, who was born in the springtime, Easter comes from the old tradition of Ostara, that of new birth of spring, the resurrection of life. The idea that the christian devil has horns actually comes from the celtic belief that the God (as oposed to the Goddess) had horns like a deer. (this was used to push people away from the older traditions.) WITCHCRAFT IS NOT EVIL. THEY DO NOT EVEN BELIEVE IN THE DEVIL. please beware, don't confuse satanists with people who follow the natural cycles of the world.
4)Perhaps (this is my take on this) EVOLUTION is part of CREATION....I hope I shattered someones worldview right there. But really. Scientists say we came out of africa originally. So say God created the universe and the earth, with the idea that we would evolve out of africa. then we started out black, and have since adapted to our respective placement on the globe.
5) don't confuse CULTURE and RACE. Culture is a set of social issues and beliefs and customs, whereas Race is the color of ones skin. There is an excellent book out now (unfortunately I can't think of the name) on how WE AS A CULTURE, HAVE CREATED RACE. Race is PURELY a social issue that we pull out of our.............to rank ourselves in this world.
6)WE DID NOT EVOLVE from APES.... we have an ancestor in common with apes, however we were not ever APES...
7)The bible is written down by people, and therefore is a limited source. It only can be written down if it is known.

Read the Genesis Question, an excellent book written by an astronomer, relating the steps in genesis to the steps in the creation (naturally) of a planet that will sustain carbonbased life.

The chances that this isnt on purpose. that we just happen to be here, are SO MUCH smaller than that WE ARE MEANT to be here, that its all been created....the ratio is SO SMALL that it takes a bigger leap of faith NOT to believe than to believe.

I have to say that I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW IGNORANT PEOPLE REALLY ARE. Though one should expect that on a website forum on CONSPIRACIES!!!!