Reasons To Believe

reply to post by Conclusion


it really doesnt, I really dont care, I just posted, if you dont want to open your eyes to the history of our world, to science and other things, well, I gave u an opportunity ... thats enough for me ... good luck

Originally posted by Conclusion

So what you are saying is that you believed there was a God but did not live like your Creator wanted you to live, and since we all know that God will not look upon sin, he did not intervene in your life soooooo you just stopped believeing? lol. Why didn't you just ask for forgiveness and take Christ at his word that you were saved and move on with your saved self. Well it's not to late.

I did accept Jesus and begged day after day for his forgiveness but I never received a yes or a no from him and eventually my blind ignorant faith crumbled. You see I was wracked with guilt for simple things that all humans go through at that age, dirty thoughts and the like, and eventually I realized that God wasn't coming to save me from that and that any truly merciful God would never consider coarse language or ANY sin for that matter worthy of being punished for all eternity. So after struggling and praying and crying out to God and getting zero response I began to wake up to the oppressive guilt and mental box I'd been placed in by religion and that it was okay to doubt. Not only is it okay to doubt but it is the only way to learn truth, without rigorously questioning what you currently believe there is know way to know it is the truth.

After questioning the Bible and realizing it as the flawed work of men I began my search for real truth and it is a quest I continue to this day. I realized that what you say is "the way my creator wanted to live" is flawed and therefore was not invented by a creator. What loving being wants you to be blindly ignorant to the obvious truth around you? What loving creator would expect you to believe in something for which there is no proof or else perish for eternity? What loving creator would willingly slaughter children and innocent people (read the Old Testament again without the blinders on)?

The Bible is the flawed work of man, it is self-contradictory and illogical and presents a God who is half genocidal murderer and half merciful loving Father. This does not mean there is no God and this does not mean there isn't some wisdom in some of the passages of the Bible (I've always been a fan of Jesus and still am) but for me it means the Bible is tossed out of the running for absolute truth. And you know what they say about truth, it sets you free... so start looking for it everywhere. An infinite God wouldn't use just one book or one religion and damn everyone else and especially wouldn't force you to believe, on pain of eternal punishment, in it as absolute truth even when it obviously isn't.

It seems there is a consensus that people are sort of unsure what God's plan is, in the sense of what the next move made is...

It seems that this has been a similar trend for about 2000 years.

Thought Experiment: Imagine what the return of christ( anti christ ... is still christ ... this is chosen by the people) would be like...

The soul that was Jesus comes enters our society today. My logical impression is that if that were me I would be very uncomfortable that people are celebrating consuming my flesh... Logically, if people are willing to eat (literally or symbolically) their savior then they are not ready for there savior.

Would you feel comfortable if people talked about eating you?

Let alone, if people performed a ritual(s) that symbolize eating you?

Please express any ideas on this I am trying to learn and would like to hear multiple ideas and viewpoints to get a multi diverse perspective so I can better understand the situation at hand.

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Coemgen]

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Coemgen]

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Coemgen]

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
reply to post by Conclusion

 

Jesus states that we will ask for signs and still not believe

err - so why did he allegedly preform miracles to convince onlookeres - hey thats what your own bible claims

the OP is clearly cherry picking whicj replies to respond to - so i ask again

Jesus states that we will ask for signs and still not believe

err - so why did he allegedly preform miracles to convince onlookeres - hey thats what your own bible claims

Originally posted by Conclusion
reply to post by spy66

 

Hmmm. I like the way you think.

Now that is a wise post. You have a sharp mind there my friend.

Good job.

Thx. And just notice no one will challenge it.

Just ask them what we humans are made up of. And i bet 99% of them will say different types of energies at some point in time. Then ask them what everything that exists is made up of. And i bet a 100% will say energy.

Then ask them to read the bible. And then ask them to define what God is.

If our combination of specific energy can create a independent mind. Wouldn't a infinite amount of energy have a theoretical chance of having a mind as well?

I would really like a answer to that question.

Originally posted by ignorant_ape

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
reply to post by Conclusion

 

Jesus states that we will ask for signs and still not believe

err - so why did he allegedly preform miracles to convince onlookeres - hey thats what your own bible claims

the OP is clearly cherry picking whicj replies to respond to - so i ask again

Jesus states that we will ask for signs and still not believe

err - so why did he allegedly preform miracles to convince onlookeres - hey thats what your own bible claims

Uh. er. oh. Okay. lolol. Read the bible before presenting information that is not true. He did these things to help people. The onlookers who saw followed him because they already believed. And that statement was meant for this generation.

reply to post by Conclusion


no - you read your bible - the instances are legion where miracles were allegedly frformed to persuade - not to help

PS - why has your alleged saviour stopped helping ?

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
reply to post by Conclusion

 

no - you read your bible - the instances are legion where miracles were allegedly frformed to persuade - not to help

PS - why has your alleged saviour stopped helping ?

Originally posted by Coemgen
It seems that this has been a similar trend for about 2000 years.

Thought Experiment: Imagine what the return of christ( anti christ ... is still christ ... this is chosen by the people) would be like...

The soul that was Jesus comes enters our society today. My logical impression is that if that were me I would be very uncomfortable that people are celebrating consuming my flesh... Logically, if people are willing to eat (literally or symbolically) their savior then they are not ready for there savior.

Would you feel comfortable if people talked about eating you?

Let alone, if people performed a ritual(s) that symbolize eating you?

What is your reaction to being eaten? Are you lining up down at the butcher because you want someone to eat you?

Please take the time to read and respond.

be kind to others

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Coemgen]

I myself am a religous person not bound by a single religion but a single belief in GOD. I was baptized into the catholic faith but never really practiced or went to church. My family was never the church going type either but the did instill in me to be a good person and treat others the same way you be treated. With that being said I did find my true belief in good on my own and here are my examples.

1) Doctors had told my parents they would never ever have children as much as they tried. Yet I'm here and so is my little sister.
2) My junior year in high school I was in a very bad accident that I should have died or been serioulsy hurt. Yet I came out unhurt not even a scratch.
3) Three years later I was leaving a party with a girl she was driving and ran head on with a tree on my side of the car. Once again not a scratch.
4) Two years later another head on collison with a gaurd rail 50mph and no seatbelt yet no scratches yet again.
5) And just last year I ran into the back of someone on the beltway doing about 55mph and came out with a cut on my head that's it. Even the guys at the body shop and tow company were suprised I wasn't killed.

Now I know y'all will think I'm a bad driver and lucky. Now the first I could agree with on but not the second because I believe that I wasn't supposed to be taken yet.

Another look at all we humans have done the last few thousand years and tell my whole heartedly that it's all because of evolution and that not because we were created in GOD's likenesss. Take the computers we are typing on the phones we talk into cars we drive everything we have accomplised and say it's because we evolved.

I just can't being a human a man created in the likeness of GOD believe that evolution is the only reason why we are so much "smarter" than any other creature on this world.

I just want to say that if you've chosen not to believe in God (in any form) just because other people have done bad things in the name of the their God, you've really done yourself a disservice.

You owe it to yourself to explore and not let anyone else's behavior make you decide something without your investigation.

I have my answer. Your answer may be different than mine, but it's an answer none the less.

Non-believers, and believers just need to get along, leave each other to there own beliefs. In the end, it doesn't matter who is right or wrong.

Originally posted by Conclusion
I have seen so many Christian bashing threads on here that I felt as if I had to write this.

Stating that one does not believe in Christianity, not complaining about being endlessly harassed by Christians bent on converting you is not Christian bashing. It is simply "I don't agree with you. Leave me alone."

First off I would like to state that I do understand why you do not believe. You stopped looking.

You see, in order to find anything you have to look for it. If you do not look for something it makes it very difficult to find it. You may as well be blind to what you are searching for.

Actually no, I was a lifelong born-again, Bible believing Christian. Then I started looking closely at what I believed because it was starting to ring false. Those who seek shall find.. and what I found, the answers that brought me peace and joy were not Christian ones. When I started off my quest, I wanted to justify my faith, to prove to myself that my years of faithfulness were not wasted.

Christianity? Been there, done that, not making that mistake again.

Then the basher usually throws something at me like---Give me undeniable proof---lol.
So to all you bashers, if you post.......Start looking for the answers yourself.

Found them thank you.

You know who you are. If you do not open yourself to even the slightest possibility that there are things out there that you cannot understand, let alone explain, then you are wasting your time. And the clock is ticking.

Yeah, that's what started me off on my shedding of Christianity, opening myself to possibilities. But I have learned that nothing we do is ever wasted, everything counts and has value, even those many years I spent as a Christian.



[edit on 16-2-2010 by metamagic]

Originally posted by WickettheRabbit
You owe it to yourself to explore and not let anyone else's behavior make you decide something without your investigation.

Everyone owes to her/him self to explore and not let anyone else's behavior make you decide something without investigation.

It is each persons choice to be open to view ideas from many perspectives. A multi diverse perspective allows a person to think about an idea in many different ways to choose the best interpretation of the best perceived path.

New opinions and viewpoints on all matters new and existing are worth their thought and time.

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull

I see it another way entirely. The reason I stopped believing is because I STARTED LOOKING. I started really looking at what I was told to believe and at what I was trying desperately, passionately, to believe in my heart. I started from scratch looking for truth and understanding that even if the truth casts doubt on my previous beliefs

You are walking the same path I did. I will offer you one item of advice. I came across a passage from the Gospel of Thomas (yeah one of those other Christian sources) that I found to be a perfect description of what happened to me.

Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."

No amount of debate can convince you of what is true, no amount of technically tricky arguments can reveal truth to you, you have to find it yourself and experience it. And that, no one can do for you. The troubling part usually comes from having to abandon those pre-conceived ideas of what you were going to find when you started seeking. Unfortunately, many people quit at that point since they want it all nice and easy.

Peace friend.

[edit on 16-2-2010 by metamagic]

An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to be almost a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have had to have been satisfied to get it going. Francis Crick. Co-discoverer of DNA

FRANCIS CRICK, the Nobel Prize-winning father of modern genetics, was under the influence of '___' when he first deduced thedouble-helix structure of DNA nearly 50 years ago.

The abrasive and unorthodox Crick and his brilliant American co-researcher James Watson famously celebrated their eureka moment in March 1953 by running from the now legendary Cavendish Laboratory in
Cambridge to the nearby Eagle pub, where they announced over pints of bitter that they had discovered the secret of life.

www.mayanmajix.com...

Stuff that in your Creationism pipe and smoke it.

The truth is stranger then fiction. (new meme?)

reply to post by whiteraven


What am I missing? Is there something that doesn't jive with what he said and what he did?

How is that something to stuff and smoke?

Originally posted by spy66

Originally posted by Conclusion
reply to post by spy66

 

Hmmm. I like the way you think.

Now that is a wise post. You have a sharp mind there my friend.

Good job.

Thx. And just notice no one will challenge it.

Just ask them what we humans are made up of. And i bet 99% of them will say different types of energies at some point in time. Then ask them what everything that exists is made up of. And i bet a 100% will say energy.

...
If our combination of specific energy can create a independent mind. Wouldn't a infinite amount of energy have a theoretical chance of having a mind as well?

I would really like a answer to that question.

If there are different dimensions and we cannot sense all of them it is entirely possible that some energies may exist in a dimension we cannot sense. The idea / concept of thought and idea / concept of the soul, may be energies existing in a dimension that people cannot sense, but we can perceive it.

If a person has a soul, then the universe on some level must encompass this energy associated with the soul. This is the same with thought.

On a larger perspective, a human brain looks very similar to the universe. The concepts that the functions of the brain entail can be perceived, if a person thinks of the Universe as a big brain... or perhaps a star is a living life form... Perhaps the energy that exists on the planet earth, most of it comes from the sun. Intuitively, the energy that exists as a result came from the son. Is it possible that the energy that is our existence traces back to the energy from the son.

Are there any ideas or symbols that point to the sun... anywhere... could someone look at the horizon and see an image of something pointing at the sun?

Is there anything that symbolizes a structure of a triangle with a father mother and child? .... If there was would the son be in haven ( home ) in the sky ?

Listen to yourselves! Is this really constructive? I mean COME ON!!! This argument can go on and on and on forever and where is it really getting us? It disgusts me to read through all this negative back and forth garbage. Is this really what you all want to spend your time doing?

Just believe in what you believe and leave it at that. If everyone would have done that in the first place it sure would have been much less costly to the countless individuals and families who have suffered through practical HELL on Earth because some religious group was trying to make a point.

We are talking about millions of lives lost and so much suffering for what?

People listen to me...we are here on this rock and WE decide how good or bad that life will be. THATS what we should be focused on folks...

So get crackin...take all that brain power and figure out how to solve the homeless problem in the US, how to bring running water to the millions without it, how to stop the famine and suffering and injustice that plagues our world, go clean a soup kitchen, or build a house for a needy family, ect.

That is what we should all be doing...not sitting here bickering back and forth about something that NONE of us will know for sure until its over...and then what we find won't make a damn bit of difference to the loved ones we leave behind and the state we leave thier world in.....

Religion has never been the problem.

The way in which people interpret a religion is much more significant. The way people can interpret religious texts is with WORDS. From these words people can group together ideas to get a message. From this message people can infer the morals of the story.

The people have to choose the moral of the story from using sense and rational logic like following the morals and applying them to each new lesson.

People choose to interpret WORDS or they choose to not interpret WORDS.

People choose to compile the ideas represented by words to create a message.

People choose to learn from the message.

People choose the moral.

Mah ha bone

People choose to symbolically eat their Saviour, even though they want him to be comfortable with helping them again?

word think word think word think

Would you want people to talk about eating you?

If we are supposed to treat people like we want to be treated then... why again do we celebrate our Saviour by eating him?

...maybe he is not around because people scare him away?
[edit on 16-2-2010 by Coemgen]

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Coemgen]

[edit on 16-2-2010 by Coemgen]

reply to post by iamsupermanv2

Well if I have the capabilities to do this, why would a deity lack it?

Exactly.

I realized that God wasn't coming to save me from that and that any truly merciful God would never consider coarse language or ANY sin for that matter worthy of being punished for all eternity

Nobody gets punished for all eternity. This is nothing but verbal clutter. There is a second death and you exist no more. Myth. fear tactics at their worst.



[edit on 16-2-2010 by randyvs]