[quote]steveo5801 wrote:
It’s Jesus Vroom!
[/quote]
Stop calling me Jesus, I don’t have the aspirations you do…
I am of limited intelligence compared to some of the posters on this thread (and forum) however, I do understand Cynicism was the first religion. In fact the early Christians were followers of the Cynic philosophy. The basis of this is of course a questioning faith with reason (and logic).
Therefore assuming everyone should think in the same way as you and form a blueprint of your beliefs (Steveo) is not really being Christian but more following some kind of personalised adaptation that suits your own needs.
There are probably many religous, spiritual people looking at this thread who would be dismayed at your approach to religous forced ingestion.
Just a though. Religion is foremost a personal experience and not a tool for placing yourself on an imaginary pedestal above those who do not (outwardly) seem to agree with your approach.
.
[quote]Dr. Stig wrote:
I am of limited intelligence compared to some of the posters on this thread (and forum) however, I do understand Cynicism was the first religion. In fact the early Christians were followers of the Cynic philosophy. The basis of this is of course a questioning faith with reason (and logic).
Therefore assuming everyone should think in the same way as you and form a blueprint of your beliefs (Steveo) is not really being Christian but more following some kind of personalised adaptation that suits your own needs.
There are probably many religous, spiritual people looking at this thread who would be dismayed at your approach to religous forced ingestion.
Just a though. Religion is foremost a personal experience and not a tool for placing yourself on an imaginary pedestal above those who do not (outwardly) seem to agree with your approach.[/quote]
He is not putting himself on a pedestal at all.
He has humbled himself before God and admitted that he is a sinner deserving of hell.
He is not self promoting, but promoting Jesus.
He is definitely one of the better evangelists I have seen in that he does not compromise or sugar-coat the message.
[quote]
I wrote: There is no such thing as forever, steveo. Your life, and all life… even the universe itself is transient and inconstant.
steveo wrote:
That is only your belief . You can choose to believe this, but you must realize that unlike Christian belief which is based upon the Word of God, your belief here is made up out of your head.[/quote]
Umm… actually I didn’t make up the fact that I was born, and that someday I will die. Life begins, life ends. This is the truth I was talking about that you can see with your own eyes. I see dead bodies at work all the time. They aren’t alive. Honest. 
[quote]I wrote:
This is the way of the universe – that there is a beginning and an end. Even the sun will someday die, steveo. Realizing this is paying homage to honesty. These are the REAL rules we all must follow whether we like it or not, and anybody who tells you diffently from what your own eyes can plainly see is trying to sell you something.
steveo wrote:
Who told you that “all there is is just all you can see?” Who told you that? Just becuase it seems that all there is is all you can see, doesn’t mean that there isn’t something else --we are eternal beings with an eternal destiny. Perhaps it has to do with another dimension – but alas that is where FAITH comes in! This really is all about faith. My faith, and hence my eternal destiny, I have placed into the hands of the God of Israel – the God of the Bible. You, obviously, have placed your eternity on just what YOU can see.
I’ll take God…[/quote]
And this is where the pretending comes in. You don’t want to accept the fact that you will live your life, and then it will end. And I understand that.
I have run into this numerous times in other religion threads, because the concept of an afterlife is what is so appealing in any fantasy-based religion. They all have some kind of bargain you can make to escape oblivion, provided you behave in the interests of the structure which is selling the illusion. This is true for christianity, islamism, buddhism, deism, pretty much any -ism.
What is so scary about death? You know exactly what it feels like to be dead. All of us do. Exactly 100% of all life was dead before it was alive without exception. The fact that it seems so unfair to have this wonderful life that has to end is why this afterlife thing was invented as a coping mechanism for those of us with sentience.
I am not dogmatic. The second I see someone come back to life after having his head caved in by a cement block and his brains splayed out all over the operating table, I will very quickly change my viewpoint about this. What I AM capable of is accepting what I see and understanding valid conclusions about the evidence that is collected.
You, that is, your consciousness and cognition are 100% dependent upon the health of the biological organ we call a brain. Everything – all your foibles and quirks and those special things that make you who you are – is dependent upon this organ. People with brain damage will have their entire personality altered. I also see this every night at work as well. We have many alzheimer’s patients who will hallucinate that they are being attacked, they will cry for no apparent reason, etc., and these were perfectly normal people in life who had dreams and ambitions and their own personalities which are destroyed utterly by the disease.
It is heartbreaking to watch. I have had two grandparents change into completely different people right in front of my eyes. My beloved grandfather… who taught me how to make him martinis when I was eight years old… he couldn’t recognize my face. He had no idea who I was, steveo.
Conclusion: Who we are is linked to how our brain is doing. When the brain changes, what we are changes. When the brain dies, what we are dies.
And this is borne out by the rest of the evidence. There are no such things as ghosts. I will go to any “haunted house” and spend the night there without zero fear of the supernatural. I might worry about the floor caving in on me if it’s an old house, though.
Point is, when you’re dead, you’re dead.
And even though it is obvious, there will always be some of us who cannot accept this fact. Right now, steveo, you truly believe that you don’t have to die when you die. And from reading all of your posts, I think this is the bedrock foundation upon which your entire faith is based.
Honestly, I don’t see any harm in it for you. It makes you look kinda silly, but that’s never killed anybody. It’s when you start buying into all the other crap that the fantasy is selling that people start to get hurt. I don’t think you are going to personally burn me at the stake for being a heretic, but I am a little dismayed (if not surprised) at your attitude towards gay people. I work with many gays (male nurses, do the math) and lesbians, and they are fine people who don’t deserve your scorn. Save your scorn for people who act selfishly and hurt other people who do not deserve to be hurt.
[quote]JPBear wrote:
He is not putting himself on a pedestal at all.
[/quote]
Maybe it was a soapbox then.
[quote]mazilla wrote:
.[/quote]
Easily.
[quote]Dr. Stig wrote:
Maybe it was a soapbox then.
[/quote]
I can agree with that. He has a message. And you don’t have to stop and listen if you don’t want to.
[quote]harris447 wrote:
steveo5801 wrote:
harris447 wrote:
Why are you guys even arguing with these idiots?
They’re grown adults believe in fairy tales and magic.
Were it not for the fact that millions of other people share their delusions, they would be put in mental hospitals.
Harris,
For the record, are you saying that Christians who believe as I do in the United States of America, should be put into mental hospitals agains our will? Is that what you are saying?
Please explain, because I think you have lost whatever credibility you didn’t have in the first place…
Well, I’m pretty sure if there’s an arbiter of credibility on this board, it ain’t you, but…
My point is that if there were only ONE PERSON in the world who believed that there was this mystical, all-knowing, all-seeing being who created the universe but somehow found time to care about every single individual’s meals and hats.
This being then impregnated a woman–with magic–and that person had superpowers, like Spider-Man with sandals, and he died but CAME BACK TO LIFE and now watches everything we do.
If just one person believed that…we’d call him a lunatic.
But, since A LOT of people believe it, it’s called reigion.
That’s my point.
[/quote]
So, then, we all cannot be lunatic. So then why isn’t it credible to you Harris?
It is very easy to lump all believers together and dismiss them as being insane, or part of the fringe of society. However, I know many many believers who hold very powerful corporate, legal, and medical, and even government positions right here in New York City. In other words, not only are some believers “normal,” but they are also in postions that other would envy to have.
I have a very normal job (teaching) and I have normal everyday responsibilities that I attempt to discharge to the best of my ability. The difference is that I know that if I were to die tonight, I would be forever with the Lord.
I have assurance of my salvation, rooted in faith in God through His Word, with the indewelling Holy Spirit as my guide.
All because back on February 26, 1995 I asked Jesus to come into my heart and to save me from my sin. You can too, Harris.
Are you willing? Why or why not?
[quote]JPBear wrote:
He has a message. And you don’t have to stop and listen if you don’t want to.[/quote]
But what good is the message if it is:
“I AM AFRAID, AND YOU SHOULD BE TOO!”
[quote]Dr. Stig wrote:
I am of limited intelligence compared to some of the posters on this thread (and forum) however, I do understand Cynicism was the first religion. In fact the early Christians were followers of the Cynic philosophy. The basis of this is of course a questioning faith with reason (and logic).
Therefore assuming everyone should think in the same way as you and form a blueprint of your beliefs (Steveo) is not really being Christian but more following some kind of personalised adaptation that suits your own needs.
There are probably many religous, spiritual people looking at this thread who would be dismayed at your approach to religous forced ingestion.
Just a though. Religion is foremost a personal experience and not a tool for placing yourself on an imaginary pedestal above those who do not (outwardly) seem to agree with your approach.[/quote]
I will try to correct you gently here. Thanks first of all for the post and the opportunity to address your statements.
The first monotheistic religion was Judaism. Christianity is the fulfillment of Biblical Judaism insofar as the Hebrew Scriptures speak about and predict the coming of the Messiah (Isa. 53; Daniel 9; Psalm 2; Psalm 110, and many many others…).
The model for and the behavior of the early Christians paralleled the Jewish custom of students (Talmudim) following their chosen rabbi (The Master or Teacher). The objective of the Talmudim (the diciples of the rabbi) was not only to learn what the rabbi knew, but also to become just like the rabbi in their daily lives .
Therefore, the basis of your argument is false as well as your conclusion. The objective of the Talmudim is exactly in line with the objective for the command to believe (be saved) and thus become more and more like our Rabbi (The Great Teacher – Jesus Christ!).
That is the model from which Christianity sprung. Judaism is the root – Christianity is the branches. This is not only Biblical, but Historical fact.
Now, how am I placing “myself on a pedestal?” I have admitted that I am simply a sinner, saved by the grace of God and I am telling others how to be saved too, according to the Bible. How is that me placing myself above anyone? I am proclaiming that God is above all and that Jesus Christ is God and thus He must be worshipped as such. God is on His throne, not me or anyone. Actually, when you think about it, those who reject the God of the Bible, by rejecting God’s offer of salvation, is placing themselves on their own pedestil by asserting that they know a better way or a different way than God says. God commands everyone to believe. So if you ignore and reject that command, aren’t you placing yourself above Him?
You need to be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved!
[quote]lothario1132 wrote:
I wrote: There is no such thing as forever, steveo. Your life, and all life… even the universe itself is transient and inconstant.
steveo wrote:
That is only your belief . You can choose to believe this, but you must realize that unlike Christian belief which is based upon the Word of God, your belief here is made up out of your head.
Umm… actually I didn’t make up the fact that I was born, and that someday I will die. Life begins, life ends. This is the truth I was talking about that you can see with your own eyes. I see dead bodies at work all the time. They aren’t alive. Honest.
I wrote:
This is the way of the universe – that there is a beginning and an end. Even the sun will someday die, steveo. Realizing this is paying homage to honesty. These are the REAL rules we all must follow whether we like it or not, and anybody who tells you diffently from what your own eyes can plainly see is trying to sell you something.
steveo wrote:
Who told you that “all there is is just all you can see?” Who told you that? Just becuase it seems that all there is is all you can see, doesn’t mean that there isn’t something else --we are eternal beings with an eternal destiny. Perhaps it has to do with another dimension – but alas that is where FAITH comes in! This really is all about faith. My faith, and hence my eternal destiny, I have placed into the hands of the God of Israel – the God of the Bible. You, obviously, have placed your eternity on just what YOU can see.
I’ll take God…
And this is where the pretending comes in. You don’t want to accept the fact that you will live your life, and then it will end. And I understand that.
I have run into this numerous times in other religion threads, because the concept of an afterlife is what is so appealing in any fantasy-based religion. They all have some kind of bargain you can make to escape oblivion, provided you behave in the interests of the structure which is selling the illusion. This is true for christianity, islamism, buddhism, deism, pretty much any -ism.
What is so scary about death? You know exactly what it feels like to be dead. All of us do. Exactly 100% of all life was dead before it was alive without exception. The fact that it seems so unfair to have this wonderful life that has to end is why this afterlife thing was invented as a coping mechanism for those of us with sentience.
Again, can we agree that this is only your opinion, your belief? . Why do you get to be dogmatic, while scolding me for doing the same. Again, my faith system comes from the objective reality of God’s Word. Your belief system only comes from your head through your eyes. Not very reliable, I say.
I am not dogmatic. The second I see someone come back to life after having his head caved in by a cement block and his brains splayed out all over the operating table, I will very quickly change my viewpoint about this. What I AM capable of is accepting what I see and understanding valid conclusions about the evidence that is collected.
You, that is, your consciousness and cognition are 100% dependent upon the health of the biological organ we call a brain. Everything – all your foibles and quirks and those special things that make you who you are – is dependent upon this organ. People with brain damage will have their entire personality altered. I also see this every night at work as well. We have many alzheimer’s patients who will hallucinate that they are being attacked, they will cry for no apparent reason, etc., and these were perfectly normal people in life who had dreams and ambitions and their own personalities which are destroyed utterly by the disease.
It is heartbreaking to watch. I have had two grandparents change into completely different people right in front of my eyes. My beloved grandfather… who taught me how to make him martinis when I was eight years old… he couldn’t recognize my face. He had no idea who I was, steveo.
Conclusion: Who we are is linked to how our brain is doing. When the brain changes, what we are changes. When the brain dies, what we are dies.
And this is borne out by the rest of the evidence. There are no such things as ghosts. I will go to any “haunted house” and spend the night there without zero fear of the supernatural. I might worry about the floor caving in on me if it’s an old house, though.
Point is, when you’re dead, you’re dead.
And even though it is obvious, there will always be some of us who cannot accept this fact. Right now, steveo, you truly believe that you don’t have to die when you die. And from reading all of your posts, I think this is the bedrock foundation upon which your entire faith is based.
Honestly, I don’t see any harm in it for you. It makes you look kinda silly, but that’s never killed anybody. It’s when you start buying into all the other crap that the fantasy is selling that people start to get hurt. I don’t think you are going to personally burn me at the stake for being a heretic, but I am a little dismayed (if not surprised) at your attitude towards gay people. I work with many gays (male nurses, do the math) and lesbians, and they are fine people who don’t deserve your scorn. Save your scorn for people who act selfishly and hurt other people who do not deserve to be hurt.[/quote]
For time, I have to condense my answer to you instead of going point by point, but I think we really differ in two major points.
You are discounting two things:
(1) We have an eternal soul which can never die.
Surely the body will die – but we are more than brain tissue and blood. We are eternal beings and we will live forever. You have trouble accepting this.
(2) All there is, is more than all we can see.
You only believe what you see and what you can observe. Well, there is far more out there than we can fathom. There is a spiritual dimension that only can be apprehended with spiritual eyes. Those eyes can only be opened when your heart turns in faith to seek after God.
The fact is that I CAN accept death now as never before. I recently went through a heart procedure that, while not very dangerous, did have its potential for serious complications. I was able to go into the procedure room confident in my Lord’s ability to do whatever He wanted to do with my life – including taking it.
Where is your hope? Just to return dead to the ground and to nothingness? Does this even make sense – be born, live 15, 20, 45, 65, 99 years and then – “poof” gone?
We are eternal beings with eternal souls. I am sad that you cannot seem to accept that fact.
[quote]tme wrote:
mazilla wrote:
.
Easily.[/quote]
So why are you posting to it?
[quote]steveo5801 wrote:
I think we really differ in two major points.
You are discounting two things:
(1) We have an eternal soul which can never die.
Surely the body will die – but we are more than brain tissue and blood. We are eternal beings and we will live forever. You have trouble accepting this.[/quote]
You are entirely correct. I do not accept the idea of my personality stored in some supernatural container.
I have personally witnessed the transformation of people who have suffered nothing more than brain damage from a variety of sources, and I can very firmly conclude that our personality is dependent upon the health of our brains.
quote All there is, is more than all we can see.
You only believe what you see and what you can observe. Well, there is far more out there than we can fathom. There is a spiritual dimension that only can be apprehended with spiritual eyes. Those eyes can only be opened when your heart turns in faith to seek after God. [/quote]
I know of what you speak. Our sentience is a marvelous thing, isn’t it? We can imagine all kinds of shit that is not real just by thinking about it. I can close my eyes and pretend that I am floating high above the ground, flying through the clouds… or “hip deep in trouble” with the girl who’s been the powerful image all week. I would wager that a great many other men have done this, too. LOL
But there is a definite difference between what we imagine with our “spirit eyes” and what is reality.
Dying is not the same as going to sleep, I am afraid. As I have said, I have witnessed the difference many times.
Here you restate what I have said… this is the appeal. The afterlife is the big sell. Which is okay, really… just watch what you do with yourself after that. This “faith” you have can be turned against you and against others. And I am glad that the surgery turned out well, as you know already.
Aaaahh… Now comes the fun part. Here is where I repeat myself again. Reality is composed of three kinds of time. There is the past, the present, and the future. The past is immutable, because it is gone. The future is out of reach, and for humble human beings with our limited ability to calculate many many probabilites, it possesses a certain degree of uncertainty. All we have is right now. This very moment is the only place you can act, and is the only place you really exist at all.
This is nothing more than common sense.
Where is my hope? I will tell you. It is placed firmly in what I can accomplish with my deeds and my willingness to go through with them. You set reasonable goals, and do what it takes to get the job done. An excellent analogy:
The gym.
If I’m going to die someday, and all this body I’m trying to build is just going to rot, then what’s the point? Might as well get fat, lazy, and not care, right? NO!! LOL That’s living for the moment. I have a reasonable expectation of being around for a while, so I want my time here on earth to be spent in helpful pursuits, leaving the world a little bit better for my children and grandchildren. I can do this better if I take care of myself.
Besides, the chicks dig muscles. 
To the Christians,
What kind of proof would it take to convince you that Jesus is not the son of god?
I’m not arguing about whether or not there is a god. Just the Christian part of it.
Fill in the blank:
If___________happened tomorrow, I would give up my belief that Jesus was the son of god.
[quote]Dr. Stig wrote:
steveo5801 wrote:
miniross wrote:
No, now let this bloody thread die.
Why?
Why do you wish to let something that might interest someone to wake up to the reality of eternity and be saved?
Miniross – do you want to go to heaven when you die? Do you care?
Why or why not?
You involve yourself in so many issues that mean nothing when compared to eternal salvation.
Think about it…
We’re British dude, we don’t do religion.
[/quote]
Aint that the truth.
[quote]JPBear wrote:
Dr. Stig wrote:
Maybe it was a soapbox then.
I can agree with that. He has a message. And you don’t have to stop and listen if you don’t want to.[/quote]
So stop worrying about us then.
I find it laughable that you feel that a university education is a waste of time. Where will your offspring be, on the unemployment line? And as for your “bible leader” (funny that everything is hierarchical) having a docterate in molecular biology, well ask him if it was a waste.
Whilst it is true that such education is not the be all and end all, it certainly is not true that you canm indulge in the opiate haze of religion for your entire life and be a truly contributing member of society, which is what i suspect is behind the statement (that read the bible = know everything).
But as for that degree meaning anything when it comes to evolutionary theory…well, thats like saying i know french, so i have a full understanding of Japanese.
It must be a wonderous feeling to be the only person (except tim pheonix) to have a concept of infinity on this planet.
Put it this way. Is 1 billion dollars a lot of money…yes, or know. Can you count to a billion in your life time. Well, unlikely. ! count for every second. Can you cound all the grains of sand on all the beaches in all the world. Well, i dount that too. get my point.
It seems that you are lucky to have “discovered” religion, as your future as a seismologist was certainly in question.
[quote]steveo5801 wrote:
lothario1132 wrote:
I wrote: There is no such thing as forever, steveo. Your life, and all life… even the universe itself is transient and inconstant.
steveo wrote:
That is only your belief . You can choose to believe this, but you must realize that unlike Christian belief which is based upon the Word of God, your belief here is made up out of your head.
Umm… actually I didn’t make up the fact that I was born, and that someday I will die. Life begins, life ends. This is the truth I was talking about that you can see with your own eyes. I see dead bodies at work all the time. They aren’t alive. Honest.
I wrote:
This is the way of the universe – that there is a beginning and an end. Even the sun will someday die, steveo. Realizing this is paying homage to honesty. These are the REAL rules we all must follow whether we like it or not, and anybody who tells you diffently from what your own eyes can plainly see is trying to sell you something.
steveo wrote:
Who told you that “all there is is just all you can see?” Who told you that? Just becuase it seems that all there is is all you can see, doesn’t mean that there isn’t something else --we are eternal beings with an eternal destiny. Perhaps it has to do with another dimension – but alas that is where FAITH comes in! This really is all about faith. My faith, and hence my eternal destiny, I have placed into the hands of the God of Israel – the God of the Bible. You, obviously, have placed your eternity on just what YOU can see.
I’ll take God…
And this is where the pretending comes in. You don’t want to accept the fact that you will live your life, and then it will end. And I understand that.
I have run into this numerous times in other religion threads, because the concept of an afterlife is what is so appealing in any fantasy-based religion. They all have some kind of bargain you can make to escape oblivion, provided you behave in the interests of the structure which is selling the illusion. This is true for christianity, islamism, buddhism, deism, pretty much any -ism.
What is so scary about death? You know exactly what it feels like to be dead. All of us do. Exactly 100% of all life was dead before it was alive without exception. The fact that it seems so unfair to have this wonderful life that has to end is why this afterlife thing was invented as a coping mechanism for those of us with sentience.
Again, can we agree that this is only your opinion, your belief? . Why do you get to be dogmatic, while scolding me for doing the same. Again, my faith system comes from the objective reality of God’s Word. Your belief system only comes from your head through your eyes. Not very reliable, I say.
I am not dogmatic. The second I see someone come back to life after having his head caved in by a cement block and his brains splayed out all over the operating table, I will very quickly change my viewpoint about this. What I AM capable of is accepting what I see and understanding valid conclusions about the evidence that is collected.
You, that is, your consciousness and cognition are 100% dependent upon the health of the biological organ we call a brain. Everything – all your foibles and quirks and those special things that make you who you are – is dependent upon this organ. People with brain damage will have their entire personality altered. I also see this every night at work as well. We have many alzheimer’s patients who will hallucinate that they are being attacked, they will cry for no apparent reason, etc., and these were perfectly normal people in life who had dreams and ambitions and their own personalities which are destroyed utterly by the disease.
It is heartbreaking to watch. I have had two grandparents change into completely different people right in front of my eyes. My beloved grandfather… who taught me how to make him martinis when I was eight years old… he couldn’t recognize my face. He had no idea who I was, steveo.
Conclusion: Who we are is linked to how our brain is doing. When the brain changes, what we are changes. When the brain dies, what we are dies.
And this is borne out by the rest of the evidence. There are no such things as ghosts. I will go to any “haunted house” and spend the night there without zero fear of the supernatural. I might worry about the floor caving in on me if it’s an old house, though.
Point is, when you’re dead, you’re dead.
And even though it is obvious, there will always be some of us who cannot accept this fact. Right now, steveo, you truly believe that you don’t have to die when you die. And from reading all of your posts, I think this is the bedrock foundation upon which your entire faith is based.
Honestly, I don’t see any harm in it for you. It makes you look kinda silly, but that’s never killed anybody. It’s when you start buying into all the other crap that the fantasy is selling that people start to get hurt. I don’t think you are going to personally burn me at the stake for being a heretic, but I am a little dismayed (if not surprised) at your attitude towards gay people. I work with many gays (male nurses, do the math) and lesbians, and they are fine people who don’t deserve your scorn. Save your scorn for people who act selfishly and hurt other people who do not deserve to be hurt.
For time, I have to condense my answer to you instead of going point by point, but I think we really differ in two major points.
You are discounting two things:
(1) We have an eternal soul which can never die.
Surely the body will die – but we are more than brain tissue and blood. We are eternal beings and we will live forever. You have trouble accepting this.
(2) All there is, is more than all we can see.
You only believe what you see and what you can observe. Well, there is far more out there than we can fathom. There is a spiritual dimension that only can be apprehended with spiritual eyes. Those eyes can only be opened when your heart turns in faith to seek after God.
The fact is that I CAN accept death now as never before. I recently went through a heart procedure that, while not very dangerous, did have its potential for serious complications. I was able to go into the procedure room confident in my Lord’s ability to do whatever He wanted to do with my life – including taking it.
Where is your hope? Just to return dead to the ground and to nothingness? Does this even make sense – be born, live 15, 20, 45, 65, 99 years and then – “poof” gone?
We are eternal beings with eternal souls. I am sad that you cannot seem to accept that fact.
[/quote]
Jesus H Christ.
Now god has kindly let you live. Do you know how that sounds?
I would rather it be the years of animal experimentation and science that helped, but oh shit, they pale in to insignificance compared with the big G.
Yes, unfortunately, poof and we go is about it. I happen to think that is far more elegant that the complications of heaven and hell.
Religion is the TV of the stone age, pretty pictures telling you about the world, in clear, concise simple messages, which can only be totally seductive, and ironically, if there were such things as gods teachings, would be in contravention to them.
[quote]steveo5801 wrote:
ephrem wrote:
steveo5801 wrote:
That is only your belief . You can choose to believe this, but you must realize that unlike Christian belief which is based upon the Word of God, your belief here is made up out of your head.
…now this is unbelievable ((-: Belief is belief, no matter how you label it, Steve. That you can write this with a straight face is pretty impressive…
What are you talking about? My comment here was that the poster was expressing his beliefs, but, unlike Christian belief which is grounded upon God’s Word (The Bible), his belief was just from his head. In other words, where is the authority in his belief. I can believe anything I choose, but when eternity is at stake, I would make certain that I am grounded in something more sure than – “well I just believe it because I do.”
What is so hard to comprehend? I am puzzled by your seeming surprise at my comments.
[/quote]
…this is a symptom of your attitude Steve, the inability to comprehend a very straightforward thing. You deny the veracity of someone else’s belief by saying it’s not founded in authority, whilst your belief ?s. Yet you support this idea with just another belief, e.i. the authority of the bible. That is called ‘circular reasoning’, Steve…
[quote]harris447 wrote:
steveo5801 wrote:
harris447 wrote:
Why are you guys even arguing with these idiots?
They’re grown adults believe in fairy tales and magic.
Were it not for the fact that millions of other people share their delusions, they would be put in mental hospitals.
Harris,
For the record, are you saying that Christians who believe as I do in the United States of America, should be put into mental hospitals agains our will? Is that what you are saying?
Please explain, because I think you have lost whatever credibility you didn’t have in the first place…
Well, I’m pretty sure if there’s an arbiter of credibility on this board, it ain’t you, but…
My point is that if there were only ONE PERSON in the world who believed that there was this mystical, all-knowing, all-seeing being who created the universe but somehow found time to care about every single individual’s meals and hats.
This being then impregnated a woman–with magic–and that person had superpowers, like Spider-Man with sandals, and he died but CAME BACK TO LIFE and now watches everything we do.
If just one person believed that…we’d call him a lunatic.
But, since A LOT of people believe it, it’s called reigion.
That’s my point.
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Actually, just about every civilization has worshipped something…Something other than beer, drugs and women.
There is a built in need to worship the almighty.