[Slimland]

If He {Jesus} is Lord-- then it would make more sense, that this has cause more debates, more inspiration around the globe than anyother religion. And All the prophecy's concerning Messiah and so forth.. I know of no other religion that has such detail and absolute accuracy..

Above is what I said

And Below is Fozzy's Reply

That's not even remotely true. Debates based on theology bring us the condition the planet is in today. Religion is behind ALL the evil in the world and has since religion and the various religions gods were invented.

Yes it is true, Jesus Christ just the name alone has cause more debates, inspiration, and yes Fozzy for the religious fanaticals, even the killings. Than anyother name in history.. As for religion being behind all the evil, that I disagree with.. Though it is a tool for sure and a big one, it is not behind all the evil..

I notice you didn't touch the prophecy's..hmm..

:lol:

I said

So Fozzy you just took one analogy, to fit your skepticsism.. Now I expected you to do better. I think you getting soft. Laughing Cool

Fozzy said

Soft? Not here man, you are just having a bout of wishful thinking...

Now why would I want that? I have been so bored since my discussion with Hobo, on God being an outlaw, and Divination threads.. Now someone ressurects this thread, and most it is new face's except for You, Useless, and I.. I miss it..

[Aligator]

Do you believe in God?

No, not really, at least as far as most Christians are concerned.
I think Christianity has it all wrong. In fact I'll go a step further and say that Christianity does great harm insofar as the discovery of the nature of life is concerned.

To believe in the Christian God, one must engage in puppetry and reduce God to the status of a child's sock puppet by having a son by a virgin, becoming angry, demanding to be worshipped and the like.

Christians, I believe, a way off the mark. But it makes them feel better to believe that Jesus loves them and God is watching over them. So be it.

[Fozzy]

I notice you didn't touch the prophecy's..hmm..

Because they are irrelevant and of course a product of your religious choice. I did not discuss the lopping off the end of one's genitals to make some divine being happy either.

[silvan]

I think a better and more neutral way to phrase this question would have been "Are you religious?" In that case, yes, I am. Am I a Christian, as implied tacitly by the phrasing and context of the question?

No, most assuredly not, and I know dozens of well-meaning Christians who cry for me every day. It's sad they feel compelled to waste their time trying to "save" me.

I'm not lost, friends. I am completely at peace, and that's all anybody really needs to know about my religion.

[geomon]

Good to hear Silvan...I'm sure God is at peace with that as well.

Fozzy & Gator....If not God, then what?
...and just to let you know, bio-chemical scientists are further away from finding out how life arose spontaneously today than they were 30 years ago. The more they learn, the less they can find an answer.

[Fozzy]

Originally Posted by geomon

Good to hear Silvan...I'm sure God is at peace with that as well.

Fozzy & Gator....If not God, then what?

Who cares? If people were living in the NOW and would stop this living on streets of gold or with the virgins after they die BS, this would be a much better planet.

...and just to let you know, bio-chemical scientists are further away from finding out how life arose spontaneously today than they were 30 years ago. The more they learn, the less they can find an answer.

So that means that there is automatically a son of god and that there is automatically more relevance to YOUR choice of imaginary friend than someone else. I think the word spontaneous when you are discussion evolution points out that you cannot understand that time is irrelevant in the process.

[geomon]

Who cares? You need to care because we all have to believe in something and at the very least, you should be able to stand behind that belief. What I’m saying….and I am not trying to convert you at all as that is a very private matter…is that you need to drill down on the convictions on which you stand. I think it was Socrates that said “an unexamined life is not worth living”. And it’s hard to live an examined life in an unexamining age such as the frantic consumer driven one we’re in today. But these are things that will either affect you on the other side of the curtain…or…are just meaningless thoughts and then you die so it won’t matter.

So once again Fozzy, if not God…then what? I repeat my question because I am interested to hear what you believe in because you have to believe in something even if that something is “there is no God”.
And if you don’t believe in God then: The beauty of a sunset, the emotions that beautiful music can bring, the love for your wife or family are just meaningless bits of chance biochemistry? If that is true then it does not matter if you cheat on your wife, steal from your family, embezzle money or, what ever…because as long as you don’t get caught then it doesn’t matter because we are all just dust in the wind. Which brings me back to the statement that “it rained last night” and “ Hitler killed a million Jews” would mean the exact same thing…just statements of fact.

And time is absolutely relevant to the process. The earth has only been around for 3-4 billion years and the chemistry needed for life to spontaneously arise was not around all that long. So I differ with you and say that time is an important consideration for life to have arisen. There are people that are specialists in this that say that the complex proteins could not have arisen thru chance and (limited) time. There simply is no evidence of that. Now I believe that evolution does occur and there is proof for this but there is not one bit of proof nor any solid theories as to how life arose….except for one, it was created.

And yes, I believe I used spontaneous in its correct way.

[Useless]

Originally Posted by silvan

I think a better and more neutral way to phrase this question would have been "Are you religious?" In that case, yes, I am. Am I a Christian, as implied tacitly by the phrasing and context of the question?

No, most assuredly not, and I know dozens of well-meaning Christians who cry for me every day. It's sad they feel compelled to waste their time trying to "save" me.

I'm not lost, friends. I am completely at peace, and that's all anybody really needs to know about my religion.

Silvan:

You'll be "completely at peace" burning for eternity in the firey pitts of Hell!! :twisted:

But Seriously, Though!!

Yeah, I'll drink to that!!
(But only when "Off Duty"!!)

The Christian, Jewish, and Mormon, and Islamic "God" seems to not only thrive upon co-dependancy, "He" even seems to demand it!!

[Fozzy]

Who cares? You need to care because we all have to believe in something and at the very least, you should be able to stand behind that belief.

So what you’re saying is that humans somehow need an imaginary friend to make their life worth anything?

What I’m saying….and I am not trying to convert you at all as that is a very private matter…is that you need to drill down on the convictions on which you stand.

Not in the least. I’m very comfortable with my positions on religion and its place in the world.

I think it was Socrates that said “an unexamined life is not worth living”. And it’s hard to live an examined life in an unexamining age such as the frantic consumer driven one we’re in today. But these are things that will either affect you on the other side of the curtain…or…are just meaningless thoughts and then you die so it won’t matter.

I will die and it doesn’t matter, you’ll die, everyone dies… and it still doesn’t matter.To insinuate that people must have some religion forced on them to be able to evaluate their lives is rather insulting.

So once again Fozzy, if not God…then what? I repeat my question because I am interested to hear what you believe in because you have to believe in something even if that something is “there is no God”.

I’ve stated my beliefs several times, the point that always seems to get in some people’s throats is that I do not care to give “their” version of god any better marks than any other persons god. Historically, it is these different versions of gods that has blackened the earth and has created millions of these worthless deaths you refer too.

And if you don’t believe in God then: The beauty of a sunset, the emotions that beautiful music can bring, the love for your wife or family are just meaningless bits of chance biochemistry?

That’s just an odd way to view things and frankly rather sad.

If that is true then it does not matter if you cheat on your wife, steal from your family, embezzle money or, what ever…because as long as you don’t get caught then it doesn’t matter because we are all just dust in the wind.

Pure bilge water! There are more religious people doing these thing and are forgiven by there version of god, there are “godless” philosophy’s of other kinds where you get away with none of that. Again if you look at the Christians here in this country, My record is nowhere near as bad, yet I’m looked down upon or pitied because I do not use nor need a version of god to forgive me for these things? It’s what I call the divine get out of jail free card. No man is happier when committing atrocities when he feels that his god will absolved and even reward him afterwards. Give me a break! I have never cheated on my wife or stolen from my family and the inference that I would because I do not need a religion is again totally unfounded and insulting.

Which brings me back to the statement that “it rained last night” and “ Hitler killed a million Jews” would mean the exact same thing…just statements of fact.

And you didn’t answer my conclusion to this asinine statement in the last post. So why should I comment on it again.

And time is absolutely relevant to the process. The earth has only been around for 3-4 billion years and the chemistry needed for life to spontaneously arise was not around all that long. So I differ with you and say that time is an important consideration for life to have arisen. There are people that are specialists in this that say that the complex proteins could not have arisen thru chance and (limited) time. There simply is no evidence of that. Now I believe that evolution does occur and there is proof for this but there is not one bit of proof nor any solid theories as to how life arose….except for one, it was created.

And yes, I believe I used spontaneous in its correct way.

It’s still immaterial to the conversation unless you are in the archaic mindset of anytime a human cannot explain something instantly, it somehow is some version of some gods plan.. poppycock!

[Aligator]

Originally Posted by geomon

......bio-chemical scientists are further away from finding out how life arose spontaneously today than they were 30 years ago........

Fair enough. But they are much, much closer than they were 2000 years ago when they had the perfect explanation and wrote it all up in the bible.