Is a good atheist better then a bad christian?

[Anonymous]

The New Testament addresses this pretty directly. It seems like 3/4 of the people who follow Jesus are repentant prostitutes and tax collectors. And there is a pretty famous parable about a man who leaves his father, goes out and and does a ton of terrible things, then returns repentant and is totally forgiven. The father in that story is supposed to be God, and he seems pretty happy to see the son who left and returned.

So, I am going to say that doing wrong, recognizing that wrong, humbling yourself and asking forgiveness is “better” then walking around feeling morally superior to everyone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is where religion is a joke as anyone can do horrible things to anyone else and its ok as long as they claim religion and confess. I'd rather rather be a good person and atheist than someone who believes in an unproved God doing horrible things.

I think you misunderstand confession. It’s not supposed to be “My bad!”. I was raised to believe that the forgiveness of sins only came with actual repentance. If you just say I’m sorry, but continue the behavior, the relationship with God is not repaired.

This is my understanding as well.

I believe that if you sin, and you are truly sorry for what you did and ask for forgiveness, then God will show you mercy. Do you think no one should ever be forgiven, OP?

1. Did you commit a premeditated sin?
2. Did you commit accidental sin?
3. What do you mean by sorry? Are you sorry for yourself or for what you did? Or for the one you hurt?
4. Whom do you ask for forgiveness, God or the one you hurt?
5. Did you make up to the ones you hurt?
6. Will god forgive you until you make up to the ones you hurt?

People might be forgiven but there is no guarantee they "won't do the time" as God may just sentence them as by human standards
if you do a crime, you do the time and then you get out as you are forgiven but you had to be punished, and of course you pay back
all that you stole and such. Right?

After all if one believes that humans are created in the image of God..?...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The New Testament addresses this pretty directly. It seems like 3/4 of the people who follow Jesus are repentant prostitutes and tax collectors. And there is a pretty famous parable about a man who leaves his father, goes out and and does a ton of terrible things, then returns repentant and is totally forgiven. The father in that story is supposed to be God, and he seems pretty happy to see the son who left and returned.

So, I am going to say that doing wrong, recognizing that wrong, humbling yourself and asking forgiveness is “better” then walking around feeling morally superior to everyone else.

Oh.. and ah.. First of all where did you get the statistics? With such a precision to it! Which by all measures seems like total BS and is and most likely was a total BS.

That pretty famous parable you are referring to is as story of Prodigal Son I assume, who did not do any tons of terrible things, he simply spent his father fortune and came back and his father forgave him. Not that I am trying to be superior but honestly this story is teaching many things and it is not addressing per se most of the kind of sins people commit. It was more of a story about the loving and kind father then your average sinner story. But then again, not to sin with arrogance, I think you try the best point you could find so I take it.

[Anonymous]

Orthodox Christians believe it is not enough to profess faith, but one must do “acts of mercy” each day to truly be a Christian. (Acts of mercy are like feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, etc.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the eyes of god, a Christian is always better.

So the Nazi criminals on trial at Nuremberg, who met with a chaplain in the months before they were hanged, were "better" in the eyes of god than Holocaust survivors who lost their faith and never regained it before dying?

You don't see the provocative character of the PPP , PP? He just wanted to poke you, you should not bite. You are a good person and
you know in your heart that if you are good person, how much good-er must God be?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Be a good person in life, whether you believe or don't believe.

Or at the very least try your best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be a good person in life, whether you believe or don't believe.

Or at the very least try your best.

I am sure there are points for trying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is where religion is a joke as anyone can do horrible things to anyone else and its ok as long as they claim religion and confess. I'd rather rather be a good person and atheist than someone who believes in an unproved God doing horrible things.

I think you misunderstand confession. It’s not supposed to be “My bad!”. I was raised to believe that the forgiveness of sins only came with actual repentance. If you just say I’m sorry, but continue the behavior, the relationship with God is not repaired.

This is my understanding as well.

I believe that if you sin, and you are truly sorry for what you did and ask for forgiveness, then God will show you mercy. Do you think no one should ever be forgiven, OP?

I don't know all ins and outs of the Catholicism but isn't it that Jesus actually gave the power of forgiveness to the hands of one another?
It totally makes sense, at least to me. If someone trespasses against another person, it only makes sense that until the trespassers make it
up to the trespassee only then they can ask for forgiveness of them and God because God in a way only would supervise the process that is between two humans. It kind of sucks and sounds like a legal loop when people think you can hurt another and then ask God for forgiveness while you don't make up to the one you hurt. Right? It only makes sense.

No. That isn’t right. Being sorry for something you did is something you do on your own. It doesn’t require other people to agree with you or even know about it. And it isn’t a loophole.
Again, I still feel like you have an assumption that when people are asking for forgiveness, they don’t really feel sorry, ashamed, guilty, or mournful about what they did, or that they don’t try to repair their wrongs. It isn’t just all just some kind of lip service.

But, for example, if you were, say, a real estate attorney, and you spent decades finding legal loopholes for your clients to get around environmental laws and save money when building a new development. At some point, you realize the error of your ways, and you ask Gods forgiveness, stop doing that work, and spend your retirement living simply, donating most of your money to environmental organizations and working to close these legal loopholes, then you would be forgiven.

Or if, say, you are a terrible mother and drink throughout most of your kids’ childhoods. Then one day, you sober up, realize the error of your ways, and repent and realize all of the horrible things you did, and ask for Gods forgiveness. Then you get really involved in aa, stay sober, and sponsor and help other young mothers so they can give their children a better childhood. Your own adult children might never forgive you, but you would be forgiven by God.

You see, it isn’t up to us to judge, to decide who is forgiven and who isn’t. That isn’t a power that was given to human beings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The New Testament addresses this pretty directly. It seems like 3/4 of the people who follow Jesus are repentant prostitutes and tax collectors. And there is a pretty famous parable about a man who leaves his father, goes out and and does a ton of terrible things, then returns repentant and is totally forgiven. The father in that story is supposed to be God, and he seems pretty happy to see the son who left and returned.

So, I am going to say that doing wrong, recognizing that wrong, humbling yourself and asking forgiveness is “better” then walking around feeling morally superior to everyone else.

Oh.. and ah.. First of all where did you get the statistics? With such a precision to it! Which by all measures seems like total BS and is and most likely was a total BS.

That pretty famous parable you are referring to is as story of Prodigal Son I assume, who did not do any tons of terrible things, he simply spent his father fortune and came back and his father forgave him. Not that I am trying to be superior but honestly this story is teaching many things and it is not addressing per se most of the kind of sins people commit. It was more of a story about the loving and kind father then your average sinner story. But then again, not to sin with arrogance, I think you try the best point you could find so I take it.

Dude, I am sorry I don’t have exact statistics for you on tax collectors in the Bible. That’s a bit much to ask for.

And we are talking about a loving and kind father here, right? One that truly forgives? The OPs question seemed to be whether or not people are truly forgiven their sins when they ask for forgiveness. Or if God would prefer someone who just sins less, but never asks for forgiveness. It really seems to me that He pretty overwhelmingly prefers the humbled and repentant sinner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Be a good person in life, whether you believe or don't believe.

Or at the very least try your best.

I am sure there are points for trying.

There really aren’t “points” for any of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is where religion is a joke as anyone can do horrible things to anyone else and its ok as long as they claim religion and confess. I'd rather rather be a good person and atheist than someone who believes in an unproved God doing horrible things.

I think you misunderstand confession. It’s not supposed to be “My bad!”. I was raised to believe that the forgiveness of sins only came with actual repentance. If you just say I’m sorry, but continue the behavior, the relationship with God is not repaired.

This is my understanding as well.

I believe that if you sin, and you are truly sorry for what you did and ask for forgiveness, then God will show you mercy. Do you think no one should ever be forgiven, OP?

I don't know all ins and outs of the Catholicism but isn't it that Jesus actually gave the power of forgiveness to the hands of one another?
It totally makes sense, at least to me. If someone trespasses against another person, it only makes sense that until the trespassers make it
up to the trespassee only then they can ask for forgiveness of them and God because God in a way only would supervise the process that is between two humans. It kind of sucks and sounds like a legal loop when people think you can hurt another and then ask God for forgiveness while you don't make up to the one you hurt. Right? It only makes sense.

No. That isn’t right. Being sorry for something you did is something you do on your own. It doesn’t require other people to agree with you or even know about it. And it isn’t a loophole.
Again, I still feel like you have an assumption that when people are asking for forgiveness, they don’t really feel sorry, ashamed, guilty, or mournful about what they did, or that they don’t try to repair their wrongs. It isn’t just all just some kind of lip service.

But, for example, if you were, say, a real estate attorney, and you spent decades finding legal loopholes for your clients to get around environmental laws and save money when building a new development. At some point, you realize the error of your ways, and you ask Gods forgiveness, stop doing that work, and spend your retirement living simply, donating most of your money to environmental organizations and working to close these legal loopholes, then you would be forgiven.

Or if, say, you are a terrible mother and drink throughout most of your kids’ childhoods. Then one day, you sober up, realize the error of your ways, and repent and realize all of the horrible things you did, and ask for Gods forgiveness. Then you get really involved in aa, stay sober, and sponsor and help other young mothers so they can give their children a better childhood. Your own adult children might never forgive you, but you would be forgiven by God.

You see, it isn’t up to us to judge, to decide who is forgiven and who isn’t. That isn’t a power that was given to human beings.

^^^sorry for the terrible grammar. I had a lot of interruptions while typing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you kindly look up definition of religion you will see that one of the meanings is defined as:

a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance.

So.. is atheism religion or not? Certainly many atheists I know do pursue their atheism, they do it with extreme intensity, it is not just absence of faith, it is insistence and constant proclamation and denial of God and or any deity, it is hard work that never ends.. and .. you betcha
that they ascribe supreme importance to the whole thing.

No, it is not a religion.

Despite what you type it is, in fact, just an absence of faith. That’s it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is where religion is a joke as anyone can do horrible things to anyone else and its ok as long as they claim religion and confess. I'd rather rather be a good person and atheist than someone who believes in an unproved God doing horrible things.

I think you misunderstand confession. It’s not supposed to be “My bad!”. I was raised to believe that the forgiveness of sins only came with actual repentance. If you just say I’m sorry, but continue the behavior, the relationship with God is not repaired.

This is my understanding as well.

I believe that if you sin, and you are truly sorry for what you did and ask for forgiveness, then God will show you mercy. Do you think no one should ever be forgiven, OP?

1. Did you commit a premeditated sin?
2. Did you commit accidental sin?
3. What do you mean by sorry? Are you sorry for yourself or for what you did? Or for the one you hurt?
4. Whom do you ask for forgiveness, God or the one you hurt?
5. Did you make up to the ones you hurt?
6. Will god forgive you until you make up to the ones you hurt?

People might be forgiven but there is no guarantee they "won't do the time" as God may just sentence them as by human standards
if you do a crime, you do the time and then you get out as you are forgiven but you had to be punished, and of course you pay back
all that you stole and such. Right?

After all if one believes that humans are created in the image of God..?...

I am trying, but I don’t understand what you are trying to say here. What do you mean by “do the time?” Pergatory? And what does your point #6 mean?
Also, you seem to be thinking of something very specific here. Lots of sins don’t involve other people being hurt that need an apology. Abortion, missing mass, suicide attempts, feelings of greed or jealousy, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the eyes of God, at the end of their lives, who do you think will be consider is more worthy -
an atheist who lived a life of a good kind helpful and charitable entirely alturistic person or a frequently sinning and repenting Christian equipped with many other flows (you can name them easily)?

Would a true atheist like to go to heaven if it existed or would he like to decline eternal life just to keep his integrity?

Heaven is too boring by your definition, so no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the eyes of god, a Christian is always better.

Do you have a direct line to god? Don't borrow power you don't have.