Why believe in god?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You've taken that "I come to bring a sword" passage totally out of context. It was completely metaphorical, which a simple Google could have told you immediately, within the first 1-3 search returns. We all know, however, that even basic inquiry is beyond you.

Sorry. You don't have a "gruesome" quote from Jesus., and you won't find one. You just have two letters from two guys who were trying to interpret Jesus for their era but who weren't Jesus. Duh. And a bunch of random stuff from the Old Testament. Duh again. I doubt you're self-aware enough to be embarassed, although you should be.

Of course -- all the uncomfortable stuff in the bible is metaphorical. But the stuff about Jesus being the way to heaven -- that's for real.

How can you tell one from the other? It's a matter of faith.

But this one is metaphorical. Jesus talked in parables and metaphors all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

You're a moron - plain and simple.

Zeus was indeed their god before people made the move toward monotheism. Is that too hard for you to understand? When the Romans conquered the Greeks, they moved to Jupiter (and his minions) instead.

Constantine the Great, anyone? He hand picked parts of the bible to increase his power. Furthermore, those ruled have NO choice, as they are now unified under one god.

I'm a lazy thinker? lmfao

I'm the only one providing EVIDENCE to support my point.

You (and your minions) have provided no useful information toward any sane argument defending a belief in god.

Please share your research. I'll be waiting.

It wasn't until the First Council of Nicea (at @325 CE) when these gods were combined into one god.

Hey, all of us can play your game of dredging up old posts. Let's go back to this one, shall we?

Yes, despite your backtracking at 18:01, you DID claim that Nicaea "invented" monitheism. I bolded it for you. Care to try explaining yourself some more?

Still waiting for a response to this one....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I really liked this old post, too. Hey, fair's fair. if you can resurrect (pun intended) old posts and append a bunch of random Old Testament authors that you thought were from the New Testament, then the least I can do for you is bring your BFF Ayn Rand back into the conversation.

Love this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is the accuser going to acknowledge these references, continue to defend the accusation or gloss over it or ignore it?

New Testament - some good quotes:

1 Timothy 2:12New International Version (NIV)
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;[a] she must be quiet.

Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
Psalm 137:9

Jeremiah 19:9
I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.'

Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
1 Peter 2:18

23Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” 24When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 25He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
2 Kings 2:23

"'Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
Leviticus 18:22

b/c this one preaches love your brother - as long as your brother stays in the closet

Only Peter and Timothy are new testament -- but they are gruesome enough. Of course, the Old testament is more gruesome-- remember this was Jesus' Dad

Nice job pointing that out -- after somebody else pointed that out first. To paraphrase McCarthy, have you no shame?

Have you never heard of people posting simultaneously?

Simultaneously?!

Your post came 11 minutes after the post pointing out your error. You are the saddest troll ever.

wasn't my error -- different poster -- and the moderator could prove it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, not entirely true. Brain function doesn't explain how a dead patient heard a conversation down the hall.

Just as the world was once flat, my god-fearing friend, we'll soon understand more and more about the functions of the brain in the near future.

But you can not discount this theory based only on the fact that you haven't another theory of your own to explain it.

Hearing the NDE experience of another person does NOT prove god(s). Again, there's no evidence, period. You are assuming.

It all boils down to some of you people are just fearful and gullible. I enjoy watching folks contort their own subconscious in order to "prove" a certain pre-conclusion which could very well be described as myth. A conclusion which was handed to you.... along with rules. Couldn't you figure out how to live, without other people telling you how to judge and what to do? It is pitiable.

-- Agnostic, not muslim poster, not Ayn Rand's BFF (can't stand her either).

[Anonymous]

The original question was "why believe in God?" My answer is so simple. I believe in God (Goddess, Source, Allah, Universal Force, Love, First Mover, Spirit, Higher Power, ....whatever name you choose) because I absolutely know God exists. During meditation and prayer, I can allow my mind to quiet and listen to that still, quiet voice that dwells deep in my consciousness. I can feel Spirit moving in and through me as clearly as I can feel the wind on my face. There is a part of my consciousness connected to the entire Universe. We are all part of God. You don't have to believe He/She exists. Every cell in your body is a part of God. You can choose to spend time in meditation and/or prayer in order to get closer to God. Or you can ignore that part of you that recognizes God. Regardless, God does exisis. He/She created you and everyone and everything around you in perfect love. If every person on this planet recognized the divine worth of others and of themselves, we would live in a very, very different world.

I believe someday that will happen. And that will be Heaven.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Is the accuser going to acknowledge these references, continue to defend the accusation or gloss over it or ignore it?

New Testament - some good quotes:

1 Timothy 2:12New International Version (NIV)
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man;[a] she must be quiet.

Happy is the one who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
Psalm 137:9

Jeremiah 19:9
I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh because their enemies will press the siege so hard against them to destroy them.'

Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
1 Peter 2:18

23Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead!” 24When he looked behind him and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the LORD. Then two female bears came out of the woods and tore up forty-two lads of their number. 25He went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.
2 Kings 2:23

"'Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
Leviticus 18:22

b/c this one preaches love your brother - as long as your brother stays in the closet

Only Peter and Timothy are new testament -- but they are gruesome enough. Of course, the Old testament is more gruesome-- remember this was Jesus' Dad

Nice job pointing that out -- after somebody else pointed that out first. To paraphrase McCarthy, have you no shame?

Have you never heard of people posting simultaneously?

Simultaneously?!

Your post came 11 minutes after the post pointing out your error. You are the saddest troll ever.

wasn't my error -- different poster -- and the moderator could prove it.

I don't know who you are, and I don't care if you're the same or a different poster.

The fact remains--and I'm sure the moderator can prove it--that the original poster let that ridiculous error stand for almost FOUR HOURS (since it was first posted at 19:03).

The moderator can also prove, if he cared, that YOU didn't chime in for another 11 MINUTES after I pointed the error out. but, uh, thanks for seconding my post. It would be interesting if the moderator tracked how long you were posting on here before you jumped on to second my post, but I'm sure he has better things to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, not entirely true. Brain function doesn't explain how a dead patient heard a conversation down the hall.

Just as the world was once flat, my god-fearing friend, we'll soon understand more and more about the functions of the brain in the near future.

But you can not discount this theory based only on the fact that you haven't another theory of your own to explain it.

Hearing the NDE experience of another person does NOT prove god(s). Again, there's no evidence, period. You are assuming.

It all boils down to some of you people are just fearful and gullible. I enjoy watching folks contort their own subconscious in order to "prove" a certain pre-conclusion which could very well be described as myth. A conclusion which was handed to you.... along with rules. Couldn't you figure out how to live, without other people telling you how to judge and what to do? It is pitiable.

-- Agnostic, not muslim poster, not Ayn Rand's BFF (can't stand her either).

We are amazed at how angry and spiteful you atheists get. But we try not to enjoy it, that would be wrong of us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, not entirely true. Brain function doesn't explain how a dead patient heard a conversation down the hall.

Just as the world was once flat, my god-fearing friend, we'll soon understand more and more about the functions of the brain in the near future.

But you can not discount this theory based only on the fact that you haven't another theory of your own to explain it.

Hearing the NDE experience of another person does NOT prove god(s). Again, there's no evidence, period. You are assuming.

It all boils down to some of you people are just fearful and gullible. I enjoy watching folks contort their own subconscious in order to "prove" a certain pre-conclusion which could very well be described as myth. A conclusion which was handed to you.... along with rules. Couldn't you figure out how to live, without other people telling you how to judge and what to do? It is pitiable.

-- Agnostic, not muslim poster, not Ayn Rand's BFF (can't stand her either).

We are amazed at how angry and spiteful you atheists get. But we try not to enjoy it, that would be wrong of us.

Also, the troll here is like shooting fish in a barrel, and that's a bit fun, I confess. Mithras? Horus? Narnia? Nicaea? She's so ridiculous it's hard not to laugh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, not entirely true. Brain function doesn't explain how a dead patient heard a conversation down the hall.

Just as the world was once flat, my god-fearing friend, we'll soon understand more and more about the functions of the brain in the near future.

But you can not discount this theory based only on the fact that you haven't another theory of your own to explain it.

Hearing the NDE experience of another person does NOT prove god(s). Again, there's no evidence, period. You are assuming.

It all boils down to some of you people are just fearful and gullible. I enjoy watching folks contort their own subconscious in order to "prove" a certain pre-conclusion which could very well be described as myth. A conclusion which was handed to you.... along with rules. Couldn't you figure out how to live, without other people telling you how to judge and what to do? It is pitiable.

-- Agnostic, not muslim poster, not Ayn Rand's BFF (can't stand her either).

We are amazed at how angry and spiteful you atheists get. But we try not to enjoy it, that would be wrong of us.

Pffft. You're the one who thinks she has to answer to a god someday. So you better be sweet to us heathens, hon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, not entirely true. Brain function doesn't explain how a dead patient heard a conversation down the hall.

Just as the world was once flat, my god-fearing friend, we'll soon understand more and more about the functions of the brain in the near future.

But you can not discount this theory based only on the fact that you haven't another theory of your own to explain it.

Hearing the NDE experience of another person does NOT prove god(s). Again, there's no evidence, period. You are assuming.

It all boils down to some of you people are just fearful and gullible. I enjoy watching folks contort their own subconscious in order to "prove" a certain pre-conclusion which could very well be described as myth. A conclusion which was handed to you.... along with rules. Couldn't you figure out how to live, without other people telling you how to judge and what to do? It is pitiable.

-- Agnostic, not muslim poster, not Ayn Rand's BFF (can't stand her either).

We are amazed at how angry and spiteful you atheists get. But we try not to enjoy it, that would be wrong of us.

Pffft. You're the one who thinks she has to answer to a god someday. So you better be sweet to us heathens, hon.

You say that like it's a bad thing. It's not, hon!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God gave humans 'good dreams'

" I call good dreams: I mean those queer stories scattered all through the heathen religions ..." See more here: http://home.earthlink.net/~mysticalrose/pagan4.html

About why I believe in God? Because I believe - in the bones of my bones- in absolute Good and Evil (not socially constructed) and without a God is hard (impossible) to justify that.

Why Christianity? Because it is the only religion I know of that at least claims that God came down to suffer with us.

About evil& suffering-the only really big argument agaist God IMO- if God is big enough to be mad at ( for not stopping evil), he is also big enough to have some reason for it. It helps that, as stated above, according to Christianity, He came down to take a share of it, so it's not like he was all talk.

And if we don't appreciate it, he sends us to burn in hell for ETERNITY

I subscribe to the idea that we are all going to be with God, if we want to. Some will prefer Hell to God. Read 'The Great Divorce' to see what I mean.

Oh right -- we should read a whole book to understand your great wisdom

It's very very short book! And yes, it is fiction- so what? (for the other poster who complains about that). There is truth in fiction books.

Also, I told you in brief what I mean: most theologians dont have a fire and brimstone view of hell. It is most like a choice that turns into an addition: God is like getting clean to an alcoholic, first you dont want to, then you cant. In this view, God just lets you go to hell bc thats where you want to be.

It doesn't really matter what theologians and novelists think about hell if there's no reason to believe in such a terrible place

That was in reply to a poster whi complained about the Christian God sending people to hell. It mattered enough to that poster, since he/she made an issue of it. If you don't care for it, no problem at all.

That was me. The statement stands. It wasn't a complaint about the Christian God, it was a statement. The punishment for not accepting Christ as your savior is hell - which is very well known in Christianity and the reason why missionaries try to spread the Word -- to give people the opportunity to accept Jesus as their savior, so they can avoid hell.

Statemement stand, sort of. One, you need to define hell. I gave you "my" definition which is fairly mainstream - hell is separation from God. Two, hell is not punishment for not accepting Jesus. Hell us default state : accirding to Christian theology, we are all drowning and God is offering a floating device. Your choice to take it or leave it.
They might be all fables all right, but at least get your fables right if you care to discuss them at all.

[Anonymous]

Sorry for typos, meaning should be clear anyhow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God gave humans 'good dreams'

" I call good dreams: I mean those queer stories scattered all through the heathen religions ..." See more here: http://home.earthlink.net/~mysticalrose/pagan4.html

About why I believe in God? Because I believe - in the bones of my bones- in absolute Good and Evil (not socially constructed) and without a God is hard (impossible) to justify that.

Why Christianity? Because it is the only religion I know of that at least claims that God came down to suffer with us.

About evil& suffering-the only really big argument agaist God IMO- if God is big enough to be mad at ( for not stopping evil), he is also big enough to have some reason for it. It helps that, as stated above, according to Christianity, He came down to take a share of it, so it's not like he was all talk.

And if we don't appreciate it, he sends us to burn in hell for ETERNITY

I subscribe to the idea that we are all going to be with God, if we want to. Some will prefer Hell to God. Read 'The Great Divorce' to see what I mean.

Oh right -- we should read a whole book to understand your great wisdom

It's very very short book! And yes, it is fiction- so what? (for the other poster who complains about that). There is truth in fiction books.

Also, I told you in brief what I mean: most theologians dont have a fire and brimstone view of hell. It is most like a choice that turns into an addition: God is like getting clean to an alcoholic, first you dont want to, then you cant. In this view, God just lets you go to hell bc thats where you want to be.

It doesn't really matter what theologians and novelists think about hell if there's no reason to believe in such a terrible place

That was in reply to a poster whi complained about the Christian God sending people to hell. It mattered enough to that poster, since he/she made an issue of it. If you don't care for it, no problem at all.

That was me. The statement stands. It wasn't a complaint about the Christian God, it was a statement. The punishment for not accepting Christ as your savior is hell - which is very well known in Christianity and the reason why missionaries try to spread the Word -- to give people the opportunity to accept Jesus as their savior, so they can avoid hell.

Statemement stand, sort of. One, you need to define hell. I gave you "my" definition which is fairly mainstream - hell is separation from God. Two, hell is not punishment for not accepting Jesus. Hell us default state : accirding to Christian theology, we are all drowning and God is offering a floating device. Your choice to take it or leave it.
They might be all fables all right, but at least get your fables right if you care to discuss them at all.

Wait, why should she define "hell?" That's so relative, what would be the point. I for one would believe in god(s) before I believed in hell. I can say with 100% confidence that there is no Christian hell. About gods, I am agnostic because if you define god as conscious energy I might be able to squint and visualize that. But no hell. And no divine intervention either.

Reading people's NDEs make me even more certain that there is no hell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pp, not entirely true. Brain function doesn't explain how a dead patient heard a conversation down the hall.

Just as the world was once flat, my god-fearing friend, we'll soon understand more and more about the functions of the brain in the near future.

But you can not discount this theory based only on the fact that you haven't another theory of your own to explain it.

Nor can you prove that there's an afterlife based on some NDE person's account of hearing a conversation while dead.

Doing more research, however, is likely to produce more answers as we learn more and more about the brain.

If the consciousness hears and sees after death, yes, it means exactly that. There must be an afterlife or this must be accepted as a plausible theory. You have no alternative theory to explain it.