Anonymous wrote:^I don't know what answer you're looking for. You tell me that you will not go to heaven when you die. I say fine. And then you get upset. WHA?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one thatis truly horrified by the human sacrifice theme that runs through the Bible? God created us, didn't like how we turned out, created a perfect one of us, and then set him up as human sacrifice? And that is supposed to be inspiring? It makes absolutely no sense.

And souls? That also makes no sense at all. Dualism is something you are supposed to get over as you mature. There can't be this many people out there that don't understand how the brain functions, there just can't.

I think the Bible has been translated and rewritten and translated and misinterpreted so many times that we miss the forrest because of the trees. The Christian Bible is full of beautiful metaphors, poetry, and parables. It's pretty obvious that most of it was never meant to be interpreted literally. There is no "Hell" mentioned in the Bible. The PPs who keep posting about eternal damnation and hell need to spend a little time researching the words Sheol, Hades and Gehenna. *Hint - None of them mean "Hell". At least not as Christians define it. The Bible we read today was translated and pieced together by powerful leaders who had every reason to want people to live in fear.

God (Creator, I Am, Love, Universe, Light, Allah, ...whatever your word for your Creator is) created us in perfect love. God is love and is incapable of creating anything but good. We have free will. Humans make mistakes, sometimes horrible mistakes. But we were born good. Jesus came into our world as an example of God's love. He was the divine expression of God here on earth. And we are supposed to try to be the same. That's the goal of Christianity - to become "Christ-like". Jesus' death was meant to demonstrate absolute pure, sacrificial love. God didn't force him to give up his life - Jesus chose that path. It's inspiring in that even when faced with torture and certain death, Jesus remained centered in God. He retained that God consciousness or enlightenment or awakeness....or whatever term you want to use. God used Jesus to communicate His love for us. How else could he have done that?

Do you really think Johah was swallowed by a whale? I think most people see that as a story of faith very much the same way we teach our children the story of the boy who cried wolf. Jesus spoke in parables all the time. Genesis is full of beautiful symbolic poetry about the creation of our world. The stories in the Bible makes sense when they are read with an awareness of cultural and historical context. And most importantly, when they are read using a little logic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one thatis truly horrified by the human sacrifice theme that runs through the Bible? God created us, didn't like how we turned out, created a perfect one of us, and then set him up as human sacrifice? And that is supposed to be inspiring? It makes absolutely no sense.

And souls? That also makes no sense at all. Dualism is something you are supposed to get over as you mature. There can't be this many people out there that don't understand how the brain functions, there just can't.

I think the Bible has been translated and rewritten and translated and misinterpreted so many times that we miss the forrest because of the trees. The Christian Bible is full of beautiful metaphors, poetry, and parables. It's pretty obvious that most of it was never meant to be interpreted literally. There is no "Hell" mentioned in the Bible. The PPs who keep posting about eternal damnation and hell need to spend a little time researching the words Sheol, Hades and Gehenna. *Hint - None of them mean "Hell". At least not as Christians define it. The Bible we read today was translated and pieced together by powerful leaders who had every reason to want people to live in fear.

God (Creator, I Am, Love, Universe, Light, Allah, ...whatever your word for your Creator is) created us in perfect love. God is love and is incapable of creating anything but good. We have free will. Humans make mistakes, sometimes horrible mistakes. But we were born good. Jesus came into our world as an example of God's love. He was the divine expression of God here on earth. And we are supposed to try to be the same. That's the goal of Christianity - to become "Christ-like". Jesus' death was meant to demonstrate absolute pure, sacrificial love. God didn't force him to give up his life - Jesus chose that path. It's inspiring in that even when faced with torture and certain death, Jesus remained centered in God. He retained that God consciousness or enlightenment or awakeness....or whatever term you want to use. God used Jesus to communicate His love for us. How else could he have done that?

Do you really think Johah was swallowed by a whale? I think most people see that as a story of faith very much the same way we teach our children the story of the boy who cried wolf. Jesus spoke in parables all the time. Genesis is full of beautiful symbolic poetry about the creation of our world. The stories in the Bible makes sense when they are read with an awareness of cultural and historical context. And most importantly, when they are read using a little logic.

Yes, because governments the world over just LOVE practicing Christians. No persecution there ever.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one thatis truly horrified by the human sacrifice theme that runs through the Bible? God created us, didn't like how we turned out, created a perfect one of us, and then set him up as human sacrifice? And that is supposed to be inspiring? It makes absolutely no sense.

And souls? That also makes no sense at all. Dualism is something you are supposed to get over as you mature. There can't be this many people out there that don't understand how the brain functions, there just can't.

No, no, no. This is not Christian teaching. God did not create a perfect one of us. God came down Himself, in the form of a man, to be the sacrifice for us so that we could live eternally with Him. Does this sound gruesome, or extreme? I suppose it does, but that is how serious our sin is. The Bible teaches the wages of sin is death. We sin, we die (eventually). This is why God came down Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, to die that death so you don't have to. Those who say God is loving so he wouldn't allow us to go to Hell are missing the point. His love is demonstrated by Christ dying on the cross so that you do not have to die eternally. But your sin is a weighty, dire matter to God. It cannot just be brushed aside. God is love, and He is also holy. He will not allow unforgiven sin into Heaven, and He will not forgive those who reject His offer of forgiveness through Christ. Christ is God, not a created man.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one thatis truly horrified by the human sacrifice theme that runs through the Bible? God created us, didn't like how we turned out, created a perfect one of us, and then set him up as human sacrifice? And that is supposed to be inspiring? It makes absolutely no sense.

And souls? That also makes no sense at all. Dualism is something you are supposed to get over as you mature. There can't be this many people out there that don't understand how the brain functions, there just can't.

I think the Bible has been translated and rewritten and translated and misinterpreted so many times that we miss the forrest because of the trees. The Christian Bible is full of beautiful metaphors, poetry, and parables. It's pretty obvious that most of it was never meant to be interpreted literally. There is no "Hell" mentioned in the Bible. The PPs who keep posting about eternal damnation and hell need to spend a little time researching the words Sheol, Hades and Gehenna. *Hint - None of them mean "Hell". At least not as Christians define it. The Bible we read today was translated and pieced together by powerful leaders who had every reason to want people to live in fear.

God (Creator, I Am, Love, Universe, Light, Allah, ...whatever your word for your Creator is) created us in perfect love. God is love and is incapable of creating anything but good. We have free will. Humans make mistakes, sometimes horrible mistakes. But we were born good. Jesus came into our world as an example of God's love. He was the divine expression of God here on earth. And we are supposed to try to be the same. That's the goal of Christianity - to become "Christ-like". Jesus' death was meant to demonstrate absolute pure, sacrificial love. God didn't force him to give up his life - Jesus chose that path. It's inspiring in that even when faced with torture and certain death, Jesus remained centered in God. He retained that God consciousness or enlightenment or awakeness....or whatever term you want to use. God used Jesus to communicate His love for us. How else could he have done that?

Do you really think Johah was swallowed by a whale? I think most people see that as a story of faith very much the same way we teach our children the story of the boy who cried wolf. Jesus spoke in parables all the time. Genesis is full of beautiful symbolic poetry about the creation of our world. The stories in the Bible makes sense when they are read with an awareness of cultural and historical context. And most importantly, when they are read using a little logic.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not worked up . . .

only pointing out the flaws in religion

If a god loves all and is all good, why would this god deny a good-hearted atheist a space in make-believe heaven?

And where is this in the bible? or - better yet, in another primary source?

And I'm saying God is fulfilling the deep conviction of the atheist. You don't want any part of God or heaven, you expect to close your eyes for eternity and blink out? OK, well then go for it. It wouldn't be painful or sad or disappointing, just nothingness. So what's the problem? And they wouldn't have to deal with all those high and mighty religious people either.

It's the perfect ending.

You don't find your posting the least bit ironic?

How so? After death the atheist experiences exactly what he/she professes it will be. We're not talking about someone who is agnostic - who isn't certain either way.

The high and mighty part? Yeah, maybe.

So God - who supposedly created all of us - would gladly dismiss an atheist - a good one (let's be clear on that)?

My point is this - if people were truly God's people, they wouldn't dismiss an atheist who was a humanitarian or was simply a good father, for example, raising wonderful kids.

So high and might IS mighty appropriate!

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one thatis truly horrified by the human sacrifice theme that runs through the Bible? God created us, didn't like how we turned out, created a perfect one of us, and then set him up as human sacrifice? And that is supposed to be inspiring? It makes absolutely no sense.

And souls? That also makes no sense at all. Dualism is something you are supposed to get over as you mature. There can't be this many people out there that don't understand how the brain functions, there just can't.

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one thatis truly horrified by the human sacrifice theme that runs through the Bible? God created us, didn't like how we turned out, created a perfect one of us, and then set him up as human sacrifice? And that is supposed to be inspiring? It makes absolutely no sense.

And souls? That also makes no sense at all. Dualism is something you are supposed to get over as you mature. There can't be this many people out there that don't understand how the brain functions, there just can't.

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one thatis truly horrified by the human sacrifice theme that runs through the Bible? God created us, didn't like how we turned out, created a perfect one of us, and then set him up as human sacrifice? And that is supposed to be inspiring? It makes absolutely no sense.

And souls? That also makes no sense at all. Dualism is something you are supposed to get over as you mature. There can't be this many people out there that don't understand how the brain functions, there just can't.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not worked up . . .

only pointing out the flaws in religion

If a god loves all and is all good, why would this god deny a good-hearted atheist a space in make-believe heaven?

And where is this in the bible? or - better yet, in another primary source?

And I'm saying God is fulfilling the deep conviction of the atheist. You don't want any part of God or heaven, you expect to close your eyes for eternity and blink out? OK, well then go for it. It wouldn't be painful or sad or disappointing, just nothingness. So what's the problem? And they wouldn't have to deal with all those high and mighty religious people either.

It's the perfect ending.

You don't find your posting the least bit ironic?

How so? After death the atheist experiences exactly what he/she professes it will be. We're not talking about someone who is agnostic - who isn't certain either way.

The high and mighty part? Yeah, maybe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not worked up . . .

only pointing out the flaws in religion

If a god loves all and is all good, why would this god deny a good-hearted atheist a space in make-believe heaven?

And where is this in the bible? or - better yet, in another primary source?

And I'm saying God is fulfilling the deep conviction of the atheist. You don't want any part of God or heaven, you expect to close your eyes for eternity and blink out? OK, well then go for it. It wouldn't be painful or sad or disappointing, just nothingness. So what's the problem? And they wouldn't have to deal with all those high and mighty religious people either.

It's the perfect ending.

You don't find your posting the least bit ironic?

How so? After death the atheist experiences exactly what he/she professes it will be. We're not talking about someone who is agnostic - who isn't certain either way.

The high and mighty part? Yeah, maybe.

It may be the perfect ending, but it's not the one that the Christian God had in mind. He promises eternal suffering for those who don't believe in him, not eternal slumber.

Oh yes? Where does it say that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not worked up . . .

only pointing out the flaws in religion

If a god loves all and is all good, why would this god deny a good-hearted atheist a space in make-believe heaven?

And where is this in the bible? or - better yet, in another primary source?

And I'm saying God is fulfilling the deep conviction of the atheist. You don't want any part of God or heaven, you expect to close your eyes for eternity and blink out? OK, well then go for it. It wouldn't be painful or sad or disappointing, just nothingness. So what's the problem? And they wouldn't have to deal with all those high and mighty religious people either.

It's the perfect ending.

You don't find your posting the least bit ironic?

How so? After death the atheist experiences exactly what he/she professes it will be. We're not talking about someone who is agnostic - who isn't certain either way.

The high and mighty part? Yeah, maybe.

It may be the perfect ending, but it's not the one that the Christian God had in mind. He promises eternal suffering for those who don't believe in him, not eternal slumber.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I'm not worked up . . .

only pointing out the flaws in religion

If a god loves all and is all good, why would this god deny a good-hearted atheist a space in make-believe heaven?

And where is this in the bible? or - better yet, in another primary source?

And I'm saying God is fulfilling the deep conviction of the atheist. You don't want any part of God or heaven, you expect to close your eyes for eternity and blink out? OK, well then go for it. It wouldn't be painful or sad or disappointing, just nothingness. So what's the problem? And they wouldn't have to deal with all those high and mighty religious people either.

It's the perfect ending.

You don't find your posting the least bit ironic?

How so? After death the atheist experiences exactly what he/she professes it will be. We're not talking about someone who is agnostic - who isn't certain either way.

The high and mighty part? Yeah, maybe.

It may be the perfect ending, but it's not the one that the Christian God had in mind. He promises eternal suffering for those who don't believe in him, not eternal slumber.