[digi]

I'm not the arbiter of who's a Christian or who isn't (and never claimed I was). God is.

But, there is no god.

I think it's time to jump off this merry-go-round now.

I thought you were leaving...why are you still peddling your lies?

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

The way I look at it is this: God could've created a perfect world, with no such thing as evil. We could've been just mindless drones who does everything God says like a robot. But God didn't make us that way; he gave us free thought. He acts as our guide, but not as our puppeteer. (Or as he puts it, the shepherd to the lambs.)

God could've just drown the whole evil world like he did with Noah, but he chose not to. The world was saved not by a flaming giant descending from the flaming sky, but by a small child being born in a stable to a mother not important enough to get a room at the inn. Us, with free-thought, were left the task to "prepare his room to welcome him" AKA rebuild the world. And you must admit, the world is a better place than it was 2000 years ago.

We all take it for granted the laws and general compassion of man, but it wasn't always like that. You think we have wars now? Peace barely extisted; democacy didn't exist. It took the ideas of a revolutionary reformer to even spread the idea of peace. But you must remember that peace and freedom takes work. We had to fight the many dangers such as fascism, communism, dictators, sometimes even the church itself. (Even other Christians can be a barrier to God. As Gandhi famously said: "I like you Christ, but not your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.")

If all things just happened, and all was just simply good, how would we know what "Good" even was? How would we know "peace" had we not know "war"? How would we have known "Love" if there was not "Hate". Evil itself cannot and will not be destroyed forever. What we can do is live our lives to the best that it can be. Love until it hurts: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13 , whether it be through Christ, other religions or through non-faith, the journey must be taken.

so god gave us free will, hence all the evil in the world. tell me this, do you believe god answers prayers? because if god does, then he is violating the rules of free will. the fact that god/jesus came to earth and preformed miracles violates the rules of free will. and if you want to talk about mindless drones, what happens in heaven? in the afterlife? there's no evil in heaven is there? can someone in heaven do something bad and be sent to hell? is there also free will in heaven? or are we mindless drones for all eternity?

if the world is a better place than 2000 years ago, it's not because of religion. it's because of technology and a greater understanding, etc.

We all take it for granted the laws and general compassion of man, but it wasn't always like that. You think we have wars now? Peace barely extisted; democacy didn't exist.

what makes you think that jesus brought about this peace? jesus himself is quoted in the bible saying "i come not to bring peace but a sword..etc" "to turn mother against daughter, son against father...etc"

If all things just happened, and all was just simply good, how would we know what "Good" even was? How would we know "peace" had we not know "war"? How would we have known "Love" if there was not "Hate".

that's why there's probably no god. the universe is indifferent to our actions and suffering. if god created the universe, he also created everything that is wrong with the universe. god could have simply let us know what is good and what is bad, simply by encoding this information into us, so we wouldn't have to experience but already know. kinda like how a baby knows to latch on to a breast. instinct.

 

[Mot]

The way I look at it is this: God could've created a perfect world, with no such thing as evil. We could've been just mindless drones who does everything God says like a robot. But God didn't make us that way; he gave us free thought. He acts as our guide, but not as our puppeteer. (Or as he puts it, the shepherd to the lambs.)

God could've just drown the whole evil world like he did with Noah, but he chose not to. The world was saved not by a flaming giant descending from the flaming sky, but by a small child being born in a stable to a mother not important enough to get a room at the inn. Us, with free-thought, were left the task to "prepare his room to welcome him" AKA rebuild the world. And you must admit, the world is a better place than it was 2000 years ago.

We all take it for granted the laws and general compassion of man, but it wasn't always like that. You think we have wars now? Peace barely extisted; democacy didn't exist. It took the ideas of a revolutionary reformer to even spread the idea of peace. But you must remember that peace and freedom takes work. We had to fight the many dangers such as fascism, communism, dictators, sometimes even the church itself. (Even other Christians can be a barrier to God. As Gandhi famously said: "I like you Christ, but not your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.")

If all things just happened, and all was just simply good, how would we know what "Good" even was? How would we know "peace" had we not know "war"? How would we have known "Love" if there was not "Hate". Evil itself cannot and will not be destroyed forever. What we can do is live our lives to the best that it can be. Love until it hurts: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13 , whether it be through Christ, other religions or through non-faith, the journey must be taken.

In my experience you are the exception not the rule when it comes to Christians. Even Transport would say you aren't a real Christian because of the liberal moral relativism he spoke against earlier. He portrays a rigid path to salvation saved only for real Christians.

The ultimate expression of free thought from a God is doubting the very existence of said God. In fact if someday God actually proves to me it exists, I am certain I will be thanked for not blindly following other humans and their cult teachings and instead chose to use my free thought.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

It seems that God wasn't very kind to him, seeing as he lost the war.

he wasn't very kind to the world and all those people who died/suffered either. if god has the ability to be kind or not kind to someone, he is in violation of the rules of free will.

Well, to atheists He was merely human.

wanna know who else is an atheist? your god. he doesn't believe in other gods.

 

[Hydrogen]

I'm not the arbiter of who's a Christian or who isn't (and never claimed I was). God is.

However, once again you are speaking on behalf of god. How do you know what god knows?

And by the way, you were judging who is and is not a christian.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

oh snap! transportfan, not even god himself could get out of the mess you just created.

 

[Transportfan]

However, once again you are speaking on behalf of god. How do you know what god knows?

And by the way, you were judging who is and is not a christian.

Buddy. You're hopeless. Take a hike.

 

[urbanboom]

he wasn't very kind to the world and all those people who died/suffered either. if god has the ability to be kind or not kind to someone, he is in violation of the rules of free will.

Prometheus, do you have children? If you don't, lets just imagine some. You'd love them very much, wouldn't you? Let's say that your child says that they'd like to skateboard. Would you let them? If so, lets say that your child goes out and falls on his skateboard and hurts himself. Is it your fault that your child hurt himself? Of course not. Were you being unkind to your child by letting him use the skateboard? Of course not.

 

[digi]

Buddy. You're hopeless. Take a hike.

that's not very xtian of you....why are you still posting anyway?

 

[digi]

Prometheus, do you have children? If you don't, lets just imagine some. You'd love them very much, wouldn't you? Let's say that your child says that they'd like to skateboard. Would you let them? If so, lets say that your child goes out and falls on his skateboard and hurts himself. Is it your fault that your child hurt himself? Of course not. Were you being unkind to your child by letting him use the skateboard? Of course not.

Are you assuming Prometheus is god? You xtians have weird ideas.

 

[Hydrogen]

Buddy. You're hopeless. Take a hike.

Then one can assume no proof or evidence is forthcoming - merely a display of fantasy and mythology.

 

[urbanboom]

Are you assuming Prometheus is god? You xtians have weird ideas.

Oh, well that's not generalizing or stereotyping at all...

Oh, wait, I stopped bothering with you a few pages ago. I seemed to have forgotten. My mistake..

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

Prometheus, do you have children? If you don't, lets just imagine some. You'd love them very much, wouldn't you? Let's say that your child says that they'd like to skateboard. Would you let them? If so, lets say that your child goes out and falls on his skateboard and hurts himself. Is it your fault that your child hurt himself? Of course not. Were you being unkind to your child by letting him use the skateboard? Of course not.

i'm a human. i do not possess supernatural powers. don't compare me to your god. are you going to say to me next that at least god tried to create a universe, that i didn't even attempt to?

you can't compare someone who lives by the rules of nature vs. someone that created the rules of nature and could break those rules at will. god can prevent the child from being hurt, i could only do my best to try and make it avoidable. i'm not supernatural.

 

[Prometheus The Supremo]

to answer transportfan:


according to the bible & jesus, this is how to tell who is a true christian:

Mark 16:14-18 (Contemporary English Version)

14Afterwards, Jesus appeared to his eleven disciples as they were eating. He scolded them because they were too stubborn to believe the ones who had seen him after he had been raised to life. 15Then he told them:

Go and preach the good news to everyone in the world. 16Anyone who believes me and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe me will be condemned. 17Everyone who believes me will be able to do wonderful things. By using my name they will force out demons, and they will speak new languages. 18They will handle snakes and will drink poison and not be hurt. They will also heal sick people by placing their hands on them.

while i was a devout catholic, i'm pretty sure i would have died if i drank poison. maybe i was never a true christian if you go by the bible and what jesus said. i doubt anyone could drink the most deadly poison and survive though. maybe nobody is a true christian.

i wonder how many people have died trying to prove their faith this way.


it's a good thing my catholic school teachers told us not to take everything in that book seriously. of course, what a person decides to take seriously or not is a matter of personal choice or fear.

p.s, don't anybody take the poison test. it is better to not be sure that you are a true christian and live your life where you can get the chance to become a true christian than to drink poison now, discover you're not a true christian and not be able to go to heaven.

 

[Hipster Duck]

Prometheus, I'm not advocating for the other side, but maybe you should cool it with the excessive use of bible quotes and stuff. You're attacking religion with a scary kind of fervour that I used to think was only capable by secular extremists.