Agreed. Though Bill Gates has used some frustrating and perhaps unethical practices, he would never have gotten where he is had he not done something right. No one was ever "forced" to purchase the first Microsoft products, and had they not been good, in some ways, then he would have never been as successful. He worked hard. People liked what he did. He did well. He is already becoming dated though, Microsoft and Bill Gates will not be around forever. I think it is a sad reflection on our society when someone does well, we have to punish them out of jealousy. I am sure everyone who posts here has had a spotless climb to their current position.
It is true that historically the Bible commanded the killing of non- Christians in places. However, I, a Christian, do not believe that we are commanded to kill those who are unsaved in this present day. I am a protestant, not catholic, so I am not as familiar with how you were raised, but the Bible says that we are to love our enemies, not kill them. God claims that vengeance is His and we are not to take matters of life and death into our own hands. We are not to kill all those who disagree. (Islam does in fact teach this quite overtly, but not Christianity.) (Government may only when commanded, but private citizens are not to make this decision.) It is for this reason that I do not condone this game as representative of the Christian life as called for in Scripture.
I do not understand how it is that you can say that you are an atheist from reading the Bible. If you are truly an atheist, then you cannot be offended at anything found there. You have no standard that claims that those things are wrong. I assume that you disliked the calls to warfare, etc. Why? It cannot be that you believe killing is wrong. If there is no God then there is no reason NOT to kill. Human beings are no different than a plant or animal.
I appreciate your response. I am glad to hear that I misunderstood that you wish "defective" individuals exterminated, however, you must see that this is indeed the end result of your philosophy. Though Hitler went about it in a less sophisticated manner, I believe that indeed, it is the same basic thought you share.
You ask me why, if my God is real,(and I appreciated the capitalization) does suffering exist. This is hard to answer to an unbeliever, however, I will try. God created a perfect world in the beginning. Adam and Eve brought sin into the world in rebellion against God's perfection. God Himself did NOT cause sin, pain, and suffering to occur. However, in spit of their rebellion the Perfect God, sent His Son to die and redeem mankind from this sin. Earth has been stained from sin, and God has given a way for us to be saved from it. Now I know you are thinking, "but why does it exist still, why does He not just stop it all now?" Again, that is hard, but God will someday remove all suffering from Earth. Now because of sin, we are being punished by suffering. Many people who don't believe that there is a God use the reason that there is suffering. However, I ask you, if there were no God, why does it matter? If we are entities and law unto ourselves, who is to say that something is good, and something else is not?
If you assume that I believe that we are not to try to improve ourselves in every way possible, then you are wrong. I do believe in scientific, historical, and all other types of learning. I believe that that is one of the main reasons that we are all here. God gave us these things and created our minds to love to learn. But this learning is enjoyed, because in a way, we are learning more about Him. I believe that God gives us children, and I believe that God gives us minds. The two are not necessarily contradictory. My parents decided that after my mother had had two hard pregnancies, including a miscarriage, that it was wise not to have any more children. The did not use surgeries or pills, but they did not have further children. They made that decision, and I believe that it was the right one. So I am not saying that we are to just have kids and procreate for the sake of procreation, though I do know people like this. However, I believe that genetic selection is, at the very least, borderline acting like God. We are to use our minds when when following God, we are not to be stupid, however, we are also not to place science over God's Word. When we are deciding whether or not something is right, we go first to the Bible and then to our scientific capabilities.
There are several people in my family that wear glasses, I think that they are quite content that they are alive anyway. And their children that wear glasses? I think that they are both glad that they were not "culled" nor were their parents.
I find it ironic that you say: "In other words, we're playing god by saving lives that should have been selected against and allowing them to pass on their flawed genes." If God, (and yes, I believe in one- the Creator of the Bible), then WHO do you think you are saying that we, the creation, should make decisions about who should and should not live? Hitler would have agreed with your philosophy, however I don't think the MILLONS of Jews or "defective" Germans he murdered would have.
I believe that God created all life for a purpose. I believe that God created life in His own image. We absolutely do NOT have the right to decide who we think should live, who is "good" enough to deserve life.
I understand your hypothetical situation that you give at the end or your post. Again however, I disagree. God is in control of these genes and will select the ones that will make the individual that HE wants created. For whatever purpose. What would you do if, even following the selection process, somehow, you accidentally got a Downs child? What do you do then? Kill it before it has a chance to live at all?
I warrant that you would rather be alive with glasses than dead.
15Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox.
16Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly.
17He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
18His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron.
19He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him.
20Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play.
21He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens.
22The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about.
23Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth.
24He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.
This one is a little more obvious. I believe Behemoth was a dinosaur. Many say that he was a hippo. Um, I don't think so.
You are right. You should not laugh. You claim that we have come a long way in understanding the world, you are right, though I know you mean in understanding evolution. I am a creationist. "In the beginning God created". Six days. Period. Believing this, I see the scientific evidence agreeing with this. You as an evolutionist would take the same evidence and claim that it proves evolution. So where does this get us?
First of all, neither evolution no creationism is SCIENCE Science, by definition, has to be provable, repeatable, andtestable. Both Evolution and Creationism must then be considered theories. You cannot reticule my beliefs on the basis that they are illusions, however, you have no more basis than you say do I for what you believe. However, I have more basis, as I have a, All Powerful, All Knowing God to tell me what happened. And He was there
May those who curse days [ Or the sea ] curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
# Job 41:1 (Whole Chapter)
"Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
# Psalm 74:14 (Whole Chapter)
It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.
# Psalm 104:26 (Whole Chapter)
There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
# Isaiah 27:1 (Whole Chapter)
[ Deliverance of Israel ] In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.
# Job 3:8 (Whole Chapter)
May those who curse days [ Or the sea ] curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
# Job 41:1 (Whole Chapter)
"Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
# Psalm 74:14 (Whole Chapter)
It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.
# Psalm 104:26 (Whole Chapter)
There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
# Isaiah 27:1 (Whole Chapter)
[ Deliverance of Israel ] In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.
# Job 3:8 (Whole Chapter)
May those who curse days [ Or the sea ] curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
# Job 41:1 (Whole Chapter)
"Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
# Psalm 74:14 (Whole Chapter)
It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.
#
Psalm 104:26 (Whole Chapter)
There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
# Isaiah 27:1 (Whole Chapter)
[ Deliverance of Israel ] In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.
I agree with you. And I disagree with the response to your post in that he contradicts himself. On his premise, he cannot disagree with you nor can he tell you that you are wrong. You have no control over your thoughts, nor does anyone else. He can't say that anyone is wrong because he is only judging from a chemical reaction. While it could be considered thought, it is by no means rational.
I too am against public education. If one takes the time, you can look through history and find statistics that America's literacy level was at its highest - the year before public education was implemented. Public education is not only half-hearted teaching children facts, but it is a full attempt at indoctrinating these children with ideals set forth by our nation's leaders. How many people know that Stalin and Marx were the ones to tell those in our county that we would never be able to have a communist nation until we took the children away from their parents and taught them what the state wanted them to know?
All of this is in addition to the fact that, constitutionally, the government has no business paying what little it does for public education out of our taxes money. But then neither are they to take those same funds and plant flowers along the road either. The governmentally funded health care and welfare institutions are examples of publicly funded ideals that hurt the poor. I say that they are harmful because they breed laziness and a "government-owes-me" type attitude. Instead of helping keep people "on their feet" during hard times, this system has spawned individuals that will question the actual need to go look for work because you can get more from the government, i.e. hard working citizen's tax dollars.
Public education is not needful. It does not help children learn any better than they would elsewhere (and I believe it harms them) I, personally, was home-schooled. Upon graduation I attended a local college. I was far ahead my classmates in ability to comprehend, study, and preform at a true college level. I maintained a 4.0 average, was typically at the head of each class, and maintained several positions of leadership in activities around the college. I graduated with high honors. This is not to say that there are not public educated people that can do just as well, if not better, than I did. However, if one were to conduct a survey among college professors, if they are anything like the ones that I had, they will tell you that in their experience home-schooled students, on average, preform at a higher level than their public-schooled counterparts.
28"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather (A)fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. "
Passage Luke 16:22-24:
22"Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.
23"In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.
24"And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'"
Yes the Bible does too speak of Hell. These are just two examples. Hell is not a threat, it is a consequence of sin. God is perfection, rebellion to this perfection is punished by eternity in hell. You yourself recognize those results of a fallen world, and you claim in one breath that God does nothing about it, then you scream that humans should all do good things because it is in them to do so. You anger against religion is misplaced. If religion makes the religious happy, then what do you care if you are an atheist. However, you KNOW that there is a God, but you don't like the way He runs the world and you take issue on this point, not on His existence. You say that no one can see or hear or feel my God. What is this universal morality that you cling to? If it is encoded in our genetics where did it come from. How can anything be wrong? Please explain this to me. You cannot just KNOW things to be right or wrong. They either are or are not. A pre-existing morality that is bigger than you, and will continue after you MUST be God. There is not way around it.
The Bible says for me to have an answer to all those who question me, and I know that is regardless of my being a woman. God has saved me and I will answer those who question Him.
Yes, I looked at the "Know Your Bible Page". You and will see what you wish to see. "Live peaceably with all me", "Love your enemy, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who despitefully use you.", "Honor your father and your mother." etc, etc, etc. You can pick out the war and conflict, however you ignore the fact that these are God's dealing with sinful people who you also hate. It is not my job to implement this punishment. It is for God and those under God's rule in leadership.
How can you accuse me of not considering that I might be wrong. I assume that you believe that you are fair in addressing these issues as you have been open minded enough to change your position. I suppose you think that nothing bad has ever happened to me and I am a naive Bible believer with no idea of the real world. Well you would be wrong. I have suffered the death of grandparents and brothers, sudden death of a best friend, friend diagnosed with cancer who had a 2 month old daughter , my dad moved out for months, another friend with lupus, other friends dying, personal health problems, fiancee suddenly deciding he was not interested and threatening restraining orders. I could go on. These are certainly not the worst things that could have happened to me, nor the best. But it is not as though my faith has never been challenged. At those times, I did consider whether my faith was worth it. Particularly when my fiancee told me that he would take me, but not my family, so I had to choose between them
(and my faith). I came very close to leaving it all then. But God has been faithful, and I know that He will continue to be. I am still alone and it has been over a year, however I would not change my decision for anything. God is real. He does not need you to condescend to acknowledge His existence, He is bigger than that. Yes, I have questioned that I might be wrong. I could not understand how I could love someone so much and that I was not supposed to be with him. I questioned, but I know now that there is a God and that He loves me.
I did not say that morality comes from a fear of punishment. Morality comes from God. You are right, you don't need someone that has been hurt to tell you that some violent act is wrong. God has put a knowledge of Himself in the heart of each of us. However, though we know that something is wrong, murderers and rapist ignore this knowledge that is the fault of their fallen nature, not God's. I as a person can't tell an atheist what to do, for the simple reason that, as much as he, am not the source of that morality. Morality is from God and is universal, it is the same morality for me as for that murderer. You cite the Christians that have done evil godless things. However, again I state that their is no reason for you to have a problem with whatever they did. Christians that are consistent do not act in this manner, additionally, atheists that are consistent are murderers. You will jump in here and state that no all atheist are murderers. I agree. Not all Christians are killers, etc either. You ask how atheist have done good because they are being inconsistent with their world view. We are all fallen human beings that suffer from the effects of sin but "by one man sin entered the world and by one Man the world will be saved" Adam sinned and pain and suffering have been apart of the lives of all on earth ever since. Jesus Christ died for this sin and Christians can confidently look forward to a new life free of this pain after we die and go to heaven. Those that are not saved will be damned to hell, which is constant pain and suffering forever.
Your statement that "slavery or the murder of Jews, for example, both things that entire Christian societies have supported" is unfair. I, a christian, do not support these things for the exact reason that I am a christian. I believe in the sanctity of human life because I believe that humans are created in God's image and given a living soul that makes us different from the animals.
Your definition of religion exclusive to humanism and atheism. You want to call people to a either standard than debase acts of violence and the reason you give for this is that "you know" that such things are wrong. You got this knowledge from "within" and you believe this standard of morality pre-existed you and will continue after you have died. Therefore, I say again that this is a religion.
God's plan is perfect. Sin and corruption have not altered that. I have the confident assurance that God will never allow this sin and corruption to harm me more than I can bear. Should I get cancer and die, I will go to be forever with my Savior. Should you get cancer and die, you have nothing to look forward to except nothingness which will in actuality be eternity of hell.
Disease is present as a result of sin. God offers a remedy for this sin, not the cause of it. Yes, God calls for the destruction of sin and sinners. Those who continually rebel against His law. Not random senseless killings and destruction.
Regardless of your sarcasm, my reply stands. I do have the courage, not only to read your comments, but also to honestly address and deal with them.
First of all, you have absolutely no reason to be upset or indignant about the pain and suffering you see in the world by your own declaration. You claim that there are not moral standards given by a Creator nor is there a meaning to life. How is it then that you challenge me to visit ghettos or hospitals (which I have) and expect me to have a problem with the things that I would there see? I DO have a problem with these things, however, you do not have any reason for these things to effect you. If there is no Creator, if there is only a random, unexplained universe, then there is NO morality, there is NO meaning, to anything that happens. You mention child molesters, murders, among others. Why? If there is no meaning of life then there is no standard that you have to tell me, or them that what they do is wrong. If "real morality comes from within" and "real meaning comes from within" then the real meaning and morality for these individuals was to molest and murder AND YOU HAVE NO WAY TO TELL THEM THEY SHOULD DO OTHERWISE.
I agree, many have falsely claimed the name of Christ as and excuse to do horrible things. I agree that there are many false Christians and many varieties of Christians. Many of us are wrong in some of the things that we do. However, there is only one God, one Creator or the universe. God's word will always stand true, despite the failings of men. You have chosen to see only the bad things in this world, yet you forget that God originally created a perfect universe, then, when man threw that perfection back in His face, to save us from the sin that causes those bad things. You can continue to see the evil, or you can look outside at the fall trees and wonder how a random universe knows to change seasons. You can wonder how there came to be so many different trees. You can look in the mirror and see a fantastically designed human being down to each complex cell that makes up the individual you. The most advanced computer is not as well designed and complicated as just one tiny cell in you body. Yet you claim this to be evidence of a random, unexplained universe.
You have informed me that "religion is a disease", does this include your religion and your god? In case you do not understand me, your religion is whatever you think, and your god is yourself. My God is bigger than just me, and my morality is called to a higher standard that whatever I believe is right. You have no standards and you have no right to say that anything is wrong. Period.
Totally agree! Did anyone notice that though the headlines all proclaim with assuringly that this dolphin HAS legs, the actual picture shows FINS and the article states that this dolphin has an extra set of fins, that MAY be leftover legs.
However this deception is more than over-worked imaginations of scientists, it is man's attempt to escape from accountability to a creator that gave us all life and gave this life a meaning.
Slashdot Mirror
Agreed. Though Bill Gates has used some frustrating and perhaps unethical practices, he would never have gotten where he is had he not done something right. No one was ever "forced" to purchase the first Microsoft products, and had they not been good, in some ways, then he would have never been as successful. He worked hard. People liked what he did. He did well. He is already becoming dated though, Microsoft and Bill Gates will not be around forever. I think it is a sad reflection on our society when someone does well, we have to punish them out of jealousy. I am sure everyone who posts here has had a spotless climb to their current position.
It is true that historically the Bible commanded the killing of non- Christians in places. However, I, a Christian, do not believe that we are commanded to kill those who are unsaved in this present day. I am a protestant, not catholic, so I am not as familiar with how you were raised, but the Bible says that we are to love our enemies, not kill them. God claims that vengeance is His and we are not to take matters of life and death into our own hands. We are not to kill all those who disagree. (Islam does in fact teach this quite overtly, but not Christianity.) (Government may only when commanded, but private citizens are not to make this decision.) It is for this reason that I do not condone this game as representative of the Christian life as called for in Scripture.
I do not understand how it is that you can say that you are an atheist from reading the Bible. If you are truly an atheist, then you cannot be offended at anything found there. You have no standard that claims that those things are wrong. I assume that you disliked the calls to warfare, etc. Why? It cannot be that you believe killing is wrong. If there is no God then there is no reason NOT to kill. Human beings are no different than a plant or animal.
You ask me why, if my God is real ,(and I appreciated the capitalization) does suffering exist. This is hard to answer to an unbeliever, however, I will try. God created a perfect world in the beginning. Adam and Eve brought sin into the world in rebellion against God's perfection. God Himself did NOT cause sin, pain, and suffering to occur. However, in spit of their rebellion the Perfect God, sent His Son to die and redeem mankind from this sin. Earth has been stained from sin, and God has given a way for us to be saved from it. Now I know you are thinking, "but why does it exist still, why does He not just stop it all now?" Again, that is hard, but God will someday remove all suffering from Earth. Now because of sin, we are being punished by suffering. Many people who don't believe that there is a God use the reason that there is suffering. However, I ask you, if there were no God, why does it matter? If we are entities and law unto ourselves, who is to say that something is good, and something else is not?
If you assume that I believe that we are not to try to improve ourselves in every way possible, then you are wrong. I do believe in scientific, historical, and all other types of learning. I believe that that is one of the main reasons that we are all here. God gave us these things and created our minds to love to learn. But this learning is enjoyed, because in a way, we are learning more about Him. I believe that God gives us children, and I believe that God gives us minds. The two are not necessarily contradictory. My parents decided that after my mother had had two hard pregnancies, including a miscarriage, that it was wise not to have any more children. The did not use surgeries or pills, but they did not have further children. They made that decision, and I believe that it was the right one. So I am not saying that we are to just have kids and procreate for the sake of procreation, though I do know people like this. However, I believe that genetic selection is, at the very least, borderline acting like God. We are to use our minds when when following God, we are not to be stupid, however, we are also not to place science over God's Word. When we are deciding whether or not something is right, we go first to the Bible and then to our scientific capabilities.
There are several people in my family that wear glasses, I think that they are quite content that they are alive anyway. And their children that wear glasses? I think that they are both glad that they were not "culled" nor were their parents.
I find it ironic that you say:
"In other words, we're playing god by saving lives that should have been selected against and allowing them to pass on their flawed genes."
If God, (and yes, I believe in one- the Creator of the Bible), then WHO do you think you are saying that we, the creation, should make decisions about who should and should not live? Hitler would have agreed with your philosophy, however I don't think the MILLONS of Jews or "defective" Germans he murdered would have.
I believe that God created all life for a purpose. I believe that God created life in His own image. We absolutely do NOT have the right to decide who we think should live, who is "good" enough to deserve life.
I understand your hypothetical situation that you give at the end or your post. Again however, I disagree. God is in control of these genes and will select the ones that will make the individual that HE wants created. For whatever purpose. What would you do if, even following the selection process, somehow, you accidentally got a Downs child? What do you do then? Kill it before it has a chance to live at all?
I warrant that you would rather be alive with glasses than dead.
Sorry about that multiple paste.
15Behold now behemoth, which I made with thee; he eateth grass as an ox. 16Lo now, his strength is in his loins, and his force is in the navel of his belly. 17He moveth his tail like a cedar: the sinews of his stones are wrapped together. 18His bones are as strong pieces of brass; his bones are like bars of iron. 19He is the chief of the ways of God: he that made him can make his sword to approach unto him. 20Surely the mountains bring him forth food, where all the beasts of the field play. 21He lieth under the shady trees, in the covert of the reed, and fens. 22The shady trees cover him with their shadow; the willows of the brook compass him about. 23Behold, he drinketh up a river, and hasteth not: he trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth. 24He taketh it with his eyes: his nose pierceth through snares.
This one is a little more obvious. I believe Behemoth was a dinosaur. Many say that he was a hippo. Um, I don't think so.
You are right. You should not laugh. You claim that we have come a long way in understanding the world, you are right, though I know you mean in understanding evolution. I am a creationist. "In the beginning God created". Six days. Period. Believing this, I see the scientific evidence agreeing with this. You as an evolutionist would take the same evidence and claim that it proves evolution. So where does this get us?
First of all, neither evolution no creationism is SCIENCE Science, by definition, has to be provable, repeatable, and testable. Both Evolution and Creationism must then be considered theories. You cannot reticule my beliefs on the basis that they are illusions, however, you have no more basis than you say do I for what you believe. However, I have more basis, as I have a, All Powerful, All Knowing God to tell me what happened. And He was there
# Job 3:8 (Whole Chapter)
May those who curse days [ Or the sea ] curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
# Job 41:1 (Whole Chapter)
"Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
# Psalm 74:14 (Whole Chapter)
It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.
# Psalm 104:26 (Whole Chapter)
There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.# Isaiah 27:1 (Whole Chapter)
[ Deliverance of Israel ] In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.
# Job 3:8 (Whole Chapter)
May those who curse days [ Or the sea ] curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
# Job 41:1 (Whole Chapter)
"Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
# Psalm 74:14 (Whole Chapter)
It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.
# Psalm 104:26 (Whole Chapter)
There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.# Isaiah 27:1 (Whole Chapter)
[ Deliverance of Israel ] In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.
# Job 3:8 (Whole Chapter)
May those who curse days [ Or the sea ] curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
# Job 41:1 (Whole Chapter)
"Can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope?
# Psalm 74:14 (Whole Chapter)
It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.
#Psalm 104:26 (Whole Chapter)
There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
# Isaiah 27:1 (Whole Chapter)
[ Deliverance of Israel ] In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.
Seems kinda obvious to me. It wasn't a crocodile.
That is not what the Bible says. Therefore they are wrong.
I agree with you. And I disagree with the response to your post in that he contradicts himself. On his premise, he cannot disagree with you nor can he tell you that you are wrong. You have no control over your thoughts, nor does anyone else. He can't say that anyone is wrong because he is only judging from a chemical reaction. While it could be considered thought, it is by no means rational.
I too am against public education. If one takes the time, you can look through history and find statistics that America's literacy level was at its highest - the year before public education was implemented. Public education is not only half-hearted teaching children facts, but it is a full attempt at indoctrinating these children with ideals set forth by our nation's leaders. How many people know that Stalin and Marx were the ones to tell those in our county that we would never be able to have a communist nation until we took the children away from their parents and taught them what the state wanted them to know?
All of this is in addition to the fact that, constitutionally, the government has no business paying what little it does for public education out of our taxes money. But then neither are they to take those same funds and plant flowers along the road either. The governmentally funded health care and welfare institutions are examples of publicly funded ideals that hurt the poor. I say that they are harmful because they breed laziness and a "government-owes-me" type attitude. Instead of helping keep people "on their feet" during hard times, this system has spawned individuals that will question the actual need to go look for work because you can get more from the government, i.e. hard working citizen's tax dollars.
Public education is not needful. It does not help children learn any better than they would elsewhere (and I believe it harms them) I, personally, was home-schooled. Upon graduation I attended a local college. I was far ahead my classmates in ability to comprehend, study, and preform at a true college level. I maintained a 4.0 average, was typically at the head of each class, and maintained several positions of leadership in activities around the college. I graduated with high honors. This is not to say that there are not public educated people that can do just as well, if not better, than I did. However, if one were to conduct a survey among college professors, if they are anything like the ones that I had, they will tell you that in their experience home-schooled students, on average, preform at a higher level than their public-schooled counterparts.
28"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather (A)fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. "
Passage Luke 16:22-24:
22"Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. 23"In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. 24"And he cried out and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.'"
Yes the Bible does too speak of Hell. These are just two examples. Hell is not a threat, it is a consequence of sin. God is perfection, rebellion to this perfection is punished by eternity in hell. You yourself recognize those results of a fallen world, and you claim in one breath that God does nothing about it, then you scream that humans should all do good things because it is in them to do so. You anger against religion is misplaced. If religion makes the religious happy, then what do you care if you are an atheist. However, you KNOW that there is a God, but you don't like the way He runs the world and you take issue on this point, not on His existence. You say that no one can see or hear or feel my God. What is this universal morality that you cling to? If it is encoded in our genetics where did it come from. How can anything be wrong? Please explain this to me. You cannot just KNOW things to be right or wrong. They either are or are not. A pre-existing morality that is bigger than you, and will continue after you MUST be God. There is not way around it.
The Bible says for me to have an answer to all those who question me, and I know that is regardless of my being a woman. God has saved me and I will answer those who question Him.
Yes, I looked at the "Know Your Bible Page". You and will see what you wish to see. "Live peaceably with all me", "Love your enemy, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who despitefully use you.", "Honor your father and your mother." etc, etc, etc. You can pick out the war and conflict, however you ignore the fact that these are God's dealing with sinful people who you also hate. It is not my job to implement this punishment. It is for God and those under God's rule in leadership.
How can you accuse me of not considering that I might be wrong. I assume that you believe that you are fair in addressing these issues as you have been open minded enough to change your position. I suppose you think that nothing bad has ever happened to me and I am a naive Bible believer with no idea of the real world. Well you would be wrong. I have suffered the death of grandparents and brothers, sudden death of a best friend, friend diagnosed with cancer who had a 2 month old daughter , my dad moved out for months, another friend with lupus, other friends dying, personal health problems, fiancee suddenly deciding he was not interested and threatening restraining orders. I could go on. These are certainly not the worst things that could have happened to me, nor the best. But it is not as though my faith has never been challenged. At those times, I did consider whether my faith was worth it. Particularly when my fiancee told me that he would take me, but not my family, so I had to choose between them (and my faith). I came very close to leaving it all then. But God has been faithful, and I know that He will continue to be. I am still alone and it has been over a year, however I would not change my decision for anything. God is real. He does not need you to condescend to acknowledge His existence, He is bigger than that. Yes, I have questioned that I might be wrong. I could not understand how I could love someone so much and that I was not supposed to be with him. I questioned, but I know now that there is a God and that He loves me.
I did not say that morality comes from a fear of punishment. Morality comes from God. You are right, you don't need someone that has been hurt to tell you that some violent act is wrong. God has put a knowledge of Himself in the heart of each of us. However, though we know that something is wrong, murderers and rapist ignore this knowledge that is the fault of their fallen nature, not God's. I as a person can't tell an atheist what to do, for the simple reason that, as much as he, am not the source of that morality. Morality is from God and is universal, it is the same morality for me as for that murderer. You cite the Christians that have done evil godless things. However, again I state that their is no reason for you to have a problem with whatever they did. Christians that are consistent do not act in this manner, additionally, atheists that are consistent are murderers. You will jump in here and state that no all atheist are murderers. I agree. Not all Christians are killers, etc either. You ask how atheist have done good because they are being inconsistent with their world view. We are all fallen human beings that suffer from the effects of sin but "by one man sin entered the world and by one Man the world will be saved" Adam sinned and pain and suffering have been apart of the lives of all on earth ever since. Jesus Christ died for this sin and Christians can confidently look forward to a new life free of this pain after we die and go to heaven. Those that are not saved will be damned to hell, which is constant pain and suffering forever.
Your statement that "slavery or the murder of Jews, for example, both things that entire Christian societies have supported" is unfair. I, a christian, do not support these things for the exact reason that I am a christian. I believe in the sanctity of human life because I believe that humans are created in God's image and given a living soul that makes us different from the animals.
Your definition of religion exclusive to humanism and atheism. You want to call people to a either standard than debase acts of violence and the reason you give for this is that "you know" that such things are wrong. You got this knowledge from "within" and you believe this standard of morality pre-existed you and will continue after you have died. Therefore, I say again that this is a religion.
God's plan is perfect. Sin and corruption have not altered that. I have the confident assurance that God will never allow this sin and corruption to harm me more than I can bear. Should I get cancer and die, I will go to be forever with my Savior. Should you get cancer and die, you have nothing to look forward to except nothingness which will in actuality be eternity of hell.
Disease is present as a result of sin. God offers a remedy for this sin, not the cause of it. Yes, God calls for the destruction of sin and sinners. Those who continually rebel against His law. Not random senseless killings and destruction.
Regardless of your sarcasm, my reply stands. I do have the courage, not only to read your comments, but also to honestly address and deal with them.
First of all, you have absolutely no reason to be upset or indignant about the pain and suffering you see in the world by your own declaration. You claim that there are not moral standards given by a Creator nor is there a meaning to life. How is it then that you challenge me to visit ghettos or hospitals (which I have) and expect me to have a problem with the things that I would there see? I DO have a problem with these things, however, you do not have any reason for these things to effect you. If there is no Creator, if there is only a random, unexplained universe, then there is NO morality, there is NO meaning, to anything that happens. You mention child molesters, murders, among others. Why? If there is no meaning of life then there is no standard that you have to tell me, or them that what they do is wrong. If "real morality comes from within" and "real meaning comes from within" then the real meaning and morality for these individuals was to molest and murder AND YOU HAVE NO WAY TO TELL THEM THEY SHOULD DO OTHERWISE.
I agree, many have falsely claimed the name of Christ as and excuse to do horrible things. I agree that there are many false Christians and many varieties of Christians. Many of us are wrong in some of the things that we do. However, there is only one God, one Creator or the universe. God's word will always stand true, despite the failings of men. You have chosen to see only the bad things in this world, yet you forget that God originally created a perfect universe, then, when man threw that perfection back in His face, to save us from the sin that causes those bad things. You can continue to see the evil, or you can look outside at the fall trees and wonder how a random universe knows to change seasons. You can wonder how there came to be so many different trees. You can look in the mirror and see a fantastically designed human being down to each complex cell that makes up the individual you. The most advanced computer is not as well designed and complicated as just one tiny cell in you body. Yet you claim this to be evidence of a random, unexplained universe.
You have informed me that "religion is a disease", does this include your religion and your god? In case you do not understand me, your religion is whatever you think, and your god is yourself. My God is bigger than just me, and my morality is called to a higher standard that whatever I believe is right. You have no standards and you have no right to say that anything is wrong. Period.
Totally agree! Did anyone notice that though the headlines all proclaim with assuringly that this dolphin HAS legs, the actual picture shows FINS and the article states that this dolphin has an extra set of fins, that MAY be leftover legs. However this deception is more than over-worked imaginations of scientists, it is man's attempt to escape from accountability to a creator that gave us all life and gave this life a meaning.