Awesome - way to facilitate respectful discussion here on Slashdot. As a Christian, your insightful words have made me question my belief system due to your respectful tone and the numerous logical points you've presented to support your argument.
If I had a nickel for every time an "Anonymous Coward" on Slashdot said that the Bible is a fairy tale...well, it would give me enough nickels to keep paying for my Internet connection, which would allow me to keep reading Slashdot, which would....
Before you make that claim, are you going to drink your own medicine and present us with some evidence? Have you conducted long-term studies that show that prayer is useless? You seem to be accepting your hypothesis without rejecting your null hypothesis. Seems like you have a bit of a double standard, don't you think?
You seem to be indirectly implying that we should discredit the Bible because it's an old piece of text. I suppose that means we should fire the Supreme Court justices for sticking to the Constitution, and reprimand of any military generals that read "The Art of War' by Sun Tzu.
Ah yes, the atheist defense: "Do all the work and find the evidence, and I will judge with my superior human wisdom if it's true." Fine then. I'm going to point you to two books to get you started.
If physics, mathematics, and astronomy are your thing, I invite you to read Hugh Ross's "Why the Universe is the Way it Is". It gives incredible, actually irrefutable, evidence that the Universe was not only created by a god, but the God of the Bible. Second, if logic and reasoning are your thing, please look at the "Ultimate Proof of Creation" by Dr. Jason Lisle. I think you'll find this book both compelling and frustrating as it points out all of the flaws in your atheistic worldview. Both of these books helped me come to the realization that this universe was created by the God of the Bible.
You're probably thinking "That's not fair! You're making me borrow/buy two different books? I wanted you to just give me evidence right here and right now, or accept defeat!" Sorry, friend. If you're truly an intellectual, you'll earnestly seek the truth by reading books that challenge your viewpoint. Plus, those texts point to further data, which is what you asked for: substantial data. So please, feel free to suggest your favorite pro-atheism books and I'll do just the same.
Lastly, and I have to point this out, is that while you call for me to present evidence outside of just my 'feelings', I think you've forgotten that your atheistic views don't have any evidence outside of your own personal feelings. You believe in what you believe because you fail to see or feel the presence of a God. What you see as evidence against God, I see as evidence for God. Explain to me the gaps in the fossil records, or how a universe as random and chaotic as ours was able to create something as complex as DNA. You weren't there when it was first formed. So don't shoot me down just because I didn't witness God create the universe, just as you did not witness pond scum evolve into elephants.
Grow up, and quit your whining. If you are right, you will be even more exalted in your childish "heaven" due to our criticism while we burn forever, so what are you whining about anyway?
I'm "whining" because I DO believe that not everyone will spend eternity in heaven, and despite others' mockery of my religion, I genuinely still want them to see the light and be with me there. Now is that childish, or is that grown up?
I've read Slashdot for a few years now, and every once in a while I see articles posted that directly or indirectly refer to Christianity. And every single time, it ends up being a sounding board for the Slashdot "community" to boast about how proudly atheistic they are and criticize the few Christians Slashdotters that give their point of view.
I'm a devout Christian, and I can't quite fully express how saddened I am to see some of these comments. For someone to mock my faith, a faith that I've seen work miracles in people's lives and help them go from a place of pain and destruction to a place of life and peace, is something that literally makes me shake with sadness. Were the Crusades not very Christian-like at times? You betcha. Modern Christians don't condone many of the acts that were committed "in the name of" Christianity hundreds of years ago. If you see anyone killing someone else in the name of Christ, they're not true Christ-followers. So do NOT lump us all together. It's like blaming the existence of nuclear weapons on every physicist that ever lived. It's not a fair accusation. (I know somebody's going to comment on that statement and bash it somehow - so go right ahead, prove to yourself that you're not reading this comment for your own benefit, but rather just to find ways to knock down a Christian).
Secondly, some of you have made comments about how the Bible doesn't apply to modern day or that it's too cryptic for us (or even its original authors) to understand. Is this difficult to understand? "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34) Does this next verse have no applicability to the present day? "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need." (Ephesians 4:28) Or just read the book of Proverbs (which is even in the Old Testament) and you'll find a slew of practical advice for living a better, more fulfilling life. Sure, a lot of the Bible is a historical record of the Jewish and Christian people living in the Middle East for a period of a few thousand years, and not every law in Leviticus applies to us today. But the Bible isn't a story, it's a living history, and real churches are not museums for the saints, but hospitals for the sick.
Before you make comments on the Bible, make sure you've read it; you don't lend youself much credibility by scoffing at it without having actually explored it. I wasn't always a Christian, and I explored other religious texts before settling on the Bible. The conclusion I came to was that it offers something that no other 'religion' offered. Rather than having to 'change' before we can become 'right' with God, we become right with God (through simply asking for it) and letting God's love change us.
Have you ever felt that life is more than just about technology, physics, inventions, etc? Don't you ever get tired of reading news articles every day about the current size of transistors, Apple's patent wars, or funding for space programs? I sure do. If that's all that life is about, then that's pretty scary. I have to believe that life is about helping people in a real and tangible way, TODAY; building up others in our community who aren't as fortunate as us, and not just speculating about how we can make cooler stuff out of silicon. Seriously - many of us live in cities where people are outside, homeless, starving, and dying every day, and yet you feel comfortable sitting back with your $4.50 Lattes and criticizing Christianity, the single largest organization today that is trying to help the real problems of real people at this very minute. If that's the kind of community that Slashdot is, then I'm done. I'd rather go make a difference in this world than read about occasionally interesting tech news.
Slashdot Mirror
Awesome - way to facilitate respectful discussion here on Slashdot. As a Christian, your insightful words have made me question my belief system due to your respectful tone and the numerous logical points you've presented to support your argument.
If I had a nickel for every time an "Anonymous Coward" on Slashdot said that the Bible is a fairy tale...well, it would give me enough nickels to keep paying for my Internet connection, which would allow me to keep reading Slashdot, which would....
Infinite loop!
Prayer: Doesn't work.
Religion is bunk. Superstition. Fairy stories.
Before you make that claim, are you going to drink your own medicine and present us with some evidence? Have you conducted long-term studies that show that prayer is useless? You seem to be accepting your hypothesis without rejecting your null hypothesis. Seems like you have a bit of a double standard, don't you think?
You seem to be indirectly implying that we should discredit the Bible because it's an old piece of text. I suppose that means we should fire the Supreme Court justices for sticking to the Constitution, and reprimand of any military generals that read "The Art of War' by Sun Tzu.
Chuck, you are the man.
Ah yes, the atheist defense: "Do all the work and find the evidence, and I will judge with my superior human wisdom if it's true." Fine then. I'm going to point you to two books to get you started.
If physics, mathematics, and astronomy are your thing, I invite you to read Hugh Ross's "Why the Universe is the Way it Is". It gives incredible, actually irrefutable, evidence that the Universe was not only created by a god, but the God of the Bible. Second, if logic and reasoning are your thing, please look at the "Ultimate Proof of Creation" by Dr. Jason Lisle. I think you'll find this book both compelling and frustrating as it points out all of the flaws in your atheistic worldview. Both of these books helped me come to the realization that this universe was created by the God of the Bible.
You're probably thinking "That's not fair! You're making me borrow/buy two different books? I wanted you to just give me evidence right here and right now, or accept defeat!" Sorry, friend. If you're truly an intellectual, you'll earnestly seek the truth by reading books that challenge your viewpoint. Plus, those texts point to further data, which is what you asked for: substantial data. So please, feel free to suggest your favorite pro-atheism books and I'll do just the same.
Lastly, and I have to point this out, is that while you call for me to present evidence outside of just my 'feelings', I think you've forgotten that your atheistic views don't have any evidence outside of your own personal feelings. You believe in what you believe because you fail to see or feel the presence of a God. What you see as evidence against God, I see as evidence for God. Explain to me the gaps in the fossil records, or how a universe as random and chaotic as ours was able to create something as complex as DNA. You weren't there when it was first formed. So don't shoot me down just because I didn't witness God create the universe, just as you did not witness pond scum evolve into elephants.
Grow up, and quit your whining. If you are right, you will be even more exalted in your childish "heaven" due to our criticism while we burn forever, so what are you whining about anyway?
I'm "whining" because I DO believe that not everyone will spend eternity in heaven, and despite others' mockery of my religion, I genuinely still want them to see the light and be with me there. Now is that childish, or is that grown up?
I've read Slashdot for a few years now, and every once in a while I see articles posted that directly or indirectly refer to Christianity. And every single time, it ends up being a sounding board for the Slashdot "community" to boast about how proudly atheistic they are and criticize the few Christians Slashdotters that give their point of view. I'm a devout Christian, and I can't quite fully express how saddened I am to see some of these comments. For someone to mock my faith, a faith that I've seen work miracles in people's lives and help them go from a place of pain and destruction to a place of life and peace, is something that literally makes me shake with sadness. Were the Crusades not very Christian-like at times? You betcha. Modern Christians don't condone many of the acts that were committed "in the name of" Christianity hundreds of years ago. If you see anyone killing someone else in the name of Christ, they're not true Christ-followers. So do NOT lump us all together. It's like blaming the existence of nuclear weapons on every physicist that ever lived. It's not a fair accusation. (I know somebody's going to comment on that statement and bash it somehow - so go right ahead, prove to yourself that you're not reading this comment for your own benefit, but rather just to find ways to knock down a Christian). Secondly, some of you have made comments about how the Bible doesn't apply to modern day or that it's too cryptic for us (or even its original authors) to understand. Is this difficult to understand? "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34) Does this next verse have no applicability to the present day? "Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need." (Ephesians 4:28) Or just read the book of Proverbs (which is even in the Old Testament) and you'll find a slew of practical advice for living a better, more fulfilling life. Sure, a lot of the Bible is a historical record of the Jewish and Christian people living in the Middle East for a period of a few thousand years, and not every law in Leviticus applies to us today. But the Bible isn't a story, it's a living history, and real churches are not museums for the saints, but hospitals for the sick. Before you make comments on the Bible, make sure you've read it; you don't lend youself much credibility by scoffing at it without having actually explored it. I wasn't always a Christian, and I explored other religious texts before settling on the Bible. The conclusion I came to was that it offers something that no other 'religion' offered. Rather than having to 'change' before we can become 'right' with God, we become right with God (through simply asking for it) and letting God's love change us. Have you ever felt that life is more than just about technology, physics, inventions, etc? Don't you ever get tired of reading news articles every day about the current size of transistors, Apple's patent wars, or funding for space programs? I sure do. If that's all that life is about, then that's pretty scary. I have to believe that life is about helping people in a real and tangible way, TODAY; building up others in our community who aren't as fortunate as us, and not just speculating about how we can make cooler stuff out of silicon. Seriously - many of us live in cities where people are outside, homeless, starving, and dying every day, and yet you feel comfortable sitting back with your $4.50 Lattes and criticizing Christianity, the single largest organization today that is trying to help the real problems of real people at this very minute. If that's the kind of community that Slashdot is, then I'm done. I'd rather go make a difference in this world than read about occasionally interesting tech news.