Taking of life being the operative phrase, I find no moral or ethical difference between the two. Coming from someone who believes they are created in G-d's image is truly sad. Most people find it unjust as well.
Pray tell what is this date? And don't weasel out with the oft-stated Christian talking point <paraphrase> "None may know the time and day of his return" crap.
God created Satan knowing full well what Satan would do and chose to ignore it.
Face it, you worship an unloving and unjust deity. I know that doesn't concern you and yet again, that is truly sad!
Matt 25:13 tells us we won't know the "day and hour", after Jesus used a parable.
Secondly, I nor any serious Christian cares about what you think about the God we worship as your opinion is one of perhaps thousands.
You don't have to worship him/it anyway. Move on to something that matters.
Taking of life being the operative phrase, I find no moral or ethical difference between the two. Coming from someone who believes they are created in G-d's image is truly sad. Most people find it unjust as well.
Pray tell what is this date? And don't weasel out with the oft-stated Christian talking point <paraphrase> "None may know the time and day of his return" crap.
God created Satan knowing full well what Satan would do and chose to ignore it.
Face it, you worship an unloving and unjust deity. I know that doesn't concern you and yet again, that is truly sad!
Still resorting to Christian talking points, eh? We've been hearing about Jesus' second coming for roughly <checks watch> 2,000 years. And the chances against it happening are dwindling every minute.
My point is nearly all Christians say God is loving, nearly zero atheists think so.Seriously? There are millions of atheists/agnostics in this country alone; worldwide, easily tens of millions. Educate yourself since you're trying to save the "sinners".
We have to put up with a lot of things in this country...this is the US, a melting pot of belief and religion, irreligion and so on.You're right, I don't. But we do have to put up the insanity that is Christianity and it's need(obsession) with saving the world.. I truly do care about your mental health, Rob, which is why I continue to participate in these threads. You must think it matters as well since you're a constant participant.
Everyone uses their beliefs to shape public policy. Everyone believes in something. Don't be such a baby. Even an atheist has some sort of beliefs about how things should be run and what is right and wrong. You can be delusional and kid yourself but everyone has an idea about how we should run things. It is called an opinion and everyone has one.
You're not being forced to listen to Christians....there is no state-sponsored religion (e.g Church of England), so just deal with it. We have to deal with the craziness of atheism, as you can see with the 911- memorial crossprotest started by the American Atheist .
"A thousand years is a day to God" - 2 Peter 3:8. Two-thousands years to Him is less than a week.
lol
My point is nearly all Christians say God is loving, nearly zero atheists think so.
Colour me shocked!
We have to put up with a lot of things in this country...this is the US, a melting pot of belief and religion, irreligion and so on.
So what?
You're not being forced to listen to Christians....there is no state-sponsored religion (e.g Church of England), so just deal with it. We have to deal with the craziness of atheism, as you can see with the 911- memorial cross protest started by the American Atheist.
Stop whining.
Consider happiness the destination and as long as your journey to get there is messing with other people I dont care what path you take.
If you are an Atheist who has it in for those who are religious and feel it is your path in life to educate the religious...then you are also part of the problem!!If you are religious you are also part of the problem of fundamentalism be it creationists or suicide bombers.
Sorry there are plenty of Atheists who are also part of the problem!!If there is a problem!I assume you meant "not messing with other people". -- that`s correct!
I disagree. Supporting an ideology that does bad makes you part of the problem. <-- not at all! It`s my ideaology how am I part of the problem?These are more atheist talking points...explain how that is a problem fore the world or for others??
So most Nazis did not personally kill anyone, still they were part of the problem. <-- that's not the same...you are being misleading. Most likely because you have no good example!
If you are religious you are also part of the problem of fundamentalism be it creationists or suicide bombers.
This is something that I have found very interesting. The christian god seems so uncaring, in fact he seems like a real dickhead. The Egyptian pharaoh kept the Israelites as slaves so he, among other things, kills every first born male in the kingdom.
At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. (Exodus 12 29)
So, if we take this at face value, people who had absolutely nothing at all to do with what was happening lost a son if they had a male child. I know I'm just a human and don't think like god (even though I was made in his image, he's known me since before I was born, etc.) but that seems pretty extreme to me... killing random kids just because. Feel god's love!
I mean, there is a LOT of evil in this book:
http://www.evilbible.com/Murder.htm
Will jackstar7's question ever be answered?
"A thousand years is a day to God" - 2 Peter 3:8. Two-thousands years to Him is less than a week.
lol
My point is nearly all Christians say God is loving, nearly zero atheists think so.
Colour me shocked!
We have to put up with a lot of things in this country...this is the US, a melting pot of belief and religion, irreligion and so on.
So what?
You're not being forced to listen to Christians....there is no state-sponsored religion (e.g Church of England), so just deal with it. We have to deal with the craziness of atheism, as you can see with the 911- memorial cross protest started by the American Atheist.
Stop whining.
I assume you meant "not messing with other people".
I disagree. Supporting an ideology that does bad makes you part of the problem. So most Nazis did not personally kill anyone, still they were part of the problem.
If you are religious you are also part of the problem of fundamentalism be it creationists or suicide bombers.
Christian "timekeeping"...lol.
Of course, which was my point.Maybe, just maybe, zero atheists think G-d is loving because they don't think G-d exists. Jus' saying.
Translation: Rob's part of the majority culture so nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah.
You're kidding, right? Every hour of every day we are assaulted with the symbols, images, words and culture of Christianity. Really, Rob you should get out more. No state-sponsored religion? Face it guy, a lot of our laws, mores and attitudes are Christian-based. Not to hard to see that. Yes, atheism has extremists; even you would admit that a relative few do not and should not represent the whole
It is what it is.
Of course, which was my point.
This is not Iraq or Afghanistan....you can change the laws, you can positively affect culture change and you can get people to help you do this, and you don't have to worry about being killed for it here in America.
I just think its very disturbing how you are being more whiny about the "Christian culture" and yet you're probably not active in your community or in the political realm to change things.
Likewise, every single day we as a society are assaulted with violence on TV and the promotion of violent video games, movies, etc. At the very least, Christians organize to change these things because they see it as a cultural problem. They are not sitting on their proverbial ass and whining on internet forums.
I personally am not an activist in that cause, but I don't sit and whine about it either.
So I'm whiny because in a country where Christianity is the majority religion I point out how our government is rife with biblical laws or the verbal assault people receive from the overly zealous Christians? Got it.
My point is that they're championing change if they see a problem. Whether or not there are links to violence in media and violence in society is immaterial to the point I wanted to make -- that solving problems means you need to organize, and organizing solves problems.Please tell me you're not asinine enough or support the ill-informed opinion that there is a causative relationship between violent media and the relative few who commit violence; or between sexualized media and teen sex and pregnancy. If Christians or a member of any other religion has a problem with violent/sexualized media and its many formats, there's an incredibly simple (and to some absolutely mind boggling) solution: change channels/websites/theatres and or turn them off.
Good for you.Funny, that's the exact way I view Christians.
Yes, you're whining, and YOU can help facilitate change...YOU can do something about it. After reading your following remark, good thing you're doing something, but change doesn't happen overnight.
I am totally against Biblical laws in our Laws, but I'm not a political activist...so I am willing to deal with it.
My point is that they're championing change if they see a problem. Whether or not there are links to violence in media and violence in society is immaterial to the point I wanted to make -- that solving problems means you need to organize, and organizing solves problems.
See: Civil Rights Movement and Gay Rights Movement.
Good for you.
To some extent, participating in a public discussion of the topic IS doing something about it. We can protest in the streets, write to our senators, file suit against oppressive laws, but in many cases these things won't convince the other side. The difficulty in being a minority is that the more you organize, the more you are seen as a threat.
I don't need a qualifier to accept an atheist for who he/she is. In fairness, I think atheists are unfairly criticized, however, I also think part of that comes from the intolerant "New Atheists" that are completely anti-religious.Honestly, the best thing we can do is be "out" in our daily lives. As I hinted at when I mentioned hypothetical polling a while ago, the numbers reflect a fear of the unknown quantity. I'm going to guess that a lot more religious people know atheists than realize it, because these people hide (or simply don't mention) their identity. But once someone is able to say to themselves, "I know Sally. Sally's an atheist, but she's also a moral person with a family, and doesn't seem to be a threat to my way of life" it becomes much easier to empathize with atheists' desire to not have religion be a part of secular law.
If they said the same things about blacks or Jews as they say about religious people, then they'd be called exactly what the really are; bigots.
I don't need a qualifier to accept an atheist for who he/she is. In fairness, I think atheists are unfairly criticized, however, I also think part of that comes from the intolerant "New Atheists" that are completely anti-religious.
If they said the same things about blacks or Jews as they say about religious people, then they'd be called exactly what the really are; bigots.
For the record, I do not want religion as a part of secular law, but I think we're missing the bigger picture. If you look at history, this all started when Christianity became Rome's State Religion, and henceforth, Christians feel obligated to enshrine their beliefs into law since its been that way for so long.
I'd say educating the coming generation on the history of this monumental mistake will do a lot more good for a longer period of time than simply demanding religion be ousted from Government.
Jews are religious people.
Blacks, well, there is a pretty big difference between racism and calling religious people stupid. The color of your skin is one thing, believing the world is 6000 years old and God creating man out of clay is another. I don't think black people who are religious get off any easier than white.
Disclaimer: I don't see atheists as a threat, personally, but as was mentioned earlier, I can understand why religious people view them as one...particularly when it comes to their freedom to practice religion.
Just a side note, I was watching Religilous -- the Bill Maher anti-religious documentary, and at the very end, the amount of fear-mongering he was
espousing was shocking as he seemed to compare the tolerance of religion (specifically Islam) with tolerating nuclear war. Sure, he doesn't represent atheism as a whole, but the ones with the biggest mouths are the biggest idiots.
That being said, I can understand to some degree how atheism can be viewed as a threat, but to me, they're just people with a different world-view that what I have.
I don't need a qualifier to accept an atheist for who he/she is. In fairness, I think atheists are unfairly criticized, however, I also think part of that comes from the intolerant "New Atheists" that are completely anti-religious.
If they said the same things they say about blacks or Jews as they say about religious people, then they'd be called exactly what the really are; bigots.
For the record, I do not want religion as a part of secular law, but I think we're missing the bigger picture. If you look at history, this all started when Christianity become Rome's State Religion, and henceforth, Christians feel obligated to enshrine their beliefs into law since its been that way for so long.
I'd say educating the coming generation on the history of this monumental mistake will do a lot more good for a longer period of time than simply demanding religion be ousted from Government.
Jews are religious people.
There's a difference between calling someone wrong and calling someone stupid. The former is an argument on topic, the other is an ad hominem characterization. The intelligence level of the people making the claim has little baring on whether the claim itself is correct.Blacks, well, there is a pretty big difference between racism and calling religious people stupid. The color of your skin is one thing, believing the world is 6000 years old and God creating man out of clay is another. I don't think black people who are religious get off any easier than white.
Rob, I don't speak out against christianity in discussion forums because I am a bigot. I speak out because the doctrine is evil and there is zero evidence to believe in it.