Really? How do you explain the many historical references to Jesus, by both followers and skeptics, that mention the belief in his divinity? How do you explain that so many of his disciples were martyred under excruciatingly painful circumstances because they refused to recant their belief that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God? Surely one such follower would have said, "meh, I believe, but I believe in saving my ass more."
I don't know . . . it has been a strange journey, though. I was out of the Faith as soon as I turned 18. Never looked back. Went to Church for family occasions (weddings funerals) and that was it. Never took it seriously. But after my epiphany, I have mad a slow and gradual course correction in my life. I do not think I am quite ready to re-embrace the Catholic Church, but I know that I cannot continue to think and act as I once did when it comes to my belief in God.
Shouldn't you be packing?
i was raised catholic but never really fully understood it as a kid. just kind of took it for granted. figured everyone believed in the big flying spaghetti monster in the sky. as soon as i started questioning things (idk like age 8) i started asking questions that religious people didn't like to hear. got kicked out of sunday school for asking too many questions (they kindly asked my parents to keep me out until i had a stronger belief in my faith is how they put it). used to get physically ill during sunday mass every week until the point where my parents finally said i didn't have to go anymore if i didn't want to. grew up some more and pretty much felt like i had to critically analyze everything around me (actually i probably do this too much and should relax a bit more), but here i am now.
my big beef with religion and god is the complete blind faith thing. i mean, god has spoken to people before. jesus was here on earth hanging out with other dudes performing miracles and shit. there (allegedly) was actual evidence and eye witness accounts of god/jesus' existence in the past. however, now god is like, well fuck all you guys who weren't around 2000 years ago. you get shit for proof of my existence. sucks to be you for being born when you were. just believe in me or burn in hell. your choice dipshits. imho, god is kind of a douche.
Urm . . . yeah. Difference is, Christ is part of the historical, as opposed to mythological, record. Also, Christ's apostles were foolish and generally ignorant? I think not. The 12 Apostles came from varied walks of life and, though they asked many questions of Christ, wouldn't you have questions for someone who claimed to be the Son of God?
my big beef with religion and god is the complete blind faith thing. i mean, god has spoken to people before. jesus was here on earth hanging out with other dudes performing miracles and shit. there (allegedly) was actual evidence and eye witness accounts of god/jesus' existence in the past.
As I said, Jesus Christ is part of the historical record . . . there are accounts that mention him by name both from his Disciples (duh) and from non-believers as well. Roman historian Tacitus mentions Jesus and his crucifixion by Pilate. The record is plentiful . . .
however, now god is like, well fuck all you guys who weren't around 2000 years ago. you get shit for proof of my existence. sucks to be you for being born when you were. just believe in me or burn in hell. your choice dipshits. imho, god is kind of a douche.
Proof of God's existence? Look around you . . . A Catholic would tell you that all of Creation is as a result of God. You simply need to be strong in your Faith. As for Hell, well . . . this is where the notion of Free Will comes into play. Bear with me . . .
We have free will because God loves us. No one who loves another would ever "force" them to do anything they did not choose to do for themselves. A man who slaps his children is not a loving Father, nor is the husband who locks away his wife a loving husband. God wants us to return to Him, but we must choose to do so. Catholics believe that this life is merely prologue for the eternal life with God that follows our mortal one. Those who choose to reject an eternity with God have chosen Hell. But the key is that we must choose for ourselves. God does not send us to Hell, those who are too prideful to accept His love choose it for themselves.
Also . . . blind faith? Hardly. God wants us to look within ourselves and make a choice . . .
Christ said . . . "I am the way, the truth, and the life. no one can come to the Father except through Me"
It is a road map to eternal salvation. The only thing that remains is to decide, each of us for ourselves, which path we are going to choose, and whether we have the strength to walk it.
Proof of God's existence? Look around you . . . A Catholic would tell you that all of Creation is as a result of God. You simply need to be strong in your Faith. As for Hell, well . . . this is where the notion of Free Will comes into play. Bear with me . . .
We have free will because God loves us. No one who loves another would ever "force" them to do anything they did not choose to do for themselves. A man who slaps his children is not a loving Father, nor is the husband who locks away his wife a loving husband. God wants us to return to Him, but we must choose to do so. Catholics believe that this life is merely prologue for the eternal life with God that follows our mortal one. Those who choose to reject an eternity with God have chosen Hell. But the key is that we must choose for ourselves. God does not send us to Hell, those who are too prideful to accept His love choose it for themselves.
Math says of those 7ish billion people, 1/2 are sub-average intelligence..
Seems like about 3.5-4 billion people are kinda fucknuts..
Mark
Wanted to get back to this for a second . . .
Wouldn't the actual results show that the vast majority of folks were closer to the middle of that bell curve? Lets say 10-15% were fucknuts while an equal 10-15% were really smart, and the remaining 70-80% would be the mundanes.
That seems more like how it would spread out, no? So, of your population of 7 billion, we're actually only talking about a max. of a little over a billion.
Wouldn't the actual results show that the vast majority of folks were closer to the middle of that bell curve? Lets say 10-15% were fucknuts while an equal 10-15% were really smart, and the remaining 70-80% would be the mundanes.
That seems more like how it would spread out, no? So, of your population of 7 billion, we're actually only talking about a max. of a little over a billion.
Average, by definition, is the middle point of a spectrum. So if there are 7 billion people, roughly 1/2 of them are below average. You're talking about standard deviation and outliers.
As I said, Jesus Christ is part of the historical record . . . there are accounts that mention him by name both from his Disciples (duh) and from non-believers as well. Roman historian Tacitus mentions Jesus and his crucifixion by Pilate. The record is plentiful . . .
yes, i have agreed that there was possibly some guy named jesus at some time around 0 AD. now show me the documented evidence that this was actually jesus christ the son of god who performed many miracles that probably thousands of people if not more have seen. and the bible doesn't count as documentation. like i said, they allegedly found some historical records that a guy with that name was around then. that's all they found. they didn't find jesus christ the saviour in any historical documents or with any actual proof.
Proof of God's existence? Look around you . . . A Catholic would tell you that all of Creation is as a result of God. You simply need to be strong in your Faith.
i don't buy for a second that just because something is beautiful or complicated or vast that it must have been made by god. there's just a logical connection there that's missing imo. all i'm saying is that there is no definitive proof that god created the universe or the universe was a creation from the big bang (or that there is only one universe or even only one big bang etc. etc. but that's for another thread). so you have to blindly accept god over other possible explanations. i can't do that. i hold it all in doubt without more proof. (we can get into scientific paradigms and all that as well if you're interested in how science is obviously flawed as well.)
As for Hell, well . . . this is where the notion of Free Will comes into play. Bear with me . . .
i don't believe in free will, but i'll hear you out still.
We have free will because God loves us. No one who loves another would ever "force" them to do anything they did not choose to do for themselves.
this is already incorrect. god forces us to do things we don't want to do all the time. let's say i don't want to be here any more and i just want to be in heaven with god celebrating the rest of eternity. i have no choice in this matter. gotta live out my life because suicide is a mortal sin even though i'm just doing it for my faith. maybe not the best example but i'm sure if you really thought about it you can think of other things we humans have to do because god is forcing us (with the punishment of eternal damnation and torture - btw, all the jews in heaven get to watch us sinners burn in hell for eternity as a reward for reaching heaven. isn't that a sweet present from their god?)
A man who slaps his children is not a loving Father, nor is the husband who locks away his wife a loving husband. God wants us to return to Him, but we must choose to do so.
why can't he (or let's say a spokesperson on his behalf) show up once every, oh idk, 100 years and just say, "hey guys, god's still here. believe in him please. here's a little miracle for those who are still in doubt. later. see you in another century." now is that so hard? choosing to believe in something with zero proof is pretty much impossible for me. is that my fault? is that me being a bad person that deserves to burn in hell for eternity? if you answer yes to those questions, then your god is worse than i'd like to imagine.
Catholics believe that this life is merely prologue for the eternal life with God that follows our mortal one. Those who choose to reject an eternity with God have chosen Hell. But the key is that we must choose for ourselves. God does not send us to Hell, those who are too prideful to accept His love choose it for themselves.
this is a complete cop out. this sounds like those abusive husbands who say things like, "well honey, i'm not choosing to beat you but if you don't do as i tell you then i just have to beat you. it's not my fault you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing. i'm just beating you out of my love for you."
Also . . . blind faith? Hardly. God wants us to look within ourselves and make a choice . . .
Christ said . . . "I am the way, the truth, and the life. no one can come to the Father except through Me"
It is a road map to eternal salvation. The only thing that remains is to decide, each of us for ourselves, which path we are going to choose, and whether we have the strength to walk it.
not sure how this argues against blind faith. if you are not believing blindly, please (i'm seriously begging you) show me what you've seen that you base your faith on (we can discuss creation and the random particles as i'm assuming that's what you're talking about). unless you've actually spoken to god yourself and that's why you believe. i had an old roommate who said jesus was in his bed one morning and told him to move to korea. also had a prof once who said she would have arguments with god in her head all the time. can't say i've had those experiences yet.
Urm . . . yeah. Difference is, Christ is part of the historical, as opposed to mythological, record. Also, Christ's apostles were foolish and generally ignorant? I think not. The 12 Apostles came from varied walks of life and, though they asked many questions of Christ, wouldn't you have questions for someone who claimed to be the Son of God?
i have a ton of fucking questions. so where is he? why hasn't he been here for 2000 years? why are the apostles, who actually got to see him, talk to him, study from him personally, so special? what do they have that people nowadays don't have? why don't we have the occasional burning bush with a booming voice telling us all to stfu and follow jesus? why can't i see an angel just one fucking time and have him tell me i'm a fucking moron for questioning like i do? it's all based on blind faith and i can't hack that.
EDIT: um, btw, did you click on the link? i know in your opinion, jesus was 'real' and all the other saviours from every other religion were just myths, but really...really...
yes, i have agreed that there was possibly some guy named jesus at some time around 0 AD. now show me the documented evidence that this was actually jesus christ the son of god who performed many miracles that probably thousands of people if not more have seen. and the bible doesn't count as documentation. like i said, they allegedly found some historical records that a guy with that name was around then. that's all they found. they didn't find jesus christ the saviour in any historical documents or with any actual proof.
Allegedly? Sorry, but your bias is showing. These are historical documents written by believers AND non-Christians alike that all refer to Jesus as the Christ. How about Josephus, a Jewish traitor to the Romans who, when recounting the history of the times, writes of the Christus when referring to Jesus. Further, his crucifixion is documented by Roman historians of the period. the crime for which he was crucified was because he claimed to be the Son of God. these are not alleged, but historical facts quite apart from whether or not He actually was/is the son of God.
As for proof of his divinity, the Apostles and other early Martyrs ALL went to their deaths willingly, because they believed Jesus to be the Son of God. they were personal witnesses (in the case of the Apostles) to His death and resurrection. As mentioned earlier, surely one would have broken ranks if they had ANY doubts as to the truth of Christ's divinity.
i don't buy for a second that just because something is beautiful or complicated or vast that it must have been made by god. there's just a logical connection there that's missing imo. all i'm saying is that there is no definitive proof that god created the universe or the universe was a creation from the big bang (or that there is only one universe or even only one big bang etc. etc. but that's for another thread). so you have to blindly accept god over other possible explanations. i can't do that. i hold it all in doubt without more proof. (we can get into scientific paradigms and all that as well if you're interested in how science is obviously flawed as well.)
As George Michael said, you gotta have Faith . . .
i don't believe in free will, but i'll hear you out still.
this is already incorrect. god forces us to do things we don't want to do all the time. let's say i don't want to be here any more and i just want to be in heaven with god celebrating the rest of eternity. i have no choice in this matter. gotta live out my life because suicide is a mortal sin even though i'm just doing it for my faith.
This betrays a basic misunderstanding of the Catholic (among others) Faith. Life is the most precious gift God can provide. To discard it so casually is a mortal sin because of how valuable each life is to God. It is not for us to nullify the plans God may have for us in the future. To do so is the height of hubris, as if we know better than God. Soon enough we will be able to join with our Creator when the prologue that is this existence is ended.
maybe not the best example but i'm sure if you really thought about it you can think of other things we humans have to do because god is forcing us (with the punishment of eternal damnation and torture - btw, all the jews in heaven get to watch us sinners burn in hell for eternity as a reward for reaching heaven. isn't that a sweet present from their god?)
As I said, the Catholic version is that God forces nothing upon us. He has provided us with free will (I know, you disagree), and it is up to each one of us to choose whether or not to follow the roadmap Jesus has laid before us to eternal salvation.
why can't he (or let's say a spokesperson on his behalf) show up once every, oh idk, 100 years and just say, "hey guys, god's still here. believe in him please. here's a little miracle for those who are still in doubt. later. see you in another century." now is that so hard? choosing to believe in something with zero proof is pretty much impossible for me. is that my fault? is that me being a bad person that deserves to burn in hell for eternity? if you answer yes to those questions, then your god is worse than i'd like to imagine.
Well, I would not say that you are a bad person, but in the Catholic worldview yes, you have turned your back on God. However, like Thomas, you may find something that changes your mind, and returns you to God's grace. But to me, the real question is this:Why would my answer matter to you in the slightest? If you are so steadfast in your non-belief, why would it matter if the church said you were going to burn in Hell? You don't believe in Hell in the first place. This means (to me, anyway) you have doubts about your . . . doubts?
this is a complete cop out. this sounds like those abusive husbands who say things like, "well honey, i'm not choosing to beat you but if you don't do as i tell you then i just have to beat you. it's not my fault you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing. i'm just beating you out of my love for you."
Not a cop-out at all. God wants us to return to Him. He sent his Son to show us the way. It is up to us to choose whether to do so or not. Once again, those who look upon this line of reasoning as superstitious nonsense should not be concerned about what a Catholic thinks will be the result for them, because they would have to think that it has zero chance of actually occurring.
not sure how this argues against blind faith. if you are not believing blindly, please (i'm seriously begging you) show me what you've seen that you base your faith on (we can discuss creation and the random particles as i'm assuming that's what you're talking about). unless you've actually spoken to god yourself and that's why you believe. i had an old roommate who said jesus was in his bed one morning and told him to move to korea. also had a prof once who said she would have arguments with god in her head all the time. can't say i've had those experiences yet.
Seventeen years ago, when my wife was pregnant with out daughter, we got some bad news after the 16 week blood test results came back. the results showed that our daughter was likely to be born with either Downs or Spina Bifida. Naturally, my wife was devastated, as was I. We had tried for a long time to get pregnant, I had even gotten tested to make sure I could still do my part (other medical issues). This seemed a cruel trick to play (classic bad thing to good people). Around this time my niece was being Confirmed in the Church through school and, as her Godfather I was expected to attend. My wife begged off, as she wanted to be left to herself, but I felt compelled to go, so as not to arouse any unwanted questioning (we had not told anyone about the test). There is a point during mass where the congregation recites the profession of Faith (most know it as the Apostle's or Nicene creed). Out of habit I began reciting the words from memory, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty . . . and, during that recitation, a feeling of overwhelming calm and certainty came over me. I knew, beyond all reason and without a shadow of a doubt, that our child would be healthy. The flood of relief was incredibly intense, to the point that I was in tears. When our daughter was born she was indeed happy and healthy, and I have been making my way back to my Faith ever since.
I do not expect that I am going to change anyone's mind in this discussion. As I said previous, that really is not my goal. I am simply trying to come to some understanding of where my Faith in God is going to lead me next.
Nothing like a good brainwashing to calm a fellow down. I'm glad your daughter is okay. I could explain how being brainwashed at a young age formed neural pathways which provided comfort to you later in life...but let's just say it was a fictional entity that caused your serenity. Much more logical explanation.
Your problem was religion all along...you should of had a Jewish doctor.
Korentaker might be a Jewish name . . . I would not know. You can choose to believe that my epiphany was the result of the "brainwashing" of my youth (those damned parents . . . where was the Gubmint to save me).
I choose to believe that, in my time of need, God's answer to my unspoken prayer was "yes".
Korentaker might be a Jewish name . . . I would not know. You can choose to believe that my epiphany was the result of the "brainwashing" of my youth (those damned parents . . . where was the Gubmint to save me).
I choose to believe that, in my time of need, God's answer to my unspoken prayer was "yes".
Of course you do. He's also quite good at picking Superbowl winners.
you truly believe that people who don't believe in Jesus will go to hell?
Exactly. Live a great and generous life but go to hell because you didn't worship this "loving"deity? Not only that but you will be punished for eternity. That is truly evil.
You spell God with a capital "G" for the same reason you spell Mark with a capital "M" . . . namely that it's a noun.
Why do folks who ostensibly "do not believe" seem so indignant that "believers" would think they will spend eternity in a place that does not, in their minds, exist?
Also, GTA . . . any final act of contrition has to be sincere. One cannot simply "change their mind at the last minute".
It's Friday folks . . . we made it through another week. Enjoy
Proof of God's existence? Look around you . . . A Catholic would tell you that all of Creation is as a result of God. You simply need to be strong in your Faith. As for Hell, well . . . this is where the notion of Free Will comes into play. Bear with me . . .
Weak... a cult leader will tell you tonnes of BS like this too... "Our ills are because of spirits trapped within our bodies by the great Xenu"
We have free will because God loves us. No one who loves another would ever "force" them to do anything they did not choose to do for themselves. A man who slaps his children is not a loving Father, nor is the husband who locks away his wife a loving husband. God wants us to return to Him, but we must choose to do so. Catholics believe that this life is merely prologue for the eternal life with God that follows our mortal one. Those who choose to reject an eternity with God have chosen Hell. But the key is that we must choose for ourselves. God does not send us to Hell, those who are too prideful to accept His love choose it for themselves.
Nobody that loves another would force them to do anything they didn't choose? Parents force kids to eat veggies, go to their rooms, take time outs, ground them, enforce curfews. These are loving parents trying to care for their children.
If we are god's children, he's an absentee parent if ever there was one. I bet JC's out with his buddies drinking away all our child support money, doin that water and wine BS again...
Also . . . blind faith? Hardly. God wants us to look within ourselves and make a choice . . .
Christ said . . . "I am the way, the truth, and the life. no one can come to the Father except through Me"
It is a road map to eternal salvation. The only thing that remains is to decide, each of us for ourselves, which path we are going to choose, and whether we have the strength to walk it.
All of this is no different than any other figurehead
"I'll show you how to get on the mothership, I am your key to entry"
"America is doomed, listen to me and I will show you how to avoid god's wraith"
"Xenu! XEEEENNNNU!!! Also, go see Tom Cruise's new movie"
Comments
10 Christ-like Figures Who Pre-Date Jesus - Listverse
not the best link but i'm lazy today after shoveling tons of gravel into my backyard.
i was raised catholic but never really fully understood it as a kid. just kind of took it for granted. figured everyone believed in the big flying spaghetti monster in the sky. as soon as i started questioning things (idk like age 8) i started asking questions that religious people didn't like to hear. got kicked out of sunday school for asking too many questions (they kindly asked my parents to keep me out until i had a stronger belief in my faith is how they put it). used to get physically ill during sunday mass every week until the point where my parents finally said i didn't have to go anymore if i didn't want to. grew up some more and pretty much felt like i had to critically analyze everything around me (actually i probably do this too much and should relax a bit more), but here i am now.
my big beef with religion and god is the complete blind faith thing. i mean, god has spoken to people before. jesus was here on earth hanging out with other dudes performing miracles and shit. there (allegedly) was actual evidence and eye witness accounts of god/jesus' existence in the past. however, now god is like, well fuck all you guys who weren't around 2000 years ago. you get shit for proof of my existence. sucks to be you for being born when you were. just believe in me or burn in hell. your choice dipshits. imho, god is kind of a douche.
Proof of God's existence? Look around you . . . A Catholic would tell you that all of Creation is as a result of God. You simply need to be strong in your Faith. As for Hell, well . . . this is where the notion of Free Will comes into play. Bear with me . . .
We have free will because God loves us. No one who loves another would ever "force" them to do anything they did not choose to do for themselves. A man who slaps his children is not a loving Father, nor is the husband who locks away his wife a loving husband. God wants us to return to Him, but we must choose to do so. Catholics believe that this life is merely prologue for the eternal life with God that follows our mortal one. Those who choose to reject an eternity with God have chosen Hell. But the key is that we must choose for ourselves. God does not send us to Hell, those who are too prideful to accept His love choose it for themselves.
Christ said . . . "I am the way, the truth, and the life. no one can come to the Father except through Me"
It is a road map to eternal salvation. The only thing that remains is to decide, each of us for ourselves, which path we are going to choose, and whether we have the strength to walk it.
Creation. Nice.
Wanted to get back to this for a second . . .
Wouldn't the actual results show that the vast majority of folks were closer to the middle of that bell curve? Lets say 10-15% were fucknuts while an equal 10-15% were really smart, and the remaining 70-80% would be the mundanes.
That seems more like how it would spread out, no? So, of your population of 7 billion, we're actually only talking about a max. of a little over a billion.
Average, by definition, is the middle point of a spectrum. So if there are 7 billion people, roughly 1/2 of them are below average. You're talking about standard deviation and outliers.
Mark
i don't buy for a second that just because something is beautiful or complicated or vast that it must have been made by god. there's just a logical connection there that's missing imo. all i'm saying is that there is no definitive proof that god created the universe or the universe was a creation from the big bang (or that there is only one universe or even only one big bang etc. etc. but that's for another thread). so you have to blindly accept god over other possible explanations. i can't do that. i hold it all in doubt without more proof. (we can get into scientific paradigms and all that as well if you're interested in how science is obviously flawed as well.)
i don't believe in free will, but i'll hear you out still.
this is already incorrect. god forces us to do things we don't want to do all the time. let's say i don't want to be here any more and i just want to be in heaven with god celebrating the rest of eternity. i have no choice in this matter. gotta live out my life because suicide is a mortal sin even though i'm just doing it for my faith. maybe not the best example but i'm sure if you really thought about it you can think of other things we humans have to do because god is forcing us (with the punishment of eternal damnation and torture - btw, all the jews in heaven get to watch us sinners burn in hell for eternity as a reward for reaching heaven. isn't that a sweet present from their god?)
why can't he (or let's say a spokesperson on his behalf) show up once every, oh idk, 100 years and just say, "hey guys, god's still here. believe in him please. here's a little miracle for those who are still in doubt. later. see you in another century." now is that so hard? choosing to believe in something with zero proof is pretty much impossible for me. is that my fault? is that me being a bad person that deserves to burn in hell for eternity? if you answer yes to those questions, then your god is worse than i'd like to imagine.
this is a complete cop out. this sounds like those abusive husbands who say things like, "well honey, i'm not choosing to beat you but if you don't do as i tell you then i just have to beat you. it's not my fault you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing. i'm just beating you out of my love for you."
not sure how this argues against blind faith. if you are not believing blindly, please (i'm seriously begging you) show me what you've seen that you base your faith on (we can discuss creation and the random particles as i'm assuming that's what you're talking about). unless you've actually spoken to god yourself and that's why you believe. i had an old roommate who said jesus was in his bed one morning and told him to move to korea. also had a prof once who said she would have arguments with god in her head all the time. can't say i've had those experiences yet.
i have a ton of fucking questions. so where is he? why hasn't he been here for 2000 years? why are the apostles, who actually got to see him, talk to him, study from him personally, so special? what do they have that people nowadays don't have? why don't we have the occasional burning bush with a booming voice telling us all to stfu and follow jesus? why can't i see an angel just one fucking time and have him tell me i'm a fucking moron for questioning like i do? it's all based on blind faith and i can't hack that.
EDIT: um, btw, did you click on the link? i know in your opinion, jesus was 'real' and all the other saviours from every other religion were just myths, but really...really...
he saved a family in an SUV crash so now he's a good person who deserves to go to heaven.
Seventeen years ago, when my wife was pregnant with out daughter, we got some bad news after the 16 week blood test results came back. the results showed that our daughter was likely to be born with either Downs or Spina Bifida. Naturally, my wife was devastated, as was I. We had tried for a long time to get pregnant, I had even gotten tested to make sure I could still do my part (other medical issues). This seemed a cruel trick to play (classic bad thing to good people).
Around this time my niece was being Confirmed in the Church through school and, as her Godfather I was expected to attend. My wife begged off, as she wanted to be left to herself, but I felt compelled to go, so as not to arouse any unwanted questioning (we had not told anyone about the test).
There is a point during mass where the congregation recites the profession of Faith (most know it as the Apostle's or Nicene creed). Out of habit I began reciting the words from memory, "I believe in God, the Father Almighty . . . and, during that recitation, a feeling of overwhelming calm and certainty came over me. I knew, beyond all reason and without a shadow of a doubt, that our child would be healthy. The flood of relief was incredibly intense, to the point that I was in tears. When our daughter was born she was indeed happy and healthy, and I have been making my way back to my Faith ever since.
I do not expect that I am going to change anyone's mind in this discussion. As I said previous, that really is not my goal. I am simply trying to come to some understanding of where my Faith in God is going to lead me next.
Your problem was religion all along...you should of had a Jewish doctor.
I'm here all week. Try the veal.
I choose to believe that, in my time of need, God's answer to my unspoken prayer was "yes".
Of course you do. He's also quite good at picking Superbowl winners.
#phenomenonthemovie
Guess you aren't praying right...might be time to drop that capital G...or would you be smoten for typing in vain?
For your viewing pleasure . . .
http://ow.ly/nikaz
I'm going to hell...
FWIW, I have to read most of Milo's medication-free postings.
Mark
Exactly. Live a great and generous life but go to hell because you didn't worship this "loving"deity? Not only that but you will be punished for eternity. That is truly evil.
just don't every spell god with a little g...sacrilege
Why do folks who ostensibly "do not believe" seem so indignant that "believers" would think they will spend eternity in a place that does not, in their minds, exist?
Also, GTA . . . any final act of contrition has to be sincere. One cannot simply "change their mind at the last minute".
It's Friday folks . . . we made it through another week. Enjoy
PS since when do people capitalize every noun? I think you put too much starch in your magic underwear
Nobody that loves another would force them to do anything they didn't choose? Parents force kids to eat veggies, go to their rooms, take time outs, ground them, enforce curfews. These are loving parents trying to care for their children.
If we are god's children, he's an absentee parent if ever there was one. I bet JC's out with his buddies drinking away all our child support money, doin that water and wine BS again...
Mark
All of this is no different than any other figurehead
"I'll show you how to get on the mothership, I am your key to entry"
"America is doomed, listen to me and I will show you how to avoid god's wraith"
"Xenu! XEEEENNNNU!!! Also, go see Tom Cruise's new movie"
(seriously, I fucking hate the scientologists)
Mark