posted
Dani: Stupid stupid stupid would be assembling a lynching mod and chasing down those who violate something out of the Book of Leviticus.
Go ahead, read Leviticus. More raunchy than one of Liam's CapCom's entries. But I really doubt I'll go to hell for not following it word-for-word. The scary thing is a lot of people do.
"Love your neighbor as you love yourself"
That's all anyone really really needs, whether Atheist or Buddhist or Mormon or Orthodox Jew.
------------------ "......" �������������-The Breen at Internment Camp 371
Dani
Naboo Handmaiden Ex-Part-Time Admin
Member # 57
posted
"Then why would he make such things as war, famine, and disease?"
He didn't MAKE those things...*sigh* This is often the most difficult thing for all people (Christians and non-Christians alike) to deal with...God loves us, but these things happen. I've often asked the same question, and I know MANY of my Christian friends have struggled with this question as well.
All we can do is have faith that He'll deliver the world from it all, in His time.
posted
If God is omnipotent, and he created the universe then would you not say that the universe is part of him? Therefore, the whole is the one and the one is the whole?
Which would make all of his conflicts our conflicts. Note...I see God as a child trying to gain a sense of identity from all this, to become sentient yet be the absolute sentient being.
posted
My indictment of your concept of "God" is not that He MADE these bad things, but that he ALLOWS them. An analogy:
Suppose you know a horrible crime is about to be committed. You know who will do it, when, where, and perhaps even why. You also know that with a Q-like snap of your fingers, you can prevent this crime with no harm to anyone, while remaining undetectable and with no danger to yourself or any other person. And yet, you refuse to snap your fingers, and it happens.
What does this make you?
What would you think of a person who stood idly by and watched someone get raped, or a child get murdered, or someone bleed to death in excruciating pain? Especially when that person has the power to MAKE IT STOP?
If I accept your version of God, I have to accept a being that is an accessory to every crime which ever occured. A being which behaves in a manner in which a person would be held in contempt by humanity for. (like that kid in Las Vegas who did nothing as his buddy killed a little girl in a bathroom stall).
I can't do that. Not with anything resembling a conscience. I don't possess that concept of "have faith, it'll all work out okay in the end."
posted
The concept of "Original Sin" is pure bunk.
Unless God is a Klingon. And even THEY only bear dishonor for a few generations.
We do not place blame on children for the sins of their parents.
Likewise, we are not responsible for the actions of a pair of fruit-munching simpletons untold eons ago.
They tell us the original sin was.. but they can't even agree WHAT it was. Was it disobedience? Ambition?
Bah. The original sin was putting the tree and the serpent and the aforementioned simpletons in the same garden. Intentionally. With knowledge (and therfore malice) aforethought. And then LYING about its effects. (bet that's one thing everybody forgets.. the serpent told the TRUTH. They didn't die, they did "become as God, knowing right and wrong") Big G fibbed -- or worse, spoke in stupid metaphor to people who didn't yet have written language, much less the concept for metaphor.
You can't claim Omniscient God didn't know what was going to happen when He mixed those ingredients together. And since He knew, it's pretty stupid to be mad about it.
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Original Sin = the rebellious NATURE we were BORN with? Then how can it be a "real" sin? "Real" sin being something we have control over, rather than an inherent tendency. And you say we are born - are CREATED this way. A tendency to think for ourselves is called FREE WILL. Now, since God gave us free will, that points to God as the creator of what you term "Original Sin," as well. Uh-oh.
(as an aside, this sounds like the same "rebellious nature" Satan/Lucifer had. And of course, since only God created Lucifer, He had to have created Lucifer's nature as well.)
posted
Following up on First's last statement, evil is inherent in humans. We are equally capable of good, and evil. Here's something for you to ponder:
quote:God created man in his own image
If that's true, the He created us not only in physical image, but in our mentality as well. Therefore, evil is in Him too.
------------------ "We choose to do this and more. Not because it is easy, but because it is hard." -- John F. Kennedy
posted
Or the evil part of God IS Lucifer, or something.
The only problem I've seen with these threads is that people want proof, adn it's pretty clear that a bunch of Star Trek fans on the internet aren't going to prove God's existence. People have studied this for millenia. God himself says that you must have faith. It's not an easy situation to work with.
Okay, say God eliminated all murder. We'd thne have no knowledge of murder. We'd say 'how does God allow beatings' So he eliminates all physical violence. We'd then say 'Why does God allow us to stub our toe?' Peronally, i think God gave us free will for a reason. If he interferes in our lives, he's taking away that free will. Then we become little more than puppets. He HAS to allow us to make mistakes, so that we can grow. It's be like protecting a child from ALL the evils of the world, keeping them locked up in their bedroom so that they can never see anything bad. That child is never going to grow up. Same with us. We have to experience the bad, and then choose to embrace the good.
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