Do you REALLY believe in God?

[Theben]

I guess there's no point in denying the existence of anything...

[Kuciwalker]

I suggest we all masturbate about how many things we can say "You can't know whether it exists" about

[Vesayen]

G-D is not = to Christianity. Some religions don't require faith, i'm a practicing Jew and I haven't had any faith since I was a young child.

I certainly don't believe in YOUR god though .

[Vesayen]

Re: Do you REALLY believe in God?

You believe that putting a hand in fire will burn the hand. You believe that falling from a great hight will kill you.

You refuse to put hands in fire and you avoid edges of deep holes.

-> Your behaviour is consistent with what you say you believe.

It is more of the basis of scientific process then "belief". There is very little I actually believe, experience and evidence shows that fire is bad and great heights, are bad.

On the other hand, breaking religious rules is supposed to also hurt you very badly, in fact, if you sin you are supposed to endure unimaginable pain and suffering forever.

Not all religions believe in a supreme being that is such a douche bag, such an *******, so UNBELIEVABLY cruel that he tortures sentient beings for all eternity. Why don't you ask Jesus how he feels about torture :?

Here is a list of seven deadly sins in Catholicism, I bet other religions have similar lists:

Actually your wrong, as far as I know..... no other religions have a "list" of cardinal sins lined up with emotions.

[Alexander's Horse]

Buddhism and Hinduism and Islam all have similar lists and they are almost identical.

If you go to some Buddhist temples you can see the sins and hell punishments depicted.

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by Theben
I guess there's no point in denying the existence of anything...

No

There could be another universe in my fingernail

[Provost Harrison]

I think AH that you'll find it is your ilk that is believes in the flat earth. I find it somehow humourous that you accuse us of the things that only apply to your faith.

And a miserable life? Well I certainly haven't done that for a very, very long time...I've sorted out a lot of those problems thanks to modern medicine. If it were up to your ilk, they'd probably try to exorcise a daemon in me or something...

[Theben]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
No

There could be another universe in my fingernail

You might want to check up your arse 1st.

[Ben Kenobi]

Some religions don't require faith, i'm a practicing Jew and I haven't had any faith since I was a young child.

Well, I'd wait for LoTM and see if he agrees with your assessment.

Yes, you don't even believe in any God, let alone the Christian one.

Not all religions believe in a supreme being that is such a douche bag, such an *******, so UNBELIEVABLY cruel that he tortures sentient beings for all eternity. Why don't you ask Jesus how he feels about torture :?

We are promised eternal separation from him, a chance to see what we would be like without God in our lives at all. And isn't this what someone who rejects God wants most? A chance to be free from him?

[Bill3000]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi
We are promised eternal separation from him, a chance to see what we would be like without God in our lives at all. And isn't this what someone who rejects God wants most? A chance to be free from him?

Yes, it's called the "real world." Only thing preventing seperation are the religious, really. It's not like anyone religious actually are in touch with the divine.

[Ben Kenobi]

Pushing one's own (religious/spiritual) beliefs on others is probably the worst things a person can do. All this "Love thy Neighbor" is B.S. Why? Because it usually turns into "Love thy Neighbor...so long as they believe in the same thing you do. If not, then BURN THEM!!!" Total nonsense b.s.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

I hadn't seen that until now, God loves those who hate him, and shows his love for them in doing good things for them, even though they reject him. That's the standard that Christians are called to match.

[Elok]

Okay, this has gotten ludicrously threadjacked; the way of all religion posts, I suppose. Now, the original statement of this thread is false because it is based on a number of false premises. First, as I have already pointed out, Catholicism is not the sole form of Christianity, and what the RCC says means all of squat to my beliefs. The legalistic concept of automatically going to hell for X actions is not innately Christian-personally, I think it's pretty stupid. If judgment were that simple there would be no need for a Judge in the first place.

More importantly, however, you seem to be implying that man is an entirely rational animal, that everything we do is in accord with our understanding of our own best interests at the moment. This is not entirely true even of obvious physical phenomena, though it's more difficult to forget about a flame or a street twenty stories below than it is to forget an abstract concept like Good or Evil. The late Cartoon Network show "Home Movies" had an episode which illustrates one of our strongest and yet most idiotic impulses; I think of it as "Pandora's Itch." The desire to do something only because we have just been told not to do it, regardless of the probable consequences. It seems to be driven alternately by curiosity and spite.

Anyway, in this particular episode, Brendan's little sister, who's an infant, somehow gets the brilliant idea to shove marbles up her nose. They get stuck up there, and the mother has to take her to the ER to get them extracted. Brendan, seeing an opportunity to do good and help himself, asks his teacher if he can make a public-service video for children for extra credit. The teacher says yes, and Brendan makes a decently convincing video reenactment to teach kids that marbles should not be shoved up noses. He brings it into school to show a bunch of first-graders, along with some marbles as a visual aid. He shows the video....and when the lights come on, every single child has shoved marbles up his or her nose. The following dialogue ensues (from memory, probably not exact):

TEACHER: Why did you put marbles up your nose?
SMALL CHILD: Because the video told me not to.
BRENDAN: So, do I get extra credit?
T: Brendan, your video had these children do the exact thing it set out to tell them not to do. I can't give you extra credit for this.
B: But--
T: Sorry, Brendan, but no.
B: Fine! I'll just take the marbles and the tape and go then.
T: Oh, don't bother about the marbles, I can clean them up myself.
B: No, it's no trouble at all, lemme just--
T: Brendan, it's fine. I'll take care of them.
B: No, really--
T: Brendan, I said I'll handle them.
B: What? Hey, you're thinking about putting the marbles up your nose yourself, aren't you?
T: Of course not, Brendan! That's ridiculous, I'm a grown man!
B: Okay, I guess I'll just take these marbles then.
T: You do that.
B: I really will.
T: Fine by me.
B: I'm taking them now...
T (reaching out and stopping Brendan's hand): Leave two.

Well, it was funnier in the episode. Anyway, the phenomenon's most obvious in children, who haven't learned to repress stupid impulses as well as most adults, but it's present in some small degree in all people. The original biblical story of the Fall itself implies the same irrational yearning at work. Eve had no logical reason to eat the stupid fruit. The serpent's story that it would "make her like God, and God lied to you to keep that from happening," is obviously far less likely than God actually having a valid reason for not wanting her to eat the fruit. If he was scared of competition, why did he put the tree smack dab in the middle of the garden and leave both of them alone with it? No, Eve did what she did in spite of the obvious consequences, and the hell of it is that a lot of us would be tempted to do the same thing in that same situation. After all, how many people (albeit mostly teenagers) start smoking each year just because they've been told the things are horrible poison? Would we have any other reason for wanting to inhale the acrid fumes of a bad-smelling plant that costs money and is widely known to do serious damage and addict while doing nothing more remarkable for you than the much less harmful caffeine? No, we're just stupid that way.

[Ben Kenobi]

Yes, it's called the "real world." Only thing preventing seperation are the religious, really. It's not like anyone religious actually are in touch with the divine.

If the 'real world' is what hell would be like, then hell isn't much of a torture.

[Ben Kenobi]

The serpent's story that it would "make her like God, and God lied to you to keep that from happening," is obviously far less likely than God actually having a valid reason for not wanting her to eat the fruit.

The serpent told the truth, that they would gain knowledge of good and evil. It isn't that the serpent lied to them, rather that the serpent encouraged them to disobey God.

[MrFun]

Originally posted by Odin
"Atheism is a crutch for the weak-minded."