|
Griffen posted:I do not believe that God hides himself from anyone who honestly looks for Him. Does everyone who searches honestly look for him? I doubt it. All too often we put our own preconceptions to what God should be in front of our search, rather than trying to find Him as He is. Often times I see this as people trying to fit God to their own worldview and walk away. "What do you mean God doesn't like homosexuality, isn't he supposed to be all about love?" That is one that I hear a lot. People don't always like the idea that there is right and wrong, and today's culture is very much one of moral relativism. I don't say this to preach at anyone, but when you get down to it, God isn't morally relativistic - He has his laws as to what is right and wrong. He offers forgiveness for our failures, but that still requires us to admit our errors when we sin, and that sometimes isn't something we want to face. Thus, we claim that God "isn't meeting us" because we refuse to let go of the things that are between us and Him. Were you raised in a Christian tradition? I think it would be hard to go looking for God without preconceptions if you grew up in the west.
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2016 01:56
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 08:02 |
|
|
McDowell posted:What about all the beliefs humans have in common? The Anthropocene is a BFD whether you think there is a creator or not. One way or another human schemes end up humbled by the big other. I don't understand.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2016 02:07
|
|
|
McDowell posted:Global Modernity, whether or not it needed Columbus and Christianity to come into being, signifies a different kind of human responsibility for the environment - if we want to survive and also have nice things like clean water and electricity we have to be very smart - but our lack of foresight will likely catch up with us (climate change, overpopulation, antibiotic resistance, etc) Oh, I think I get what you are saying, that instead of finding God you might discover your role in the future of humanity. I'm not sure how that affects my question though. It was specifically directed at Griffen.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2016 02:18
|
|
|
OK thanks.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2016 02:23
|
|
|
Griffen posted:Do you consider "being gay" a condition of the body or a conscious choice of who you sleep with? If it is the latter, than my previous post stands. If it is the former, how can you tell me it is not an illness or condition that needs to be corrected? Biologically speaking, it does sorta kill off passing on your genes, which is the definition of an evolutionary negative trait. So either it is a choice that we have to accept responsibility for, or it is something that afflicts us and should be treated. Do we tell people with diabetes that they should accept their conditions and live with the consequences, or do we try to ameliorate the effects and help them live a normal life. Granted this isn't to say you should persecute homosexuals, but likewise you shouldn't embrace the practice. Are we talking about evolutionary fitness or the will of God? Even if you believe in evolution (which it is certainly possible for Christians to do), it's not like it should matter. If the end of days is near, evolutionary time scales are irrelevant.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2016 16:30
|
|
|
Griffen posted:Correct, it doesn't matter to me the evolutionary fitness of one trait or another, I was simply trying to use other arguments, since the poster clearly saw little relevance to what I was saying thus far. Well if you were intending to illustrate that the Old Testament prohibition on homosexual acts stayed relevant after the arrival of Jesus Christ you've still got your work ahead of you, since you felt the need to pivot to non-religious arguments. My impression is that some cultural factors are influencing your views on homosexuality, and that you have not fully explored the relationship between your religious and cultural influences.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2016 17:15
|
|
|
GAINING WEIGHT... posted:First, it is simply inescapable that the Bible is against homosexuality in testaments both old and new. If you, as a Christian, think being gay is permitted by God, then your reasons must come from outside the Bible - which is fine, and if you have a reason to believe Christianity but not the Bible, that would be perfectly fit for this thread, but to argue that the Bible doesn't take a position on the issue is dishonest. Many Christians (some fairly prominent and with seminary backgrounds) disagree, so I'm not sure you can just deliver a ruling on it like this.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2016 18:59
|
|
|
Crowsbeak posted:Ah was wondering how long till the Atheist asked "Why don't you believe in Thor"? Well I believe in the God of All Creation. Who is the prime mover, who is not constrained by the universe. Those others are. Ok then, pick another creator god and tell us why you don't believe in them. Or, if you have the good faith in you, understand the motivation behind the question "why don't you believe in Thor" as "why don't you believe in cosmologies other than the one you happen to have been raised in and socialized to believe."
|
|
#
¿
Jun 18, 2016 19:40
|
|
|
BrandorKP posted:Origen Brandor just as soon as a hole in the sky opens up and black birds fly out, and everybody starts walking on their hands, I'll start letting you tell me what a non sequitur is.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2016 00:55
|
|
|
Hey. If you start going after Chomsky, we're going to start going after your God.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2016 16:41
|
|
|
The Kingfish posted:Are there any theologians who write about the profound implications that modern physics have on for our conceptions of God the Father? Specifically the concept of time as a spatial dimension? Gene Ray, Carlos Castaneda and Raël
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2016 16:47
|
|
|
urseus posted:People should want to hope that God doesn't exist. The alternative, that he's there and letting some of this bad stuff go on even if for some grand plan is horrifying. It's all right, they know. Very few people now living truly believe in an omnipotent god. The world is too well-explained and too real for such things to matter to the average person.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 19, 2016 23:50
|
|
|
OwlFancier posted:I really don't understand what that means. Freed from the prison of time, God metes out justice patiently. For example when gays began to marry, God already knew that he would send the punishment of 9/11.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2016 01:09
|
|
|
BrandorKP posted:I've been thinking about this, Wouldn't it be more relevant to ask Christians why do you believe in Jesus? Yeah but to me that only answers the question "why do you want to believe in Jesus?" Of course you want to believe in Jesus, he's a great guy. But the real question we want the answer to, concerns that last little rejection of the need to understand whether what you believe is real; that's the gap I still have to cross in getting to understand a Christian's mindset. If you feel compelled to follow Jesus, well hell; most atheists have already gotten that far with Jesus, I certainly have. They're western liberals like you and me. Following Jesus already forms the infrastructure of our lives, it defines what makes us proud or guilty, what kinds of injustice make us angry. As much as there are other frameworks, chances are that if you're a humane person in America, and whether you came to it as a WASP, or Korean, or in a government Indian school, being socialized to in some sense "follow Jesus" probably had a lot to do with it.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2016 06:07
|
|
|
Crowsbeak posted:Really all people with psychosis has no control at all over their lives? Who said all? Just admit that there are plenty who don't have enough, and answer the drat question.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 20, 2016 10:06
|
|
|
Crowsbeak posted:If you truly know the presence of God as all who enter Heaven will by God s litteral presense, you will of course not commit evil. Do you ever wonder what it will be like?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2016 05:37
|
|
|
Crowsbeak posted:No I have this life first. Also is that Farange? Alao if one feels no guilt at all at any action one probably is deliberately ignoring God. You're not even curious what it will be like to dwell for eternity in God's presence, unable even to conceive of sin? It could get weird. I wonder if you don't wonder too much because deep down you don't believe it's real.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2016 10:58
|
|
|
Crowsbeak posted:God was human only once. Also sedan I don't dwell on it because it seems pointless to dwell on another life when I have so much more of my current one ahead of me. Get back to me in 50 years. Why would you assume you have even a minute left? You don't think about Heaven because you don't believe in it.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2016 16:19
|
|
|
Crowsbeak posted:Also Sedan that only works on Calvinists. You are awfully incurious about the structure of the world you supposedly believe in. Beliefs are a play thing for you.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2016 16:35
|
|
|
Crowsbeak posted:No Calvinists are the only Christians who by their very give a poo poo about if they go outside and have a bus hit them. What are you talking about? Why would you assume that your life will be long? quote:Also I think it's time the majority of atheists here answer a question. What makes you so mad that people believe in God or Gods? That's not what makes me mad. What annoys me is you, specifically, and your refusal to admit that you don't actually care about the specifics of belief because you don't have any of it.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2016 16:58
|
|
|
Crowsbeak posted:Well I a tally do sedan it's just that you are mad my belief doesn't pigeonhole me. It's really obvious you atheist ls in these threads just want them so you can have a circle jerk while all the theists will be stereotypical yec biblical literalists who you can show are all wrong because how can the bible be right. Or else if they had a religious experience they must be mentally ill. You don't like that when people won't be pigeonholed and will also call you out. Sorry if we won't play ball. No, I've pigeonholed you. There's already a pigeonhole for "bigot who aligns with Christianity for cultural reasons, but doesn't believe in God."
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2016 17:08
|
|
|
Griffen posted:It is one thing to answer honest questions for information or to share personal stories, but when was the last time an atheists or theists changed their opinion based on arguments on SA? Pretty often, it just takes time for the arguments to settle in. Who better than goons to strip away the concept that anyone can be saved?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2016 19:18
|
|
|
*parachutes into Rwandan genocide* YOU'RE NOT IGNORING GOD ARE YOU?? LOOK AT HIS BOUNTY ALL AROUND YOU
|
|
#
¿
Jun 21, 2016 19:49
|
|
|
Yeah nobody is interested in the standard arguments, we are interested in the opinion of individuals who profess to believe in God as to why those standard arguments have not wrecked their beliefs.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 27, 2016 22:00
|
|
|
I Like Jell-O posted:To become like him by learning truth in this life and the life to come. Last time we tried that he sentenced every human to death.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 28, 2016 17:09
|
|
|
Tuxedo Catfish posted:The only reason there's no moral element to a hurricane is because no one set the hurricane in motion. If they did, it instantly takes on a moral element. No you see, you let God off the hook for all the things a human would be a sinner for doing. This is because God is perfectly good by definition. If he wanted us to fight each other to the death in the arena, that's what good is.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 28, 2016 23:29
|
|
|
Rhjamiz posted:It never made sense to me that God would punish mankind for disobeying him in the Garden. They didn't know right from wrong until they ate the fruit, how were they supposed to know disobeying God and eating the fruit was wrong, exactly? Well, you have to let the newly created make mistakes. Like if a baby touches a stove; if they don't burn their hand, how will they really know? Except instead of burning their hand, you invent the very concepts of death, pain in childbirth, and domestic violence.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2016 04:59
|
|
|
Crowsbeak posted:Actually that pain is our own collective fault. Tell it to the harlequin babies.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 03:09
|
|
|
Crowsbeak posted:We as a whole did choose to accept evil did we not? For we expected free will and we were given that and we accepted evil. I sincerely believe if we all came to God we would be restored, But I doubt that will ever happen until the end of time. This is why nobody cares about refined theological arguments, because what underpins them is nakedly cruel and retarded.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 17:40
|
|
|
Fansy posted:If God isn't real then what happens when we die? Do we just become ghosts that have nowhere to go? How luxurious to imagine your consciousness will be preserved, instead of being dissipated like smoke.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 20:30
|
|
|
Lampsacus posted:Matt dilihunty on YouTube is the only internet atheist I can tolerate and it's because he concentrates on logical arguments instead of smugness. He was also a pastor for many years so has an empathetic approach. I encourage Christians with that sneaky sense of doubt in them to check him out. Namaste. He seems as smug as the rest, which is especially lacking in self-awareness since it apparently took him decades to get there.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 21:12
|
|
|
If God can set out the rules for good and evil, but fails to demonstrate that he abides by them, God appears to be a piece of poo poo unworthy of worship. Thoughts?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 23:27
|
|
|
Anyone who goes to atheist events or groups can be called an "internet atheist." I find them boring, but then I've already been an atheist my whole life so I don't feel the need to join a club or movement.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2016 09:05
|
|
|
BrandorKP posted:Here's another way to think about this problem of evil business. Where is God relative to the cross? That's what Jesus was wondering 
|
|
#
¿
Jul 4, 2016 06:44
|
|
|
BrandorKP posted:Yes. That's part of the point. And then he died, the end. I "choose to believe" that God deceived his own son and left him to die, then instead of coming back he stayed dead. Oh you don't choose to believe what I choose to believe? I guess we'll remain estranged from one another then, locked in separate prisons of our own irrelevance. If only there was a way to bridge that gap, like getting shut of navel-gazing interpretations of the writings of dead cultures, or relinquishing a schizophrenic's reverence for the significance of metaphor. Ah, well...
|
|
#
¿
Jul 4, 2016 18:26
|
|
|
The Kingfish posted:I don't know dick about physics, but it seems like the universe operates according to cause and effect. The infiniteness of a creator God makes sense in the way infinite expansion and collapse of the universe does not. "Didn't all this come from a big monkey--the first monkey?" a monkey reasoned.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 18, 2016 15:25
|
|
|
Bel Shazar posted:An uncaused creator is easier to imagine than an uncaused creation. Only because it's been drilled into us for centuries. It actually doesn't make a lick more sense.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 19, 2016 03:59
|
|
|
Bel Shazar posted:I'm not assuming any type of intelligent design, but most of the current theories look a lot like a process of creation. For god's sake pick a lane. Either you believe in an ancient creation myth to the exclusion of science and evidence, or you care about the science and evidence.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 19, 2016 05:00
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 22, 2024 08:02 |
|
|
Bel Shazar posted:Sounds like a pretty lovely worldview for everyone involved. Did you think nice ones were available? Atomic weapons are real and humankind will be annihilated. No sense of creation or meaning will be evident in observing the resultant debris, any more than it is from the rest of space. (Since we're just saying what we believe)
|
|
#
¿
Jul 19, 2016 06:22
|
|