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Mark Haslett
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 April 2004
Location: United States
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| Posted: 13 September 2019 at 1:12pm | IP Logged | 1
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The whole fiction of any would-be "true" religion is utterly revealed by
seeing how minuscule the number of "true followers" is.
This entire universe, the "true" Christians would have it, was created to
redeem their insignificant ranks.
The only way to believe is to remain completely and totally wrapped within
the limits of the religion's understanding.
When you gather up every thing in the universe that remotely conforms to
Christianity, you end up with a fraction so small that it's accurate to say
100% of the universe contradicts it.
"God does not change, people change" is a perfect way out for any mind
that doesn't want to face this unhappy fact.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
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| Posted: 13 September 2019 at 1:58pm | IP Logged | 2
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One of the “proofs” of the existence of Jesus is a letter by the Roman historian Pliny, circa 90 CE. Or two or three generations after the alleged events took place. Thing is, tho, in the letter Pliny refers to this new cult of Christianity, which he notes is based on the worship of Jesus. Which raises the question of whether contemporaneous letters that mention Jupiter, or Hera, or Pan should be taken as proof that they existed?
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Michael Roberts
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 13 September 2019 at 3:34pm | IP Logged | 3
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QUOTE:
| I take it literally except for those parts that are clearly poetic, symbolic, or prophetic language (though truth is still being communicated in those passages). |
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This epitomizes my biggest issue with religious faith.
"It's literally true except for the parts that are obvious metaphorical!" "It's obvious except for the parts that God wants unknowable!" "It's unknowable except for the parts that are obviously true!" "It's all metaphorical except for the obvious truths!"
It's hogwash except for the parts that are clearly bullshit.
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Michael Roberts
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 13 September 2019 at 3:39pm | IP Logged | 4
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QUOTE:
| If you think God is a fiction, then you have to take into account the whole "story." You can't just say "Oh, He killed the Egyptian firstborn--that proves He's evil." You have to look at the rest of the "character's" storyline. He created EVERYONE--we all owe Him everything! Everything we know about sin comes from what He's warned us about. Everything we know about love and kindness comes from Him. Even your sense of outrage at His perceived cruelty comes from Him! |
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Children "owe" their existence to their parents. We still frown down upon parents killing their children.
One of the things that led me away from Christianity was the idea of eternal suffering in Hell. I don't think anyone, no matter how evil, deserves to suffer for eternity. Agonizing, painful deaths? Sure, maybe. But even that's a stretch for me. Does that make me more merciful than God?
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Eric Jansen
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 13 September 2019 at 4:58pm | IP Logged | 5
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Sorry, Neil. I was going off of memory (and just chatting--I didn't expect homework!). Here's a diagram for some of the Chinese words I referenced--
The thinking is that after the Flood, the whole world had knowledge of God, but that after the Tower of Babel, the confusion of languages, and the dispersal of mankind across the Earth, some of that knowledge was forgotten in the different cultures (which would explain why there are similarities in different religions, including a remembrance of a worldwide flood through most cultures with a written history).
Edited by Eric Jansen on 13 September 2019 at 5:02pm
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Robbie Moubert
Byrne Robotics Member
Evertonian
Joined: 16 April 2004
Location: United Kingdom
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| Posted: 13 September 2019 at 5:25pm | IP Logged | 6
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The thinking is that after the Flood
*************************************
Wait, are you seriously suggesting that the flood actually happened?!
Putting aside the absurdity of Noah's Ark - are we supposed to accept that the only answer an all-powerful, loving god had to mankind's failings was to wipe every living creature from the face of the Earth?!
(For anyone who hasn't seen Ricky Gervais's take on Noah's Ark - enjoy!) |
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Neil Lindholm
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 January 2005
Location: China
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| Posted: 13 September 2019 at 5:35pm | IP Logged | 7
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The proof of God’s existence using numerology.
A pattern can be found in anything, if one wants to find a pattern.
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Neil Lindholm
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 13 September 2019 at 5:42pm | IP Logged | 8
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The math of Noah’s Ark
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 13 September 2019 at 6:24pm | IP Logged | 9
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Don’t use science against religion. The gods trump everything because they can do anything. Only argue religion against religion.
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Mark Haslett
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| Posted: 13 September 2019 at 8:55pm | IP Logged | 10
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There isn't a single aspect of the history of the Christian religion that doesn't
have an alternative, vastly more likely explanation -- starting with explaining
the inherently self-contradictory passages of the Bible and riding on through
to the purpose or meaning of every last sacrament.
But the most confounding aspect of the persistence of organized religion is
how clearly its name sake warned against the kind of group-cult-thinking that
keeps it going. When Christ said not to pray on the streets, but to do it in the
privacy of your home -- why would anyone take that to be anything but literal
instruction? And if that bit of advice were taken to heart, so many of the evils
of organized religion would be reduced.
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Brian Floyd
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| Posted: 14 September 2019 at 12:14am | IP Logged | 11
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The only thing from the Bible (or any religion or religious text) that I don't think can be explained: Where the heck did everything come from?!
(Well, that, and a definitive answer to what happens to us when we die....)
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Neil Lindholm
Byrne Robotics Member
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| Posted: 14 September 2019 at 12:50am | IP Logged | 12
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Was talking to my friend. She said that the Chinese characters on that chart are relatively modern and did not exist thousands of years ago, the supposed time of the "flood". Not sure how a message from God could be hidden in symbols from the time of Babel that have changed dramatically over thousands of years. She sent me pictures of the ancient characters and they look nothing like the modern ones in the chart. Only explanation is that the creators of the modern charactes were somehow influenced by God to hide these clues inside of them. Only explanation.
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