I know your answer is satirical. But take something else into consideration. There is a lot of hypocrisy involved. I have heard a lot of debate on the religious side over the years over the issue of self determination. Are we capable of determining things for ourselves? Or has everything already been determined by God and there is nothin…
I know your answer is satirical. But take something else into consideration. There is a lot of hypocrisy involved. I have heard a lot of debate on the religious side over the years over the issue of self determination. Are we capable of determining things for ourselves? Or has everything already been determined by God and there is nothing we can do about it? If so, that's a depressing thought. It means there's no point in trying to fix bad people that do things like commit mass murders, deal in selling illegal drugs for profit, or other bad things. It means people cannot be fixed because their behavior is established and ordained by God. I would have a pretty low opinion of God if I believed it to be true.
Since I don't believe in a fantasy being in the sky, I think the true believers would be in for a shock when they die, except when you die, it's over, you're gone & that's it.
I have no problem with what you said. But you need to deal with the reality of the vast number of Americans believing in God. Moreover many of them believe in a book they they claim is the word of God, despite being written by humans. But not even all Christians can agree on anything. What's the need for dozens of different sects of Christinaity of they all supposedly believe in the same God and the teachings of a book? Oh, that's right- there are even different versions of the book despite the fact that the teachings all come from the same God. Oh well, I don't claim to understand all that nonsense any more than I'm supposed to understand the mind of God.
Hey Laurence - Isaiah 55:9 tells us very clearly, "As the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For those of us who believe in an omnipotent Creator of everything, trying to understand God's ways is like a preschooler attempting to understand Stephen Hawking. The good news is that there is no obligation or requirement to try to understand God, but simply to accept his love and to share it with others. There's actually quite a lot of good stuff in that "book".
Not attempting to proselytize here, but simply offering a different perspective. Have a good day!
My perspective is that if you wish to offer blind faith and allegiance to a book offering no proof that it is God's words and was most likely written by humans seeking more control over the lives of others, you are welcome to your beliefs. Don't try and convince me. I'm a senior that has had this pushed on me all my life and I'm still not convinced.
Not to pun but amen to this. Written, rewritten, chapters chosen and deleted by powerful church leaders when most of the rest were illiterate over years and years and years. Attending a dogmatic lutheran high school tossed me over the edge after being brought up in a very liberal UCof Christ community. Patriarchial argle bargle. That so many moderate and extreme believers call this truth makes the whole Trump debacle understandable.
You know I make a lot of claims often based on my two cents worth(only because of inflation). My story is this. When I was a young adult, my family always attended the Passover seder at my religious uncle's home. One year, my aunt wouldn't let in my sister's husband because he was not Jewish. Not only did I see this as hateful, it's not even Jewish tradition. A chair is supposed to be left empty for any wandering stranger that needs something to eat. It's the last time I attended a seder. It also had a lasting effect on my feelings about religion in general. Too many people don't even follow the rules of their own faiths in how they treat others. And if one really believes that God created all of us why all the hatred and divisiveness over our different beliefs?
The most eloquent proponent of determinism and the impossibility of free will is the hard-core atheist Sam Harris. And, as he and many others have argued well, determinism does not mean that there is no point in fixing bad people, including ourselves. Quite the opposite. People, like all systems, they would say, respond deterministically to their inputs. We need to give them the right inputs to get them to respond less hostilely, more generously, etc.
I know your answer is satirical. But take something else into consideration. There is a lot of hypocrisy involved. I have heard a lot of debate on the religious side over the years over the issue of self determination. Are we capable of determining things for ourselves? Or has everything already been determined by God and there is nothing we can do about it? If so, that's a depressing thought. It means there's no point in trying to fix bad people that do things like commit mass murders, deal in selling illegal drugs for profit, or other bad things. It means people cannot be fixed because their behavior is established and ordained by God. I would have a pretty low opinion of God if I believed it to be true.
Since I don't believe in a fantasy being in the sky, I think the true believers would be in for a shock when they die, except when you die, it's over, you're gone & that's it.
I have no problem with what you said. But you need to deal with the reality of the vast number of Americans believing in God. Moreover many of them believe in a book they they claim is the word of God, despite being written by humans. But not even all Christians can agree on anything. What's the need for dozens of different sects of Christinaity of they all supposedly believe in the same God and the teachings of a book? Oh, that's right- there are even different versions of the book despite the fact that the teachings all come from the same God. Oh well, I don't claim to understand all that nonsense any more than I'm supposed to understand the mind of God.
Hey Laurence - Isaiah 55:9 tells us very clearly, "As the heavens are higher than the Earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For those of us who believe in an omnipotent Creator of everything, trying to understand God's ways is like a preschooler attempting to understand Stephen Hawking. The good news is that there is no obligation or requirement to try to understand God, but simply to accept his love and to share it with others. There's actually quite a lot of good stuff in that "book".
Not attempting to proselytize here, but simply offering a different perspective. Have a good day!
Good stuff? Really?
Go to the site Evilbible.com.
wow Evilbible.com who knew?
My perspective is that if you wish to offer blind faith and allegiance to a book offering no proof that it is God's words and was most likely written by humans seeking more control over the lives of others, you are welcome to your beliefs. Don't try and convince me. I'm a senior that has had this pushed on me all my life and I'm still not convinced.
Not to pun but amen to this. Written, rewritten, chapters chosen and deleted by powerful church leaders when most of the rest were illiterate over years and years and years. Attending a dogmatic lutheran high school tossed me over the edge after being brought up in a very liberal UCof Christ community. Patriarchial argle bargle. That so many moderate and extreme believers call this truth makes the whole Trump debacle understandable.
You know I make a lot of claims often based on my two cents worth(only because of inflation). My story is this. When I was a young adult, my family always attended the Passover seder at my religious uncle's home. One year, my aunt wouldn't let in my sister's husband because he was not Jewish. Not only did I see this as hateful, it's not even Jewish tradition. A chair is supposed to be left empty for any wandering stranger that needs something to eat. It's the last time I attended a seder. It also had a lasting effect on my feelings about religion in general. Too many people don't even follow the rules of their own faiths in how they treat others. And if one really believes that God created all of us why all the hatred and divisiveness over our different beliefs?
The most eloquent proponent of determinism and the impossibility of free will is the hard-core atheist Sam Harris. And, as he and many others have argued well, determinism does not mean that there is no point in fixing bad people, including ourselves. Quite the opposite. People, like all systems, they would say, respond deterministically to their inputs. We need to give them the right inputs to get them to respond less hostilely, more generously, etc.