Does God exist?

[Katiebee]

Ok, so we have a point of origin in our discussion.

[MissBarbara]

I know.  Was tortured in Catholic school by Sr St Dominic for more years than...OK.  I still occasionally dream about her half inch thick oaken yardstick.  That woman once hit me in the back of the head with a piece of chalk at forty yards.  I was running flat out, too.  I am aware of the bibles 3000 year old history.  Whether or not it's the spoken word of god depends on who you talk to.  My catechism was firmly beaten into me and I've spoken to enough born again Christians and latter day saints to have a pretty good idea how the majority of us feel about it.  Middle America firmly believes every word and the christian right is for real. 

Me?  I quit believing in the third grade.

"Middle America"?

This Middle American ALWAYS reacts when someone expresses complete ignorance -- or, what's worse, resorts to tired cliches -- about Middle America.

You say you quit believing in the third grade; it also seems you quit learning around that same time...





 

[unclebuddy]

I learn purty good, Miss Barbra.

[Elizabeth]

I know.  Was tortured in Catholic school by Sr St Dominic for more years than...OK.  I still occasionally dream about her half inch thick oaken yardstick.  That woman once hit me in the back of the head with a piece of chalk at forty yards.  I was running flat out, too.  I am aware of the bibles 3000 year old history.  Whether or not it's the spoken word of god depends on who you talk to.  My catechism was firmly beaten into me and I've spoken to enough born again Christians and latter day saints to have a pretty good idea how the majority of us feel about it.  Middle America firmly believes every word and the christian right is for real. 

Me?  I quit believing in the third grade.

"Middle America"?

This Middle American ALWAYS reacts when someone expresses complete ignorance -- or, what's worse, resorts to tired cliches -- about Middle America.

You say you quit believing in the third grade; it also seems you quit learning around that same time...





 

OUCH..!!!

Love,
Liz

[MissBarbara]

"Middle America"?

This Middle American ALWAYS reacts when someone expresses complete ignorance -- or, what's worse, resorts to tired cliches -- about Middle America.

You say you quit believing in the third grade; it also seems you quit learning around that same time...



[/b]

 

OUCH..!!!

Love,
Liz

And keep in mind, Liz, that there are many people who would include your part of the Garden State in their definition of "Middle America"...

[Katiebee]

And Texas.

[Lostforkate]

I don't participate much anymore in these God threads, but I cannot agree with blaming God for humanity's problems. And I disagree that because there is no direct intervention by God, God does not exist.

If God exists, how can man judge God by human standards?

It also appears you want to believe in evil, and that God created evil, but you don't want to believe in God? Or are you continuing the weak epicurean argument that the because evil exists, God cannot exist. That is like saying, because light exists, darkness cannot exist.

Humanity has been given free will, resources, and inteligence to resolve many of its problems if it chooses to do so.

It is convenient that the bible allows so many variations and interpretations. And you can prove and then refute most things by simply referring to different chapters in the bible.

Miss Katie--My point was that "God" created evil.  It says so in the Bible and the Bible is the literal word of "God."   For the life of me I can't understand why a loving father and protector would do such a  thing.  There is much evil in the world and "He" allows it.  Some people in here are really upset about gun deaths but no one gives much thought to illness, disease, abuse, or accidents or "God's" role in them or failure to prevent them.  if He exists why won't he protect us from evil?

[Fish]

The only standards humans have to judge anything is human standards, so that is how we must judge god. The tales of god in the books going around make god look (yes, by human standards) like a self-absorbed prick... and a childish, lazy one at that.

Does god exist? Sure, it seems plausible enough (though I don't believe it for a fact). The question is then why should we give two shits? I really don't, though I hate it when people try to ridicule the beliefs of others in public. The anti-Christian memes are fine when they are clearly labeled, as you won't get offended unless you seek to be offended.

[Lostforkate]

Too "judge" is of semantics. I agree, we all make a judgement about God, but sit as a "Judge" is what I mean by we can't judge God. Was the poster truly "Judging" God, I can't really know.

As I think a bit more, I see the concern for the evil, and bad things that happen, and that people vent against God, whether they believe in God or not, to possibly be a good thing, in that is shows empathy and personal growth towards those who suffer. I think the next step in personal and spiritual growth is to take action.

There is a story concerning the Samaritan that points out what I mean by taking action.

   A priest came down the road, saw the injured man, and passed by him on the other side. A Levite passing by did the same. A Samaritan, from a race hated by the Jews, saw the hurt man and had compassion on him. He poured oil and wine on his wounds, bound them up, then put the man on his donkey. The Samaritan took him to an inn and cared for him.
   The next morning, the Samaritan gave two denarii to the innkeeper for the man's care and promised to repay him on his way back for any other expenses. Jesus asked the lawyer which of the three men had been a neighbor. The lawyer answered that the man who showed mercy was a neighbor.
   Then Jesus told him, "You go and do likewise."

[Lostforkate]

I wish I was not a pain, but I am curious how the memes are labeled?

The anti-Christian memes are fine when they are clearly labeled, as you won't get offended unless you seek to be offended.

[Fish]

"The Mindless Anti-Christian Meme Thread". You don't see any offensive (and hilarious) anti-Christian stuff unless you click on that, and if you do, it is your own action that leads you to be offended.

I'll seriously fuck up a Bible quote here: "If your left eye offendeth you, tear it from your body and cast it from you." It is "god" telling Christians to stop being pussies, if I understand it correctly (and I don't care if I don't).

[Fish]

Sure. I have racist people I interact with on a regular basis.

I would not be on a forum with too much of that shit, though.

The comparison is hardly analogous, though, as nobody is born with faith in a myth and unable to change that no matter how they feel about it, whereas black people were born black and have no recourse to change that (except for Michael Jackson, but he was odd on so many levels...).

[Fish]

If I make myself your problem, I'm the asshole. If you make me your problem, that's your problem.

If I hold up a sign on the side of the road saying "Die, Nigger!" then I'm the prick. If you come into a town called "Racistville", then you see someone with such a sign, then you got what you deserved.

Exactly that far. I hate intolerance in all forms, and distance myself from those who preach hate or fear, regardless of the specifics.

[Gina Marie]

If I hold up a sign on the side of the road saying "Die, Nigger!" then I'm the prick. If you come into a town called "Racistville", then you see someone with such a sign, then you got what you deserved.

What about these guys?

[Fish]

What about these guys?

Truthfully? Both people are in the wrong, including the guy holding up the "fuck this guy" sign.

People are being forced to see what amounts to offensive language just to get through their daily lives, and that is wrong.

And Galaxy, I don't bring my opinion of their faith to them, and I don't treat Christian people as lesser beings. I have some really close Christian friends with whom I simply avoid that one subject, including two of the three women I love most.

I can ridicule an idea, not a person. An idea can be ridiculous, but just because I think so, doesn't mean I have to tell everyone I know.

[TinyDancer]

This is a question that will never be answered.

After much mind wrestling the only thing I came up with that even halfway made sense to me was that the Bible was the internet of the day, the google, the media, the Hollywood, the whatever you want or need to know book.

Have a question, hey let's see what the Bible says.  Sorry bud, says right here if you kill somebody you're toast.

Wanna know how to seduce somebody.....Song of Solomon

Let's not forget the quotes....Proverbs

The list goes on and on and on and on.

God is in all of us...the Trinity....I think is the mind, the heart and the soul. 

[Fish]

 

Good point, GB.

[Fish]

I'd say I'm somewhere between a seeker agnostic and a non-theist. I don't rule out the possibility of god, I rule out the belief in god.

God is something that cannot be observed in action, unlike science. Perhaps we don't know shit about science, but we can observe the phenomena, and record the data- the same cannot be said of our invisible schizophrenic friend in the sky.

If god exists in any form, I consider it a certainty we know little to nothing of his/her/its intentions or will for us, though prayer/meditation does calm us and help most of us through problems (that is a scientific fact backed up by research- prayer/meditation is real -god might be a joke, but prayer/meditation works).

Other religious rituals? Stonings and the like? I'll give no respect to that shit. Complete fucking absurdity... until some more insightful researcher shows otherwise, that is.

[Fish]

Those aren't rituals, they are morals, and they exist separate from religion.

The moral teachings in almost all religious texts I've read (including a Satanic Bible) were by and large good lessons. But mixed up in it is always fear of the unknown (like women's periods) and hatred for those who do not live the same way. These often involve silly rituals like menstrual huts and stonings. Rituals, in general, suck.

[Bexy]

I would personally LOVE the reinstatement of menstrual huts. Five whole days of peace and quiet! No cooking, cleaning, nagging kids and husband. Heaven! Who do I have to stone for the reinstatement of menstrual huts?! LOL

http://www.cycleharmony.com/menstrual-myths-and-rituals/menstrual-rites-of-the-native-americans