maadmax

Which of the many many gods are you referring to?? Take your pick, He is there right in front of you, knocking on the door of your consciousness. As for me, I pick Jesus.

There is, unfortunately, the tendency to assume universality of thought process, which is all too often not the case. Thus, when people say "everyone does this" or "it's human nature," it raises flags, since it says more about the person making the claim than about the intended subject. To assume that everyone has the same propensity for blind faith is unrealistic and inaccurate. BSBD, Winsor Not much of an assumption to see how cultures and societies have responded to God through out the ages. He has been in the forefront of our species psyche from pre-history until now . It would seem logical that the burden of proof would be on those who say He doesn't exit. Because if He does there may be hell to pay. If He doesn't, we all drift off into oblivion none the worse for ware. ...

Beyond wrong. Belief is anathema to science. Science is all about skepticism. Check your assumptions, challenge to fail, peer review and all that. Belief is about suspension of doubt and adherence to some synthetic "truth" - regardless of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. If you think science and belief are compatible, you know less than nothing about science. BSBD, Winsor Believe it or not, I do enjoy your theatrical responses. Science and spirituality are dimensional, so much so that science can't even locate or identify what give us our self-consciousness(soul). Saying that we are just a compilation of neurons firing in a certain order is bullshit. If that works for you then your criticisms of faith are unsubstantiated. Physical truth and spiritual truth are discovered by different methods. That difference does not negate the validity of each when combined to form a unified reality. The Bible tells us to test the objects of our faith to see if they produce the desired results just like with physical reality. ...

the original argument was "Science and the Bible/Christianity do not conflict with each other" Bullshit. I have no problem with Science and belief in God. The two mesh perfectly. The Bible is the Word of God relating to spiritual phenomena, Science is the expression of God in physical form. It is up to us to make sense out of what He has given us.

The Bible is a spiritual textbook, and will show you the way to salvation in this life and the next. Then I'm pretty sure I'm Fooked! Just what I always wanted; directions to a place no one can even prove exists. More fretting over nothing. The Kingdom of God is is not hard to find, it is within you. You enter by the renewing and transformation of your mind. And like anything else that passes your 5 senses, you have to use faith to construct your reality. ...

Isn't it? Is is after-all, the infallible word of God himself right? So is it literal or not? And who are you to decide if it is or not? Being the word of God himself, I kinda doubt that it is fiction - it is supposed to be FACT. And if it is fact, then it qualifies as a textbook. The book of Genesis contradicts science. Wholeheartedly and totally. And once again, if you disagree that the world is 6000 years old (or whatever close to that), then you are going against the staunch beliefs of many of your so-called 'Christian' allies, who believe in the literal belief of the Bible. So again, i state that you are misled by the very fact that you Christians cannot decide what version you want to follow and what version is correct. Which again, puts your belief structure up for objective criticism. and rightly so. Science is all about objective criticism. We modify and alter our theories (and facts) when the evidence contradicts the belief structure. The world was flat, it is no more. The world was made 6000 years ago - we now know that this is bullshit. All humans descended from a common ancestor somewhere in Africa, we do not know exactly when, but we're pretty fucking sure. And they were not white, nor were they in a garden of eden. Religion appears to allow you to choose bits and pieces that are convenient to believe and ignore the rest, despite OVERWHELMING evidence to the contrary. So stop making statements like the 'bible is not a textbook', because enough Christians believe that it is. Just because you don't, does not make a standard for the rest of the world. and rightly so. The evidence supports it. The Bible does not. The Bible is not a science textbook. Scientific references are vague and can be interpreted in various ways. Individuals that try to discredit the Bible interpret passages in impossible ways, those who seek the Truth look for the intended meaning behind what is written. The Bible is a spiritual textbook, and will show you the way to salvation in this life and the next. ...

How would you ever know what the right one is? There have been so many "right one"s. Just to add, no matter how sincere or dilligent you are in striving for the 'right one', it doesn't make it any more likely to be THE 'right one'. It is actually very easy to know which is the right path. Two concepts are very basic and will take a life time to complete. " Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind, and soul and love your neighbor as you love yourself. P.S. You will need to be transformed by the renewing of your mind through the work of the Holy Spirit to accomplish such a monumental task. ...

Well there you have it, the scientific method works for Biblical interpretation as well. Who said Christians were stuck in their ways? No surprise to me, life is a learning process. ...

Actually, it does. Next, I suppose, you will tell me that a day to God is a 1000 years! Hey, Goggle " Time Dilation". One thing is for certain the universe (and our solar system) had a miraculous beginning, like the Bible describes. After which it expanded into what we have today 13.75 billion years later(our time). Time is relative depending on the observer. The Bible was not meant to be a physics book. All references to physical sciences are vague. The Bible was meant to be a spiritual guide, to which it is unparalleled. ...

I know very few rabbis who would fail to raise an eyebrow at an exceedingly literal interpretation of these works. Asked whether the year 5771 is accurate in the sense that Adam was created knowing how to count, what day it was, the significance of time and so forth resulted in exaggerated eye-rolling, and the response that the importance was from the standpoint of tradition, rather than chronology. Bereshit (Genesis) was a Cliff's Notes version of lore assimilated in Mesopotamia (largely Sumerian) during the Babylonian Exile, as recorded by Ezra the Scribe. Prior to Ezra committing to written form the "first four" books, Torah consisted solely of Devarim (Deuteronomy). Just because you are a tad skeptical about Zeus, Athena, Poseidon et al. does not mean that the Iliad and Odyssey are without value because mythology makes up a large part of the narrative. Similarly, the significance of Torah is not strictly a function of the existance of a deity. Much of the Tanakh is the result of embellishment at the very least (Esther is a prime example), but the writings are typical of styles in use by various cultures in the Bronze into Iron Ages. As Shonfield makes clear in The Passover Plot, attempting to ascribe literal interpretation to works from another culture is difficult at best. Beware the Holy Typo. BSBD, Winsor Hate to cast any shadows on the wisdom of the Rabbinical sages concerning Biblical interpretation, but you all missed the Messiah the first time around. Hopefully you won't the second time. ...

I love reading books on physics and I am a big fan of Brian Greene. One of my favorite books is "The Elegant Universe." Timothy Ferris's "The Whole Bang" and Trinh Xuan Thuan's "Chaos and Harmony" are two other books that lay out our universe in understandable terms. You should read them. They may change your view, or at least give you food for thought. Brain Green +1, I am sure I would enjoy your other suggestion if I can ever find the time.

[ Is that a yes? Wow, talk about a case in point for cognitive dissonance. No, that is anything but a yes. That is what one says to a rabid psychotic in the hope of placating him or her, and has precious little to do with accuracy. It was an example of fallacy - illogical by definition - and the attempt to apply meaning to it is telling. Irony score: 10 Entertainment Score: 10+, you swallowed the hook bait and sinker on that one!! ...

All one can do is explore where their heart leads. I prefer to use my mind and the evidence that, so far, has been presented. To date, we know that the bible is wrong as to the age of the planet. We know that humankind is far older than what the bible claims. We know that dinosaurs out date humans (no mention of them in the bible.) We know that the planet has never flooded over. We know that there is no heaven above us, but a vast, seemingly endless, universe surrounding our planet. We know that the planet earth and all on it was not created in six days. To date, all evidence is against the existence of any deity. Keep exploring and stay away from places that teach what you just said. That is some pretty scary stuff. God is a lot more than a collection of petty misinterpreted doctrines. Start at the begining, "God is Love" ...

Utter nonsense. You're trying to say that God makes people suffer for natural selection, you then relate the natural selection process to religion. Not even close. --You clearly don't know what Africa is like then and are basing your theories on your own uneducated views of Africa. South Africa has one of the largest HIV positive demographics and yet South Africa is an extremely Christian country with about 80% of the population being Christian. ??? If you say so . --Seeking God doesn't change the process of natural selection. Nor is there any evidence to support such a theory. So your simplistic view is: "God does not exist because there is suffering in the world" Reality is what it is, As a species it is our privilege to make sense out of the chaos physically and spiritually. All one can do is explore where their heart leads. If you are angry and consumed with hate I don't think you will like where you end up. ...

It just seems that some of us handle the news a little bit more like grown ups. Don't tell me, let me guess. That someone would by you?

Even then. The natural limiting factor of human population growth was food. Once people in the fertile crescent figured out how to till soil and grow their own rather than simply gathering what was available, the human population exploded. People love to fuck. Fucking makes babies. As long as there's enough food to feed the people and allow them some free time, they'll fuck like rabbits and take over the world -- which is exactly what happened. Monogamous relationships are actually a rather recent development in the history of mankind. Thanks for the history lesson. As with all other life on the planet, natural selection influences which populations thrive and which ones go extinct. With the thirst for God that exists in the world today, the populations that sought God did very well in the selection process. ...

A 'loving god' wouldn't do this. I don't think "he" sees love the same way we do. So God fails to meet your expectations. Does that make God any less God. Hate to break the news to you, but none of us are getting out of here alive.

Nature disagrees with you. The most versatile, fastest reproducing and largest species groups are those that are not monogamous. Not when the discussion is limited to Homo sapien sapien.

Your excused, death and AIDS is one of the culling mechanisms that ensures survival of the fittest. 'The fittest'? If AIDS is a culling mechanism then in general it culls people who are more likely to catch AIDS. Kinda raises the question why you would consider gay people and africans as less fit? I surmise that societies most likely to survive and reproduce are those that structure there culture along the lines of preexisting spiritual and physical laws of nature. It is my opinion that civilizations favoring strong monogamous family units and communities would be more prosperous. Hedonism is narcissistic and self destructive no matter how some like to say otherwise. ...

Excuse me, but could you maybe explain what purpose cancer and AIDs serve? I mean, if they didn't serve a purpose, according to YOUR theory they would have died out by now and it's only due to their critical importance in the world that they therefore exist. Right? Your excused, death and AIDS is one of the culling mechanisms that ensures survival of the fittest. Once the soul leaves the body it is in God's hands.

btw, when are you gonna let be back in the Bon fire? Or are you just gonna suck up all that drunk power, smart ass? You do realize you do these things to yourself; right? Continue down this path again and be prepared for the consequences. Thankfully, in the real world Christ neutralized the consequences of our misgivings. We all deserve censure, but through the Grace of God we live.

If that is the case then why attribute random acts of violence to someone or something you can't understand? And why get upset with those who can see God for what He is? I don't attribute them to any god...you do. See "God" for what he really is? I do. I see your "god" as an irrational figment of your ancestors' imagination passed down from generation to generation. One of the neat things about God's creation is that if an attribute ceases to serve a purpose it dies out. I believe Darwin first pointed that out. If God was not an integral part of our species psyche He would have never come up. His enduring presence through out our history speaks of His validity. ...

Yeah, that's a pretty awesome god. Makes innocent children suffer, brings plagues and famine, fire, hurricanes, tornades, floods, etc. to destroy lives by the millions. Yep, pretty fucking awesome. It only stands to reason that my viewpoint is not shared by someone or something that does not exist. If that is the case then why attribute random acts of violence to someone or something you can't understand? And why get upset with those who can see God for what He is?

Yeah, that's a pretty awesome god. Makes innocent children suffer, brings plagues and famine, fire, hurricanes, tornades, floods, etc. to destroy lives by the millions. Yep, pretty fucking awesome. Or maybe God doesn't share your viewpoint that His job is to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. Maybe there are other values that are more relevant than the utopian existence.

What God? there must be thousands. I put my hope in Jesus. You have the freedom to chart your own spiritual journey.