God doesn't stop being a god just because he's a dick god...and it might be more than a little difficult to stop believing in a god that's actually communicating with you. Member that time you realized your ex bf was a dick? I'm guessing he didn't pop out of existence on account of it.

You're describing maltheism, not atheism. FWIW, it was an incredibly popular christian position at the inception of the proto RCC.

Quote:Or was that story written allegorically, to convey some sort of message for the people of the time?

But what does that say about the people who did write it?

What kind of barbarians write this?

Quote: Deuteronomy 20:16–18
16 But uin the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but vyou shall devote them to complete destruction,1 the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, 18 that wthey may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.

(August 22, 2018 at 12:55 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote:

(August 22, 2018 at 12:06 am)Cecelia Wrote: Is there a line you're not willing to cross for god?

Let's say, like Abraham, God came down and asked you to sacrifice your child?  Would you do that for him?  Or would you draw the line and say "no"

What lines are there?  I mean it's easy to say that "Oh god wouldn't ask me to do that!"  (He asked Abraham to do it, so I don't see why not).  Would you do whatever God asked you to? 

I'm sure the most common answer will be "Well, God wouldn't ask me to do something so terrible! So I'd know it wasn't god."  To which I have to ask why Abraham did not think the same thing, and what therefore makes him credible in the least?

This question gets asked a lot here lol. 😉

No, I would not kill my kid. If God asked me to do that, I would at that moment come to the realization that the God I believe in doesn't exist, because something like this would be contrary to His nature. God wouldn't be who I thought He was. It would be extremely confusing, especially to try to wrap my head around how the creator of the universe could be evil, since natural law (which comes from God) demonstrates that killing the innocent is wrong.

I could go on about how this wouldn't make any sense and wouldn't line up with... well, the world. But the short answer is, no, I would not do it.

As for Abraham, did God's voice actually sound from the skies and order Abraham to kill his son? Or was that story written allegorically, to convey some sort of message for the people of the time? When it comes to OT stories, I take the latter approach.

Your contributions are the only reason I read through these kinds of threads. They always ask Christians then there are pages of atheists responding. I know how they will converse so I scroll past it. I was looking for any Christian response but yours are always the most thought out and least likely to be attacks (not that with some of the atheists responding first it wouldn't be warranted)

Thanks girl! 😊

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(August 22, 2018 at 12:50 am)Anomalocaris Wrote:

(August 22, 2018 at 12:42 am)The Valkyrie Wrote: I don’t have kids of my own, but can I sacrifice other peoples’ Kids?

👩🏼‍⚕️

If the parents were Christian, I suppose it would be alright. But remember to pay me a sin tax for each one sacrificed.

Kind of a shitty thing to say

(August 22, 2018 at 12:55 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: As for Abraham, did God's voice actually sound from the skies and order Abraham to kill his son? Or was that story written allegorically, to convey some sort of message for the people of the time? When it comes to OT stories, I take the latter approach.

Taking an allegorical approach is a pragmatic answer, but then you have to wonder what could possibly be gained from such a story.  When you throw Abraham and Isaac, the Serpent, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Tower of Babel, the Flood, Elisha and the Bears, etc,  into an allegory box, from my point of view makes the authors of the Old Testament look like nasty bloodthirsty old men and people with a self interest who are simply saying "don't mess with my God or you will suffer rather badly" (i.e. don't mess with me).

Picking and choosing which part of the OT you accept as fact, which part is allegory, and which part is messages from above means that you are remaking the Bible and God into your own belief system and perhaps the whole thing should be tossed out a window. Some (many?) Christians do that as the only way to reconcile their moral compass with what the Bible says


Of course ignoring the OT cannot be done completely, because the Jesus story (allegory?) is so tied up with the Old Testament that little of what is claimed and written in the Synoptics would make any sense without the OT. Rock, meet hard place.

Norm

My understanding is the message behind that particular story is Abraham's dedication and trust in God.

(August 22, 2018 at 12:55 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote:

(August 22, 2018 at 12:06 am)Cecelia Wrote: Is there a line you're not willing to cross for god?

Let's say, like Abraham, God came down and asked you to sacrifice your child?  Would you do that for him?  Or would you draw the line and say "no"

What lines are there?  I mean it's easy to say that "Oh god wouldn't ask me to do that!"  (He asked Abraham to do it, so I don't see why not).  Would you do whatever God asked you to? 

I'm sure the most common answer will be "Well, God wouldn't ask me to do something so terrible! So I'd know it wasn't god."  To which I have to ask why Abraham did not think the same thing, and what therefore makes him credible in the least?

This question gets asked a lot here lol. 😉

No, I would not kill my kid. If God asked me to do that, I would at that moment come to the realization that the God I believe in doesn't exist, because something like this would be contrary to His nature. God wouldn't be who I thought He was. It would be extremely confusing, especially to try to wrap my head around how the creator of the universe could be evil, since natural law (which comes from God) demonstrates that killing the innocent is wrong.

I could go on about how this wouldn't make any sense and wouldn't line up with... well, the world. But the short answer is, no, I would not do it.

As for Abraham, did God's voice actually sound from the skies and order Abraham to kill his son? Or was that story written allegorically, to convey some sort of message for the people of the time? When it comes to OT stories, I take the latter approach.

Yet many of your fellow catholics would do it and have done it. Furthermore, even more of your fellow catholics would happily cover it up afterwards.

And that is the difference between you and I. You apologise for the scumbaggery and I hold them to account.

I really cannot fathom how it is that you go by the name "Catholic Lady".  No such thing exists. Only victims.

Although in fairness, the priests were definitely equal opportunity. One arse is much the same as another, after all.

You are very correct. There are a lot of shitty Catholics out there. No, I do not apologize for them.

Catholics appear to be even more indoctrinated than evangelical/all Christians. If that's possible. Some of their rituals seem rather crude and repugnant.

Which one of our rituals do you consider crude/repugnant? It's ok that you think that. I'm just curious.