So long as you're willing to include jehovahs witnesses, mormons, protestants etc into your club as people who don't need to change anything...you're barely edging out the muslims...and they're doing much better in the growth arena than your tired old relic.

(June 5, 2013 at 9:01 pm)ronedee Wrote: Why would Christians change anything? We have the biggest following in the history of the world!

---

(June 5, 2013 at 8:56 pm)Minimalist Wrote: How can someone believe that a dead jew came back to life for their "sins" and be rational?

If they don't believe a dead jew came back to life for their "sins" they can't be xtians.

There is a practical limit to how far they could evolve and remain xtians.

No little guy...He died for our sins. He came back to annoy you!

The fucker doesn't annoy me....and shitstains like you I just tell off.

(June 5, 2013 at 9:01 pm)ronedee Wrote:

(June 5, 2013 at 8:56 pm)Minimalist Wrote: How can someone believe that a dead jew came back to life for their "sins" and be rational?

If they don't believe a dead jew came back to life for their "sins" they can't be xtians.

There is a practical limit to how far they could evolve and remain xtians.

No little guy...He died for our sins. He came back to annoy you!

Did He not die because He was a heretic? Or maybe because He was against people getting stoned?

(June 5, 2013 at 9:01 pm)ronedee Wrote: No little guy...He died for our sins. He came back to annoy you!

Jesus doesn't annoy me. His followers on the other hand...

(June 5, 2013 at 10:29 pm)Doubting Thomas Wrote:

(June 5, 2013 at 9:01 pm)ronedee Wrote: No little guy...He died for our sins. He came back to annoy you!

Jesus doesn't annoy me. His followers on the other hand...

Glad to oblige!

I don't think there will be a unified reaction. Some will evolve, some will create a backlash against progress, and some will continue on with no changes. Same shit, different day.

Look at global warming. We have the technology, we can rebuild him, we can... er, wait. As I was saying, we have the knowledge of generally what needs to be done, and why it needs to be done. But human and political realities don't accommodate truth very readily. As a species, we're conservative; we keep on doing long after it's been profitable. That's actually a good thing, as it has contributed greatly to our success as a species. But it does have a darker side.

I think the next few hundred years, assuming we manage the near future without returning to a dark age, or even largely going extinct, these next few hundred years will see a watershed event, or wave of events. We will eventually figure out the human brain, and how the human brain's nature gives rise to many features of reality which we take for granted and manage with folk theories and philosophy. Imagine free will being an illusion, that morality is a side effect of biological evolution, the notion of the soul being nonsense, the notion that consciousness is no different from the behavior of a thermostat — how will people cope with such things when they transit from conjecture into hard scientific fact? I don't have the first clue, but I think the world is likely to change in ways that we can't anticipate if these things come to pass. And then, there will be those who carry on as if nothing has changed. And those who stick their fingers in their ears and shout, "La-la-la-la-la, I can't hear you!" Same shit, different day.

What do you build a creator god out of when mind is shown to be nothing more than an evolved clockwork mechanism? Can religion accommodate a god that is nothing but a machine?

If the evolution and history of religion has taught us anything, it is that a particular myth created by man never lasts for long. Certainly, Christianity has lasted longer than most, but it will meet its end. Something new will take its place. It is inevitable, until the entirety of man has reached the understanding that he can be perfectly human and perfectly moral without the myth guiding his every thought and decision.

(June 6, 2013 at 4:39 am)Maelstrom Wrote: If the evolution and history of religion has taught us anything, it is that a particular myth created by man never lasts for long. Certainly, Christianity has lasted longer than most, but it will meet its end. Something new will take its place. It is inevitable, until the entirety of man has reached the understanding that he can be perfectly human and perfectly moral without the myth guiding his every thought and decision.

Until "death" itself is conquered [by man alone] I might add, its wishful thinking on your part.

Christ conquered death for "us". So, we don't need your pinnacle of understanding "someday"....that will never come!

Christianity is alive and well...and serving billions! And will until the end of time as we know it.

Agreed, as long as you can threaten frightened minds with death...your church is going to keep some sort of hold on those same scared people.

Why you feel the need to terrify shitwits, though, is a mystery to me.

(June 6, 2013 at 10:37 am)Rhythm Wrote: Agreed, as long as you can threaten frightened minds with death...your church is going to keep some sort of hold on those same scared people.

Why you feel the need to terrify shitwits, though, is a mystery to me.

Its not death that scares people...its what after!