[/quote]
God is not evil
[/quote]

Bullshit, have you even read the bible?

(August 5, 2010 at 9:38 am)Spencer Wrote: God doesn't threaten anyone?

Exodus 20
5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me.

Just sayin.

What translation is that verse from would be interested to know. Now about the verse God is telling His chosen people that there will be a punishment for making and worshiping false gods and that punishment could go down a few generations because the parents are teaching the childern to hate God by their false worship. God was trying to make it clear to parents that their influence on their childern will have an adverse effect upon them. God says He will not let evil deeds go unpunished so be careful what you teach your childern.

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God is not evil
[/quote]

Bullshit, have you even read the bible?
[/quote]

I do read the Bible and I also study it, unlike you I'm sure. Cherry picking has no place in understanding.

Really, G-C? How many sinners who were working at Wal mart last Sunday did you throw stones at?

Which religion could possibly allow questioning your beliefs?? That is not the point of religions. Religions are created to control you and questioning your beliefs(or anything) would be the last thing they wanted. Besides If you really question your beliefs objectively there is no way for you to keep believe in..
World is not a good place. It's full of violence, terror, famine and not to mention contradictions in religions.. And apart from all these, In order to live, we have to kill and eat some living things. So even if there is a god he had better have some excuses for this creation becouse it is obviously corrupted at the begining and we suffered-keep suffering- becouse of his mistakes.
So when it comes to religions questioning is off topic..

Religion is designed to keep you ignorant and close minded. It was used by higher authorities to keep the gullible in control through fear of eternal damnation.

You have to look no further than the millions of idiots thinking this planet and the universe are less than 10,000 years old even after it has long been proven with factual evidence that this is not the case. However, religion keeps these people ignorant and in denial. Questioning their beliefs is not allowed for their brainwashed minds.

(August 5, 2010 at 7:08 pm)annatar Wrote: Which religion could possibly allow questioning your beliefs?? That is not the point of religions. Religions are created to control you and questioning your beliefs(or anything) would be the last thing they wanted. Besides If you really question your beliefs objectively there is no way for you to keep believe in..
World is not a good place. It's full of violence, terror, famine and not to mention contradictions in religions.. And apart from all these, In order to live, we have to kill and eat some living things. So even if there is a god he had better have some excuses for this creation becouse it is obviously corrupted at the begining and we suffered-keep suffering- becouse of his mistakes.
So when it comes to religions questioning is off topic..

Questioning ones belief is a natural human trait and it applies to belief in God and who He is. Questioning can be a good thing it makes one search for answers instead of taking anothers word about God and this will lead to a stronger relationship with Him. Annatar you and DiRNiS have no idea what you are talking about, you have no belief in any god, you participate in no religion so how can you say the things you say when you have no idea what really takes place in any religion. You want to be authoritative about christianity then start going to church and learn what happens in a christian church research and study scripture with an open mind you might very well be suprised.

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(August 5, 2010 at 6:02 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Really, G-C? How many sinners who were working at Wal mart last Sunday did you throw stones at?

Min I have no idea what you are saying please clarify.

(August 5, 2010 at 4:11 pm)Godschild Wrote: What translation is that verse from would be interested to know. Now about the verse God is telling His chosen people that there will be a punishment for making and worshiping false gods and that punishment could go down a few generations because the parents are teaching the childern to hate God by their false worship. God was trying to make it clear to parents that their influence on their childern will have an adverse effect upon them. God says He will not let evil deeds go unpunished so be careful what you teach your childern.

Not sure what version, does it matter? I mean really? Most especially the old testament! I understand the scare tactics here, I use them on my kids too.

"Ya know son, every time you pick your nose, a kitten dies."

Funny thing is, it doesn't seem to work. hmm?

(August 5, 2010 at 10:56 pm)Godschild Wrote: Annatar you and DiRNiS have no idea what you are talking about, you have no belief in any god, you participate in no religion so how can you say the things you say when you have no idea what really takes place in any religion. You want to be authoritative about christianity then start going to church and learn what happens in a christian church research and study scripture with an open mind you might very well be suprised.

GC, I was brought up in the Christian religion. So yes, I have participated in it and even gone to quite a few boring church sessions. Listening to the crap priests and pastors had to say in church and reading scripture with an OPEN mind are some of the reasons that led me to conclude your religion and any religion for that matter are bullshit and become an atheist.

GC - Min is talking about Numbers 15:32-56

(August 5, 2010 at 7:08 pm)annatar Wrote:

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Which religion could possibly allow questioning your beliefs?? That is not the point of religions. Religions are created to control you and questioning your beliefs(or anything) would be the last thing they wanted. Besides If you really question your beliefs objectively there is no way for you to keep believe in..
World is not a good place. It's full of violence, terror, famine and not to mention contradictions in religions.. And apart from all these, In order to live, we have to kill and eat some living things. So even if there is a god he had better have some excuses for this creation becouse it is obviously corrupted at the begining and we suffered-keep suffering- becouse of his mistakes.
So when it comes to religions questioning is off topic..

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Nothing you said is indicative of your assumption that religions can't be questioned by believers. I'm a Christian in a non-denominational Church. Of the 5 or 6 churches I've been to in the Church of God movement all of them teach to question dogma and doctrine. Several other Christian churches outside the COG movement (some protestant, pentacostal, baptist etc.) I've been to have also taught such things but only in a less consistent matter. There it's usually pastoral preference whether to question their doctrine. Since the Church of God movement is a movement focused away from Doctrine it's one of the key principles usually taught in the classrooms. Secondly, introspection is in no way objectifiable because of it's solely subjective nature. However, limiting your biases by not making broad and sweeping judgements on a religion would be a good way to start to "question your beliefs objectively".

(August 5, 2010 at 8:29 pm)DiRNiS Wrote:

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Religion is designed to keep you ignorant and close minded. It was used by higher authorities to keep the gullible in control through fear of eternal damnation.

You have to look no further than the millions of idiots thinking this planet and the universe are less than 10,000 years old even after it has long been proven with factual evidence that this is not the case. However, religion keeps these people ignorant and in denial. Questioning their beliefs is not allowed for their brainwashed minds.

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Religion is designed to have a better understanding of God/gods , whatever they may be. It has been used historically by people in power to quell the masses and as an excuse to destroy contradictory positions. Hopefully the world has developed enough socially now to better deal with such inequity better. Modern religions (by my observations) have learned that fear/reward as a motivator is outdated and irrelevant to teh topic at hand for religion. People keep people ignorant. People use fear and doggy treats to obfuscate and manipulate the masses. It's been done in a lot more facets of society than religion (buisness, politics, media etc) I personally feeel it's a bit consipratorial to foster ideas of religion being designed to control the masses. If that's true a case could be made that all ideas are meant to controll the masses. Belief is meant to inform and seek truth and defining that belief is what religion does for some. All that aside, I wholeheartily agree that religion has become morally defunct and dogmatically obsolete in a lot of places and would love to see less religion and more conversations about God.

[/end soapbox]

Seems to me tacky that you are more interested in the wonder of your own existence? And that being a starting point for discussion??

(Not that this comment is derogitory in any way)