Well you have been having a busy week haven't you JBrentonK haven't you? I've had a busy week too, but without good web access. I have been reading you with interest *and a few giggles* though. You've said:
all rational or thinking or perhaps even all human actions are prayer;
all humans are the sons of god;
belief is a choice;
FSM is pure hypocrisy;
Nazism and disbelief go hand in hand;
And a number of other odd claims. So from the top:
If all human actions or even all rational human actions are prayer, that the word prayer has no useful meaning. You have buried both its worship and phrase aspect and it's plea aspect in a heap of everything else. You remind me of a teacher who claimed every moment of every day was an education. Well you might learn something from most moments. And truly dedicated saints might make every gesture an act of faith. But not everyone learns in every moment and virtually no one prays with every moment's actions. Congratulations, you have made the term prayer both secular and meaningless.
If we are all the sons of god means no more than god created man, a little proof of that is in order. Setting aside striking lack of evidence of the god claim in generally let alone the Christian god claim, or the even more specific are rather unique JBrenton god claim, the Bible does not suggest we are all the sons of god. In the OT the men referred to as the son's of god, are men specially favored by god. Adoptive sons as it were. In the NT Jesus is referred to as god's only begotten son, begotten not made. That suggest a rather different relationship. Though in the gospels Jesus is also referred to in the OT sense as a favored man of god. Interestingly, the son of man invariably means the messiah in either the OT or the NT.
Belief is a state of mind and not a choice. Given the incredible lack of evidence, I could no more believe in god than I could believe the average American in Muslim.
FSM is pure satire.
As to Nazism, in Germany it was a movement supported by the largely Christian population. In the U.S. it still goes hand in hand with certain brands of Christianity. This is not surprising as the anti-Jewish element in Natzism, is a long standing Christian tradition.
all rational or thinking or perhaps even all human actions are prayer;
all humans are the sons of god;
belief is a choice;
FSM is pure hypocrisy;
Nazism and disbelief go hand in hand;
And a number of other odd claims. So from the top:
If all human actions or even all rational human actions are prayer, that the word prayer has no useful meaning. You have buried both its worship and phrase aspect and it's plea aspect in a heap of everything else. You remind me of a teacher who claimed every moment of every day was an education. Well you might learn something from most moments. And truly dedicated saints might make every gesture an act of faith. But not everyone learns in every moment and virtually no one prays with every moment's actions. Congratulations, you have made the term prayer both secular and meaningless.
If we are all the sons of god means no more than god created man, a little proof of that is in order. Setting aside striking lack of evidence of the god claim in generally let alone the Christian god claim, or the even more specific are rather unique JBrenton god claim, the Bible does not suggest we are all the sons of god. In the OT the men referred to as the son's of god, are men specially favored by god. Adoptive sons as it were. In the NT Jesus is referred to as god's only begotten son, begotten not made. That suggest a rather different relationship. Though in the gospels Jesus is also referred to in the OT sense as a favored man of god. Interestingly, the son of man invariably means the messiah in either the OT or the NT.
Belief is a state of mind and not a choice. Given the incredible lack of evidence, I could no more believe in god than I could believe the average American in Muslim.
FSM is pure satire.
As to Nazism, in Germany it was a movement supported by the largely Christian population. In the U.S. it still goes hand in hand with certain brands of Christianity. This is not surprising as the anti-Jewish element in Natzism, is a long standing Christian tradition.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
