The Reasons why "Just Following Jesus" Doesn't work

[drfuzzy]

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Yeah, among other things. 

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 Yep, and that is why I am in need of a savior to redeem me. He is changing me day by day and forming me into His image. 

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 They're a proof against your specific Gaud because they contradict the innate qualities that he is said to have according to the Bible and Christian doctrine. The Universe we observe and the character in the Bible are simply not consistent with an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful creator. If you remove all the passages that say "God is good" and look at just his actions, it becomes clear that the god of the Bible is a vindictive, megalomaniacal, amoral monster. 

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 There is no contradiction in God's character only people's misunderstanding or defaming it through twisting the text. He is consistent and you have only been alive for about 3 decades (give or take) so how could you possible know if His character is consistent with the universe? (Do you "know" everything?)I can show how you twist the scripture because if you do as you suggested and remove the passages that says God is good then you are misrepresenting the bible to fit into your purposes and point-of-view. You can't just focus on one portion of the Bible or the other but both and. He isn't a "neat" little god. He is the God of the universe and He doesn't have to prove Himself to you. He is being kind and gracious He "is not being slow in doing what he promised—the way some people understand slowness. But God is being patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change their ways and stop sinning." (2 Peter 3:9)

Also you can't claim what is right and wrong because in your view morality is subjective. You don't have a firm and fixed definition of what good is. You have no grounds for judgement because you don't have an unmoving standard on which to Judge God. Today murder is wrong tomorrow who knows you have to check with your society to see what they say. 

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 And that is why the peer review process exists. Nothing makes it to the level of "Theory" on the say-so of one or two people. Everyone has to be able to do the same thing under the same conditions and get the same result for it to pass the tests of science.

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 Coming up with something under the same conditions and interpreting what that means for you as a human can be misinterpreted. Whole groups of people have been deceived before. Don't assume that Scientist are above this mass deception. 

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 From what, all that sexy, sexy wrath? I notice you glossed right over that, and I'm still waiting. How is the all-good- all-loving creator of the Universe going to horribly torture me for all time? I'd really like to know. 

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 Gal 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

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 The problem with it is that you're misusing the word "know." If you want to claim you "know" something, you have to be able to somehow show that it's true. If you can't show it, you don't know it...you just believe it; if you believe without evidence, then you believe only on faith, and faith is the most intellectually dishonest position it's possible to hold.

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 I can and have but you refuse to believe. So let put your standard of "know" to the test. Show me that matter was the only thing here at the beginning is true. Show me that life came from non-life is true. Show me that you don't have a soul is true.  If you can't show me then I guess by your own definition you just blindly accept these to be true. 

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  My faith, on the other hand, has destroyed a lot of things for me over the years, namely some relationships I would have opted not to lose but didn't have the choice because I was an intolerable, religious asshole. 

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Rekeisha: I don't think religion or the lack of religion has anything to do with the way you behave.

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 You choose how you treat people. I have been a jerk and God has removed and is removing those thing not by religion but by reflecting on His glory. 

Thanks again for the conversation! :  

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Oh, not exactly.  There has been a recent study by a NY Criminology Professor that correlates Christian Fundamentalist beliefs and attitudes with crime.  
Elicka Peterson Sparks - The Devil You Know: The Surprising Link between Conservative Christianity and Crime
   "In this trenchant examination of Christianity’s dark side, a criminologist argues persuasively that high rates of violent crime in the United States can be correlated with Christian conservative attitudes, especially in regard to social mores and politics. Of particular concern is “Christian nationalism.” Noting the violent biblical passages often cited by religious conservatives, their sense of righteousness, their dogmatic mindset that tolerates no dissent, and their support for harshly punitive measures toward “sinners,” Peterson Sparks shows that their worldview is the ideal seedbed for violence." 

There was another that shows that religious children are meaner than their secular counterparts:  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/no...kids-study



So yeah.  A religious worldview has a definite impact upon a person's behavior.  It tends to make them behave like assholes.