RE: Saying this to an religious fanatic
June 3, 2013 at 3:21 pm
(This post was last modified: June 3, 2013 at 3:37 pm by Consilius.)
Worship of God isn't in itself an act of virtue. Praise of God is a response to the good we percieve in the world and in our lives. We exist to experience this good, and hopefully trace back to its source, which is the unchanging source of good. Worship is a way of saying "thank you", and not "don't smite me. don't smite me. don't smite me…" Christianity isn't a religion of fear, but instead one of love and respect.
Did you know that in a study is was shown people can only afford to stay on one level of happiness? It is the same as everybody else's, and it can have ups and downs, too. But our brains can't feel sad or happy all the time; rather, they adjust to our personal circumstances. War prisoners are on the same level of happiness as warlords.
But when people DO experience something, the option Christianity gives them is to embrace the constant love of God in their lives, which was the same at points in their lives when they could feel it in the good things that happen to them. These times of trial have the ability to make people come out as better, stronger, and more decided of their course of action than when they went in.
Mary probably lived a normal life in which she arrived at her own shortcomings, and sinned on her own, like all normal human beings do.
This divine cargo is also why we believe in the Assumption: the body that carried God couldn't be allowed to rot in the ground.
(May 31, 2013 at 6:18 am)NomenMihiNon Wrote:People experience suffering. But the good we feel is subjective. Some people see good in the world when their movie goes big, others, when they are with friends or spouses, and others see the same, if not much more, when someone drops a dollar into their cup. Objective evaluation of what people have to be thankful for belittles the fortune of other people and magnifies that of others. But when we all feel it, is really IS the same.(May 31, 2013 at 4:12 am)Consilius Wrote: People praise God for the people that are in their lives. Of course, this doesn't take any credit from other people, just attributes it through them and ultimately to something greater.
You can't give people credit for everything e.g. who you are, your capabilities, surviving a flood, living in a First World country
And what of those afflicted with crippling mental and physical problems, who've lost loved ones to natural disasters, who live in squalor in Third World hellholes, or any others whose lives are full of suffering through no fault of their own? What do they have to praise God for? As I said before, I am an atheist because there is no evidence for the existence of a god, though I admit I could be wrong. However, I am certain that if there is a god, he is not the loving, compassionate entity that Christians and so many others claim him to be.
Did you know that in a study is was shown people can only afford to stay on one level of happiness? It is the same as everybody else's, and it can have ups and downs, too. But our brains can't feel sad or happy all the time; rather, they adjust to our personal circumstances. War prisoners are on the same level of happiness as warlords.
But when people DO experience something, the option Christianity gives them is to embrace the constant love of God in their lives, which was the same at points in their lives when they could feel it in the good things that happen to them. These times of trial have the ability to make people come out as better, stronger, and more decided of their course of action than when they went in.
Quote:And to again address the specific fallacy of Christianity: either God is perfect, therefore meaning that our flaws are intentional, or God is not perfect and thus our flaws were a mistake on his part; whichever is the case, for him to condemn us for those flaws makes him a monster unworthy of worship. And as a Catholic, I'm assuming you believe in the immaculate conception? Well, if God was able to make Mary exempt from original sin, why couldn't he have done that for all of us instead of arbitrarily declaring that we're all born guilty of the wrongdoings of our ancestors? Oh, yeah, because then it'd be pointless for us to gather in a special building once a week and beg his forgiveness for being as he made us...and while we're there, put our money in the plate and allow the organization that owns the building to control how we live our lives.Mary was exempt from ORIGINAL sin because she was born to carry divine cargo. Jesus couldn't have sin in him at all, or else he would be an imperfect savior. The man who reversed Adam's sin couldn't be born into it.
Mary probably lived a normal life in which she arrived at her own shortcomings, and sinned on her own, like all normal human beings do.
This divine cargo is also why we believe in the Assumption: the body that carried God couldn't be allowed to rot in the ground.