Argument #1: Transitional Fossils

[Rampant.A.I.]

Yes yes, desire, ignorance (hatred, envy, anger) have brought a world full of suffering. 4 BCE, Buddhism.

Religious wars directly attributable to Christianity:
http://godandwar.wikispaces.com/List+of+Religious+Wars

Well over 100 religiously based wars since 1 CE. Not including the inquisition, crusades, and more.

Religious wars directly attributable to Buddhism:

I'm not aware of any. Now, there are Buddhist countries that go to war, but I can't think of a specific instance of Buddhists deciding they need to wipe out the Christians.

It's not as if anyone disagrees with you in spirit: things aren't always great, because people are assholes and behave like them. It's that your religious tradition and explanations for why suffering exists, while maintaining we live in a perfect creation under a perfect creator deity who sometimes gets really pissed, and kills everyone, or has continued to punish us for 7,000 of years because he created a woman who happened to like apples: it's just not particularly compelling.

Your religious tradition brings forth nothing new, it causes hatred, bigotry, idolatry, shame for being biological beings, and basic facts of life, and generally requests that everyone shut their "god given" capacity for reason off and unplug their brains so we can tell this supposed eternal, perfect, omniscient, benevolent creator/BDSM fanatic in the sky how much we love and worship him, and deny any knowledge that might contradict a set of a 2000 year old book, and a 3-4000 year old book that is only accepted as canon when convenient.

There's nothing particularly compelling in either book, except as antique legends and folklore of history, thoroughly embellished to the point that there are 33,000 unique "Christian" denominations who all disagree on the greater meanings behind the contradicting stories in the books.

So you tell us, as someone who has promised a set of seven arguments that will make those of us who have read and examined this body of work critically reconsider, and join you in denying empirical scientific facts about the world around us out of deference to your specific interpretation out of 33,000 sects in your particular religion, discounting the other 4,200 separate religions, each with their own number of sects who disagree on the exact canon of their beliefs and explain to us why your specific sect deserves special consideration above all others, so extensively as to refute the most basic scientific facts of the 21st century; because "I strongly believe this is true" is just not compelling.

If you find yourself unable to provide a cogent reason without biblical scripture, or waxing poetic about how your reborn messianic figure deserves special consideration out of countless others, even contemporarily [ http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_m..._claimants ] can we please move on to argument #2?

Yes, I am getting ready for Argument #2 but want to prepare a concluding statement to this thread.

OK,,, let me say, as Jesus even warned, many would come in His name saying they were doing His Will, using His Name, and yet He will tell them when they are judged that "I NEVER KNEW YOU." So the title Christian is thrown around like the word love but to me the consistent obedience to the teaching is the best indicator to the authenticity of the label.

Irrelevant to anything in this thread at all, throwing out a No True Scotsman fallacy does not disprove the lists of transitional fossils that were provided and promptly ignored.

Yes, there are a lot of denominations and Jesus gave a parable of the birds nesting in the branches in predicting this would occur. If you look at all these denominations one thing is common. A governing body that has either added or taken away from the original Biblical text. The addition of man made rules which the Lord never intended. Just because someone is a true believer doesn't mean they are not capable of sin or error. I being the one exception.

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Such as "if you reject Jesus you will spend an eternity in Hell"?

The message is one of love and forgiveness. I hope you don't choose to be in a place of separation from the source of love, life, and grace. It is not a place He desires anyone to choose.

But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. — Luke 19:27 1

Luke 12:49-56
New Living Translation (NLT)
Jesus Causes Division

49 “I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! 50 I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished. 51 Do you think I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other! 52 From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against—or two in favor and three against.

53 ‘Father will be divided against son
and son against father;
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother;
and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law