Christian motives to lie.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

To indoctrinate children in order to keep their future balance sheets healthy.

Reason enough I guess.

[laikashuman]

Sometimes I used to get mad because I thought everyone lied to me my whole life until I realized that most of the people in my life were as brainwashed and indoctrinated as I had been. But when they do shit like this... I don't get it. I guess religious people are so determined to keep the lie alive and to keep deceiving themselves that they'll do, say, and see things that aren't there to propagate the myths. I just want to slap those kind of people in the face and say, "What? Isn't your god or Jesus good enough to make a real miracle happen?" But then they might state shit like they were sent by the holy spirit to do these things, and that it's not wrong (even though lying clearly is stated as wrong in their bible) because the spirit compelled them to do/say these things.

Everyday there is NEW things about religion that just makes me shake my head and wonder how people aren't seeing through the bullshit.

[smax]

I honestly think that most people, deep down, believe the same things. We all know that religion and their claims are bullshit. Even religious people know that deep down. That's why religious people are constantly faking their religious experiences and looking for validations from others.

That's also why religious people cannot stand opposing views. They already have enough doubt about what they are doing without having to deal with someone disagreeing with their "beliefs".

So, it makes perfect sense for a religious person to fake a miracle, because they need other people to buy into the bullshit they subscribe to so they, themselves, will feel better about it.

If Christians really believed the bullshit they claim to believe, they'd want to die immediately, because the Christian faith preaches blissful eternal life after death and suffering in life.

But they all know, deep down, that's bullshit, so they worry about their lives, their loved ones, and they seek happiness in this life.

[Cyberman]

I've spoken before about a couple of hobby-xtian friends of mine, who used to belong to some local church thing before they decided the pastor was getting too preachy and catty. Anyway, in one of their misguided and doomed convert-the-heathen phases, they related to me one of these 'miracle' stories told them by this pastor.

Apparently, she was walking home one evening and was about to enter the obligatory dark alley, when she was set upon by a cookie-cutter gang of youths intent on doing her harm. All of a sudden, they stopped in their tracks, staring above her head with a look of terror, then fled as if chased by old Herbert from Family Guy. Since the laws of narrative imperative require satisfying closure, one of the gang was collared by a policeman who, remembering the script, asked what was going on 'ere then. It turns out that the ne'er-do-wells had seen a fiery angel standing in mid air over their intended victim's head, possibly with a sword or some other illegal weapon, and obviously this had scared them so badly they immediately turned to the lord etc etc.

Yes. I was impressed too.

[ignoramus]

Stimbo, please keep an open mind for this-----
Do you feel that religious hallucinations "could" be contagious between weak minded fools!

How else has it spread so far and wide?
Rational thought releases a unique hormone which has natural immunity!

There you go folks, We don't reckon you're dickheads anymore, The WHO does!

[Cyberman]

I'd be more inclined to eliminate the other possibilities first - the simplest being it didn't happen.

[ronedee]

Slow Christian news day?

"....I knew a couple of Christians once, who...." blah, blah, BLAH!

[Cyberman]

Are you saying they were wrong? Were you there?

In any case, this topic is about the christo-religious propensity to lie for the cause. Not being xtian myself, I have to rely on testimony from those who claim they are (and indeed I could get one of them here to post firsthand if you like). I thought you lot were big on personal testimony? After all, it's all you've got outside an increasingly-irrelevant fairytale.

[Crossless2.0]

I've spoken before about a couple of hobby-xtian friends of mine, who used to belong to some local church thing before they decided the pastor was getting too preachy and catty. Anyway, in one of their misguided and doomed convert-the-heathen phases, they related to me one of these 'miracle' stories told them by this pastor.

Apparently, she was walking home one evening and was about to enter the obligatory dark alley, when she was set upon by a cookie-cutter gang of youths intent on doing her harm. All of a sudden, they stopped in their tracks, staring above her head with a look of terror, then fled as if chased by old Herbert from Family Guy. Since the laws of narrative imperative require satisfying closure, one of the gang was collared by a policeman who, remembering the script, asked what was going on 'ere then. It turns out that the ne'er-do-wells had seen a fiery angel standing in mid air over their intended victim's head, possibly with a sword or some other illegal weapon, and obviously this had scared them so badly they immediately turned to the lord etc etc.

Yes. I was impressed too.

Yes, because life really is a Jack Chick tract.

[Jenny A]

I think there's a whole variety of stuff going on with miracles that aren't.

People do all kinds of stuff just to seek attention. And I suspect that the bus driver is a real attention seeker. Many truly faked miracles are probably as much about getting attention as they are about converting anyone. Priests and churches, whether Christian or otherwise, have a financial motive for faking that's really obvious. These people are obviously lying.

But mostly, I think people fool themselves. We humans have very associate minds. I briefly mistake something in the yard at twilight for a dog or a person about once a week. Were I inclined to see angels I probably would. The people who have near death experiences of heaven have drunk the cool aide. Ditto people who say, see I survived the plane crash it's a miracle. Or who see the Virgin Mary in a potato chip.

Dan Barker, former evangelist preacher now atheist says he belied God performed healing miracles for him. Looking back rationally, he knows better.

I served for a while as librarian for Kathryn Kuhlman’s Los Angeles choir, observing the “miracles” first-hand. I was even instrumental in a few healings myself.

Losing Faith

---

I've spoken before about a couple of hobby-xtian friends of mine, who used to belong to some local church thing before they decided the pastor was getting too preachy and catty. Anyway, in one of their misguided and doomed convert-the-heathen phases, they related to me one of these 'miracle' stories told them by this pastor.

Apparently, she was walking home one evening and was about to enter the obligatory dark alley, when she was set upon by a cookie-cutter gang of youths intent on doing her harm. All of a sudden, they stopped in their tracks, staring above her head with a look of terror, then fled as if chased by old Herbert from Family Guy. Since the laws of narrative imperative require satisfying closure, one of the gang was collared by a policeman who, remembering the script, asked what was going on 'ere then. It turns out that the ne'er-do-wells had seen a fiery angel standing in mid air over their intended victim's head, possibly with a sword or some other illegal weapon, and obviously this had scared them so badly they immediately turned to the lord etc etc.

Yes. I was impressed too.

Doesn't surprise. People see the darnedest things. It's just that they see that reflect their belief system. If they were Hindu thuglets, they'd see something else.