On religion

[DodgyAgent]

If I want to go to heaven all I need is to cough up some money and go.

K5relax - Night club in Prague, stag party night, girls in Prague

[hyperD]

If I want to go to heaven all I need is to cough up some money and go.

K5relax - Night club in Prague, stag party night, girls in Prague

Well, one thing's for certain - the recruitment agent is gonna get toasted for his tithe!

Thanks d000hg and NAT for the replies.

[mudskipper]

A lot of truth in that I think. Probably helped a lot of muddle headed non believers clear up what they thought they were thinking.

Haven't read it. Perhaps I should

Was brought up a Christian and wavered in and out throughout my teenage years/twenties.

Came to the conclusion that the God I sometimes believed in wasn't the God that I was taught about through the church.

If there is a God (and I'm currently on the 'no' side of the fence), I like to think he'd judge people on what they'd done with their lives, how they'd treated others (and their motives for doing so) rather than belief in a particular doctrine.

As succinctly put by the Proclaimers :

And if I'm found wanting
When my case is heard
It'll be by the author
Not some interpreter of His word.

[NotAllThere]

...Came to the conclusion that the God I sometimes believed in wasn't the God that I was taught about through the church.

Often the case. It seems to me that much that makes up religion is man-made, and frankly I want nothing to do with it.

[speling bee]

There is no definitive answer to this - NAT suggests some options. As a Christian though you have to figure that God knows what He's doing and is a fair judge.

I heard an argument once that said if we had a definite answer that those who haven't heard or are unable to understand the Gospel would be saved, we'd have seen historical waves of infanticide and genocide as well-meaning Christians made the logical leap it would be best to kill people before they had a chance to screw it up. That might at first sight seem a rather facetious argument but looking back at history, I'm not so sure!

It is quite difficult to understand that your god is a fair judge when we look at the genocidal and infanticidal atrocities that your book say that he has committed:

The flood
Sodom and Gomorrah (sp?)
Killing all the first born sons of Egypt

Maybe I will stick with my own code.

Having said all that, I am much more encouraged by religious people that I am by the religions they follow. For the most part, the devout Christians, Muslims and Buddhists that I know are a thoroughly decent bunch, and there are many contemporary and historical figures who I admire greatly for their religiously inspired activism, particularly Roman Catholics for some reason.

[BrilloPad]

Often the case. It seems to me that much that makes up religion is man-made, and frankly I want nothing to do with it.

Some "scientists" spout some total bollux too.

[NotAllThere]

Some "scientists" spout some total bollux too.

Yeah, well they're not really scientists are they. They're biologists...

[vetran]

I always wondered why after thousands of years on a project the documentation is so awful.

It all seems to have gone downhill after the 10 commandments which is one of the top quick start guides in history. After that the documentation seems to be conflicting and doesn't seem to make sense.

Those that suggest that entry into heaven is only possible if you commit to an imaginary entity I'm sorry I just hear 'do you want to be in my gang? ' playing on my internal soundtrack.(oh yes I realise that was written by a Paedophile who has lived longer in comfort than many pillars of morality).

If the moral & faithful little old ladies I have met near death suffering a living hell, get comfort from the prospect of heaven then all well & good, personally between that and the mosquito I find it impossible to believe.

No I don't need help understanding why you 'believe' so don't start preaching, If you have concrete evidence then wheel it out but anything that requires a leap of faith isn't going to cut it.

[d000hg]

If there is a God (and I'm currently on the 'no' side of the fence), I like to think he'd judge people on what they'd done with their lives, how they'd treated others (and their motives for doing so) rather than belief in a particular doctrine.

The problem is that God (as described in Christianity) has standards that are too high. He can judge you on how you've lived your life but no matter how well you tried to live, you fall short of his exacting standard.

And of course, what you like to think he should be like, or how you think he should behave don't make a jot of difference to how God does (or doesn't) behave/exist.

It is quite difficult to understand that your god is a fair judge when we look at the genocidal and infanticidal atrocities that your book say that he has committed

You'd need someone with a more thorough grounding in theology and more time on their hands than I. I'm sure if you were interested in a proper answer, you could find a good book on Christian Apologetics.

No I don't need help understanding why you 'believe' so don't start preaching, If you have concrete evidence then wheel it out but anything that requires a leap of faith isn't going to cut it.

Put a sock in it. A thread was created by an atheist asking questions, in which others have put questions. If you think those of us with faith responding is preaching then butt out of the thread.

If you want to hear some evidence go on an Alpha course or read a book... if you don't then don't jump in to a thread to make spiky comments about how "there's no evidence and anyway stop telling me what you think". If you want to have a closed mind on the subject that's your right, but then don't enter a discourse on the subject if it's just going to annoy you.

[Gibbon]

Non fui, fui, non sum, non curo. - Epicurus

If God exists why do we have an immune system, is it because He is not omnipotent and not the only creator or is it so he can torture us with his other creations?