Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Misty: Baytheist Living! on September 20, 2009 at 9:23pm

Sorta makes god look like a helpless waste if Satan can fool 5/7ths of the world.
Christians only rank in at two billion. Out of them, we'll say half aren't even "True" Christians.
Why exactly are we supposed to worship the god that can't play hardball with an angel HE created?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by luis on September 25, 2009 at 12:43am

people tend to gravitate to what is comfortable,pleasurable ,easier,which isnt necesarily wrong,depending the situation,so that explains why people are easily deceived ,because we tend to go with what pleases us generally ,instead of going with whats true,or whats best for us in the long run,just because something /someone is more popular doesnt necessarily mean that theyre the better way to go. is the "popular" way always the best way? YHWHis playing hardball with the angel he created because Hes allowing lucifer to frequent the earth to decieve by permission,lucifer cant do anything without permission from YHWH (have you read JOB?)and in the last battle(armeggedon) jesus(GOD the son)kills the antichrist , so lucifer is on the earth(not in hell)by YHWH's permission ,so i guess its a matter of looking at this from the eternal perspective or the temporal perspective ,which perspective are you going to choose with your precious freewill? hope you dont feel like im arguing im just stating the facts revealed in YHWH's word ,PEACEAND RESPECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Dave G on September 25, 2009 at 1:10am

Allowing Lucifer free reign to screw with his supposedly beloved creation is hardly playing hardball. More like a free ride.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Misty: Baytheist Living! on September 25, 2009 at 4:47am

Exactly.
It all leads back to the same unreconciled paradox to me.
God is either not a god of love, or he isn't very powerful.
For me to worship him, he has to be both.
No all loving god would make humanity in the garden just to plop a tempting, talking snake in the middle of it, as well as a tree that would damn mankind for all eternity. Why not move the tree somewhere else? Why not guard it with angels BEFORE it was eaten from? Why not um.... Not create it in the first place? That's like giving a child a poisoned popcicle, telling them not to lick it, turning your back and then chastising them for doing what comes natural. More ever, god supposedly knows everything, so how did he not see that coming?
Then there is Lucifer (supposedly. Satan and Lucifer are two distinct individuals.. not one) Who is given free reign to tempt the earth, cause evil and suffering, and take the blame for all natural disasters. People say that humanity or Satan causes suffering.. not god. But god created humanity and Satan, and allows them to exist.
Further, if god is almighty, why does he have to write about Armageddon? If that is the way things will end up, 100% then why would Satan bother? Hell, why would he LET Satan bother?
It seems like a lot of agony for god's supposedly beloved creation when the script is already written. So either we are suffering for god's amusement, or things are uncertain.
Or.... it's all a load of bullshit written by goat herders.
I like that theory.

Permalink Reply by luis on October 16, 2009 at 2:23am

for love to have meaning there has to be a an alternative ,so thats why YHWH allows lucifer to reign as "god of this age" so we can have a choice ,YHWH doesnt want preprogrammed robots to love him he wants us to choose him out of our own free will PEACE!!!!!!!! ps.satan and lucifer are the same person,lucifer was his name before the fall and satan is one of his names now

Permalink Reply by Dave G on October 17, 2009 at 11:51pm

"He allows us to be tortured because he loves us! If we didn't feel pain, we wouldn't understand pleasure! You can't have good without evil!"

I'm sorry, those are ridiculous assertions. One does not have to be tortured to understand that not being tortured is a good thing.

Permalink Reply by Stefftastic on October 17, 2009 at 6:22am

They don't see that they expose their own idol's faults with that argument. It's Christianity that rewrites anything contradictory to fit their specific brand of bullshit.

I also like this argument by Misty: Mo's Pitbull!-
"Why exactly are we supposed to worship the god that can't play hardball with an angel HE created?"

The faithful are just that. Blind to anything outside their faithy little box of ignorance.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Stacy B on September 4, 2009 at 4:47pm

1. They were all authors from the same culture in the same general geographic area.
2. One person compiled the Pentateuch into one book, making them fit together as best he could. Deuteronomy and the books re: kings are likely from the same author. The authors of the gospels used some of the same sources and even each other's writing as sources.
3. The stories actually don't fit together all that well.

Just for starters.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gaytor on September 21, 2009 at 4:04pm

Joseph Campbell spoke of the Hero formula. Faiths and even just folk stories had commonalities throughout history and across most Geography. the heros are the child of a virgin and a God getting together (Addonis, Jesus, Hercules)/. They all rose from the dead at least once. And the list goes on. It's laid out in a book called the Jesus Mysteries. My copy is with a friend or I'd get you a longer list.
Also the timing issues such as Eastre, Mythras, Jesus, Dyonysis, being reborn each year during the spring has to do with the cycles of the sun. As the days get longer and the plants regrow it's a re-birth. The same holds true for the Winter Solstice. The rebirth of the sunlight getting longer is the signal of hope and goodness. Think about the follow the light, evil is found in darkness. Light has tremendous influence in religious history. Even Jesus birth can be found by the wise men by following the brightest star.
The stories are also fostered and brought together by conquering nations. You have the Romans taking over much of the modern world. you have cultures believing in Mythras, Judaism, Roman Gods, Greek Gods. If you create a whole new religion that ties everyone together you can generate buy in. The new culture doesn't have to despise the Romans because they at least believe in the same god's to an extent. That way they aren't simply barbarians. The same thing happened during the Ottoman-Turk occupation. We saw the beginning and rise of Islam. It's a sign of power and control. They take the religion that exists and then twist it for their own purposes to show superiority.
Go check out Joseph Campbell. He understood the hero formula so well that it inspired and directed Lucas in writing Star Wars. It's this universal appreciation for hero's that makes the base stories similar.
My two cents anyways.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Reggie on September 21, 2009 at 6:51pm

The Hero Formula has been selected for which lead to the evolution of modern religions.

Jesus is the hero and the rest of us aren't worthy to lick his coin purse, we deserve hell, but he saves us anyway. This can be seen in many Hollywood films where the hero is the only one who can shoot what he aims for, is great enough to compensate for all the deficiency and two dimensionality of the supporting cast, and saves the day because no one else is even close to being his equal.

I hate those movies. Except Die Hard. I fucking loved Die Hard.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gaytor on September 21, 2009 at 10:57pm

You said Coin Purse

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gaytor on September 21, 2009 at 10:55pm

Even more complete on the hero topic. The Movie, The God Who Wasn't There delved into it. Take into the consideration the history and assimilation of culture with the conquering that the Romans and Ottomans did with the rise of new religions. Then look at what Christianity created... the perfect hero taking from all of the existing cultures yet instituting their own as the superior.

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page