What does this have to do with fairness? I believe what I see. "Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" I don't want your pity. I don't need your pity. Save it for those less fortunate than me all over the world who could truly use the help.
God doesnt demand for our prayers, we give choose to praise him by free will, and what is the point of an intellectually stimulating life if your going to die and rot somewhere in the ground? And if your life is so intellectually stimulating why are you on forgehub forums and not living your "fufilling life?" could it be that you are trying to find purpose for your life?
Uhh, you're going to die and rot in the ground too, Chuck. Everyone will. As far as my intellectually stimulating life goes, I'm using my intellect right now debating with these people, although it's nowhere near as challenging as I would like, admitted. I happen to be living my life right now at a job that is extremely physically and intellectually satisfying. Let's stick to reasonable debates. Also, if god doesn't demand our prayers, but will send us to hell if we don't praise him... How is that not a demand? That's not even a thinly veiled threat, that's full on extortion.
To be clear, these are good points: Yea, because he said following a God won't make is life anymore meaningful... Yea, he said that to a religious person... and yea, how am I supposed to respond? I think that's the best of choices. ooh, this could be fun Yes, the more reasoning the merrier! I show no respect to people??!!! Wow, learn to read once in a while. Look, it's not my fault if some kid comes in here with hormones raging and starts saying crap about my religion.
so what happens if you get fired? are you just gonna give up on live? i mean from what i can tell no point for you to live right? what next? do you have a family? what if something horrible happened? bam! gone forever! o well right? they were just gonna rot anyway... this is why we need to believe in God, to give our life meaning, hope, and eternal life. I would be devastaed if something happened to my family but in the back of my head i know that they would be in a much better place forever isnt it worth believing just to have hope purexist?
I'm pretty much done with Erico after this post - I recommend the rest of you do the same. It seems he has planted his head so far in the theist ground that we have no help of pulling him out, no matter how many people try to pull him upwards. I doubt he can even hear our arguments from all the way down there. I will say it again, wanting to believe something does not relate to it's existence. First of all, this thread is not entitled "Should you believe in God?" if so, your arguments would be valid. The goal of this thread is to simply determine if god exists or not. The difference between you and me is that I don't need a crutch to remain happy. I don't worry about death or any number of bad things that can happen; I understand that there's no point. Biologically, I want to be as happy as possible, and I refuse to deny myself that. Think about it from my point of view: I have no reason to be unhappy, sad, anxious, or any other feeling really. I laugh off the bad ones and life a happier life than you might expect.
so you just laugh off death? wouldnt it help you to be "happy biologically" to know that someone is watching out for you, there for you, and loves you no matter what you do? wouldnt it help if you go to bed at night knowing that if you die your going to wake up? wouldnt it help to know that your not a mistake from a monkey that your not just as worthless as the dirt we walk on? wouldnt it help to know that humanity isnt just a scar on the face of the earth but there for a reason? go ahead you live your pointless "happy" life, ill live mine knowing it wont end when i die o and purexist? whats wrong? i see you viewing the thread but no response? could it be your mind is tossing and turning trying to make sense of your life?
Are you truly deluded enough to believe that your god loves you, no matter what you do? I don't see how he can do that, but at the same time send so many to hell, and order the stoning of gays and the murder of little children.. I can find way more fun quotes about murder and rape from the bible, if you like. You will live your life full of false hope, but also full of worries and responsibilities that I have freed myself of. Then, when we both someday die, we will both rot in the ground and be just as worthless as the dirt we are buried under... and none of those worries and all of that work will be worth nothing.
Do you have any proof that this book is truthful? If not, it's just a book. It's not history. It's not proven. You can't just scream that it's real. It's true that laws change, but the bible is supposed to be eternal. The thing is, we really don't care. As said countless times before, we don't need a crutch. Sure, it would be nice to believe in these things, and most atheists have, but we just don't need it. The fact that this will be the only life we have just makes us enjoy it more. Anyways, this has nothing to do with the debate. Whether or not believing in God makes us happier or not has nothing to do with his existence, so drop it.
You already do. It's your mother and father. Why do you fear death? It's as natural as being born and every single living thing that has ever existed anywhere will experience it. Why are humans the lone recipients of your "heavens" afterlife? What about other intelligent animals? Humans are not descendants of monkeys. We shared a common ancestor. Who are you to call the dirt worthless? It is because of the dirt that humanity was able to achieve what it has. It is because of the fertile dirt in the middle east that mankind formed its first civilizations and spread across the planet as its most intelligent species (or third most intelligent as some people believe ). Humanity is just another species vying for dominance on an insignificant pale blue dot circling an average star on the outer legs of the milky way galaxy which is not special in any way. Your definition of happy must differ from mine. How do you find happiness in existing forever? It must get terribly boring and dull after the first million years. Maybe he left his computer sitting on the thread? The 'currently doing' system is actually quite inaccurate at times having dealt with it before in the past.
By that course of very illogical reasoning, most suicides are caused by atheists. Sure believing in God is the happier route, but it doesn't mean it is the right choice. Atheists and agnostics aren't burdened by not having a religion. Religion is not the be all end all source of support for our lives. People without god are not unhappy for that reason (you need to understand this), there are plenty of people who lead successful lives without religion. I don't understand why religious people think that non-religious people think they lead horrible miserable lives. Sure we are going to die and rot in the Earth, but our contributions to our species will benefit us nonetheless. For your other post about laws in the bible changing, the Bible is the word of god itself, so if something in the Bible is wrong then you would have to admit that God made a mistake, or you could say the Bible could really not be the word of god and is not a credible source. (Please answer this) Do you still think the Bible is infallible and the word of god? If so, then you are following a god who hates homosexuals and puts men above women. Building on that, Erico's post about souls probably proved if humans have souls, then so do animals.
watch all three of these videos from start to finish (I know that's almost twenty minutes but please watch it all) YouTube - Louis Giglio - How Great is Our God YouTube - Louis Giglio - How Great is Our God Pt2 YouTube - Louie Giglio - Laminin
first off i dont blame anyone for not watchin those videos bc im not going to (try summerizing the facts jedi) i know that God loves you, me , and everyone else because he sent His son to die in one of the most excrutiating deaths in the history of mankind. and for the hell thing try to imagine yourself as God, someone dies ooo lets say an aethist who has turn down God time after time and enjoys doing it, would you let that person into heaven after youve done so much for him but he still refuses to even believe that he exsist? and i dont know what Bible your reading from but i dont recall any scripture about stonning gays? now for p3p5i's post there are minor mistakes in the bible (new testament, gospels) but these were biographies about the life of Jesus that were meant to get the character of Jesus and how he treated everyone around him, not if the 3 wismen visited him in a manger or at a house who cares? God will not let His word be manipulated
lol, way to be a stalker, Chuck. I left the thread open while I went to have a nap in the heat of the afternoon. My mind tossing and turning? You've got a lot of confidence in your arguments, Chuck. However, I became a hard and fast atheist at the age of 8, and an active anti-theist over the past few years (I'm 29.) It's going to take a lot more persuasive arguments than you've got to make my mind toss and turn So on all your postulations of horrible things happening to my happy life... Why, I would use the instincts that I was born with, and the coping mechanisms that I have built as I have grown up. This is not, and has never been, an easy world. We have built-in systems to help us deal with grief, loss, death, and hardship, because these are all features of the impersonal universe we've evolved in. These include hope, humour, and yes, religious feelings as well. The thing is, I can recognize my biological tendencies. I know I am an animal, and that I always will respond certain ways, because I have instinct remnants. I will always sleep with my girlfriend against the wall and me closer to the door, because this is how my ancestors slept in caves. I don't hate the smell of my own farts, because that is a simple diagnostic tool that my ancestors had to check their digestive health, and maybe eat some grass or something. I'll pick lint of someone's sweater, because I am simian, and we groom. I've accepted all these things, and think that my existence is, and will continue to be wonderful, fascinating, and enlightening. God doesn't even enter the picture at all. Why do you have similar monkey tendencies, Chuck?
I don't understand, why did you want me to watch those videos (and its relevancy to this debate)? To respond to Chuck, who is god to be able to sentence us to anything? The bible says not to judge others, yet we are judged to heaven or hell by our god. God has no right to pass judgement upon us. Here's an example: a scientist creates an animal, one that is vastly inferior to the scientist in every way. Is the scientist right in killing the animal? Just because people don't necessarily follow God's views, does it make it right to punish that person for eternity? Even when it is so hard for people to believe in a god when all they ask for is evidence. That person then has to choose a religion out of hundreds (assuming one of those religions is right) of other religions. Why does God mask himself so much? I believe a reply to this was so God could bring the "pure" worshippers to heaven. Are you not pure for wanting evidence for believing in something so important? Is it looked down upon to use logic and reason?
There were a TON of people who were crucified during that era. It was hardly uncommon. And there are many more painful ways to die than that. I'd rather let an atheist into heaven who has helped the needy and supported charities and been faithful to his/her spouse than a lying, money-hording, adulterer of a politician. Then why does it happen so much? Why do extremists claim that it is god's will for people to die? Why would god not stop them?
ok pure... lets do a history lesson 1) every educated history scholar knows that some guy named Jesus walked the earth 2) we know that this same guy died on a cross 3) we also know that this guy had followers 4) we know that the followers believed this Jesus guy had raised from the dead 5) we know that these followers so strongly believd that this guy had risen that they scattered the earth preaching it, and were torchured to death by it now why would these followers die painfull deaths for something that wouldnt be true? would you die for something that wasnt true? even if it was true wouldnt you change ur story to live? ..... these guys didnt... so if all these guys believed that Jesus had risen and were willing to die for it and not change their story isnt safe to assume that maybe somehow he did rise from the dead? now if Jesus claimed to have power over death (which we are assuming he did from the lines above) shouldnt we also believe that he wasnt lying when he said hes the son of God?!?
What about extremists in other religions? They have more faith than the casual believers in those religions (I'm talking about Islam, specifically). They willingly blow themselves up for their religion, so it must be true right? So with your logic, christianity is wrong.