People believe anything...

Oops! Quite right. As an American I spell it defense out of habit, even when I'm trying not to.

No, I don't to be perfectly honest.

Seems a lot more offensive to suggest that atheists perpetrated the Holocaust, or, as George Bush once wondered out loud, whether atheists could really be Americans. If a bit of casual cursing is what you find offensive in this whole thread, you've got me worried.

 

It was God who used the apostles to write the Bible. So yes, the Bible is the word of God

 

Can God disagree with himself? The apostles most certainly disagree with one another. Oh, and it was another CATHOLIC doctrine that the apostles were inspired by God, voted on by a council of cardinals. Damned papists.

 

Come on!
If we are going to get some enraged debates we need a better subject!
I mean come on, Catholocs, Protestants, and even members of the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches are Christians. Christianity is one religion. Period. This is a set of facts.
However, if I were to post

Jesus H. Lapdancing Christ! What is wrong with you people? There is obviously no god.
and
Religion is a crutch for those who can't think for themselves
and
Southern Heritage? That is Racial Heritage - that is the past.
Southern Sovreignity? I thought it was proved to you in this thing you will call "The war between the states" but anyone sensible would call "The American Civil War"
Southern Culture? Isn't that an oxymoron?

Then We could have a nice, enraged debate. So, I'll say just those things.
Edit - Sorry about the rAndom Capitalization. I am not, however, sorry about the way I may have offended your religion or culture. Deal with it.

 

Icarus, you haven't the slightest idea of what your saying.

 

Amazingly, you managed to incorrectly spell something an inch above your writing.
To which part were you referring? The first? That Catholics and Russian Orthodox are Christian, which is 1 religion? If that is what you are saying is wrong, then you are merely an idiot.

If, however, you are saying that the other part is wrong, then you are simply putting together the least impressive debate possible (it was supposed to be offensive)

 

I have the slightest idea what he's saying and it makes some amount of sense. For all anyone knows the entire universe could have been created by perfectly scientific means. Yet we can't disprove God. So does that mean he exists? We can't disprove ESP, does that exist? We can't disprove that a giant being from outer space that looks surprisingly like tubgirl is going to come down and crush our civilization? Will that happen? In the face of mountains of evidence to the contrary, some people continually grasp onto threads. God probably doesn't exist except for in people's minds. And anyone who needs a guide book on how to live isn't really living.

Southern heritage is tied very closely with racism, yes there are certain aspects of it that aren't, but most of the south's history relates in some way to slavery and bigotry. So how can any real symbol of your heritage not be a symbol of racial tension? Southern soveriengty? The south lost. You have no soveriengty, you aren't your own country. Get over it.

You're beginning to annoy me with this blind faith, it's pretty ridiculous. Even if God exists, All your essentially doing is sucking up to him and living your life how someone else wants you too. Follow me or suffer eternal damnation? Wow, God almost sounds like a despot if you ask me? Or maybe a fiary tale people back in the Stone Age thought up to keep their kids in line. Like a really big boogey man. Or Santa and the Easter Bunny.

 

Nicely put Blinky. However, despite your excellent content, I must inform you that too means also and that fairy is not spelled fiary. These are minor typos, and are easily fixed, unlike some of the ideas Matah has.

 

Yeah, I definitly didn't say any of those things. And I'm not cursing anybody's god in a ridiculous and immature way. I don't give a flying fuck about casual cursing, I'm fairly profane in speech myself, obviously. Maybe God doesn't like it, but he probably doesn't like it when I make out with my girlfreind either, and I'm not going to stop doing either of those things. Like I said, I try to live according to the Bible, but I'm not perfect, like the human that I am. Just to be clear on the cursing: fuck fuck fuck fuck shit shit ass ass bitch bitch dick shit piss fuck. Hahahahahaha.....

It's funny how you only take parts of my argument to use in your rebuttal. Didn't you read what I said about the Jehovah's Witnesses? And how about the Mormons? They both worship a god they call Christ, does that make them the same religion, or a sect of the same religion? No. And I damn well know what sect means.
If you are a Protestant, than you should be ashamed of yourself. How can you be a Christian and not even believe in God? That's an oxymoron. Do you know what that means?
Yeah, of course the Big Bang created the universe. That 's such a logical explanation. Stuff just sort of exploded, cooled, came together, and life was formed! Voila! Magic! I think that evolution requires far more faith than a belief in God, or any god, does. Shit like DNA doesn't just "create itself." And before you ask, yes I believe in natural selection, because it's obvious, but not natural selection leading to evolution of a new species. It's ludicrous.

 

Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Catholics, and and all you other worthless protestant sects are indeed part of one religion known as Christianity.
How the hell is an infinite universe any more ludicrous than an infinite being? It isn't.
However, we don't try to say that the infinite universe wants us to do certain things.
A god doesnt just "create itself" that's ludicrous.
Who cares about the beginning of the universe? What matters is now. I don't think some "great penguin in the sky" or any other such gibberish (god) should have any affect on how I live MY life.

 

You know, lets just say one thing. People believe in what ever the hell they wish to believe.

No one knows for sure who's right or who's wrong. This thread here is a perfect example of how wars have started in the past, all of you disagreeing with each other and soon, anger will pitch in.

It's not religion that has caused war...it's the human and them not liking to be wrong...no one likes to be wrong and no one knows if they are wrong.

There is no proof of God, but yet people believe in him, I believe he's there, somewhere.

 

Current bible scolarship puts the writing of the gospels at 75 CE to 150 CE, with a strong subset arguing for 220 ACE as the date for John. They seem not to have been writen by the Aspostles at all.

Of course, God could have had others of the same names reveal his one true word, but I dobut it.

I also rather dobut the world was created in 4004 BCE. What are your thoughts on that?

And what day do you hold sacred for the Sabath? And why?

 

PRAISE ICARIUS! sorry, I haven't said anything about this huge religion arguement, I agree with everything Icairus says, and didn't feel a need to level the "THERE IS NO GOD" fight into it since I was already amused by the pointlessness of this. I, quite happily, have the awnser to this whole forum battle there are two groups of people: non religious, and religious. then, within the religion section there are two groups: christians, and non christians. who belongs in which group is your personal belief. I know which I'm in, and I care no more than that. Yes, I do know that is self-centered and arrogant, by the way.

 

Oh, so we protestants are "worthless." What a great way to debate, by simply insulting my beliefs in a juvenile and ineffective manner. I feel like I've already put forth enough evidence clearly differentiating Catholics from Protestants, and saying that Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are the same also just showcases your aching ignorance on the subject.
I didn't say that the concept of an infinite univerese is ludicrous. Did you ever learn how to read properly? There's a program called Hooked on Phonics for people like you. I actually do believe that the universe is infinite and ever-expanding, because the God that created it is infinite Himself.
A god doesn't just "create itself," but a universe does. Makes tons of sense to me, too.
I don't follow the Bible because I'm "scared" of God and eternal damnation. I follow it because I've seen the power of God in my life and the lives of others. I've seen things that would make you piss your pants, spiritual encounters that made me question my own perception of reality. And besides that, I know that God has helped me make certain descisions and blessed me in many ways. My family is very large, and my dad, being a pastor, doesn't make much money, but we have a huge house in the country, a dog, four cars, and two horses. We recieved one of the cars and both horses for free, and people have helped us remodel our house for free over the years. Those are only a few examples.
Besides those reasons, I find that following the ways of the Bible makes me a more peaceful and well-rounded individual. There are psychological and physical benifits of moral living. Believe me, I've seen both sides of the coin and I'm much happier the way I am now.
If you don't like the idea of God telling people how to live, think of this: If you were an omnipotent, eternal being, wouldn't you tell people what to do? With the knowledge you'd have, it would be irresponsible not to.

 

You are correct, they are quite different. However, they are hugely more similar than Buddhist sects. Buddhist sects can or cannot believe in a god. That seems like much larger differences to me than your Mormon-Catholic-SeventhDayAdventist differences are.
They are still a part of one religion, despite all the differences between them.
I find a small bit of irony in the fact that you find base insults unnecessary to a discussion such as this, and then you suggest Hooked on Phonics. Hypocrisy, anyone?

A Universe just doesn't "create itself" but a god does. Makes sense to me, too.

Of course you don't follow "god" because you are scared. You follow your biblical god because of your father being a pastor. You never really stood a chance of believing anything else. Even if he is a very nice, open person, you would still have Christian propaganda thrown at you at all times.

God really doesn't tell us what to do. There is absolutely no reason to believe that "The Bible" is god's word. None.
So it really isn't god telling me how to live, it is a bunch of obnoxious religious zealots.

 

I'm glad you caught that! The irony was intentional. Did my "Hooked on Phonics" insult convince you of anything? No, it didn't. That's my point.

Okay....so you changed around what I said. And your point is what? I believe that God has been around for eternity, not that he created himself. And I'm sure that the idea of eternity bothers you, but don't throw something out just because you can't comphrehend it. Neither can I.

So do you follow exactly what your parents believe? The fact that my father is a pastor definitly had an impact on my beliefs, no question. But, being the cynical, anylitcal person I am, I questioned and tested those beliefs to the max, and still believe. Like I said, I've seen both sides of the coin. I know plenty of pastor's children who are decidedly ungodly. I even know of a few who run with street gangs.

 

The children of pastors that I have known follow two paths. They become good christians of their father's faith, sometimes with a wild fling peroid. Or they go running, screaming, somewhere else as soon as they are old enough. This second can resemble the wild fling sub path above.

 

People, calm down. I agree with Quethim - people believe what they want to believe. We're free to do so. And regardless of my personal beliefs I think we should respect what the rest believe in. You believe God exists? Good for you, I hope you're happy with it. You believe in the Big Bang? Well, great. You believe green goblins dance in the forest at night? If that suits you, alright. Respect for each other is a virtue that doesn't depend on which religion you follow, or don't follow. If you feel what someone else believes in is bullshit, well, so be it, but that's your opinion and you have no right to force it on that other person. Seriously. I think we'll all be better off if we stop offending each other.

 

Personally i think this thread is a pretty good example of why people go to war over religion, no one has an open mind about discussing it.

 

Silvara's right, people. Remember the idea behind freedom of cult: We don't care who do you pray to or who do you think is your creator...as long as you pay.