An open mind is what lead me to no longer believing in the Abrahamic god or any god for that matter. I accepted Jesus as my lord and savior until I was 30. I'm 40 now. You don't need to explain your point of view because it used to be the same as mine. Right before I stopped believing, I went searching for god. The more I searched, the more I came up empty. The very first book of the bible is all you need to read to understand that it was a well crafted story by humans and not a god.
So it couldn't have been inspired by God? Like when an idea just pops into your head seemingly out of nowhere? The Bible as a whole has been a tremendous teaching tool for centuries, and the wisdom contained in the Bible seems inspired to me. Whether or not you think that everything should be taken literally, or that some of what's in the Bible is meant to teach a lesson using imagery that the people of the time could understand. Jesus Himself used plenty of parables to teach lessons. As I said, I will attempt to explain my point of view on religion as best I can in the coming days/weeks. There's a lot, of course, it will take some time. You mention that you searched and "came up empty"; if you feel comfortable with it, could you explain that a little more? When I started my search (I didn't always believe what I was taught either), I prayed to God for a sign of His existence, and I got it....it was such a profound, amazing experience I couldn't explain it in words adequately. And it was not a supernatural "burning bush" kind of thing, just a sequence of ordinary events that answered my plea to God. If I explained it here, you might just dismiss it all as coincidence, but it was real for me, and it led to my faith. My life was changed from that point, little by little my faith grew and my life became tremendously enhanced. I still think it was not coincidence at all, and it was God answering my prayer and letting me know that He existed.... To be continued... Have a good night.
I disagree that the bible is a great teaching tool, unless you deconstruct it and cherry pick the good stories and lessons. No doubt that there are some valuable lessons. The problem is that there are way too many bad things in the bible, such as homicide, genocide, infanticide, slavery, subjugation of women, etc. Whenever I bring up these atrocities, I'm told that I don't understand the passage, or I took it out of context, or it was a different time. I went searching for god because nothing made sense and I wanted to know why I should believe in something just because I was told to believe it. I figuratively called god and nobody answered the phone. There was never a sign or even a message in a piece of toast that convinced me that a god exists. I cannot argue with personal revelation. If you felt that you received signs from god, that's great! I don't doubt that you saw a sign or felt that it was from god. A friend of mine just told me this the other day. He changed his career because of signs from god. I cannot argue with that. It's just not enough evidence for me.
So, to recap, every little feel good thing that happens on this earth is because of religion and every nasty little thing, even if it is perpetrated by those who hold themselves to be religious, Lead paint? No, not at all...
Wow! Talk about photoshopped? Just look at the heads on those Von Trapp kids! By the way, all those movies are FICTION, or highly fictionalized versions of a germ of truth - very much like that book which explains your odd viewpoint on so many things.
You have provided ZERO evidence, how would you expect people to change their point of view if they are not given anything reason to change it. You telling people that you believe is not evidence, there is no proof of any miracles, being written does not automatically make it true. People believe because of faith, period.
god damnit id be lying if i said i dont love monday mornings! i dont go on a comoputer on the weekends, too much fun going on outside to want to bother, so every monday, lately at least, this thread loads up on some great stuff. i have soiled myself 4 times this morning in the office reading the last 5 pages of this thread. i am indeed enfuckinlightened baby!
and all that faith literally encompasses is to believe in something for where there is not one shred of empirical evidence. no thanks.
For the most part, nothing that people do is "because of God", or because God is forcing that person to do something. God never forces us to do anything, good or bad. We are completely free to live our lives the way we want. God simply teaches us, like a good parent or teacher will do. He also may inspire us from time to time, but it's up to us to act on that inspiration. Sometimes I feel inspired to do something, but laziness wins out and I just take a nap instead. I may be physically tired, or I may simply give in to the temptation to procrastinate. God did his part by inspiring me to act, but I didn't use my free will to cooperate. In that example, I lacked the will power to act. We can't blame God for what we do or don't do. We are free human beings, and we decide the good or bad that happens in this world. God will never take away our freedom. He will give revelations from time to time, and inspire people from time to time, but it's up to us. And don't forget, while the devil is simply a creature like we are, he is a fallen angel who can influence the world spiritually as well. This may sound crazy or like a fairy tale to some people, but it's true. There is a spiritual realm in another dimension; science btw now postulates other dimensions, look up string theory in physics. So science recognizes the existence of dimensions we can't directly perceive with our senses. Why is it so hard to believe in a spiritual reality inhabiting one (or more) of these dimensions? Especially when so many people have spiritual experiences. There is a spiritual battle going on in the world between God and satan, good and evil. No individual person is "good" or "evil" in themselves; we are all mixtures of good and evil to the extent that we respond to God, follow His commandments, avoid sin, or, alternatively, give in to sin and become slaves of sin and puppets of the devil.
Please demonstrate how god teaches us. What do you consider a revelation? Jesus on toast? A light dimming when you mention a dead person's name? To me, a revelation would be god standing before me and giving me the message himself.
Actually, there has been a TON of evidence for God's existence, just no strict legalistic proof. Starting with the miracles Jesus Christ performed, witnessed by many skeptical Jews who changed their entire belief system and followed Him as a result! Add to that the resurrection, also witnessed by the same skeptical critical thinkers, who were vigilant and wise to the possibility of a hoax perpetrated by Jesus' disciples. They closely guarded the tomb to make sure that nobody stole the body. ... in addition, Jesus' teachings were so unusual and revolutionary to Jews at the time, yet Jesus Himself was a Jew and His teachings were adopted by hundreds and later thousands of Jews. The 12 Apostles, the earliest Priests, were also reported to have performed miracles in Jesus' name after his resurrection. There were countless martyrs willing to submit to horrific, painful deaths rather than deny that Jesus was God. These martyrs continued dying for their faith for the next 2000 years and counting. Even today, Christians in the Holy Land sacrifice their lives rather than give up their faith. There were the miracles at Lourdes, again witnessed by countless people; Marian apparitions throughout the centuries, the list of evidence goes on and on! Again, none of this is absolute proof, but it is solid evidence. The more evidence that piles up over the years, the more likely that all of this is true. Where there's smoke there's fire, and there's been a ton of smoke over the past 2000+ years. Not to mention that many of the world's top scientists today explain how their understanding of science has bolstered and strengthened their faith in God. Religion is 100% compatible with science; science has disproven none of it, and in fact the Shroud of Turin, the famous burial cloth of Jesus, was studied scientifically and found to provide evidence not only of Jesus' identity, but of His resurrection as well. So, if anything, science all but proves religion, and certainly does not disprove it. It is widely understood now that science and religion are complementary, not opposed to each other. Belief in God is completely rational, belief that there is no God is irrational. It takes much more faith nowadays to be an atheist, because you have to deny so much evidence.
I am religious myself.. but lets get real. The only reason why science and religion can be complementary today is because science completely proved religious arguments wrong for centuries and organized religion changed. In essence, science won that battle easily and the catholic church and other religious bodies chose the "if you can't beat em'/ join em'" approach.
Science has disproven none of it? Holy mother of stupid. Thunder and lightning is explained by Thor. Until meteorology comes along.
Even from a spiritual standpoint, note how the Catholic Church co-opted much of the motif of the ancient Irish Celtic festival Samhain (so-wain).
You should never have started this thread if you respond to a statement about religion by making statements about god. If you don't understand that religion and god are separate entities you should just stop posting now.
