POLL: Is there a God ??
- Thread starter megablue
- Start date
I don't live in Kentucky. You made the claim, now back up how evangelicals are encroaching on your life...how are you negatively effected by genuine believers having a relationship with God? How are genuine evangelical believers persecuting and encroaching on your life? Should be very simple to point that out...
The separation does not tell elected officials that they must check their beliefs at the door. Rather, a democratic republic permits people to state their beliefs and others to vote accordingly. If people don’t have to check their secular religions, theist religions should be afforded the same rights.
Originally I said that they make laws that impact others not me specifically but regardless, I'll give you an answer. Senate Bill 150 is almost certainly going to end up with trans kids committing suicide more often, that's simply based off of data and there is clear connection behind the Evangelical vote getting this bill passed. Roe v Wade being overturned was probably the central talking point among the Evangelical community and now the maternal death rate has skyrocketed since. In Florida, DeSantis just passed a law that could be used to allow medical professionals to deny providing service to patients if it goes against their religious objections.
You're constantly using the term "genuine believers" to get out of having to defend people who follow the same God as you. It's not subtle in the slightest and there is absolutely no way that you know if they're genuine believers or not, to them I'm sure that their belief is just as genuine as yours. Nevertheless, these people are using religion to impact everyone else.
Where would I be without people on this board telling me what I think?
I have seen and heard numerous explanations about the context of slavery from the some of the most distinguished thinkers in the apologist universe, and you know what? They still don't make any sense and it's still an immoral practice that no just and moral God would allow much less encourage.
One of my "favorites" is the William Lane Craig explanation that Old Testament slavery was like an indentured servitude, which gave the happy slave one of the few opportunities he would have had in the ancient world to pay off his debts. Riiiiight.
And why am I concerned about the character flaws of a God that might not exist? Because, his followers DO exist and they seem bound and determined to shove those character flaws on to our society whether we want them to or not. Many if not most of the great injustices in our history were founded on practices found in scripture.
Slavery? Check. it's in the Bible! Murdering others because they happen to be sitting on a piece of land you want? Check. God told the Hebrews to do the very same thing! Discrimination against women and gay folks? the Bible teaches women are second class citizens and says Homosexuality is an abomination! Abortion? This one if fuzzier than you might think, the Bible is kinda tricky here. Still most Christians run with the "Thou shalt not kill" commandment.
So, cheer up and and count your blessings. We all get to live under the laws of your creator, whether or not we believe. Churches don't have to pay any taxes in clear violation of the Constitution, although they consume their fair share of our tax money for roads and police and fire protection to name a couple. Since they deal in the realm of magic and the unseen, they can happily scam the believers out of a bottomless pits of money, with absolutely no repercussions from law enforcement. Need I say even more?
I don't get into politics in this thread. Like I told another poster, take that crap to the political thread. And sorry in advance, won't be responding if you do (can't stand that thread personally).
Of course I am going to differentiate between genuine believers from other "believers." Do you know how many people in this world claim to worship God, yet they have no relationship with Jesus Christ? Have not repented of their sin? Bear no spiritual fruit whatsoever? Walk around with signs saying God hates the gay community? Look down upon non-believers?
All of those "believers" give true Christians a bad rap. And it sucks for us, cuz we inevitably have to try to explain away their non sense, because we are getting lumped in with them. So yes, I will always make that distinction.
While officials don''t have to "check their beliefs at the Door" they are bound by the Constitution to not force them on the rest of us. There is a great misunderstanding that our founding fathers were "Christians" but the fact is they had seen first hand, or their recent ancestors had seen first hand, the carnage caused by the Popes, preachers, and kings and they wanted no part of it.
An elected official has a responsibility to abide by the Constitution of the United States, not whatever superstition in which they believe. It's been my experience that the elected officials that cover themselves with the Bible (or the flag) are the most inclined to not believe or practice any of it.
WildcatfaninOhio
All-American
Genuine believers are actually worse. Against women's rights, against gay people being able to live a fulfilling life, etc.
Yeah....that is 100% false, but you keep parroting that thought if it makes you feel better. Parrot it right over to the political thread.
Meanwhile, I will focus on obeying the Lord and storing up treasures in Heaven. You focus on living for this life before fading into a forgotten darkness.
Many religions feature a hell and heaven. Someone's going to be disappointed.
Sadly, the 40 voters that said no will find out one day. I once heard Billy Graham say that if you thought there was a 10% chance that the flight you were taking would crash, you wouldn't get on the plane. Well, for those 40 voters, if there is only 10% chance you are wrong............well, let's just say that eternity is a very long time and leave it at that.
WildcatfaninOhio
All-American
Billy Graham made his money by scaring people into believing that the xian god was real. And he became a multimillionaire. Is anyone shocked he would make a lame statement like that? It’s not even original.
I am not a big fan of tv evangelists but Billy Graham was ok. Joel Osteen looks like a used car salesman and lives in a castle like compound.
WildcatfaninOhio
All-American
If there was a 10% chance that at least one of your immediate family was sent to hell for eternity, would you still happily worship the god that made that happen?
I am still waiting for an original thought in this thread, but that ^^ post is a dodge.
We stayed at the PTL campground when I was a kid. Tammy Faye got out of a 40 foot limo wearing a fur coat and diamonds lol. My parents are smart people but they didn't seem to notice what me and my sister plainly saw.
Bro, there have been 1000s of religions. You have no better a chance at being right than I do.
Not really, no.
That's just the atheist view that we're all just fumbling in the dark looking for a solution, picking one of the shelf at random.
We are not.
WildcatfaninOhio
All-American
Of course you didn’t just pick a religion randomly out of the numerous options. Odds are you accepted and now practice the religion your parents exposed you to.
There is absolutely without a doubt an Uber powerful/omniscient being or beings. There is literally no other explanation for the existence of such an enormously vast universe. Even if you believe in something as relatively simple as the big bang, then still the vastness of space and the giant mass that exploded.
Who are those beings? That's the question
Who are those beings? That's the question
I don't think there has to be a being that created anything. I think it makes more sense that matter and energy have always existed.
A god creating things just doesn't sound convincing. It's okay to not know everything. I think relying on thinking some higher power exists to explain something we can't fully grasp is a cop out. An example: humans used to chalk weather, tornadoes, lightning, storms in general to a god. Now we know how weather works using science.
I mean, you are picking at random. There's nothing really special about Christianity. Human sacrifices, resurrections, hell, heaven, prophets, fantastical stories, etc.
WildcatfaninOhio
All-American
And more questions. If you are correct that some beings or beings created the universe, exactly how did they do that? And if they created the universe, then they must have existed before the universe existed. How is that possible?
That wasn't my experience, no. I wasn't raised by believers.
That's your belief. It's just a belief.
That's also just atheistic opinion. It's not that God is only there to explain what we don't understand, he equally explains that which we do.
WildcatfaninOhio
All-American
The Big Bang suggests a creator outside of time, space, and matter. Ohio’s questions suggest a creator bound by creation, at least by time.
The “exactly how’d they do that” is not a good question. It’s funny. But, not a good question.
WildcatfaninOhio
All-American
It ain’t flat with a dome over it either.
Nor is it flat, with "four corners" ...
This expression appeared in the Bible (Isaiah 11:12): “And gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” Although the idea that the earth is a flat plane with actual corners has long been discarded, the term has survived. In fact, Dean Smith, UNC coach and a strict biblical fundamentalist, well before the advent of the shot clock, employed the "four corners" offense !!
Last edited:
Again, for those who care, the pathway to hell is one that may be avoided. Love God with all your senses and love your neighbor as yourself. I pray not only my family, but everyone choose God. I joyfully worship our Lord.
That’s funny … and many on Rafters thinks Cal’s offense is out-dated !!
How many times do we have to say Genesis was never written as a science book? No one who has studied Genesis believes it was written as a science book. This cliche’ remains sad.
Similar threads
