Do you believe in God and the Bible?

[Bouncer]

Originally posted by trip
Here's my 1/2 penney.

There are approximately 7,000 different religions in the world.

What does that tell you?

Different strokes for different folks, in general though it is all a believe system, and believes may or may not be supported by facts.

IMHO, a bunch of guys sitting around a campfire made up this thing called god to control the restless natives, you have to remember for centuries man worshiped the craziest of things .

My personal beliefs are those that milwood talked of .

They are mine, chosen based upon years of searching and asking all the similar questions posed.

In the end when it is all boiled down, it is your own decision to choose what to belief, it is called FREEDOM.

One of the things I do not like about a high degree of religions is they adopt the believe system is you don't AGREE with me you are WRONG, and there is something inherently bad about you, rightly or wrongly trying to impose a guilt trip.

Which is emotionally harmful, and always violates what they say they profess to belief, kindness and caring, well, that attitude is the exact opposite.

Here's what my god tells me every day, grab and drink a big gulp from the joy cup of life, I want you to have a smashing good time, and while you are doing that, please do not harm others.

Drink up, the only time we can feel and experience joy is right now.

Toodles

Finally someone I can agree with. Well said bro. All accept the toodles thing. Thats just gay. :P

[goliath]

Originally posted by THE BOUNCER
I have a question, who created god? I mean I know he supposed to be just there but how can that be? And for all the people who believe in the big bang theory, who created the stuff that made the big bang. I mean something just cant "bang" when there is nothing there to begin with. This should be good. Buncha people trying to explain something they know nothing about. I love it. lol

that's just it - people inherently think in terms of begining and end, we're born then we die, so thinking in those terms is only natural. the universe needs no begining at all....it could have been here all the time.

bad14u - yes, creation of anything, anything at all, implies imperfection. as i said before, a perfect being would not create anything because it has no need or desire for anything.

[Bouncer]

Originally posted by goliath
that's just it - people inherently think in terms of begining and end, we're born then we die, so thinking in those terms is only natural. the universe needs no begining at all....it could have been here all the time.

bad14u - yes, creation of anything, anything at all, implies imperfection. as i said before, a perfect being would not create anything because it has no need or desire for anything.

ok so the universe has just been there all the time. nope cant accept that.

also, how do you know a perfect being wouldnt create anything? how do you know what perfect is?

[Scotland]

The fact that we are aware of our own demise and can not answer or deal with the question of "then what?" only causes this argument to forever remained unsolved. Faith is all you have.

Let's kill someone and ask them what they see . . . no wait, damn that won't work either.

[MuGGsy]

Originally posted by Scotland
The fact that we are aware of our own demise and can not answer or deal with the question of "then what?" only causes this argument to forever remained unsolved. Faith is all you have.

Let's kill someone and ask them what they see . . . no wait, damn that won't work either.

I'll give it a shot :rofl:

[goliath]

Originally posted by THE BOUNCER
ok so the universe has just been there all the time. nope cant accept that.

also, how do you know a perfect being wouldnt create anything? how do you know what perfect is?

if you need anything then how can you be perfect?

how do i know what perfect is? umm....there is this thing that was written several years ago called a dictionary. lol sometimes people use it to look up words that are unclear to them for meaning or argument. :rofl:

per•fect \"per-fikt\ adjective [ME parfit, fr. OF, fr. L perfectus, fr. pp. of perficere to carry out, perfect, fr. per- thoroughly + facere to make, do — more at do] (14c)
1: being entirely without fault or defect : flawless

(C)1997, 1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved

so...how can a being be entirely without flaw if it creates the universe?

[Bouncer]

Originally posted by goliath
if you need anything then how can you be perfect?

how do i know what perfect is? umm....there is this thing that was written several years ago called a dictionary. lol sometimes people use it to look up words that are unclear to them for meaning or argument. :rofl:

per•fect \"per-fikt\ adjective [ME parfit, fr. OF, fr. L perfectus, fr. pp. of perficere to carry out, perfect, fr. per- thoroughly + facere to make, do — more at do] (14c)
1: being entirely without fault or defect : flawless

(C)1997, 1996 Zane Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved

so...how can a being be entirely without flaw if it creates the universe?

who said he "needed" anything? how do you know he didnt just want to make the universe. who says the dictionary is perfect? because people make up definitions and you think thats the final word for the universe? im not fighting here with ya bro, just trying to make you see that no matter how hard you try, you cant explain it.

[Bouncer]

Originally posted by goliath

so...how can a being be entirely without flaw if it creates the universe?

what does making the universe have to do with being perfect? nobody said god, "needed" the universe. Just because something is perfect means that they are not allowed to make something?? Is that what your saying bro? Again goliath, im not saying anything is definite but you are trying to explain why your belief is right.

[goliath]

Originally posted by THE BOUNCER
who said he "needed" anything? how do you know he didnt just want to make the universe. who says the dictionary is perfect? because people make up definitions and you think thats the final word for the universe? im not fighting here with ya bro, just trying to make you see that no matter how hard you try, you cant explain it.

:rolleyes: we are talking in circles here and you are just being argumentative at this point. now you are trying to argue the english dictionary, lol. um...yes, it is the final word on the english language bro - that's what these very words we are typing here are based on.

and wanting to make the universe is desire and desire is an imperfection.

anyway...this topic is boring me now so i'm going to move on to something more stimulating. i think i'll go see the movie dodge ball, lol.

[Bouncer]

Originally posted by goliath
:rolleyes: we are talking in circles here and you are just being argumentative at this point. now you are trying to argue the english dictionary, lol. um...yes, it is the final word on the english language bro - that's what these very words we are typing here are based on.

and wanting to make the universe is desire and desire is an imperfection.

anyway...this topic is boring me now so i'm going to move on to something more stimulating. i think i'll go see the movie dodge ball, lol.

im not being argumentive, just pointing out things. im not arguing the dictionary in which we speak. im arguing why you think you can explain why something is not perfect. your going by a human dictionary to define what ever is out there, be it god, or big bang or whatever. your not right about everything bro, bottom line. we buted heads before and now i remember why. i can be an ass and so can you. :P have fun watching dodge ball. lol

[Bouncer]

oh ya, and just because a being makes something such as the universe dosent mean it "wants" or "needs" it. he could have created it just because..

kind of like eating a can of tuna when you dont really "want" too. you definitly dont "need" to either. you just do.

thats my point. lol

[blm]

Originally posted by THE BOUNCER
kind of like eating a can of tuna

You know you are a body builder when you use a can of tuna as an anaolgy to explain creation.:rofl:

[Bouncer]

Originally posted by blm
You know you are a body builder when you use a can of tuna as an anaolgy to explain creation.:rofl:

:D

[Cory]

Guess I wasn’t the best one to ask
Me myself with my face pressed
Up against love’s glass
To see the shiny toy I’ve been hoping for
The one I never could afford
The wide world spins and spits turmoil
And the nations toil for peace
But the paws of fear upon your chest
Only love can soothe that beast
And my words are paper tigers
No match for the predators of pain inside her

I say love will come to you
Hoping just because I spoke the words that they’re true
As if I offered up a crystal ball to look through
Where there’s now one there will be two

I was born under the sign of cancer
Like brushing cloth I smooth the wrinkles for an answer
I’m always closing my eyes and wishing I’m fine
Even though I know I’m not this time


I say love will come to you
Hoping just because I spoke the words that they’re true
As if I offered up a crystal ball to look through
Where there’s now one there will be two

Dodging your memories a field of knives
Always on the outside looking in on other’s lives

I say love will come to you
Hoping just because I spoke the words that they’re true
As if I offered up a crystal ball to look through
Where there’s now one there will be two

And I wish her insight to battle love’s blindness
Strength from the milk of human kindness
A safe place for all the pieces that scattered
Learn to pretend there’s more than love that matters

[Primal Instinct]

The bible has been written and rewritten by many over the centuries. It should be treated more as a historical text which documents life and trials of ancient life. It is no more perfect or righteous than any other text such as the Koran, the Torah, Book of Morman, etc... Religion can be used to spread kindness and to promote the humane treatment of others and it can also be misused, as a tool by those seeking to control the mindset and therefore enforce certain political/military objectives. Who is "righteous" and what is "God's Will" is too frequently determined by who is in a position to mold the mindset of a local or regional geographical population at that time rather than by letting those people freely choose the meanings of their religious teachings. Anyone who seeks to lead a population (for any aims), claiming that they are acting in God's name or God's will should be met with strict scrutiny. They usually have a political or self- promoting agenda behind their motives.

An example of the abuses could be the Islamic Fundamentalist extremists who feel that those who do not practice their form of religion should not be allowed to exist on this planet. They decree that Holy Jihad is the will of Allah.

On the flipside, George Bush publically claims that he believes that he is doing "God's work." We know where he is heading with the premptive war policy his administration instituted.

The Spanish Inquisition was one of the most brutal periods of human torture and death in the history of mankind. It was done so in the name of "God."

Lastly, the Salem Witch Trials, in which many innocent people were burned at the stake, drowned, stoned, etc...all in the pursuit of cleansing the area of witches. Too bad there had been a long stretch of wet weather during that period. You see, the Puritans were actually hallucinating much of it because of a hallucinogenic fungal growth called ergot that became mixed into the rye bread that they ate. Ergot grows on rye in wet seasons and it caused them to see and imagine stuff that wasn't true- they were basically drugged out. In such a religiously repressive society as they had, it didn't take long for their fears to surface as their perception of reality and the trials began. All in the name of religion.

Take religious teachings with a grain of salt. It is absurd to think that one religion is superior to any other because that religion says so. Religion is not God-made, it's man-made. Man is imperfect and therefore, so is religion.