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How do you feel about God.

Nanci said:
What I don't understand is this perception by Megan and perhaps others that all? most? half? Christians think non-Christians are evil or horrible. I don't think that. I can't really say any other Christians I know think that. My family was quite religious, ministers in every generation, etc., but I wasn't raised to believe that and never heard it expressed by family members or church members. Where does that come from? Why does a preachy billboard threaten you so much? I have plenty of friends that I love dearly that are not Christian. I don't actually think about it much.
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Nanci, it all boils down, once again, to hell. If (generic)you think that non-christians are going to be tortured for eternity, and (generic)you are okay with this because (generic)you believe everyone is so full of sin that they all deserve it.... then (generic)you appear to believe that.

It doesn't threaten me, it appalls me that someone is fine with the idea of sitting in heaven while people are being treated like the turkeys we are cooking today. Heaven could NEVER be heaven for me, if a hell existed. In fact, that Heaven would be it's own psychological Hell. It was first an active choice to not follow a hypocritical and sadistic god. And that choice led to a lot of thinking, and that led to my atheism.

It appalls me, and I look at it and wonder, "If people are okay with that idea after death... what are they okay with while alive?"

What about those evangelicals who are supporting the african country that is imprisoning homosexuals, and wants to kill them if they are HIV +? They have expressed sentiments in the news that they would like to do the same here, just without the killing part. http://www.religiondispatches.org/a...in_africa_opposes_“fictitious_sexual_rights”/

At least one of the republican presidential candidates, Santorum, has expressed that he would like the christian equivalent of sharia law to be in this country... and that sharia law is good. I hope everyone brought their stones? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLJYN1mxmKg

Gringrich says that everything going wrong with the country is because the atheists have made us remove god from things. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGb8BHtp0NI

There are people getting away with, being *applauded* for, claiming that 50% of murders in large cities are perpetrated by homosexuals. http://newsok.com/oklahoma-city-cou...al-sexual-orientation-measure/article/3623463

This sort of stuff is all over the news. It's everywhere Nanci.
 
Holly12 said:
Okay sorry if I offened anyone I was not trolling I was just asking what others thought no need to think that Iam trolling because Iam not that I can tell ya. :)
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I would not answer about my religion on a board in my secular atheistic country (Sweden) but I think religion is more accepted in the US than here.

I'm a noahide believing in Israels One God, the way judaism teach it to gentiles.
 
Okay, I did a mini-survey. I have three people of Christian faith here. Baptist, BaptistISH, non-practicing, still faithful Catholic. None of them think people who weren't Christians are going to hell because they aren't Christian. Throw me in there, Episcopalian.

Add-on. Methodist. No.

Catholic. No.
 
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Now we're having How Do You Feel About God at work!! Lol. We have got a WIDE range of faiths here!
 
Nanci said:
Okay, I did a mini-survey. I have three people of Christian faith here. Baptist, BaptistISH, non-practicing, still faithful Catholic. None of them think people who weren't Christians are going to hell because they aren't Christian. Throw me in there, Episcopalian.
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And I find that wonderful!


But it's a fact that a great many people in this country do. Such a small survey of people doesn't tell you everything. If I did the equivalent, why, I'd be able to say that the majority of people in this country, based on those I work with, are atheists! And yet, atheists are only 8 to 16% of the US population.
 
I don't think I am a Christian, as I don't really know what I believe.
I try to have an open mind though.
And no matter the beliefs of others, I try not to judge. It is not my place to judge. Not my job....
I am sure that things balance out though...and for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. And I believe in Karma.
My sister and her wife are the only members of my family that attend church, and they are wonderful good people, full of laughter and love. Sorry, but in my eyes that is what truly matters. To me a loving homosexual trumps a hateful hetero any day of the week.....(and twice on Sunday, lol).
And Megan is good to creatures smaller and weaker than she is.
I don't care if she worships one eyed one horned flying purple people eaters, she is ok in my book.

Sorry is this is disjointed, coffee has not kicked in yet.
Happy Thanksgiving!! :)
 
Honestly, religion plays no factor in my every day life. I dont turn people down as friends just because of their religion. I have many friends who do believe and they know I dont, and respect my decision (and I respect theirs). Those are what I consider to be my true friends.

The only time it bothers me is when people try to force me to listen to them about why I need to go to Church. When I was in college, my first group of friends were all part of a Church group aimed towards college-aged people. I knew that but I was not interested, but that didnt stop me from being friends with them. Until one day, they all cornered me and wanted to talk about god with me. I had no escape. I never spoke to any one of them again. It was a mutual decision though, because once I told them what I thought, they pretty much decided I wasn't worthy enough to be a part of their group.
 
Shiari said:
Susan.....

Monotremes. Look up monotremes. They're nifty little "mammals" that lay eggs. And they don't have nipples, but a patch of skin that secretes milk. They are a living "missing link" between mammals and reptiles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lactation#Evolution

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12751889

So some birds already do something equivalent; crop milk.
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And what about all those in-between steps? There are 2, and only 2, monotremes versus how many species of mammals, birds, reptiles, etc? Even marsupial species outnumber monotremes. And it's a long way from producing crop milk to fully functional mammary glands. These "missing links" have just too much distance between either end. I don't buy it. There is no proof, anywhere, of any of the so-called progress of evolution in any species. The supposed horse evolutionary steps have been proven to be a hoax, as is the human from ape evolutionary steps and any other one you can find.

And I really love how they date things. "This dinosaur lived 30 million years ago. We know that because of the layer of the earth it was in. And we know how old the layer of the earth is by the fossils we find in it." Which is why you can find a Coke bottle cap right next to a T-rex bone in the same layer of dirt.

I used to be a firm believer in the theory of evolution until i saw all the evidence against the theory. Hubby has a CD collection which goes into great detail about dinosaurs, the age of the Earth, evolution, etc. I've only seen part of it, but enough to know that there is NO proof behind many scientific things currently accepted as "fact" and quite a bit of proof against them.
 
Susan said:
When scientists can turn an allele or two on or off and create functioning mammary glands on a chicken (and chicks that use those mammary glands), then I might believe in the theory of evolution. Until then, I just cannot accept the fact that for millions or billions of years, the first creatures from some unknown origin (what do the evolution theorists say mammals evolved from again?) wasted a great deal of bodily energy on developing mammary glands that served no purpose (they were egg layers or gave live birth to babies that could survive on their own) until finally they were able to function, and then they had to create the urge to stick around and care for their young as well as produce offspring that didn't go off on their own but rather stayed with Mom to nurse off her. It actually sounds like the development of mammals per the theory of evolution would have been selected against, not for. Microevolution, yes, but the creation of all the diverse species in the world and the complexity and specificity of many of those species just can't be explained by the theory of evolution.
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Mammary glands actually evolved after reptiles. As far as I can tell, mammals also evolved from reptillian animals, we still see some of these transitional forms with the platypus and echidna. The platypus has a very reptillian structure, yet it has fur and produces milk- but it has no nipples and lays eggs. We also see parental care in some reptiles, notably crocodillians. Offspring from some reptiles (notably birds) do stick around to their parents naturally anyway, such as chickens, and as far as scientists can tell, many young dinosaurs stayed with their parents as well. I will have to respectfully disagree that the theory of evolution cannot explain our diversity. With billions of years behind us, a number the human mind truly cannot imagine, natural selection has had the time to pressure animals to change. Whales are one of my favorite examples, we have fossils from thousands of stages and have shown that they evolved from wolf-like mammals millions of years ago. As I have stated before, this is simply what I believe as it makes sense to me and the proof I need is laying buried in the dirt.
 
If you can find a coke cap next to a t-rex bone, then where are all the t-rexes running about? How come you don't find horses or cats in the same layers? How did we end up with deposits of chalk that take a century to lay down an inch of it, only they're 1000 feet thick? Why is there fossil coral sandwiched between layers of forest? How did the monotremes get to the ark? Where is the evidence for this flood in the geologic record (hint, floods don't produce layers, they produce gradations)? How come we can produce ice cores older than 6,000 years? How did the 5,000 year old Joshua trees survive the flood? How was 7 of every clean and 2 of every non-clean animal able to fit into that boat, plus all the food and water they would need for 100+ days? What did everything eat after the flood? Why aren't there more marsupials outside of australia?

How do you explain atavisms in horses and people? Why the appendix? And you're a tech, why the urethral process in sheep?

Have you looked up ring species? That's something you'd expect to find if evolution is true.
 
In my personally opinion. the argument between religion and science is like arguing the similarities between apples and oranges. religion and science can never and will never agree, that being said I think it's futile to argue creation vs evolution.
 
I think the saying goes..."God helps those who help themselves."...so i'll help myself to some food and forget about religion for today.

Although I will share a quick story,

On my 9th birthday I received a greeting card in the mail from my great aunt who had lived through the great depression and thus never sent any money with the cards. Don't you just hate that?! but anyway before I opened the card, I got down on my knees and prayed to God, "God! Let there be $50 in this card so that I may get that video game I didn't get from anyone else!" I opened the card and wouldn't you know there was a crisp $50 bill in there. That in itself seemed like a miracle to me but that's about the only time I've ever believed in God.
 
all i have to say on this matter is that religion (the idea of a God, a storybook) has the power to make people very, very crazy.

i have not, and will not ever buy into religion.

Doomsday prophet Harold Camping’s revised prediction that the world would end on Oct. 21, 2011 turned out, once again, not to come true.

According to the preacher’s prediction, which was revised after his May 21, 2011 prophecy failed to materialize, Christians would ascend to heaven, while sinners would be left behind to suffer five months’ worth of natural disasters before the earth ignited into a fireball.

Camping’s Family Radio did not respond to ABCNews.com’s earlier requests for comment, and seems to be keeping mum on yet another “doomsday” that has come and gone.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but we at Family Radio have been directed to not talk to the media or the press,” Camping’s daughter Susan Espinoza wrote to the Associated Press on Friday.

Although this is Camping’s second failed prediction this year, a source familiar with the preacher said he has predicted the end of the world 12 times. His first prediction of the end of times apparently dates back to 1978.

But it was his May 21, 2011 prediction that drew the most fanfare. Camping went on a media blitz, inspiring followers to drain their personal savings to warn Christians that the end was near. (SERIOUSLY??)

Family Radio spent millions on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the doomsday message marking May 21 as the apocalypse, according to the Associated Press.

His May 21st End of the World website stated: “…the Bible has given us absolute proof that the year 2011 is the end of the world during the Day of Judgment… Amazingly, May 21, 2011 is the 17th day of the 2nd month of the Biblical calendar of our day…”

Camping, who stated he pinpointed the date for the end of the world, placed the time of the rapture at 5:59 p.m. But the day came and went without a big bang. Later he said his math was off.

Callers to Open Forum, the show Camping hosts, expressed outrage.

“You’re really pathetic, you know? I wasted all my money because of you. I was putting all my money and my hopes on you… I wish I could see you face to face, I would smack you. Mr. Camping, you always say a lot of (redacted) I lost all my money because of you, you (redacted),” a caller said, according to The Christian Post.

There is no word yet on whether the 89-year-old Camping plans to offer another prediction, but if history is any indicator, this won’t be the last Camping’s listeners have heard from the doomsday prophet.
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possum_minister said:
however god has not been proven to exist. period. his existence is purely based on an old book written a thousands of years ago. there is no evidence to suggest that he is real. there is no evidence that he has ever been real, and no evidence that he will ever be real.
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FYI Science can't talk about things that are supernatural the mere fact that they are supernatural (don't follow the laws of nature) means that you can't use science to prove or disprove Gods existence
 
Tara80 said:
And just BEING here, existing, in general is not very probable. Just sit for a while and ponder. Our distance from the sun, climate, bees, water, physics, THE sun, your heart beating, cellular structure, brain matter... how, even as smart as we are, we can't even come close to reproducing the human brain. Windows is as far as we've come.
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Actually being here can be very probable. Think of space. What if space is infinite with an infinite amount of matter. There is not an infinite amount of ways that matter can arrange itself so you eventually come upon every single way that matter can arrange itself. Including repeats of our world exactly down to the last atom. I mean this is pretty crazy but I personally think it would be more crazy if space has an end. There is an other hypothesis that space loops kind of like the earth but I can't get my head around how something can both have no borders and still loop. I think the hypothesis that space is infinite is the most believable personally.
 
I think I read somewhere that "goldilocks" planets are actually quite common, and throughout our galaxy alone there would be an estimated 300 other planets with life on them, and some fraction of that would be intelligent life.. Combine that with the billions of other galaxies, and the billions of other universes... Perhaps the gods or God we hear about, no matter what it may be, is a being from one of these other planets. Perhaps we were long ago visited by travelers from one of these planets and early humans mistook them for Gods, after all, we saw this during WWII when we landed on islands- the native people had never seen airplanes before, and we brought them food and provisions, but once we left when the war ended, they began building airplane models out of trees in the hopes that we, "the gods", would return. An entire religion was based off of our own modern technology, it was just unfamiliar to these native people. I could see how we could have been confused in the same way in our pasts. I also struggle with the fact that the Christian God, which I most often hear being referred to as the one true God, could possibly be, when Christianity and its God are relatively new- I would have to say, that if I was religious, I'd have to follow the very first religion ever, not later ones. I guess I just have a difficult time imagining that an omnipotent God would have a reason to create us or our planet. What is the point? That is something I struggle with, what point would there have been to creation? I personally cannot understand it, this is one of the reasons why I believe that we are a result of natural processes, and that these process take place now, and have been taking place, and will continue taking place, for trillions of years within space and time. I know that many struggle with how something came from nothing, this I cannot answer. I don't think science can yet, we are still a young species and have plenty more learning to do.
 
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