[Roland]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

Also, it was proven that a guy called Jesus did actually exist, although it's not known whether or not he did any of the stuff that's mentioned in the bible.

Hi Agnes,


That is a very true statement. I have been told to find Jesus many times but that is hard. I almost thought I found Him once. It was at a gas station, well, behind it actually, where I found a man with a name tag saying ¨Jesus¨.

As I have been allowed to be here for quite a while, noticing where the senior pastors go to find those most in need it all became clear. This was my chance to find Jesus. I looked straight into His eyes. At this point ¨Jesus¨ seemed somewhat uncomfortable but I persisted and asked Him if he would fill me with His Huge love. Then he ran.

This proves that not everyone who calls himself Jesus is indeed the guy doing the stuff that's mentioned in the Bible.

Kind regards,

Roland

[Dolores de Barriga]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

I do want to visit other places,

Yet they are not on your list.


For comparison, here is my list:

1. The Olduvai Gorge. This is where oldest tools have been made - this is where people became people. Yes, I know about the Lemekwian stuff, but I'm waiting for more confirmation before I change that destination.
2. Gobekli Tepe. The oldest temple architecture in the world.
3. Mesopotamia. The place of origin of Western civilization in general, and Judeo-Christian religion specifically. Especially Uruk, the oldest city in the world.
4. Caral. The oldest city in the New World. This is where the Andean civilizations began.
5. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. This is where the Indian civilization started.
6. Any of the sites of the Longshan culture. This is where the Chinese civilization started.
7. San Lorenzo, La Venta, and other Olmec sites. This is where the Mesoamerican civilization started.
8. Poverty Point, Luisiana. It can be argued that this is where the Moundbuilder culture started. Obviously, I'd want to see Cahokia, Illinois, in the same trip.
9. Bluefish Caves, Alaska. This site has evidence of one of the earliest, if not the earliest, human occupation of the New World.


See the difference? I am interested in the places important to many civilizations. Many religions. I'm not fixated on a single religion, because I don't think that a single religion or civilization is better than the others.

And I certainly do not wish to be tracing steps of someone who probably did not exist in the first place.

and I want to revisit a synagogue that I haven't been to for at least 15 years. Also, it was proven that a guy called Jesus did actually exist,

When? By whom? How?


I seem to have missed that headline.



I also want to apologize to everybody for calling God a heartless dick. I should not have said that. He certainly seems like a sociopath, but it is, after all, His world, and He has the right to despise and torture us as He pleases. We are here for His entertainment, not the other way around. Therefore, I cannot judge Him, and certainly should not insult Him. I suppose my eternal punishment just got a little bit worse.

[Mister Brasil]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

Do I believe in Jesus? Yes, I do. Do I also believe in Allah? Yes, I do. Do I also believe in the great spirit? Yes, I do. Do I believe that there is only one true deity? No, I don't.

What's confusing to me here is what you mean by "god." It's one thing to believe that there is some entity more powerful than yourself, or some entity more wise than yourself. It's an entirely different thing to believe that there is an entity to which one should submit one's will.

Here, when I talk about God, I don't just mean that He created the world or me-- I mean, my parents created me too, right? That doesn't make them God. I don't just mean that He is all-powerful and all-knowing and good (and if He says that He is the only God and is incorrect, then one of those things is untrue).

I certainly don't mean that He's only kind of smart or kind of powerful, one entity among many, because there are a lot of people that are kind of smart or kind of powerful, and that doesn't make them gods.

What I mean when I talk about God is that I should submit my will to His. If He says to be racist or sexist, then it doesn't matter what I think. Else I'm akin to Milton's Lucifer: "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven," denying the very Godhood of God. Do you see that that is the essential quality to theism? Agnostic or otherwise?

But I'll let you explain exactly what you mean when you say that you believe in gods.

[agnesaliencat]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

What's confusing to me here is what you mean by "god." It's one thing to believe that there is some entity more powerful than yourself, or some entity more wise than yourself. It's an entirely different thing to believe that there is an entity to which one should submit one's will.

Here, when I talk about God, I don't just mean that He created the world or me-- I mean, my parents created me too, right? That doesn't make them God. I don't just mean that He is all-powerful and all-knowing and good (and if He says that He is the only God and is incorrect, then one of those things is untrue).

I certainly don't mean that He's only kind of smart or kind of powerful, one entity among many, because there are a lot of people that are kind of smart or kind of powerful, and that doesn't make them gods.

What I mean when I talk about God is that I should submit my will to His. If He says to be racist or sexist, then it doesn't matter what I think. Else I'm akin to Milton's Lucifer: "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven," denying the very Godhood of God. Do you see that that is the essential quality to theism? Agnostic or otherwise?

But I'll let you explain exactly what you mean when you say that you believe in gods.

I just believe in the possibility that deities could exist. Also, what you think of as essential to theism is actually NOT essential. There's also pantheism, polytheism, etc, and even antitheism (which is the disbelief and distrust of religion). I also believe that people who attack others simply for following a different set of beliefs don't even deserve to be called human (they should be tied up, taken into space, and thrown into the sun).

[agnesaliencat]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

I'll bait.

What do you consider proof for your belief that deities exist?

Thank you for providing a very nice example for the definition of a theist. Just a regular theist, there's nothing agnostic about it.

How about religions which include multiple gods, such as religions of the pagan Europe or Catholicism?

You can slap pretty terms on it, dear, but it still just boils down to people who are weak in their faith, but are too cowardly to abandon their faith altogether and choose rationality instead. God teaches us that we cannot have our cake and eat it, too; you have to choose, either faith or rationality.

1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

They will burn in Hell for their lack of faith.

Oh, so when you are doubting you are going all the way to atheist, huh? God hates you for it:

Psalm 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

If you mean, that religion was invented by elites to keep commoners' mouths shut, or that it was created to cement societies, or that it fulfills a psychological need of an individual - all that and more has been discussed for the past 100 years by academics. And yes, you're right - all they say about religion is completely wrong. There's only one True Religion and everybody else is going to Hell.

Oh, so you just have this deep need to have someone in the sky watch over you, and it doesn't really matter if that's a deity or an alien?

That's a bit creepy. Is it caused by some trauma which you suffered in your childhood?

Don't worry, dear. The True Day of Judgement will come long before the hypothetical day when the Sun swells and eats inner planets. And there's no spaceship which can save souls from eternal torment in Hell!

It wasn't lol, as I became a fan of science fiction as a child. You also don't know that last bit, as we'll have likely either died or fled Earth before then anyway. Our sun will eventually become a nebula, and I can recall seeing a UFO but that was before I even knew what space was.

[Mister Brasil]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

I just believe in the possibility that deities could exist. Also, what you think of as essential to theism is actually NOT essential. There's also pantheism, polytheism, etc, and even antitheism (which is the disbelief and distrust of religion).

Okay, let's skip most of that for right now. I still want to know what you mean by "deity." What makes a deity? What is the difference between a deity and a parent, a president, a Progenitor Species, a superhero? Or are all of those things deities too?

I also believe that people who attack others simply for following a different set of beliefs don't even deserve to be called human (they should be tied up, taken into space, and thrown into the sun).

I think what you're saying is that you believe in tolerance. But you don't tolerate me, because Christ doesn't tolerate Islam. Guess what: Islam doesn't tolerate Christianity right back. So which one of us gets thrown into the sun, in your opinion? Christianity or Islam? Or you?

[agnesaliencat]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

Okay, let's skip most of that for right now. I still want to know what you mean by "deity." What makes a deity? What is the difference between a deity and a parent, a president, a Progenitor Species, a superhero? Or are all of those things deities too?

I think what you're saying is that you believe in tolerance. But you don't tolerate me, because Christ doesn't tolerate Islam. Guess what: Islam doesn't tolerate Christianity right back. So which one of us gets thrown into the sun, in your opinion? Christianity or Islam? Or you?

Those who kill in the name of their religion get thrown into the sun, and that's regardless of religion.

[Didymus Much]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

Those who kill in the name of their religion get thrown into the sun, and that's regardless of religion.

Sounds like you want to kill them in the name of yours.

[Mister Brasil]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

Those who kill in the name of their religion get thrown into the sun, and that's regardless of religion.

Islamicismists that kill always make up something about self-defense. Maybe they're defending themselves from somebody with an army, maybe they're defending themselves from somebody who made a movie with a woman's bare neck. And everything in between. It's almost enough to make me appreciate Quakers. Lol jk.

But I'm glad you don't want to throw me into the sun. I don't kill anyone, because God tells me to obey secular laws. All I do is try to change the laws to allow me to discriminate against them. Killing can come later. I'm not optimistic, I mean, they'll probably all be dead by that time anyways.

But Agnes! You're still ignoring the really important question! What do you even mean when you're talking about "deities"? It's cool if you need some time to think about it (assuming you don't die in the meantime, which is always a possibility, please find Jesus ASAP.) But hopefully, you're thinking about it?

[Basilissa]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

I also believe that people who attack others simply for following a different set of beliefs don't even deserve to be called human (they should be tied up, taken into space, and thrown into the sun).

Then please either stop attacking us, or jump into the sun.

Our sun will eventually become a nebula,

I thought the official story line was that our sun was supposed to end up as a white dwarf? Oh well, who could expect scientists to keep up with their own crap.

and I can recall seeing a UFO but that was before I even knew what space was.

So you probably did not know what things are usually seen in the sky and interpreted something perfectly normal as an unidentified flying object.

It's really interesting, but out of all people who see UFO's, there are no astronomers who ever see one. You know, people who look up the sky for a living and actually know something about the phenomena that can be seen? I have been meteor chasing and star-gazing (well, mostly Messier objects-gazing) since I was 13 or so, and more recently I've been dabbling in astrophotography as well, and I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary yet, either.

Speaking of which, there will be a total solar eclipse in August! Now, that is an extraordinary event that every human should see more than once in their lives!

[Mary Etheldreda]

Re: Manchester BOMBING - sickening

Those who kill in the name of their religion get thrown into the sun, and that's regardless of religion.

By who? Who's throwing people into the sun, and why doesn't Landover Baptist Church do this? Can you imagine how quickly we could get Pastor's Jet funded if lackadaisical tithers were given a more thorough... intensive to keep up with their tithing schedules than losing their seats in the auditorium and having to listen to pastor's sermons on the giant screen in the secondary auditorium? I mean, Starbucks is pretty pleb and all, but I could think of worse things. Like watching Mr. Etheldreda catapulted off into the sun! I think this might work out fantastically!