Do you believe there is a higher being or not?

[Round]

How can anyone make a statement against X religion when they know nothing of what it's really about?

Any "true" Christian will honestly tell you that Christianity is by far a religion, but a lifestyle.

If you take the whole truth of Christianity into perspective you'll notice the following things...

1) Theres a war in the realm that's hidden from our physical eyes, but not unknown.
2) You are either with Satan or God (World or with God)

The realm that I speak of is the Spiritual Realm. This is the realm that we cannot see but, it's not unknown to us. A good majority of the people can relate that Ghosts and Spirits exist, Mediums go far far back in time ect. So theres "Historical Evidence" of a realm that's hidden from our eyes. We see this, but why is it that we don't want to accept that there is "Leader" who runs the spirit Realm?

Anyways... In Christianity we live as Jesus lived, living a good life in faith in the perfect example, and believe that Jesus was indeed the son of the Almighty One and is the only one, as he said, who can grant us access into the kingdom. We pray to the God who commanded Jesus. We pray to him in the name of he who he has sent (Jesus). And we unify our spirits with his Holy Spirit, and live a life in faith, love, and in Spirit.

Living in Spirit, is just refusing the wrong ways of the world. No drunkeness, no sexual immorality, no foul language, helping others, believing in the Christ and doing the Will of the Lord until our time is up. and In faith we ascend to his feet in the kingdom of heaven and life in ultimate happiness and taste immortality.

In return, God will show you how to use " faith " to bring forth miracles in your life, such as healing, financial prosperity, literally seeing the spirit realm, immunity to diseases and sickness, immunity to evil, and best of all a passport to Heaven.

As for ritualistic things.. Drink grape juice and some bread in remembrance of the Christ who bore our sins and completely sanctified our road to heaven. And we get baptized! Baptism is just to " brand" yourself as a true follower of Christ, a public brand.

The War - Satan is against you and will use the knowledge of the world to go against you. This is, tricking you into believing that there is no God, believing that drinking and getting drunk and being accepted by the world is right. Believe that you are in complete total control of your life, and by not committing a serious crime, God just might actually let you into heaven. He uses the things of the world and makes sure you stay in his hand, and not in the hand of the one who truly loves you.

Faith Vs. Worldly Logic

Satan Says " Theres a depression and many people are losing their jobs. Swine flu is going all over the globe. You are in trouble! "

Faith/God Says " My son has conquered the world. Diseases and poverty is of the world. You belong in my kingdom, have faith in my grace and it shall not touch you. "

World says " It's ok to have sex before marriage, I mean... Whats the big deal? You're not hurting any one! And Theres condoms. "

God says " Do not give into the desires of the flesh. For you are not of the world, but you are spiritual, one with the holy spirit.

World says " It's illogical for a God to exist. If he did he would show himself and not hide himself. Plus, there are actual reports of aliens but 0 reports of God. If he did truly want to save us from Hell he'd show himself! "

God says " I've sent my son and few believed him. Satan is out there and you can see his evil. Step into my house (church) and witness my hand upon my people. I free give immortality and I freely give riches and glory but only to those who live in faith in my son. "

^^^^^^^^^^^

Sum it all up..Life in Christianity is a lifestyle. Not religious at all. It's freedom at its best. Freedom to sleep safely even while the world is turned inside out. Seriously guys....WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT THIS?

[Foggy]

Whoa whoa whoa, hold on one minute. Did you just bash on condoms? How dare you. They are only one of the greatest inventions of man, 2nd only to the pill.

edit: Actually maybe 3rd, not sure where to rank the razor in there.

[Screamfeeder]

Originally Posted by Round

How can anyone make a statement against X religion when they know nothing of what it's really about?

First off, there are about 50,000 "versions" of all the different religions and just about every single person will have a different view on what it is about. You may think you know what it's about but the Catholic/Protestant/Evangelical down the street will have a totally different idea on what they know Christianity is really about.

Originally Posted by Round

The realm that I speak of is the Spiritual Realm. This is the realm that we cannot see but, it's not unknown to us. A good majority of the people can relate that Ghosts and Spirits exist, Mediums go far far back in time ect. So theres "Historical Evidence" of a realm that's hidden from our eyes. We see this, but why is it that we don't want to accept that there is "Leader" who runs the spirit Realm?

It IS unknown to us because we have 0 evidence of it. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Aught. Just because a good majority of people relate to ghosts and spirits does not mean that they do exist, or that anyone else has to take their claims seriously. I know a guy that thinks he is the reincarnation of Loki and he "relates" to Germanic Neopaganism. Does that mean everyone else just has to accept the fact that Thor, Odin and Loki are indeed real?

I like how you put historical evidence in quotes. What you really mean is anecdotal evidence. It's true that we do have some first source texts that describe strange things, but we have no first source documents that support there was a person named Jesus Christ living during the time he did. Just a bunch of second, third and fourth source texts from decades later which have since been altered or r- transcribed to such a point as to make them the equivalent of an ancient game of Telephone.

Even if we had "historical evidence" of this spirit realm, it doesn't matter. Are we to then take every bit of writing ever written since the dawn of man and ascribe to it the scent of truth?

Originally Posted by Round

Living in Spirit, is just refusing the wrong ways of the world. No drunkeness, no sexual immorality, no foul language, helping others, believing in the Christ and doing the Will of the Lord until our time is up. and In faith we ascend to his feet in the kingdom of heaven and life in ultimate happiness and taste immortality.

First off, foul language isn't in the fucking Bible, which brings me to another point. Most of this fucking shit is just fucking made the fuck up or fucking translated to what-the-fuck-ever the preacher wants it to be. Bunch of fucking shit if you ask me. I'm sure you'll dig up some motherfucking Ephesians 4:29 or some dogshit James 3:9 and try to pass that shit off as proof but I can just as easily find no less than 5 different fucking translations to what all that shit says and could fucking mean. It's a fucking crap shoot.

Second of all, what about all the billions of people that lived their lives perfectly fine but never even heard of your god or those that lived perfect lives but just happened to be born into a Hindu family? In order for you to stay true to your gods word, you have to believe they go to hell and burn for all of eternity. That shit ain't love. It's petty jealousy and you know it. How theists rationalize this shit in their heads I don't know. In fact, why don't you go ahead and answer that for me. Did the entire Yana tribe go to hell? Are they currently burning for all eternity?

Originally Posted by Round

In return, God will show you how to use " faith " to bring forth miracles in your life, such as healing, financial prosperity, literally seeing the spirit realm, immunity to diseases and sickness, immunity to evil, and best of all a passport to Heaven.

Now you are off into Lumie territory with this shit. No one is immune to diseases and sickness. No one can heal in that context and god sure as fuck isn't blessing fucking Jay-Z with another Grammy.

Originally Posted by Round

The War - Satan is against you and will use the knowledge of the world to go against you. This is, tricking you into believing that there is no God...

So be honest Round, am I an agent of Satan? I wonder how many steps you would have to take to get from me being an agent of Satan, to me being a heathen/infidel in need of some Godly Cleansing.

Originally Posted by Round

Satan Says " Theres a depression and many people are losing their jobs. Swine flu is going all over the globe. You are in trouble!"

Faith/God Says " My son has conquered the world. Diseases and poverty is of the world. You belong in my kingdom, have faith in my grace and it shall not touch you. "

Let me translate that into Human.

Satan - This place is getting fucked up! Maybe we should fix this shit!

God - "Don't worry about a thing. Believe in me and you will never get sick, never be poor and never have to work ever again. Seriously, forget about it."

Too bad that has NEVER happened...Satan also sounds like a pretty down guy when you talk about him. Maybe YOUR the agent of Satan.

Originally Posted by Round

God says " I've sent my son and few believed him. Satan is out there and you can see his evil. Step into my house (church) and witness my hand upon my people. I free give immortality and I freely give riches and glory but only to those who live in faith in my son. "

So it's not free then. It's this sort of double talk that really leaves a sour taste in the mouths of people that actually sit down and allow themselves to think for a bit.

God doesn't freely give shit. He wants you obey rules(but only some of them) that he has no problem breaking all the time. He wants you to have faith and he wants you to do these things under the threat of eternal pain and suffering. God holds Hell to your forehead the same way gangsters hold a .45 to your forehead. The difference is, people still think god "loves" them...

Originally Posted by Round

Sum it all up..Life in Christianity is a lifestyle. Not religious at all. It's freedom at its best. Freedom to sleep safely even while the world is turned inside out. Seriously guys....WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT THIS?

Well, everything you described is pretty much spot on what a religion is, so there goes your whole "lifestyle" argument. Also, I sleep like a baby every night and that's even after trying to help the world turn itself inside in again.

I don't have the luxury of pretending the world doesn't exist. I will admit that must be nice.

[Desidero]

The worst part about these religious threads is you don't know if someone is trolling or just a "believer".

Note: I answered that I believe in a God, though I don't follow a particular religion (I was raised Catholic, but got the hell out of that).

[The Edge]

Originally Posted by cosmic_cs

If you're a fan of reason, then Buddhism is probably the best philosophy to follow.

Buddhism states that we are all one, part of the same ultimate reality, which you could call god. In essence, we are each god. God is everywhere and everything. I like the logic.

[Camerous]

Actually the Bible says: "What ever you hold to be true on Earth I will hold true in Heaven." I know that's not the exact quote but that's what it boils down to, which means if you are born into a Hindu faith and you are true to that faith then you will get to go to heaven cause you were true to what you believe. Same with Atheist and Agnostics and ect ect as long as you TRULY believe something and stay true to it then you will be rewarded in Heaven. That's why I think these discussions are stupid. Believe whatever you want to but be true to that belief.

[PigBenis]

This is the best thread in a while.

[cosmic_cs]

Originally Posted by The Edge

Buddhism states that we are all one, part of the same ultimate reality, which you could call god. In essence, we are each god. God is everywhere and everything. I like the logic.

I think the higher beings people are referring to here are ones who created some aspect of reality.

Also, I'm not sure Buddhism teaches that we are "all one." Rather, we are all of the same inherent nature.

[Round]

Originally Posted by Screamfeeder

a bunch of crap

Dude... Have a drink or something and breathe. LOL!

I was summing up the Christian Faith according to the largest ministries in the world. All of the major major pastors have all that I have written in common.

I'm ok with you saying its all BS. I don't care. But anyone with even the smallest sense of education will "try" it before calling it off. But Hey! Everyone has the right to state an opinion.

[Screamfeeder]

Originally Posted by Camerous

Actually the Bible says: "What ever you hold to be true on Earth I will hold true in Heaven." I know that's not the exact quote but that's what it boils down to, which means if you are born into a Hindu faith and you are true to that faith then you will get to go to heaven cause you were true to what you believe.

No that's what you think it means. Matthew 18 means quite a many different things to many different people. The reigning consensus is that it is a means to repair relationships between two people through god and only god.

Just because someone told you it meant something doesn't mean that's what it means.

Originally Posted by Round

I'm ok with you saying its all BS. I don't care. But anyone with even the smallest sense of education will "try" it before calling it off. But Hey! Everyone has the right to state an opinion.

Try it? Is faith a sweater? A cocktail? I cannot simply try it because my mind cannot rationalize a belief in something that has no supporting evidence. Perhaps you should try goat sacrifice and Bael worship before you call it off. Perhaps you should try Satan worship before calling it off too. See how this is starting to make less and less sense?

Originally Posted by Round

Dude... Have a drink or something and breathe. LOL!

You must be new here. That was a nice and succinct post from me.

[Round]

Originally Posted by Screamfeeder

Try it? Is faith a sweater? A cocktail? I cannot simply try it because my mind cannot rationalize a belief in something that has no supporting evidence. Perhaps you should try Goat sacrifice and Bael worship before you call it off. Perhaps you should try Satan worship before calling it off too. See how this is starting to make less and less sense?



You must be new here. That was a nice and succinct post from me.

Talk about rationality... You are comparing worshiping Satan with God? And trying it? Not even an atheist will worship Satan.

There are around 5 billion christians in the world. Apparently, they are wrong but you are right. Since you have an ability to interpret sentences 30 different ways, I guess you can say " There are 5 billion retards in the world. ".

I'm also not new at all... My old account was just....Banned

[Screamfeeder]

Originally Posted by Round

Talk about rationality... You are comparing worshiping Satan with God? And trying it? Not even an atheist will worship Satan.

No, I am using your own words in an attempt to force some semblance of reason into your head.

You said "anyone with even the smallest sense of education will "try" it before calling it off", so I can only assume you have tried every single other type of faith and religious practice that has ever been in existence before coming to the conclusion that Christianity is the one that suits you best. Either that or you were just born into it like most of the others.

Originally Posted by Round

There are around 5 billion christians in the world. Apparently, they are wrong but you are right.

Really? The Appeal to Majority? C'mon dude that shit is so old hat Zoroaster was smirking at it when he came up with the original framework that was used for Christianity. Try harder.

BTW there are just over 2 Billion, not 5.

Originally Posted by Round

Since you have an ability to interpret sentences 30 different ways,

I'm not the one interpreting the Bible. I am taking direct quotes from clergy on their ideas about what certain passages say. I take the Bible for what it is, Bronze Age mythos with no need of interpretation.

[The Edge]

Originally Posted by cosmic_cs

I think the higher beings people are referring to here are ones who created some aspect of reality.

Also, I'm not sure Buddhism teaches that we are "all one." Rather, we are all of the same inherent nature.

Buddha was the enlightened one partly because he realized the connectivity of everything. He "woke up" and saw the world for what it is. The self that is viewed as separate from everything and everyone is an illusion. The human condition creates the optical illusion of separation, when in reality, there isn't one. There is only one.

[Dr. Funkenstein]

Originally Posted by Sharmai

So wait when god says it's omnipotent that can be reworded to mean "able to anything that current human understanding knows is possible??"

This is just more of the christian bullshit cherry picking what to literally believe and what to interpret from the bible.

It was a quote from CS Lewis. He didn't say anything about current human understanding. His statement was that the following "challenge" is irrational, therefore can't prove that God is not omnipotent (or that there isn't an omnipotent god):

"Can God microwave a burrito so hot that even God can't eat it?"

It's a nonsensical challenge. "You attribute miracles to Him, but not nonsense."

[Screamfeeder]

Originally Posted by Dr. Funkenstein

It was a quote from CS Lewis. He didn't say anything about current human understanding. His statement was that the following "challenge" is irrational, therefore can't prove that God is not omnipotent (or that there isn't an omnipotent god):

"Can God microwave a burrito so hot that even God can't eat it?"

It's a nonsensical challenge. "You attribute miracles to Him, but not nonsense."

It's only irrational if you don't believe god created everything. The second you let enter into your mind the idea that god is the prime mover, we are kind of forced to attribute nonsense to him since he is the originator of every and all kinds of nonsense that have and will ever be.

Every nonsensical thought I have is directly attributed to god, being the originator of everything.

It is cherry picking because C.S. Lewis did believe god was a prime mover but wanted a way to deflect the logical arguments that he knew would be levied against his faith.