Re: 22 Messages From Creationists To People Who Believe In Evolution
Quote from: George Carlin, 1932-2008
When it comes to bullshit... big-time, major league bullshit... you have to stand in awe of the all-time champion of false promises and exaggerated claims, religion.
No contest. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told.
Think about it, religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky... who watches everything you do, every minute of every day.
And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.
And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place... full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time !
...but he loves you
No contest. Religion easily has the greatest bullshit story ever told.
Think about it, religion has actually convinced people that there's an invisible man living in the sky... who watches everything you do, every minute of every day.
And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do.
And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place... full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever 'til the end of time !
...but he loves you
Feels like Stockholm syndrome on steroids...
If we are accountable to God's law of 10 commandments, wouldn't it be loving of God to provide a way to be saved from the price we needed to pay for our crimes? That seems like a pretty amazing gift. Basically Jesus paid our life sentence for us and what do most people do, they mock Him, laugh, say it is "bullshit."
It seems far riskier to live life laughing at God then serving Him. Let's say I am totally wrong. Let's say that I am asking God for forgiveness for breaking one or two of the 10 commandments only to die and realize that I was "wrong." Then what? I won't suffer any different fate than those of you that don't believe.
But what if I am right? What if Hell is a real place and the only way to heaven is through accepting Jesus? The logical choice is to accept Him.
Not if you're following the wrong religon. If Islam is true you're probably fucked. Personally, even if there was a god I'm not going to give into bullying and death threats. If god won't take me as I am and how he made me he can go to hell.
I said this in my other post. Christianity is the one religion where we don't have to change to come to God. We come just as we are. It is up to God to make the difference in our lives. It is not about us being "holy" on our own. We can't be, even if we wanted to be. It is admitting we are not perfect then accepting Jesus.
Islam is about earning salvation. It is pointless to try to earn it and any religion that encourages Jihad or killing others for a higher "ranking" in the eternal world is problematic.
Isn't it Christianity that's about earning salvation? Pretty sure they use that word a lot in the bible and prayers. Fundamentalist Islam and hate preachers might encourage killing and jihad, but this is not a view shared by most moderate Muslims. The god of the bible encourages killing people and unbelievers, yet most people ignore these parts. You've also stil failed to answer how you know the bible is the true word of god and not the Koran or any other book.
Of course the word "salvation" is used but we are not able to save ourselves. Salvation can only come through repentance, basically saying that we need Jesus.
In the Old Testament there were wars. There are still wars today. But one of God's commandments is "Thou shalt not kill." Killing is not something God wants. Does He allow for wars? Sometimes war is necessary. Let's take Hitler for example. Wasn't that war necessary? God does not like war. God does not wish that anyone would kill. It is part of the "fallen" world we live in though.
Nothing I say will convince you that the Bible is the truth. The Bible itself gives reasons for why Jesus is the only way. He says, "I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." The Bible is very clear that there will be false teachers and in a way the Bible itself becomes the measuring stick in which to gauge what is truth. But the problem is that if someone does not believe the Bible is true then this becomes irrelevant to them. If you are sincerely curious about this the book I recommend is "The Case For Christ" by Lee Strobel. A journalist decided to end the debate once and for all and show how Jesus was a fraud by doing investigative journalism, like he had done for other stories. In the process He realized that there was too much evidence to deny that Jesus really was who He said He was.
The bible says. On what grounds is the bible an authority? Why do you not say the Koran says or this bit of paper says. If the bible is very clear about false teachers, how do you know it or Jesus are not one? How do you know it's not the work of Satan? I want to know what reasoning or evidence you have for believing the bible. You can't just say "it says". Why do you believe the words in it are those of Jesus and God? Why do you not believe in all the other regions that essentially say the same thing?
Why do I believe? Because God has made Himself very real to me. How do I know my husband? How do I know my daughter? How do I know my best friends? It is very much the same with my relationship with God. One thing God has spoken to my heart on many occasions is the verse "My sheep know my voice." Also, there are "gifts" God gives and one is called "discernment" which is the ability to discern spirits and right from wrong. I have been in a room and could literally feel that someone possessed by a demon was there somewhere only to have the person then lock eyes with me in a creepy way a few minutes later, but I felt the dark spirit before I even saw the person. I am not afraid of the demon because I know "Greater is He that lives in me then He that is in the world." To know Jesus really opens the door to see the world in a more spiritual way. And like I keep saying, all religions are NOT the same. Christianity is about being humble and realizing we cannot earn anything. God is the one that changes us and opens our "eyes" if we let Him to see. We don't do anything on our own strength. Show me another religion that tells us that?