Lets hope this gets yall thinking

I think that’s the first time I’ve seen DC Talk quoted on this site.

The question of truth. No, this won’t be a McBethian essay, just a few short comments before I go back to reading Ken Wilber. Spiritual truth is something that is discerned buy the individual, right? The spiritual walk is one a person much chose on his or her own to enter into. This makes legislating it in schools and through other government institutions problematic, and sometimes open to abuse. The best way to communicate it is to live it and let people see it in you. I think that’s the most powerful kind of communication there is. Otoh, a wise person whose name I’m forgetting said recently that “the greatest promoters of atheism today are Christians who proclaim God with their mouths and deny Him with their lifestyles. This is what an unbelieving world finds simply unbelievable.”

So before we start complaining about the speck in someone else’s eye …


I don't mind Billy Graham, btw. I have a real problems with many televangelists, but I think Billy's relatively ok.

 

The message was to associate American rejection of God with disaster. Big deal. Bible-thumpers have been throwing this around for years. It's old. And I shall waste no more time on this thread.

-- droxford

 

Assuming this thread still exists when I finish my post...

Whether Billy Graham's daughter said it or not, someone said it, and it is worthy of debate in its own right. I feel people are missing the point here. The point has nothing to do with a spiteful, vengeful God. It merely has to do with <i>people's</i> actions when they live a life without God. These bad things are what happens when God does <i>not</i> intervene, and people go down their naturally selfish and destructive path. We belong to a race of pretty vicious creatures, really. There are lots of historical examples (and quite a few recent ones) to show this.

(bracing myself... the way this thread is going, I don't expect this viewpoint to be very popular here, though it's not unheard of. )

 

That’s a tough argument to make to someone who’s not a Christian, though. The message of compassion, love and forgiveness is more compelling, IMO, especially given the history of fear mongering as a manipulative tool used by churches.

 

Speaking as an occasional Methodist, I hate this kind of drivel that gets passed around via emails. Simple ideas for simpletons.

 

I don't know you, and I mean you no offense, but I find this kind of statement painful to even read.


God not intervene? Like he knows it is coming, but he holds everyone in the WTC who didn't get out personally responsible for the lack of faith of some throughout the land, so God just lets it happen?

When everyone in Jessica Lynch's crew dies but her, does that mean those guys and gal died because they went down their naturally selfish and destructive path?

I could stop this tragedy, but they haven't been listening to me. Let a few thousand innocents die.

doesn't sound like anything God would do

 

Painfully ridiculous is what it is and why so many can't take religion seriously at all.

 

if you are parodying a buffoon, you're succeeding

if not ...

 

Tell me a story about giant pigs!


(sorry, I just couldn't resist! Gir made me do it!)

 

Agreed. This self-destructive crap without religion is horse poo-poo. I don't need religion to tell me to live an honest, civilized life. Hell, if people can't figure out that your quality of life goes down the gutter when you're a thief/commit adultry/lie/murder/or become a drug addict/etc. ,without out religion telling them not to, then perhaps they should wait at the evolutionary bus stop a little longer before they take a ride to humanity. Or something like that.

 

I know GOD wants us all to succeed in life and fortune or misfortune is a test in how you handle things on Earth. One can only absorb good from something that is studied and found to be simply good...

I think balance is important...too much of anything is bad regardless of how it is mannered, even in GOD's name.

May GOD bless each and everyone of you.

 

Actually it never says a word about Sunday, only keeping the "sabath" holy. There is growing debate as to which day that actually is.

Just thought I'd toss that in, you may return to blaming us godless heathins for any and all evil wrought upon the US now.

 

SaveThePig obviously doesn't know any better. I forgive him. I do NOT forgive the purveyors of the original mail. They are liars and murderers and assholes. And SaveThePig is their patsy. If there were a Satan, they would be his children. Any "god" who would do what your post suggests -- who would actually decide people should suffer and die because they fail to "believe" in him, although he gave us minds of our own and failed to give us any evidence of his existence -- any spiteful, petty "god" like this, who likes to see people suffer for not guessing right or being born into the right family is an EGOTISTICAL ******* OF THE HIGHEST DEGREE. I will and would and will happily war against a "god" like that. "SavethePig," or whatever your name is, I forgive you. Jesus Christ would not approve of this crap and if you're really a Christian you should be ashamed of yourself for buying into this hateful anti-Christian, anti-human bull****. I forgive you anyway though. You know not what you do.

 

It does make me think.

I do wonder why born again Christians, who claim to spend a great deal of time reading their Bible and praying, have been nearly alone among the world's major religions in enthusiastically wanting to kill huge numbers of Iraqis?

An adminstration that has prayer groups and bible study groups all over the White HOuse and the highest reaches of govbernment is so eager to kill Iraqis that they lie repeatedly to sell an unnecessary war.

Makes you think doesn't it.

The Bible says: " Blessed are the peacemakers."
I know it really means do premeptive wars all over the world and kill Iraqis and that you can back it up with twenty other qotes from the Bible..

Is it that they have spent too much time reading selected passages from the Bible picked out and kookily intepretted by such Religious Politicos as Pat Roberts and their Christian/right wing communication networks?

Makes you think doesn't it?

How the world would be a more peaceful place if they didn't read those kooky Bible passages too much? Of course it might be more peaceful if their Muslims counterparts like the Rev Mullah Omar didn't spend so much time reading kookily selected and interpretted passages from the Koran.

Well we had Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell and the Second Baptist Ed Young telling us right after 911 that we all deserved it because of the ACLU and gays and so forth.

Why wasn't Denmark and Holland attacked? They go to church much less than we in the US who have the most church going of any educated advanced country in the world. Could it be that the US government screws with the Arabs in its foreign policy and Denmark and the Holland don't?

Makes you think doesn't it?

 

can i just say, "ditto" and spare the rest of you a long post?

 

Not only that, but I don't need any particular religion to help me connect with my higher power. I find it more gratifying to communicate with God directly and interpret the signs, paths and doors He puts in front of me. He talks to us if we are open to Him.

 

Yes it definitely gets me thinking.

I think about this:

A 15 year old troll posts BS that has already been shot down on snopes.com.

Where are the truant officers when we need them?

Time to go back to school, junior.

 

"Rod, Tod, this is God."
"How did you get on the radio?"
"Whaddya mean, how did I get on the radio, I created the universe! Now bring me those cookies over there."
"But our parents told us not to touch those!"
"Do you want a happy God, or an angry God!?!?"
"HAPPY GOD, HAPPY GOD!!!"