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I am not so much poking fun at religious people as pointing out the things I as an outsider see as being wrong or at least questionable. I simply ask that people check things out and do some research and apply logic rather than blindly following a faith.
It is surprising just how many people blindly believe in something or accept without question a faith or religious teaching. I will not insult any religion in particular but some of the practices I see religious people perform are so bizarre and ludicrous they are laughable. If there is a God and I doubt there is he must have a good chuckle to himself or get very angry.
I saw a TV program where a 13 year old girl from a certain Christian sect spent her whole life reading the Bible and handing out leaflets and shouting to people saying that they will all burn in hell cause they are sinners....Poor girl was so brainwashed by her parents. She had no friends did not attend school and had never seen a TV or even heard of the Beatles or knew who the president of USA was. This sort of thing is NOT funny just bad sad and depraved. Her demented parents should be sent to jail for mental cruelty. They were adamant they were doing no wrong she was simply being raised the way God wanted.

Wow Jim,

We have found common ground here. Unfortunately there are Christian groups and denominations who have taken the teachings of both the Old and New Testiment scriptures out of context and replaced them with the "laws of men" much like the Pharisees did. It really is unfortunate because they make a mockery of the teachings of Jesus and give original Christianity a bad name and subject it to ridicule by those who don't know better. There was a Penticostal fellow (don't know if he was a pastor or not) who used to stand on the back of a pick up truck at a local Wal-Mart, Bible in hand, screaming to everyone who passed that they were going to hell. I told him he knew nothing about me or my faith and engaged him in a debate he ended up not wanting to be engaged in. There were people standing all around during the event and many applauded. I never saw him again.

If that is the brand of so called Christianity you've been exposed to, no wonder you think it silly and absurd. That kind of behavior is not consistant with the teachings of Jesus or the Apostles. Nor is it consistant with the the writings of the prophets of the Old Testiment. Then there were atrocities by the Catholic Church in the middle ages and the list goes on unfortunately. But those are the works of sinful men going contrary to the teachings of Jesus in His very name. They will have to answer for their actions in the final judgement. But none of that is based on true Christianity.

Oh Jim...I do believe partially in evolution now. I've seen this thread evolve from a simple question into a myriad of other topics. Can you believe that your post was number 300 of what sprung forth from John's original question which had nothing to do with most of what followed? I myself am guilty as charged for that,lol.

Take care my friend,

Stevie

Jim, I agree with you about these kinds of people. There is a lot of abuse done in the name of religion and none of it has anything to do with God. There are unscrupulous people who take advantage of others and use religion to accomplish their evil deeds. Most TV evangelists make my blood boil. Ditto that for most of the people who are in charge of the main stream Churches. One can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God. There are plenty of scientific people who believe in God. Plenty who don't. Trying to use scripture to prove the existence of God is nonsensical. Defining and describing God is impossible. Yet, for those who have had spiritual experiences, those who have felt God touch their lives in significant positive ways, God is very real. Theology attempts to describe and make sense of these experiences but it will always fail because we do not have a complete understanding of God. Even when it comes to spiritual experiences, it's hard to tell which are real, which are imagined, and which are the results of some physical or mental unbalance. It's just one of those, "You had to be there" kinds of things, I guess. If you do not have a driving need to know or discover God, you would not be able to understand those who do. Those who have that need are not able to understand those who do not.

Even so, when looking at religion and evaluating it, one can't just look at the evil people and the misfits and declare it some kind of useless insanity. There has been a lot of evil done in the name of religion and there has been a lot of good as well.

It is certainly true some people who call themselves Christians don't live up to the moniker. I've been accused of it myself, and, sadly, it has often true of me. Thank goodness unbelievers are never hypocriticial! That's why more people go to Christian charities for food, money, and emotional help than go to bars. And that's why bars and corporations give a smaller percentage of their revenue to help people.

Jim back on 1/1/12 in post #938867 I said this:





Jim back on 1/1/12 in post #938835 I said this:




Back in an earlier post you said this:



My logic has revealed to me personally it's preposterous to think I'm smart enough to know almost anything, much less everything.


You also said "[color:#6600CC]I am an Atheist therefore do not believe in anything I do not have proper proof of......that is not a belief in itself it is just applied LOGIC plain and simple."

It seems proof actually has nothing at all to do with your view of God. As you said, there is no proof. So your view is all supposition. It's that way for believers too but we do at least admit it. At least I did above.[/color]
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Lots of stuff going on in this thread.
I wonder why people started believing in God in the first place.
It could be the Dead Sea Scrolls and all the other stories are true.
Or, it could be as Big Jim says; a bunch of made up stories to bamboozle folks.

I don't know one way or the other.
What I do know is the prospect of ceasing to exist scares the crap out of me. Actually scares is probably not the right description. It just confounds me to a point of distraction.

For one thing I have no idea what "heaven" or the "after life" is supposed to be like.
Will we be floating around up in the clouds like a mist, a spiritual being? Will we be here on this planet with something resembling ourselves? Maybe another world?

Actually the idea of not being me is really hard to grasp. I mean what happens to my truck? or my Motorcycle? I don't want to give those things up.
What about my guitar? will I still be able to play it if I'm a spirit? I won't have any fingers.
Hell I probably won't be able to hear it either, I won't have any ears.

Of course we could also become one of a collective, everyone combined into one big happy critter. But that wouldn't be any fun. I like being different.

I am not sure what is supposed to happen to Satan. I reckon he will be dead. Or something. Are we supposed to be part of a God's Army and kill all the bad guys or is God gonna do it on his own. I really don't relish the idea of going to war with a demon. I think they could be pretty vicious.

In any case I guess I'll find out soon enough. My time on this miserable rock is running out.
I don't relish the idea of being dead but at least I'll be able to quit thinking about it.

Humans are cursed with being the only critters on the planet that have to use toilet paper, pay taxes, and know they are going to die.

Live long and prosper folks.

Priceless!

Bill, there has got to be a song in there.

Donna

Donna, you are so right. That's a great quote. I am going to start a song challenge right now!

Way to go, Jean. I'd already begun writing something.

Donna

LOL.

"I don't relish the idea of being dead but at least I'll be able to quit thinking about it." - Bill Robinson

So true Bill. Good one! Yeah, I think about being dead on a daily basis.

John

You know that as we get older death or the thought of death gets less frightening. We live....we die....it cannot be changed. Many have tried to live forever none so far have succeeded. It would be OK living for a bit longer if we stayed in our prime and remained healthy but as you get older and start aching and getting slower and cannot do the things you used to you would get bored and fed up with life if you lived too long like that. My wifes mother is 90 soon.....she is always saying that she has not got long to go......when my wife says things like mother stop saying that her mother says well it is true I have come to terms with it so should you.
My fav old persons sayings are
"you are only as old as you feel and when you stop feeling you are old"
AND
"sex? I used to be able to do it all night...now it takes me all night to do it"

Well, I wake up every morning and say. "What? I'm still here?"

Didn't read any of this, but it's gone on long enough nonetheless.