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Do you know that the God of the Bible doesn't exist?

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Do you know that the God of the Bible doesn't exist?
Yes 47%  47%  [ 47 ]
No 53%  53%  [ 52 ]
Total votes : 99

greenblue
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22 Aug 2007, 2:56 am

Ragtime wrote:
Well, Muhammed was a pedophile, we know, because one of his many wives was only 9 years old.

So was Joseph (Jesus' father), didn't he married Mary when she was just 13, being a middle age man himself?

Ragtime wrote:
And I don't suggest that people are morally wrong for believing in other religions. God only counts them at fault if they're not sincerely seeking the truth. No one goes to Hell by accident. Jesus said His Father wishes that none would perish eternally. God will sort it all out -- I wouldn't begin to personally claim such an ability of insight!

Good, that means that a few people who you already condemn to hell, won't be there after all.

Ragtime wrote:
The_Chosen_One wrote:
Either way you cut it, not everyone can be 'right', and not everyone is wrong either. For all we know, both of us could be right, but none of us will know until we die.


Works for me. I'm content.

uhm, I wonder why.


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22 Aug 2007, 4:34 am

Ragtime quoting Matthew said: Jesus to His disciples: "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town" (Matt 10:14-15).

Let me see, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by earthquake and volcanic eruption in 2650 BCE, both cities sank into the Dead Sea in a form of liquifaction caused by the 'quake, and Lot's wife was killed in a pyroclastic flow from the eruption. Matthew then quotes Jesus as saying 'it WILL be more bearable for Sodom & Gomorrah...' as if they were in the present or yet to happen. How can something that happened 2650 years beforehand happen again in judgement? Also, how can it be reported on in a way that says it is yet to happen? And why would an unbeliever be judged in such a way if God has accepted that they have said no? Seems to me that a) their is a glaring mistake in what was quoted by Matthew, b) the impossible has just taken place, or c) the bible is full of misprints and tautologies. Also seems that he (god) is holding his cards close to his his chest, and also playing everyone like a fish on a line, letting them go, then reeling them in. Not something I'd call fair, but hey, who am I to question 'wisdom' like that?


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22 Aug 2007, 4:55 am

The_Chosen_One wrote:
Ragtime quoting Matthew said: Jesus to His disciples: "If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town" (Matt 10:14-15).

Let me see, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by earthquake and volcanic eruption in 2650 BCE, both cities sank into the Dead Sea in a form of liquifaction caused by the 'quake, and Lot's wife was killed in a pyroclastic flow from the eruption. Matthew then quotes Jesus as saying 'it WILL be more bearable for Sodom & Gomorrah...' as if they were in the present or yet to happen. How can something that happened 2650 years beforehand happen again in judgement? Also, how can it be reported on in a way that says it is yet to happen? And why would an unbeliever be judged in such a way if God has accepted that they have said no? Seems to me that a) their is a glaring mistake in what was quoted by Matthew, b) the impossible has just taken place, or c) the bible is full of misprints and tautologies. Also seems that he (god) is holding his cards close to his his chest, and also playing everyone like a fish on a line, letting them go, then reeling them in. Not something I'd call fair, but hey, who am I to question 'wisdom' like that?

uhm Sodom and Gomorrah.
Taking that as one interpretation, it could mean that all the people whose sexuality is different, they will burn in hell just like Sodom and Gomorrah, just for not listening to Raggy when he said "Don't be a lesbian", it seems that would be the case, wouldn't it?


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22 Aug 2007, 5:25 am

Quite possibly, given his views on Homosexuality and other things. Also, going by the standards of some Christians I know, who say swearing is an abomination, his language has been a lot more than earthy.....


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22 Aug 2007, 10:49 am

LKL wrote:
greenblue wrote:
we do have those blind spots because of the optic nerves, but the brain compensates that somehow and we don't notice them.


The brain basically covers over the blind spot by blending in the surrounding visual textures. The fact that we do not notice them does not mean that they are not blind; you can test this yourself by looking at (for instance) a clock on the wall on the far side of the room. Turn your head until the clock is in your peripheral vision; when the clock is in your blind spot, it will seem to dissapear and the wall will seem to be plain and unadorned.

If you guys can find a way to claim that blind spots are good for humans to have, and that it makes sense to have the nerve axons on top of the retina rather than behind it, I'll start to listen. Until then, admit that it's a bogus argument because human eyes are less than perfect even by the standards of our own limited knowledge of optics and of life on this planet.


Well, I'm no medical expert, but blind spots could be very useful for keeping the visual nerve-signal bandwidth down, so that our brains don't find the vast incoming amounts of visual information overwhelming, and thus distracting. We can concentrate better with less sensory signals pouring in on our brains -- Aspies are well aware of that. And people who lose a sense are more in tune with their own thoughts. I personally close my eyes when my brain feels overloaded, and within 2 seconds I'm greatly calmed.


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22 Aug 2007, 10:53 am

The_Chosen_One wrote:
And I have one huge blind spot on my right due to the fact that my right retina has completely detached, and I am thus blind on that side. I had 5 eye operations to repair it, and none worked. I also had congenital cataracts (both eyes) which is why I needed the op in the first place. Oh, and before you Christians mention prayer and faith healing, tried that BEFORE I became pagan, and it didn't work (which could have influenced my decision, but I might have been headed that way anyway).


If prayer got the desired answer every time, we wouldn't be debating the existence of a higher power -- though people would still find ways to disqualify the Christian God, even if He was the only being who, when prayed to, produced obvious results. Unbelief in God has a desire behind it -- none of us wants to be accountable to a moral God.


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22 Aug 2007, 10:57 am

greenblue wrote:
Ragtime wrote:
And I don't suggest that people are morally wrong for believing in other religions. God only counts them at fault if they're not sincerely seeking the truth. No one goes to Hell by accident. Jesus said His Father wishes that none would perish eternally. God will sort it all out -- I wouldn't begin to personally claim such an ability of insight!

Good, that means that a few people who you already condemn to hell, won't be there after all.

Hmmm, this is interesting... Whom, and how, did I "condemn to hell"? That's news to me. :?


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22 Aug 2007, 11:34 am

greenblue wrote:
Taking that as one interpretation, it could mean that all the people whose sexuality is different, they will burn in hell just like Sodom and Gomorrah, just for not listening to Raggy when he said "Don't be a lesbian", it seems that would be the case, wouldn't it?


Ah, another misquote from you. :roll:


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22 Aug 2007, 11:42 am

The_Chosen_One wrote:
Quite possibly, given his views on Homosexuality and other things. Also, going by the standards of some Christians I know, who say swearing is an abomination, his language has been a lot more than earthy.....


Peter and Paul swore. Peter swore several times when he was accused being being Jesus' disciple, and Paul said in Philippians 3:8 that he counted all the good things he had to sacrifice for the faith as "sh**". The English translations went with lesser terms like "dung", but in the original it was the equivalent of us saying "This is all sh**". When one knows one's audience's ability to handle it, and one's speech can be more articulate when correctly incorporating such. Jesus called the Pharisees "serpents", but of course they were not literally snakes. He was insulting them. And He was doing it in the course of making a point.

It's like the common expression "War is hell", versus, say, "War isn't very happy". The latter phrase is more correct technically, but the former phrase expresses the truth better.


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22 Aug 2007, 2:03 pm

Ragtime wrote:
greenblue wrote:
Ragtime wrote:
And I don't suggest that people are morally wrong for believing in other religions. God only counts them at fault if they're not sincerely seeking the truth. No one goes to Hell by accident. Jesus said His Father wishes that none would perish eternally. God will sort it all out -- I wouldn't begin to personally claim such an ability of insight!

Good, that means that a few people who you already condemn to hell, won't be there after all.

Hmmm, this is interesting... Whom, and how, did I "condemn to hell"? That's news to me. :?

If my memory serves I think you already condemn Sopho to hell, lol


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22 Aug 2007, 2:15 pm

Ragtime wrote:
greenblue wrote:
Taking that as one interpretation, it could mean that all the people whose sexuality is different, they will burn in hell just like Sodom and Gomorrah, just for not listening to Raggy when he said "Don't be a lesbian", it seems that would be the case, wouldn't it?


Ah, another misquote from you. :roll:

Misquoted you? Isn't that what you have been saying all these time? That God doesn't like this, because is sick and against nature?
I remember you saying that people from Sodom were killed because gays were having their fun, you said something like this, didn't you?


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22 Aug 2007, 2:21 pm

greenblue wrote:
Ragtime wrote:
greenblue wrote:
Ragtime wrote:
And I don't suggest that people are morally wrong for believing in other religions. God only counts them at fault if they're not sincerely seeking the truth. No one goes to Hell by accident. Jesus said His Father wishes that none would perish eternally. God will sort it all out -- I wouldn't begin to personally claim such an ability of insight!

Good, that means that a few people who you already condemn to hell, won't be there after all.

Hmmm, this is interesting... Whom, and how, did I "condemn to hell"? That's news to me. :?

If my memory serves I think you already condemn Sopho to hell, lol


Oh, your memory... :roll: nevermind.


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22 Aug 2007, 3:03 pm

Ragtime wrote:
blind spots could be very useful for keeping the visual nerve-signal bandwidth down, so that our brains don't find the vast incoming amounts of visual information overwhelming, and thus distracting. We can concentrate better with less sensory signals pouring in on our brains -- Aspies are well aware of that. And people who lose a sense are more in tune with their own thoughts. I personally close my eyes when my brain feels overloaded, and within 2 seconds I'm greatly calmed.


Nope. The blind spot covers perhaps 5 degrees of arc by 5 degrees of arc, if that. Our brain does have filtering mechanisms (the hypothalamus is the best known, picking and chosing what sensory data to pass on to the rest of the brain), but the blind spot isn't one of them. And, even if I'm wrong, you wouldn' t have to close your eyes if it was a filter and it worked.



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22 Aug 2007, 3:50 pm

LKL wrote:
Ragtime wrote:
blind spots could be very useful for keeping the visual nerve-signal bandwidth down, so that our brains don't find the vast incoming amounts of visual information overwhelming, and thus distracting. We can concentrate better with less sensory signals pouring in on our brains -- Aspies are well aware of that. And people who lose a sense are more in tune with their own thoughts. I personally close my eyes when my brain feels overloaded, and within 2 seconds I'm greatly calmed.


Nope. The blind spot covers perhaps 5 degrees of arc by 5 degrees of arc, if that. Our brain does have filtering mechanisms (the hypothalamus is the best known, picking and chosing what sensory data to pass on to the rest of the brain), but the blind spot isn't one of them. And, even if I'm wrong, you wouldn' t have to close your eyes if it was a filter and it worked.


Sorry, I don't buy it. Too much bias to worry about correcting...


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22 Aug 2007, 4:19 pm

you 'don't buy it?' Look it up in ANY physiology text.



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22 Aug 2007, 4:22 pm

LKL wrote:
you 'don't buy it?' Look it up in ANY physiology text.


I mean I don't buy your argument.


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