JonathanH Nice to see a well thought out and well written post. All so very true.
How long do I have to stand in the corner for?
Gladiator's have feelings too.
the anonymity of the internet is both a blessing a curse for the information age, especially when it comes to debate.
when a screen is put over the person, all that you are left with are ideas in a pure form; written word that constitutes a set of ideas, reasons and thoughts.
anyone can sit and analyze and form a response at their leisure.
JonathanH Nice to see a well thought out and well written post. All so very true.
How long do I have to stand in the corner for?
Gladiator's have feelings too.
Yes james_woods I have noticed that we share the same view of believers. Encouraging them to examine a different point of view is one thing. Having a burning desire to destroy their faith is another matter. It could be mistaken for jealousy or even hate. People change when they are ready and as long as they are not causing serious harm, allowing them to change at a pace they can cope with is perhaps a better approach.
NewChapter "He was a real to me as Santa Claus was when I was a child."
When I was a boy we had very little in the way of material things. My brothers were always bored with nothing to play with. I was never bored. Fortunately I had a vivid imagination. I could conjure up anything I wanted in my imagination. I had imaginary conversations with people. I heard voices and made friends with people who existed only in my mind. I could make up jokes, tell them to myself and laugh out loud when I got the punch line.
I even had an imaginary horse that I could gallop down the road to the local store on. The lady store owner always asked how the horse was and gave me free nuts to feed it. I also had a panda that was so real he had a small chair of his own to sit on. Occasionally a place was set at the table for the panda.
One day I announced that the panda had gone. My father asked where? I told him that I didn’t need him any more. Soon after the horse went too. Now I have to live in the real world. I envy people who are still capable of such illusion.
Atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. It say’s nothing about the studied conclusion that a person may or may not have come to.
There is so much that all of us don’t know, that I find it amazing that someone who has no idea how a computer hard drive is made or what ingredients are needed to make tiramisu, can declare that they alone know the secrets of the origins of the universe.
my undisputed hero of the bible is known by several names, depending on who you talk to...devil, satan, lucifer, etc.. read it, and you'll find that he was the only one who really stood up for you.. he asserted that you could make decisions for yourself...and told you the very real truth that, just because the piece of meat in your chest stops thumping, you positively do not 'die'.. he was your hero.
he stood up to a daddy-maniac and said, 'just because you made us doesnt mean you have the right to tell us what to do.
i thought we were free?'.
I would like to say that I have long believed Satan to be a more moral character than the Vengeful, control freak Jehovah, as depicted in the Bible.
But I as I am not a believer, I can’t say.
i'm just curious as i'm on the outside looking in when it comes to relationships, yet i recall undercover explaining to me a year or so ago on another thread how his wife was clingy one morning before he went to work.
it made me wonder as someone who's single, what do you feel when you need to be somewhere and your significant other is clingy at the moment?
or when your out and about and he/she is clingy, is it flattering, irritating?
A man either likes or dislikes a clingy women depending on the agenda he has.
What most women can’t stand is a needy man.
These and other gems of wisdom brought to you by the Gladiator - at no cost.
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Andrew Sh "I just want to show that belief in evolutionary theory is a preference rather than anything else; that the evolutionist believes it simply because he prefers to believe it, not because the scientific evidence unmistakeably points to it."
We are still waiting!
By the way, you have utterly failed to address Cofty's excellent post 5th above this one. Quoting from the Bible won't cut it.
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Is the Bible without error? The Bible is an error by today's standards.
Early wheels were made out of stone. We now have low-profile tyres on alloy wheels. If you want to keep up, I suggest you update your wheels.
and the helicopter moms who love them.. .
Being grown up means being able to do that without needing to use a chair!
why does religion often do more harm than good?.
if we love our neighbor as ourself---we must first love ourselves.. if we do to others what we would want done to us---our sense of self welfare, once again, is the criterion.. the wicked man knows how to give his own son good gifts, we are told, and god is our parent eager to do the same.. yet, religious institutions (representing god) are weighed down with judgemental practices, intrusive meddling, preoccupation with superficiality and lip service to the "greater good".. human repair is not the objective so much as human control.. .
this raises what i regard as a very important question: shouldn't the one who is weak, frail, mortal and vulnerable be the object of improvement by the living god?.
Religion is a tool. It can be used for good or to do harm, the same as engineering can be used to make tanks or tractors, atom bombs or nuclear power. Religion is guilty of much but it is also used as a scapegoat. Humans will do what they want to and find an excuse to justify it.
Humans are by nature mystical creatures, living a world that has become an experiment in engineering. Some people find great emotional comfort in pursuing a spiritual path. It fulfils a deep need that must be channelled into something. It helps them find balance in a modern world. It is a luxury I can no longer enjoy myself.
Perhaps abolishing all belief that there may be something more to life than we can perceive from our outlook on planet earth, could do more harm that good to many peaceful people.