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April 25th, 2011
01:41 PM ET
Billboard battle over Judgment Day(CNN) - We've told you about the caravan of RVs touring the country to warn people about the end of the world, which they say will begin on May 21. Now, the American Atheists are mounting a counter-campaign. The group has posted a billboard in Oakland, California - home to Family Radio, which is spreading the "awesome news" that Judgment Day is near - declaring that such messages are "nonsense." "The Rapture: You KNOW it's Nonsense," the American Atheists' billboard announces. "2000 Years of 'Any Day Now.'" The billboard - which cost $27,000, according to the group's website - invites passers-by to "Learn the Truth" at the group's "Rapture Party" on May 21-22 in Oakland. The atheists also plan to hold parties in Houston, Texas, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the website says. "This is how religion hurts people, one of the many ways religion hurts people," American Atheists President David Silverman told CNN Oakland, California, affiliate KGO. "Our hope is that those who are not suckered in will learn from the people who are." soundoff (2,436 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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i'll believe in god, i just don't believe in religion
Exactly! God does not want our religion! He desires a relationship!!!!
Thanks – that is really I wanted in the beginning.
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdon did not come to know God; od was well pleased through the fooplishness of the message (Gospel) preached to save those who believe. For indeed the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumblingblock and to the Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 1 Cor.1:20-25 NASB The things of God cannot ever be understood by the wisdom of man. The only way that anyone can ever begin to understand the things of God is to come into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. This is exactly why we were created; to have a relationship with God! He desires that. God is not some mean mysterious being somewhere that cannot be known. He has made Himself known through His Son; Jesus Christ. Come to know Him by realizing that you have broken His law (we all have); accept the payment for that (Jesus's death on the cross) and you will have a relationship with God!
God had a change of mind. He decided that he was tired of being an a$$h0le as depicted in the old testament. So he sent his son which happened to be himself, to get himself killed so that he could forget the sins of mankind and people could at last know him and worship him.
Yeah, like that makes a lot of sense and that worked wonders. So much for an omniscient God. Keep on deluding yourself. But we, people with a brain, are departing from this nonsense.
what is wronge if some religion preaches to live good, be good love everyone.can't imagine a world without religion(that preaches to love and compassion like christianity) they help every person who needs help, help them quit bad habits teach them compassion for others, that is a great achievement.
all athiests, ask your self one question, what you achieve of being athiest? (other than being as as*h***s)
Pretty simple- Religion is bad for mankind. If I were to talk to the tree in my yard and influence others to do the same, and by it seemingly looking ok I influenced young minds to do the same, you would be upset. Now, what if I were to get soo many people to do the same that wars would occur because of it? What if a mad man went and killed people and told everyone it's because the tree told him to do so? The problem is, religion teaches ignorance by the masses. It's the fundamental idea.
Religion is bad for socieity. And I don't want to hear anything about "only some people take the bible out of context" when you know as well as everyone else that America wouldn't invade certain countries if those countries were mostly Christian.
'what is wronge if some religion preaches to live good, be good love everyone'.......'what you achieve of being athiest? (other than being as as*h***s)'
nice 'love' and 'goodness' you are practising there pal.
Your very comment is a good example of why atheists post billboards. You talk a good game (love everyone, be good and live good) but in practise you post atheists are 'as*h***s'
Did you read about the little girl in this group, Arrianna? She said she was scared about all the dead bodies that were going to lying around on May 21, and she was afraid she was going to be left behind. 8 year old girls should be riding their bikes and wondering if they can have ice cream after dinner, not worrying about the end of the world...these people are poisoning this girls mind. How much you wanna bet she grows up to be atheist?
My apologies, to read about the girl I referred to, you must click on the link in the first sentance of the article...what they are doing to this child is horrible!!!
@joe- the proof of God is pretty simple. If there was no God, we would still be fighting WWII and Hitler. God helped people from around the world have the strength to join together to stop the evil that was Hitler and his war machine. The entire world would be reduced to rubble by now and look like Afghanistan.
By the way, in answer to your question, I'm an atheist, and I'm also an ophthalmologist. So, I live my life helping other people to see. I have also helped saved many people's lives throughout my training. So, yeah, an atheist can actually do something that's good and decent in this world.
Soviet Russia tried to kill religion using the most extreme measures possible and still failed.
They tried to replace it by another religion: communism. Russians are one of the most gullible people, my husband is Russian so I should know :-).
Problem is they were using the wrong weapon. Totalitarianism and demagoguery only serve to strengthen religion. Nothing so tempting as the forbidden fruit. No, the way to kill the social disease that is religion is with reason and education.
Benzuda wrote: "the way to kill the social disease that is religion is with reason and education."
I have news for you: there are many people in the world who would prefer to remain uneducated and unreasonable. It's much easier that way, especially if your social group aims for the same goals.
I just don't understand why someone would waste $27,000 on a billboard to convince people there ISN'T a God. There are alot of other things I could think of that that money could be spent on right now, especially in this economy. All I can imagine is that these people must be really angry with God. People believing in a rapture does no harm to them, so why go through such great lengths to try and convince them to believe something else? Its a waste of money. Idiots.
How exactly can someone be "angry" at something they don't even believe exists? Sounds like you need to put a little more thought into all this.
What about 75% of population making decisions based on a faulty premise? Sounds to me like if this billboard could rectify that (which I do not believe for a sec, but it may help), that would be the best investment ever made.
"I just don't understand why someone would waste $27,000 on a billboard to convince people there ISN'T a God"
For the same reason people spend countless dollars on countless billboards trying to convince others that there is a God (their God btw)
Perhaps if the Christians were not so in your face about religion than the atheists probably wouldn't care.
And maybe if the Christians, who claim the bible is the word of GOD, were to actually follow it, then atheists might cut them some slack.
well, that's the entire point of her comment. why would you pay $27,000 to convince people that grass is purple if you don't believe grass is purple? as opposed to: you do believe grass is purple. you believe that people are living a lie that grass is green. you TRUELY believe that their wrong belief is going to affect their place in eternity. wouldn't you spend money to convince people of that if you cared about them?
if Christians are people of integrity, it makes the most sense for them to try to convince you there is a God. It is the most true thing they can do to be true to their belief. So, you can't blame someone who believes in evangelism for being evangelical. If Christians believed in God and kept it quiet, they'd be going against what they said they stood for.
The most outspoken atheist I have ever met shared this with me. And I think it makes TOTAL sense. They have the right to evangelize, you have the right to decline. Simple.
As a Christian, the athiests are right. The Bible clearly states that noone knows the date and or time.
Word.
They're not really Christians but more like false prophets or wolves dressed in sheep's skin...
A comet or solar flare could hit the earth. This has probably happened many times in earth's existence. But it is a natural event, not divine.
Matthew 24:42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come." ....All of these judgement day predictions are hilarious. There's a bit of literature for all of you prediction types.
"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, 'My master is delayed,' and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
The idea that Jesus will arrive to reign as king of the earth for 1000 years is as false and delusional as the idea that the earth was once covered in a flood.
Masters and servants, women grinding at the mil... Clearly this was written for our time!
‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!
"there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.."
but I don't have any teeth ?
@ stephanie & grizzlycouch – No. The Bible was not written for "our" time. It was written when it was written and reflects the things that happened in those days. If the Bible was written today I am sure it would mention i-phones and Facebook in some manner. The messages are timeless and certainly are relevant to todays' society and all its problems. Heed the writings. They did not appear out of nowhere or were not written by some pop culture author or Hollywood writers. The Bible has grown in popularity over centuries because of the messages inside the book and the truth that is told. So if you don't believe in "a" God, you must also believe that you were born from, what, a seed planted by your father into your mother and you magically become "life" ? Just like that? Your parents can now create humans just by their sheer will to do so? I laugh at your stupidity and pray for your soul. God sent you to be born on this Earth to fulfill a purpose. When I say that I do not meant to become a doctor, cop, accoutant, Wal Mart greeter or other "job". Your purpose is much deeper than that even though you may not see it. God gave you life, God sent you to your parents. God lets you live.
@f
Uh, yeah, that's kind of how reproduction works. I guess you never learned about the "birds and the bees"?
You don't have teeth? As the old firebrand preacher said – "there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. and for them without teeth? Teeth will be provided!"
Oh and David, sorry, but the common misconception that Jesus predicted his 2nd coming within the first generation is just wrong. Most exegetes are fully aware of what has been come to be called preterism where the olivet discourse, when read in light of its historical and linguistical contexts clearly refer to the impending judgement on Jerusalem NOT the second coming culminating event. The destruction of the temple as predicted in Matthew 24 has commonly been seen as the "beginning of the birth pains" – that is, that from the destruction of the temple to the 2nd coming (and the destruction of the world as we know it) is the final age of sinful humanity. To say that Jesus was wrong because he predicted his coming within a generation just shows that you read the Bible with as little education about it as most fundamentalists.
Sounds like excuses and apologetic nonsense to me.
You are deluding yourself. It is very clear what Jesus is talking about in Mathew 24:29. Of course, since the events did not come to pass, early Christians had to choose between either Jesus was wrong or they misunderstood him. Since concluding that Jesus must have been wrong implied you were not a Christian anymore, it is no wonder up to this day, Christians assume they misunderstood him. I will have none of it. He spoke and he was wrong. Too bad...
I thought the world as we know it ended when W became President.
I had no idea there was a W in Barack Hussein Obama
No, it will end if we reelect the buffoon who is now our president.
@ Americaneeds realists: It takes one to know one.
NO. When Mr. Hope and Mr. Change became co-presidents.
Only an idiot would pay money to put up a religous billboard, and only an idiot would pay money to put up an athiest billboard. Lesson: Idiots come in all types.
Has anyone even read Matthew 24:42-44 or Mark 13:24-37??? Clearly none of this would be a problem if Christians just read their Bibles. Only God knows when the rapture is going to happen. No need to predict a day and look like fools when that day has come and gone.
You are absolutely right that if Christians read their Bibles (or at least if their preachers did and preached the truth) we wouldn't have this problem. I am a Christian and believe that only God knows the day and time as the Bible says not even God's own son knows the date or the time. The bible also talks about false prophets which is why I believe so many people would rather not believe in God. Not many spend the time to read and understand the Bible and have a relationship with God. It's normal not to believe in God when you don't understand Him and especially when there are so many "religions" out there each interpreting the Bible differently. I pray that all non-believers will find out the truth and not let the Devil stop them from salvation through the works of false prophets or hippocrites who call themselves Christians.
If Christians read their bibles... that is hilarious. They read what someone tells them to read, and without criticism. If they truly read critically, the religion would be vastly different than it is. There would be a lot more stoning and sacrificing for one.
If only Superman had read a few issues ahead, he could have saved himself a lot of trouble.
Seriously, are you really quoting a fictional book to prove the existence of a fictional being? And you don't expect mockery???
I think that atheists don't beleive in God because God is too hard for humans to comprehend, and they don't like that. Certainly, I understand why they would want to be able to comprehend all of the things in their lives, I'd like that, too. But I think the atehists simply refuse to beleive it if they can't understand it. I am not limited by that concept, as they apparently are.
I believe I've found a loophole.
If we simply get someone to predict, "Tomorrow is the END!!!" every day, for the foreseeable future, then the end can never come because according to the bible no one can predict it.
So, allow me to start: Tomorrow, Thursday, April 28th, 2011 will be Judgment Day!
I expect someone to pick up the mantle tomorrow.
Oh, by the way...YOU'RE WELCOME!
Matt, after you read Matthew and Mark read Ezekiel 13 and pay close attention to 13:20.
Amen.
The atheists are right about this. I have faith in them.
That's silly – we don't need your faith. We have evidence that every time a religious person has predicted the end of the world it has been a bit on the incorrect side of a factual statement.
religion, to pay attention to man makes you a fool.
Mark 13:32 But of that day and [that] hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
Amen.
This got to be the most stupidest thing as a Christian and Bible Believe I am I have ever heard in my entire Christian life. I agree with the athiests with the billboard. There is is not gurrentee that God is closing doors on May 21st 2011 and also December 21st 2012 or vise versa. Jesus warned us that we need to refrain from believing false teachers and prophets that says that he will be coming back at an exact date. I do want to assure you people that this don't mean the rapture isn't going to take place soon but, its not our job for picking a date to scare people out of hell. Let the individual person decide if they want to change their life around.
Don't worry, the "rapture" isn't EVER gonna happen because the Bible is obviously fictional. Now run along and enjoy your life!
Barter_Town- and yet you couldn't just have a happy day, you just had to come on here
And yet Lycidas you couldn't just have a happy day, you just had to come on here. LOL!
It's called entertainment while people are commenting here. It's fun to watch people get their knickers all in a twist.
I think you come on here just to see if you can get peoples "knickers in a twist". Weilding the mental power of an average nine year old. All in a days work, huh?
We are all the sons and daughters of God.
Which one?
Which God?
So why, oh why did he make us all sinners and condemn us to death?
And why did he wait until thousands of years of human history had already passed before he sent his savior?
All of them!
A god. Any God. Pick one and believe in something other than Starbucks, Facebook and the mall. There is more to life than what you see on commercials and the internet.
Should I change my name?
heathen have no spirit, except from the liquor store.heathen are bad blood junkyard curs like straws in the wind woofing with science and secular humanism.growl
What did he just say?
'Steve – What did he just say?'
I think, in his christian love and forgiveness, he just called unbelievers drunks and dogs and that science is rubbish.
Hi Adelina! Low on meds again, eh?
heyyyyyadelina, typical of a non-believer making up new handles to insult a Christian who writes God's truth. All of sudden your new handle appears and knows every posting of Adelina's? GMAB with your being a coward along with your foolish babble. You own your sinful nature. Repent and ask Jesus for forgiveness and sin no more or you won't be going through eternity but to the eternal flames, blotted out and there will be no tears for you if you don't smarten up, repent.
Amen.
I don't really care what people believe. That is their own business. It is when they inflict it upon me and my family that I become irrate. If you want to believe that god created the world in 6 days using presto magic, that's fine with me. When you want to usurp real science education in favor of creationism in public schools, because you "don't believe" in evolution, now you've crossed the line.
If you want to believe that the Bible is the unfaillable word of god, ok. However, before you start shoving it down the throats of my kids, you better have some objective basis to do so. As things currently stand, the bible provides no more objective reality than my claiming my lab is truly god.
read before you speak matthew 12:36
Hey faretheewell, I read that passage of Matthew. Your lab IS god!
Due to a clerical error in 300AD, the bible has been mistranslated as saying Jesus was the "Lamb of God", should have read "Lab of God"
@ surf:
Matthew 7: 1-3
Judge not, that ye be not judged.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
I believe it, it's really going to happen this time. Free yourselves of all your worthy goods, after all you will not need them them anymore and send them to me. I accept Cash, stocks, bonds, real estate, cars, Gold, and pretty much anything else of value you have. Look at it this way, if you don't give away all your material by May 20th, you really don't believe it's going to happen and are not worthy for the judgment day.
And here comes the difficulty:
I do believe in creationism. i also believe (patially) in evolution. I believe your chemistry lab produces true results. if I don't want you chemistry lab shoved down my kids' throats? if my kids have to learn about evolution and chemistry and make their own balanced belief about it, why can't your kids? i think one thing we call ALL agree on is that you aren't Gd and i'm not either. By controlling what your children do, you are doing what every critic in this forum has accused God of- being a controlling dictator of life. If those who don't believe in God just want freedom, pay it forward with other humans.
@Faretheewell – Yeah, you're right. Let's instead teach our children that the earth just "happened" one day from a blast out of nothing (presto magic) and that science infallibly and with irrefutable proof affirms that everything you see today "evolved" from a glob of oceanic ooze over 2.5 million years.... or is 3.1 million ... or 4 billion or whatever the "proof" shows. (In case the self-proclaimed freethinkers didn't catch it that was sarcasm)
Christian America,
How about if we tell them the truth - we don't know...yet. Present them with verified facts and information about the studies which are ongoing in this area.
The creation myths imagined by various people over the ages can be included as social studies or literature... certainly not as fact.
Faretheewell, sorry your children have to live with such an ignorant father that doesn't know how to read Jesus' truth in the Bible. Not only does their father know not how to read His truth, their father has no eyes to see nor ears to hear His truth. You need to repent so your soul comes alive, not only for your sinful ways as a dry bones, but for the salvation of your children souls. Ask Jesus for forgiveness, then sin no more.
But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2 Peter 3:8
Amen.
P.S. I'll pray for your children that their father opens his eyes to Jesus' truth.
Maybe, typical of a non-believer who has no eyes to see this scripture.
But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.
Mark 13:23
Amen.
I counted once and by the time I was 36 I'd outlived at least 23 dates certain for the end of the world, including many dates of the rapture, Hale-Bopp, Y2K and the return of Halley's Comet. I expect to be at work on May 23 and hangin' with my peeps on December 24, 2012.
Hi Jen,
You expect to be doing those things but how do you really know you'll live that much longer? Is your life really in your own hands? Do you really know for sure that tomorrow you won't get hit by a bus, or shot by a burglar in the middle of the night, or do you have control of that drunk driver that can hit you head-on as you're driving to meet with your "peeps"(God forbid that any of these things happen-but unfortunatelly you and I both know that we do not have control of when we die, with the exception of suicide...I would like to paste the comment by "Little Me" which says "I would rather live my life believing that there is a God and die to find out there isnt – than to live my life believing there isnt a God and die to find out there is"...Think about that for a second.
"with the exception of suicide..." That's actually pretty funny. The great mystery of death hangs over all, unable to be grasped, known, or understood, unless of course you kill yourself.
Why was God so selective with his revelations? I mean, isn't it a tad unfair–almost un-Godlike–to be so active with one group of people then just show up occasionally (mostly to sheep herders and owners of iconic images) afterwards? I mean, one appearance on Leno and you got a world of believers.
"isn't it a tad unfair–almost un-Godlike"
Perhaps you can tell use what is "God-like" from your vast decades long life.
I would rather live my life believing that there is a God and die to find out there isnt – than to live my life believing there isnt a God and die to find out there is.
Why would you want to believe anything for which there is no evidence?
Amen to that!
"I would rather live my life believing that there is a God and die to find out there isnt – than to live my life believing there isnt a God and die to find out there is."
Well, then you better start 'believing' in all of the gods that have ever existed and ever will exist... you know, just to be sure.You wouldn't want to anger Zeus, just in case he is the correct choice. Better to be safe than sorry, as you say...
So which God are you gambling on being the right one?
Great, I've got some swampland for sale and you my friend are just the person I've been looking for to unload it.
Amen!
Belief in God OR belief in organized religions created by humans who believe they speak for God. God has NEVER given any words.
If this is your reason for believing in god, I don't think you're going to make the final cut (if there is one, god that is).
If your god punishes people because they don't believe in him, then he is a jerk.
I would rather live my life for me, the way I want, and be the best person I can be (which includes not believing in god) and die content. If your god really is all-forgiving, he'll understand. If not, then I don't need him.
That's called Pascal's wager. The problem is, which god out of the hundreds do you worship?
I agree wholeheartedly.
Atheist keep saying there is no evidence of God...there is also no evidence of the absence of God. No man can prove or disprove God.
So your belief system is based on the fear of the unknown, sounds kinda pagan to me. How sad.
Amen to that! Me too!
Imagine that you were diagnosed with a serious illness and were rushed to the hospital and doctors gave you only a 50% chance of surviving. You do survive, and when you get back to your workplace a few weeks later you find out that your coworkers had set up a betting pool and bet on your survival.
You manage a small team of 10 people. You find out 5 of them had made bets, and had bet AGAINST you living, and 5 had stayed out of the whole thing.
Which group would have made you angry? The 5 that were going to make money on you dying, or the 5 who had not gotten involved?
The point is that if there is a God, the chances of you praying to the right one are tiny (how many religions have their been since the beginning of mankind? 100,000? more?) - and he/she/it is going to be MAD that you've been praying to the wrong one.
If instead, you simply believe in reality, you're already ahead of the game. The explanation is simple: you don't believe in invisible sky beings and don't think books of cobbled together ancient oral myths written by bronze age tribesmen and then rewritten, copied, changed, translated, re-arranged, etc., over centuries of time represent the "word of God."
Bingo, Damien. Why would an all-powerful God have such a childish and child-like ego to require belief in him? Is he that insecure?
@ Barter Town and the ilk... You have no idea what you speak of. For the Christian faith is not blind nor are we without evidence. I know that athiest like to think that is how it is, they say such things to hide their own fears and uncertainties. We as humans are a three part being, we are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body. Most people go through their whole lives completely unaware of their spirit, they think they are a body with some emotions. The evidence you mention is there, it just isn't often seen in the realm of senses. Try explaining the clouds and the blue sky to a sceptical blind man and you have a glimpse of what athiest are like. You can go through life if you want, narrow minded, blind, and sceptical. I hope to reach for God, to believe that I am loved and that there is a beautiful here-after. I can't even imagine how depressing it must be to think that this is all there is, to live in an aging, failing body, to have nothing more to hope for than decay, pain, humiliation, loss and death.
@ DJ
So you believe something because it makes you feel good? That is not a good reason to believe something, my friend.
Barter_Town you realize you have to believe that another human being loves you to have a relationship with them. You have to trust them and have faith in their love. Oh, and it feels so good!
@ Barter Town – No evidence? Have you never heard the story of the Birth of Christ? The stories of the ld Testment? Even the words of Buddha and the teachings of Mohamed? Did some Holyweird scriptwriter make all this up over many centuries? Sorry, no. God let people know He is here and taking care of the world He created.
@sell – God did speak. "He is my Son, listen to Him." "Noah, collect the animals and your family..." Pick a religion and believe in something.
@Damien – from your words, you will lie in Purgatory until the Final Judgement Day. We who believe will continue to pray for your soul. Your body may rot in a box in the dirt with the worms, but your soul has to go somewhere. God bless and I hope you get to Heaven someday.
'Pick a religion and believe in something.'
lol ok the perfect line to sum up religion. hey who cares if its the right one or not, or whatever, just pick one right? lol.
@Eric- "the chances of you praying to the right one are tiny"
The flaw you are committing is that from a person of faith's point of view, there is no chances. There is only one choice. You are looking at all available religions as if they are equal.
I mean, let's face it...you don't marry someone and tell them that the odds are against them that they are the one they are meant to be with right?
f....... everything you quoted is from a book written by HUMANS. Based on your analysis Joseph Smith, David Koresh, and L. Ron Hubbard are also as legitimate. I don't imagine you sit around church honoring these people.
Bingo! thats exactly it, thats why we do not believe it cause when you do you go thru this world holding a crutch and not living life to the fullest.
Thoes who make the claim must give proof....
I am going to find god now...I am lighting up a fatty....
I wonder how your god will feel that you used him to hedge a bet? If it's the shiny happy New Testament god then you might get off with a stern warning. If it's the grumpy OT god, then you're in for a smoting. Or smiting. Or both.
The problem with Pascal's wager is that you can't force yourself to believe a certain way if you've reached a logical conclusion to the contrary. I used to be a staunch evangelical protestant Jesus follower or whatever the current terminology is. And the entire thing fit snugly into my box of the world with a pretty lid and a bow and I was a generally happy person (who occasionally told people I knew they were going to hell). Then I discovered that this entire concept: an all powerful, all knowing, benevolent supreme being looking down on me from the sky who sent his "son" to die for the "sins" of the universe made absolutely no sense in the world, for a huge number of reasons. Though I mourned the loss of my faith, I couldn't force it back. I didn't kill it. It died of natural causes. And just like when grandpa passes on, you miss him, but you can't bring him back. And now I'm a friendly, happy, and I'd like to think tolerant atheist.
So before all the nice Christians lambaste all the atheists for their "short-sightedness" or their "hypocrisy" for having faith in other things (science is usually the one Christians harp on the most, but I'm sure there are others) or whatever other clever insults you think up, know that some atheists used to be just like you. And there but by the grace of "god" go you.
> sbp said:
> Bingo, Damien. Why would an all-powerful God have such a childish
> and child-like ego to require belief in him? Is he that insecure?
Because there is such little evidence for god's existence that even HE isn't sure.
@Bob- "If it's the grumpy OT god"
I would suggest Rabbi Heschel's book "The Prophets" to get a better understanding on God from the OT.
The reason there is so many fake religions in the world is because satan deceives the entire world. Satan takes 95% of Jesus' truth, mixes it with 5% of his lies to confuse many to created doubt, hence, to follow his lies. How does satan do this? His children are the offsprings of Cain. Learn about Cain, the son of satan, how he was the first murderer that killed his brother Abel, fled and created all the phony religions in the world to do his father's (satan's) bidding. What was true in the beginning aka Garden of Eden, Eve being beguiled by satan is true through the history of the world, all are beguiled (aka deceived) by satan's lies.
Jesus Christ is the only God. His word is truth. All others are deceivers that ensure the doubtful haven't got a chance.
Read the Bible on your own and stop listening to man (that loves and follow's satan's lies) deceive you all the way to the eternal flames, blotted out. No eternity for anyone that doesn't love and follow Jesus' truth. Repent, ask Jesus for forgiveness and sin no more.
Amen.