I believe in God but not the Bible

[Chief Walkin Eagle]

Im sure some being created this universe according to his or her design, starting with the big bang, not knowing what was to become of it but knowing something good was to become of it... But we should not worship whoever that being may be, shouldnt worship any being what so ever. Why would God want us to be weak and dependent on him? You think God would be proud of raising a race of blind sheep that cannot think for themselves? Guaranteed if you die and you approach a God-like being and you bow down to it, that being would show little respect for you because your submissive and weak, when God wants you to be strong and independent!

That being said, I dont think there is one God nor a group of Gods dictating everything, because if they know exactly whats gunna happen then whats the point of life? A TV like re-run for the Gods? God doesnt know whats gunna happen, God is more human than you know, he makes mistakes and learns from them just like we do, for if God stopped evolving then WE would stop evolving. I myself hope that perfection is never achieved because that would mean we would have nothing more to accomplish, therefore God is not perfect, and thats a good thing.

I confuse people when I talk about God, I refer to god as a him or a her or a group of him and hers. But the Bible and Charlie Chaplin are right when they say God is not in one man, not a group of men but in all men. God is everywhere, everyone, and everything but God exists in you the most. God is your inspiration and will power to achieve your dreams. God is happiness and bliss and everything leading to it.

Anywhoo... I'll end with this... There is no Hell, even Pope John Paul made a public apology at the Vatican saying they made up hell as a means of control, not that any thick headed christian listend to him... Hell is only a state of mind, like depression. Hell is being cut off from happiness, Hell is being cut off from God.

P.S... God wants you to be God

 

[Wednesday]

I believe that God leads each of us on a personal level as he guides us towards our fate. The Bible is irrelevant and completely bullshit it is a mind control device and continues to control the masses today.




Don't believe the Hype.

Have you read the entire Bible, though? It's really not as "controlling" as people tend to say. It's pretty standard to any religion...do unto others as you'd like done unto you..don't murder people or fuck their wives or steal their car. That kind of thing. I think that the people who have manipulated it to do terrible things just happen to use the Bible. If they hadn't had it to use, they would have found another way to manipulate people. Look at our society today. As the Bible is slowly losing it's place in our society, politicians and governments look for new ways to rile the people up and silence them when necessary.

 

[Heisenberg]

Have you read the entire Bible, though? It's really not as "controlling" as people tend to say. It's pretty standard to any religion...do unto others as you'd like done unto you..don't murder people or fuck their wives or steal their car. That kind of thing. I think that the people who have manipulated it to do terrible things just happen to use the Bible. If they hadn't had it to use, they would have found another way to manipulate people. Look at our society today. As the Bible is slowly losing it's place in our society, politicians and governments look for new ways to rile the people up and silence them when necessary.

Matthew 10:37

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.


Seems kinda controlling to me. Jesus wants us to love him more than our family. Is your boss that controlling? Were your teachers that controlling? Do you know anyone in your life in any way who is that controlling?

 

[Wednesday]

I think it's a "do as I say not as I do" problem. Using Christianity as an example: God gives his people the 10 commandments and tell them "thou shalt not kill" and a little bit latter tells his followers to commit genocide and kill all the Canaanites and take their land. That’s an extremely inconsistent and contradictory message. Religions have “solved” the dilemma by declaring that anything their god does is good by definition. This has the net result of making “good” as a moral principle effectively meaningless. So while most religious text would admonish us to be good, they are full of examples of God acting badly…. At least if we apply our own moral code to god.



Couldn’t agree with you more

That's a little off. God didn't just say "Alrighty go kill 'em, what the hell." There were many, many wars going on back then. People today, societies today, are so much different than they used to be, and people don't often take that into account. We are always aiming to exert our individuality and express our own personal views and opinions. Back then, though, people were actual members of "families". Identified by their family name. Part of clans and tribes acting as one whole. People go on about the deaths of innocent women and children in the Bible, but these were not just "individual" people. They were a part of a bigger entity. Those innocent cute little babies grow up, taught by the parents of their own culture. If they hadn't all been destroyed at once, it would only have been a matter of years before those children grew up and came back to war again. And let's not forget the Canaanites were busy sacrificing their own children anyway. This wasn't an ethnic cleansing. God tells his people to accept the foreigner as he would his neighbor. Aside from normal wars, that would have happened anyway, the selected groups of people that God orders the complete destruction of were corrupt in ways that we today would put people to death for too. Wars over land have always and will always happen. More often than not in the Bible, when a war is fought, it's usually like somebody asks God "Hey. If we fight these people, are we gonna win?" And God is either like "Ya, go ahead. I got your back." Or he's like "No, leave those people be, they ain't hurtin' nothin." It's not like every time war broke out God told the Israelites to kill all the women, children, cattle, etc. It happened a handful of times and only when the people the Israelits were fighting were so corrupt they couldn't possibly live next to the Israelites without doing something horrible.

 

[boneheadbob]

The Bible is filled with wisdom from the King of Kings who has given us an instruction book for life.

Has anyone ever done an in depth study of the five senses? Each one is proof beyond a doubt that we had an intelligent designer and I believe that ID to be the God of the Bible.

No way the five senses evolved.

 

[boneheadbob]

All the terrible parts of the Bible did not make sense to me untill the scales were removed from my eyes.

But dont dwell on the bad stuff. Dwell on the good stuff, the good news.
Jesus Christ died for the sins of humanity so whomsoever would believe would have eternal life.

Eternal life is no cheap trinket and its free but Jesus will not enter unless you open the door and invite Him in.

 

[tyler.durden]

The Bible is filled with wisdom from the King of Kings who has given us an instruction book for life.

Has anyone ever done an in depth study of the five senses? Each one is proof beyond a doubt that we had an intelligent designer and I believe that ID to be the God of the Bible.

No way the five senses evolved.

Have you studied evolutionary theory at all? If so, what were your sources? Would you please give links to why our senses couldn't have evolved? Thanks!

 

[Wednesday]

All the terrible parts of the Bible did not make sense to me untill the scales were removed from my eyes.

But dont dwell on the bad stuff. Dwell on the good stuff, the good news.
Jesus Christ died for the sins of humanity so whomsoever would believe would have eternal life.

Eternal life is no cheap trinket and its free but Jesus will not enter unless you open the door and invite Him in.

It was really hard for me to make it through the terrible war stories too. I was always so "But what about the children?!" But then I think about some poor Israelite bastard marrying a Canaanite woman and he comes home and he can't find her cuz she's gone and killed the baby again... Some things just can't be allowed if you want a peaceful society to live in.

 

[tyler.durden]

All the terrible parts of the Bible did not make sense to me untill the scales were removed from my eyes.

But dont dwell on the bad stuff. Dwell on the good stuff, the good news.
Jesus Christ died for the sins of humanity so whomsoever would believe would have eternal life.

Eternal life is no cheap trinket and its free but Jesus will not enter unless you open the door and invite Him in.

I've posted this before, but I love this line of reasoning. I liken this to a Joker quote from the original Batman film franchise:

"Joker here. Now you fellas have said some pretty mean things. Some of which were true, under that fiend Boss Grissom. He was a thief, and a terrorist. On the other hand, he had a tremendous singing voice..."

 

[mindphuk]

The Bible is filled with wisdom from the King of Kings who has given us an instruction book for life.

Has anyone ever done an in depth study of the five senses? Each one is proof beyond a doubt that we had an intelligent designer and I believe that ID to be the God of the Bible.

Proof is a pretty strong word. I have quite significant doubt that there was a designer, let alone intelligent.

No way the five senses evolved.

Actually they did. However, since you're the one with proof, I will let your prove I'm wrong rather than waste my time explaining how we might have evolved five senses naturally. Interestingly, your God's favorite species, man, seems to have been short-changed in the sense department. Not only did we get stuck with only five senses when we could have echolocation or sense magnetic or electric fields, we have such inferior capabilities of sight, smell and hearing compared to other species.

 

[Heisenberg]

Proof is a pretty strong word. I have quite significant doubt that there was a designer, let alone intelligent.
Actually they did. However, since you're the one with proof, I will let your prove I'm wrong rather than waste my time explaining how we might have evolved five senses naturally. Interestingly, your God's favorite species, man, seems to have been short-changed in the sense department. Not only did we get stuck with only five senses when we could have echolocation or sense magnetic or electric fields, we have such inferior capabilities of sight, smell and hearing compared to other species.

You are forgetting that God removed the scales from his eyes. Perhaps now he can see the full spectrum, and we could even have these scales on our other senses. You can not prove that bob lacks echolocation.

 

[mindphuk]

You are forgetting that God removed the scales from his eyes. Perhaps now he can see the full spectrum, and we could even have these scales on our other senses. You can not prove that bob lacks echolocation.

By 'we' I am referring to me and others like me who have never been touched with this special knowledge that seems hidden from us normal folk. Bob may indeed be superhuman but he is special because he has proof that no one else seems to have.

 

[boneheadbob]

I should have made it more clear that I am speaking of my life experiances & my opinion. Afterall, the most intelligent people in the world debate the issue and neither side can prove themselves beyond any doubt despite what some think.

I have respect for those of you who hold to Darwins theory however I am just as positive you are wrong as you are positive that I am wrong.

To me personally life is so astounding and unreal and the more I "study" it the more I see the Creator behind the curtain. Even planting veggies astounds me. Some seeds are so tiny I need to put my glasses on. It grows into a huge tomato plant and that alone is something that needed a Creator IMHO.

The idea that reproduction and the senses evolved over millions of years is too much for me to buy into after living half a century in a world in which everything devolves.

 

[st0wandgrow]

The idea that reproduction and the senses evolved over millions of years is too much for you to buy into ..... but a bearded man living in the clouds seems reasonable?

 

[budlover13]

i just had a good coming of age talk with my 12 1/2 year old son in which God was discussed. He is an avid reader and knows my opinion on the fact that the Romans edited the Bible as a political propaganda tool circa 70 AD and agrees that this must be kept in mind while reading. i told him that IMO, the Bible is the greatest book in the world because of it's age, influence on history, wisdom, etc. and he decided he wanted to read it, front to back, as a family (him, my 2nd wife *not his bio mom*, and myself). So we are.

 

[boneheadbob]

The idea that reproduction and the senses evolved over millions of years is too much for you to buy into ..... but a bearded man living in the clouds seems reasonable?

The Creator of the Universe is not a bearded man, but I understand your point.. So yes the beared man sounds reasonable especially compared to the fairy tale where frogs become prince charming

 

[st0wandgrow]

The Creator of the Universe is not a bearded man, but I understand your point.. So yes the beared man sounds reasonable especially compared to the fairy tale where frogs become prince charming

I will respect your belief here, Bob. The bottom line is that none of us really know the "truth". But, I try to apply some logic and reason to all that I encounter, and the notion of a god not only doesn't pass my sniff-test, there is absolutely no proof of it what so ever. Science does indeed leave some glaring holes in the big picture, but at least there are some tangible, tested theories to hang my hat on.

As others have mentioned .... believing in a deity is intellectual laziness, imo. Offer me up something other than a book written (and re-written) by a bunch of goat herders who had no other explanation for the world around them other than "god" and you might have my ear (for a minute).

 

[budlover13]

I will respect your belief here, Bob. The bottom line is that none of us really know the "truth". But, I try to apply some logic and reason to all that I encounter, and the notion of a god not only doesn't pass my sniff-test, there is absolutely no proof of it what so ever. Science does indeed leave some glaring holes in the big picture, but at least there are some tangible, tested theories to hang my hat on.

As others have mentioned .... believing in a deity is intellectual laziness, imo. Offer me up something other than a book written (and re-written) by a bunch of goat herders who had no other explanation for the world around them other than "god" and you might have my ear (for a minute).

It's all in perception imo. i'm a 38 year old man with a past in surveying/engineering and i see an intelligent Creator's work all around me because i can't fathom all the mathematic synchronicity(sp?) that is all around us without someone having put it in motion with a plan. Remember, i'm blue-print oriented and have seen how quickly things can go bad because of an error in math.

 

[st0wandgrow]

It's all in perception imo. i'm a 38 year old man with a past in surveying/engineering and i see an intelligent Creator's work all around me because i can't fathom all the mathematic synchronicity(sp?) that is all around us without someone having put it in motion with a plan. Remember, i'm blue-print oriented and have seen how quickly things can go bad because of an error in math.

And I'm just a dumb fuck that hated math and science growing up, and yet I believe in the theory of evolution.

Ironic, isn't it?

Have a great weekend budlover!

 

[Heisenberg]

To me personally life is so astounding and unreal and the more I "study" it the more I see the Creator behind the curtain. Even planting veggies astounds me. Some seeds are so tiny I need to put my glasses on. It grows into a huge tomato plant and that alone is something that needed a Creator IMHO.

The idea that reproduction and the senses evolved over millions of years is too much for me to buy into after living half a century in a world in which everything devolves.

It's all in perception imo. i'm a 38 year old man with a past in surveying/engineering and i see an intelligent Creator's work all around me because i can't fathom all the mathematic synchronicity(sp?) that is all around us without someone having put it in motion with a plan. Remember, i'm blue-print oriented and have seen how quickly things can go bad because of an error in math.

I realize you guys are stating your opinion and not trying to write some textbook with official answers. Here is my opinion on your opinions.

You guys are essentially saying, "I can't explain this, therefore I can explain this." Your only justification for using god as an explanation is ignorance. Not saying you guys are ignorant...I am saying that you are pointing to ignorance, to the lack of knowledge, and using that lack of knowledge as a basis to draw a conclusion. Can you think of any other area where the argument from ignorance turned out to be valid? This is what we call non-logic.

Do you not see the irrationality in going from 'unexplained' to 'explained by god' with no logic in the middle?

And of course this brings up the problem of infinite regress. If the universe is so complicated as to need a creator, wouldn't that creator be even more complicated himself? If this creator is more complicated, and we have already established that complication needs a design, then who designed the creator? Did he have an even more complicated designer which needs designing? Or was the creator brought about by random natural events? It would seem odd to accept randomness in the case of the creator but not the universe, since the creator is even more complicated. When we think about it this way, we see creationism compounds the problem rather than supplying us with answers.



The argument from incredulity is a logical fallacy that essentially relies on a lack of imagination in the audience.


The general form of the argument is as follows.


Major premise: One can't imagine (or has not imagined) how P could be so.
Minor premise (unstated): If P were so, one could imagine (or would have imagined) how.
Conclusion: Not-P.

As an example, creationists incessantly use some difficult-to-explain facet of biology as "proof" of a creator. The problem is that, though there is no non-design explanation for how precisely a certain organ could have evolved at the moment, one may be discovered in the future. Contrary to the instincts of many creationists, lack of an explanation does not justify confecting whatever explanation one would prefer. The inexplicable is just that, and does not justify speculation as proof.