All the religions say the same thing

[Avatar4321]

Saying something with big red letters doesn't make what you say anything more than annoying. That is why it is pointed out as a no-no in the rules.

The christian religion among others is based on irrational fear. Intelligent people reject tasks that have no possible resolution. It is similar to the popular definition of crazy.

You can justify your own fears with many who may tell you they are irrational? All at the same time? Impressive. That is not discussion. I am open to the possibility that there is a god. You are not open to the possibility that there is not. Where do you see in that set of rules "discussion"?

You are obviously not here to discuss anything. You are here to preach and to affirm within yourself and your imaginary god that you are worthy of his love. All very humorous in its concept but the story is old and the talisman has been weathered to the point that only the desperately weak and fearfull see anything left of it that could ward much more than the scoffing you recieve and deserve.

What irrational fear do you seem to think it's based on?

Why should I be open to the possibility that there is not a God when God has already revealed Himself to me and made it clear that He actually is there? I stopped questioning what 2+2 is when I learned it equals 4. Why should I continue to ask questions I already know the answer to now?

And no, you arent open to the possibility that there is a God. If you were, you'd actually look for Him and learn that there is one.

 

[Madeline]

All the religions say almost the same things, but I still believe being Christian is the best way to go. Most of the religions say don't lie, don't steal, don't have sex until married, don't hurt others, and so on.

I have picked Christianity because inside me I know that being Christian is right. What do the rest of you think?

I think it's nice that you have that comfort, Planet Justice. But lumping together belief systems and dogmas as diverse as VooDoo and Mormonism is preposterous. Of course religions are different...we aren't carbon copies of one another, and we've been in the religion invention business since fire was discovered.

BTW, not many religions forbid sex outside marriage and most Christian faiths don't. What is forbidden is adultery...sex with a married person not your spouse. One sort of sex may lead to a new family, and the other breaks old ones up.

Quite a distinction, IMO.

 

[Madeline]

god created everything. God is almighty! God gives you free will. If you want to be evil, be evil because you will be punished for it. If you want to be good, be good because you will be gifted for it!

there is no skyfather, you are delusional.

there are so many atheists arguing with me right now, that i cannot even argue with all of them at the same time. I am very disappointed that i joined this website. Seriously, you are calling me delusional. I am not judging any other religion in this world. I am a christian. I am a mixture of different kinds of christians. This website should create an online web-chat so we can all actually talk about this issue peacefully. You guys just talk offensively.

Athetists are quite able to behave like assholes too, Planet Justice. I saw Madeline Murray O'Hare on the old Phil Donohue show and that woman was definately an asshole. And an athetist.

Use your ignore button, and take a breath. You have no duty to argue back with everyone at once.

Quick Links--->Edit Options--->Edit Ignore List.

Sorry you are being hassled.

 

[HUGGY]

Saying something with big red letters doesn't make what you say anything more than annoying. That is why it is pointed out as a no-no in the rules.

The christian religion among others is based on irrational fear. Intelligent people reject tasks that have no possible resolution. It is similar to the popular definition of crazy.

You can justify your own fears with many who may tell you they are irrational? All at the same time? Impressive. That is not discussion. I am open to the possibility that there is a god. You are not open to the possibility that there is not. Where do you see in that set of rules "discussion"?

You are obviously not here to discuss anything. You are here to preach and to affirm within yourself and your imaginary god that you are worthy of his love. All very humorous in its concept but the story is old and the talisman has been weathered to the point that only the desperately weak and fearfull see anything left of it that could ward much more than the scoffing you recieve and deserve.

What irrational fear do you seem to think it's based on?

Why should I be open to the possibility that there is not a God when God has already revealed Himself to me and made it clear that He actually is there? I stopped questioning what 2+2 is when I learned it equals 4. Why should I continue to ask questions I already know the answer to now?

And no, you arent open to the possibility that there is a God. If you were, you'd actually look for Him and learn that there is one.

Good. We have established a faint hope of dialog.

Irrational to me means something probably more certain to be not true or based on an untested theory. The irrational could be anything from childhood like imagined monsters under the bed or shadows in the closet thought to be threatening.

As the psyche develops death takes more center stage in the imagination and with loss and grieving from others deaths harvest comes a natural fear of ones own end.

We fall in love with life and spawn dreams of what could be. Knowing of death but not being dead we fear not being alive to fulfil our dreams of what might be. We socialize and learn from others sharing common dreams. Yet no one knows what death is. It is irrational because it is not knowable.

So we develop from learning to grope and cope with what is easily reasoned away to fixated with what cannot be understood. This process of overcoming our irrational fears builds up trust and eventually blind trust in our ability to reason.

Then we ascend again when we look up or gaze down and witness what appears to be order in the vastness and order in the minute. Our ability to cope with mystery is again challenged and our fear of our worth or fit in it all is presented to the curious.

We study and note and soon we know much about the world but still the one big question looms unstudied and unanswered. Our strength to reason meets brick wall reducing us back through every lesson learned to what we knew upon first knowledge that there was something unseen under the bed and all seeing in the closet. Irrational fear.

 

[editec]

Given that religions tend to be the original moral codes of most societies, they pretty much have to have similar moral codes.

After all, if lying, stealing, and murder are tolerated by a society, that society isn't going to thrive very long.

And eventually those less functional societies eventually encounter more functional societies (more functional because their moral codes create better social order, hence they become more prosperous and powerful) and those less funcitonal societies are absorbed by the more functional (orderly) societies.

Religion is first and foremost a system of laws based on the presumption that some supernatural power is giving them those laws.

So it shouldn't surprise us that the religions that thrived and prospered tended to have many similarities as to how their societies maintained that superior social order.

A society that tolerates theft and corruption (like ours has started to do, I note) is basically doomed to failure.

 

[Madeline]

Saying something with big red letters doesn't make what you say anything more than annoying. That is why it is pointed out as a no-no in the rules.

The christian religion among others is based on irrational fear. Intelligent people reject tasks that have no possible resolution. It is similar to the popular definition of crazy.

You can justify your own fears with many who may tell you they are irrational? All at the same time? Impressive. That is not discussion. I am open to the possibility that there is a god. You are not open to the possibility that there is not. Where do you see in that set of rules "discussion"?

You are obviously not here to discuss anything. You are here to preach and to affirm within yourself and your imaginary god that you are worthy of his love. All very humorous in its concept but the story is old and the talisman has been weathered to the point that only the desperately weak and fearfull see anything left of it that could ward much more than the scoffing you recieve and deserve.

What irrational fear do you seem to think it's based on?

Why should I be open to the possibility that there is not a God when God has already revealed Himself to me and made it clear that He actually is there? I stopped questioning what 2+2 is when I learned it equals 4. Why should I continue to ask questions I already know the answer to now?

And no, you arent open to the possibility that there is a God. If you were, you'd actually look for Him and learn that there is one.

Good. We have established a faint hope of dialog.

Irrational to me means something probably more certain to be not true or based on an untested theory. The irrational could be anything from childhood like imagined monsters under the bed or shadows in the closet thought to be threatening.

As the psyche develops death takes more center stage in the imagination and with loss and grieving from others deaths harvest comes a natural fear of ones own end.

We fall in love with life and spawn dreams of what could be. Knowing of death but not being dead we fear not being alive to fulfil our dreams of what might be. We socialize and learn from others sharing common dreams. Yet no one knows what death is. It is irrational because it is not knowable.

So we develop from learning to grope and cope with what is easily reasoned away to fixated with what cannot be understood. This process of overcoming our irrational fears builds up trust and eventually blind trust in our ability to reason.

Then we ascend again when we look up or gaze down and witness what appears to be order in the vastness and order in the minute. Our ability to cope with mystery is again challenged and our fear of our worth or fit in it all is presented to the curious.

We study and note and soon we know much about the world but still the one big question looms unstudied and unanswered. Our strength to reason meets brick wall reducing us back through every lesson learned to what we knew upon first knowledge that there was something unseen under the bed and all seeing in the closet. Irrational fear.

The way I see things, both of you win. If there really is a God and Plain Justice pleases Him or Her or It, then he
(she?) wins. S/he gets to go to Heaven AND watch Huggy get sent to Hell.

If there is no God, Huggy gets to do the big dirt nap but in the nano-second before he blinks out, he gets the satisfaction of knowing that Plain Justice does as well.

It's rare to see a fist-fight end in a draw, but I believe this one has. Given the POVs you have each adopted, you can both take comfort in your (apparently) certain knowledge the other will spend eternity just as you believe he (or she) deserves to.

This, folks, is what my kidlet calls a "self-correcting problem".

 

[HUGGY]

What irrational fear do you seem to think it's based on?

Why should I be open to the possibility that there is not a God when God has already revealed Himself to me and made it clear that He actually is there? I stopped questioning what 2+2 is when I learned it equals 4. Why should I continue to ask questions I already know the answer to now?

And no, you arent open to the possibility that there is a God. If you were, you'd actually look for Him and learn that there is one.

Good. We have established a faint hope of dialog.

Irrational to me means something probably more certain to be not true or based on an untested theory. The irrational could be anything from childhood like imagined monsters under the bed or shadows in the closet thought to be threatening.

As the psyche develops death takes more center stage in the imagination and with loss and grieving from others deaths harvest comes a natural fear of ones own end.

We fall in love with life and spawn dreams of what could be. Knowing of death but not being dead we fear not being alive to fulfil our dreams of what might be. We socialize and learn from others sharing common dreams. Yet no one knows what death is. It is irrational because it is not knowable.

So we develop from learning to grope and cope with what is easily reasoned away to fixated with what cannot be understood. This process of overcoming our irrational fears builds up trust and eventually blind trust in our ability to reason.

Then we ascend again when we look up or gaze down and witness what appears to be order in the vastness and order in the minute. Our ability to cope with mystery is again challenged and our fear of our worth or fit in it all is presented to the curious.

We study and note and soon we know much about the world but still the one big question looms unstudied and unanswered. Our strength to reason meets brick wall reducing us back through every lesson learned to what we knew upon first knowledge that there was something unseen under the bed and all seeing in the closet. Irrational fear.

The way I see things, both of you win. If there really is a God and Plain Justice pleases Him or Her or It, then he
(she?) wins. S/he gets to go to Heaven AND watch Huggy get sent to Hell.

If there is no God, Huggy gets to do the big dirt nap but in the nano-second before he blinks out, he gets the satisfaction of knowing that Plain Justice does as well.

It's rare to see a fist-fight end in a draw, but I believe this one has. Given the POVs you have each adopted, you can both take comfort in your (apparently) certain knowledge the other will spend eternity just as you believe he (or she) deserves to.

This, folks, is what my kidlet calls a "self-correcting problem".

UUuummmmmmm...... M-a-d-e-l-i-n-e.... That was just a statement of definition of "irrational fear". I made no body of argument or closing on God or No God.

Stay tuned.....

 

[AVG-JOE]

There is no skyfather, you are delusional.

I can't really respond since I've never heard of anything called the skyfather and couldn't tell you if there was one or not.

However. I know that God the Father exists. I know that His Son Jesus Christ died for us. And I know this through the Holy Ghost.

I appreciate your position and beliefs 4321. Please understand that the last thing I want is for you to change your mind... I, however, know that God the Father does not exist. I also know that the stories of God taking on the skin of a Jew named Jesus and dying for the sins of mankind are the fantasies of a species looking for explanations for and a way out of its own cruelty. I know this through my own study, observations and self awareness.

I don't care what you believe - in my opinion the Worship Industry shouldn't be exempt from taxes, but that is the subject of another thread - as I said, I don't care what it is that you consider 'truth' in the privacy of your own mind, I firmly support your right to be wrong. I also understand EXACTLY how you feel about what I believe is the truth - I know you well enough to bet you a dollar that neither of us will ever change the others mind (which is NOT to say that either of us will never change).

Can we still be friends? Maybe, as we have interaction, we may find we have other things in common.

If not friends, can we still be neighbors, living in peace? Do we really have a choice on that one?

 

[Madeline]

Good. We have established a faint hope of dialog.

Irrational to me means something probably more certain to be not true or based on an untested theory. The irrational could be anything from childhood like imagined monsters under the bed or shadows in the closet thought to be threatening.

As the psyche develops death takes more center stage in the imagination and with loss and grieving from others deaths harvest comes a natural fear of ones own end.

We fall in love with life and spawn dreams of what could be. Knowing of death but not being dead we fear not being alive to fulfil our dreams of what might be. We socialize and learn from others sharing common dreams. Yet no one knows what death is. It is irrational because it is not knowable.

So we develop from learning to grope and cope with what is easily reasoned away to fixated with what cannot be understood. This process of overcoming our irrational fears builds up trust and eventually blind trust in our ability to reason.

Then we ascend again when we look up or gaze down and witness what appears to be order in the vastness and order in the minute. Our ability to cope with mystery is again challenged and our fear of our worth or fit in it all is presented to the curious.

We study and note and soon we know much about the world but still the one big question looms unstudied and unanswered. Our strength to reason meets brick wall reducing us back through every lesson learned to what we knew upon first knowledge that there was something unseen under the bed and all seeing in the closet. Irrational fear.

The way I see things, both of you win. If there really is a God and Plain Justice pleases Him or Her or It, then he
(she?) wins. S/he gets to go to Heaven AND watch Huggy get sent to Hell.

If there is no God, Huggy gets to do the big dirt nap but in the nano-second before he blinks out, he gets the satisfaction of knowing that Plain Justice does as well.

It's rare to see a fist-fight end in a draw, but I believe this one has. Given the POVs you have each adopted, you can both take comfort in your (apparently) certain knowledge the other will spend eternity just as you believe he (or she) deserves to.

This, folks, is what my kidlet calls a "self-correcting problem".

UUuummmmmmm...... M-a-d-e-l-i-n-e.... That was just a statement of definition of "irrational fear". I made no body of argument or closing on God or No God.

Stay tuned.....

Well damn Huggy, this joint NEEDS an articulate snot-flinging atheist. Think of all the heat I could deflect off my pink-o ass just by winding YOU up to go rant on the Fallacy of God again.

How completely selfish of you to disappoint me by having doubts, Huggy. Dagnabit, I had the USMB Agnostic Wing all decorated in pink and I even hung my twirly silver Disco ball. Now I suppose you'll be wanting to bring in a beer frig? Cripes.

LMAO.

 

[AVG-JOE]

What irrational fear do you seem to think it's based on?

Why should I be open to the possibility that there is not a God when God has already revealed Himself to me and made it clear that He actually is there? I stopped questioning what 2+2 is when I learned it equals 4. Why should I continue to ask questions I already know the answer to now?

And no, you arent open to the possibility that there is a God. If you were, you'd actually look for Him and learn that there is one.

Good. We have established a faint hope of dialog.

Irrational to me means something probably more certain to be not true or based on an untested theory. The irrational could be anything from childhood like imagined monsters under the bed or shadows in the closet thought to be threatening.

As the psyche develops death takes more center stage in the imagination and with loss and grieving from others deaths harvest comes a natural fear of ones own end.

We fall in love with life and spawn dreams of what could be. Knowing of death but not being dead we fear not being alive to fulfil our dreams of what might be. We socialize and learn from others sharing common dreams. Yet no one knows what death is. It is irrational because it is not knowable.

So we develop from learning to grope and cope with what is easily reasoned away to fixated with what cannot be understood. This process of overcoming our irrational fears builds up trust and eventually blind trust in our ability to reason.

Then we ascend again when we look up or gaze down and witness what appears to be order in the vastness and order in the minute. Our ability to cope with mystery is again challenged and our fear of our worth or fit in it all is presented to the curious.

We study and note and soon we know much about the world but still the one big question looms unstudied and unanswered. Our strength to reason meets brick wall reducing us back through every lesson learned to what we knew upon first knowledge that there was something unseen under the bed and all seeing in the closet. Irrational fear.

The way I see things, both of you win. If there really is a God and Plain Justice pleases Him or Her or It, then he
(she?) wins. S/he gets to go to Heaven AND watch Huggy get sent to Hell.

If there is no God, Huggy gets to do the big dirt nap but in the nano-second before he blinks out, he gets the satisfaction of knowing that Plain Justice does as well.

It's rare to see a fist-fight end in a draw, but I believe this one has. Given the POVs you have each adopted, you can both take comfort in your (apparently) certain knowledge the other will spend eternity just as you believe he (or she) deserves to.

This, folks, is what my kidlet calls a "self-correcting problem".

Ass-u-me-ing the Christians are right, any one whose attitude includes relishing in someone else getting sent to Hell (especially just to be able to say "Told ya!!") is destined to join them in Hell.

How many self-described Christians do YOU know who couldn't pass that test? Shame the Devil and tell the truth, now

 

[Madeline]

Good. We have established a faint hope of dialog.

Irrational to me means something probably more certain to be not true or based on an untested theory. The irrational could be anything from childhood like imagined monsters under the bed or shadows in the closet thought to be threatening.

As the psyche develops death takes more center stage in the imagination and with loss and grieving from others deaths harvest comes a natural fear of ones own end.

We fall in love with life and spawn dreams of what could be. Knowing of death but not being dead we fear not being alive to fulfil our dreams of what might be. We socialize and learn from others sharing common dreams. Yet no one knows what death is. It is irrational because it is not knowable.

So we develop from learning to grope and cope with what is easily reasoned away to fixated with what cannot be understood. This process of overcoming our irrational fears builds up trust and eventually blind trust in our ability to reason.

Then we ascend again when we look up or gaze down and witness what appears to be order in the vastness and order in the minute. Our ability to cope with mystery is again challenged and our fear of our worth or fit in it all is presented to the curious.

We study and note and soon we know much about the world but still the one big question looms unstudied and unanswered. Our strength to reason meets brick wall reducing us back through every lesson learned to what we knew upon first knowledge that there was something unseen under the bed and all seeing in the closet. Irrational fear.

The way I see things, both of you win. If there really is a God and Plain Justice pleases Him or Her or It, then he
(she?) wins. S/he gets to go to Heaven AND watch Huggy get sent to Hell.

If there is no God, Huggy gets to do the big dirt nap but in the nano-second before he blinks out, he gets the satisfaction of knowing that Plain Justice does as well.

It's rare to see a fist-fight end in a draw, but I believe this one has. Given the POVs you have each adopted, you can both take comfort in your (apparently) certain knowledge the other will spend eternity just as you believe he (or she) deserves to.

This, folks, is what my kidlet calls a "self-correcting problem".

Ass-u-me-ing the Christians are right, any one whose attitude includes relishing in someone else getting sent to Hell (especially just to be able to say "Told ya!!") is destined to join them in Hell.

How many self-described Christians do YOU know who couldn't pass that test? Shame the Devil and tell the truth, now

I cannot even name a single self-described Christian who adheres to each and every one of the Ten Commandments. And the Jews will argue that there are MORE than Ten and that you're not interpreting them correctly.

I never did understand how anyone can tell who's getting into Heaven and who is not without a Canonical Lawyer sitting on their shoulder all life long, and mebbe not then either. Ever heard two Jesuits argue? Almost as bad as the Jews.

Me, I'm more worried that I'll get to Heaven, find some malfeasor I don't think deserved a pardon and begin raising sand. I suppose Purgatory was invented for the likes of me, he he he.

 

[industry7]

How on earth can you say all the religions say the same thing? They don't. If they did, we wouldn't have to argue about anything.

It's been my observation that people will always find some difference to fight over. The more that two things are alike, the smaller the differences they're willing to fight over. It seems to be human nature.

 

[THE LIGHT]

The way I see things, both of you win. If there really is a God and Plain Justice pleases Him or Her or It, then he
(she?) wins. S/he gets to go to Heaven AND watch Huggy get sent to Hell.

In your bout of political correctness, you forgot "it wins" too. You don't want the "it" getting upset at you for forgeting "it".

If there is no God, Huggy gets to do the big dirt nap but in the nano-second before he blinks out, he gets the satisfaction of knowing that Plain Justice does as well.

Reincarnation, by Wallace McRae

What is reincarnation? A cowboy asked his friend.
It starts, his old pal told him, when your life comes to an end.
They wash your neck and comb your hair and clean your fingernails,
And put you in a padded box away from life’s travails.

The box and you goes in a hole that’s been dug in the ground.
Reincarnation starts in when you’re planted neath that mound.
Them clods melt down, just like the box, and you who is inside.
And that’s when you begin your transformation ride.

And in a while the grass will grow upon your rendered mound,
Until some day, upon that spot, a lonely flower is found.
And then a horse may wander by and graze upon that flower
That once was you, and now has become your vegetated bower.

Now, the flower that the horse done eat, along with his other feed,
Makes bone and fat and muscle essential to the steed.
But there’s a part that he can’t use and so it passes through.
And there it lies upon the ground, this thing that once was you.

And if perchance, I should pass by and see this on the ground,
I’ll stop awhile and ponder at this object that I’ve found.
I’ll think about Reincarnation and life and death and such,
And come away concludin’, why, you ain’t changed all that much.

It's rare to see a fist-fight end in a draw, but I believe this one has. Given the POVs you have each adopted, you can both take comfort in your (apparently) certain knowledge the other will spend eternity just as you believe he (or she) deserves to.

As always, it is stupid to reason based on what "we" think unless that is, we are "gods."

If you commit a crime, does the judge care what you think your destiny should be?

 

[THE LIGHT]

The way I see things, both of you win. If there really is a God and Plain Justice pleases Him or Her or It, then he
(she?) wins. S/he gets to go to Heaven AND watch Huggy get sent to Hell.

If there is no God, Huggy gets to do the big dirt nap but in the nano-second before he blinks out, he gets the satisfaction of knowing that Plain Justice does as well.

It's rare to see a fist-fight end in a draw, but I believe this one has. Given the POVs you have each adopted, you can both take comfort in your (apparently) certain knowledge the other will spend eternity just as you believe he (or she) deserves to.

This, folks, is what my kidlet calls a "self-correcting problem".

Ass-u-me-ing the Christians are right, any one whose attitude includes relishing in someone else getting sent to Hell (especially just to be able to say "Told ya!!") is destined to join them in Hell.

How many self-described Christians do YOU know who couldn't pass that test? Shame the Devil and tell the truth, now

I cannot even name a single self-described Christian who adheres to each and every one of the Ten Commandments. And the Jews will argue that there are MORE than Ten and that you're not interpreting them correctly.

I never did understand how anyone can tell who's getting into Heaven and who is not without a Canonical Lawyer sitting on their shoulder all life long, and mebbe not then either. Ever heard two Jesuits argue? Almost as bad as the Jews.

Me, I'm more worried that I'll get to Heaven, find some malfeasor I don't think deserved a pardon and begin raising sand. I suppose Purgatory was invented for the likes of me, he he he.

if they are looking to get to heaven based on their own works then none of em is going.

 

[Madeline]

Ass-u-me-ing the Christians are right, any one whose attitude includes relishing in someone else getting sent to Hell (especially just to be able to say "Told ya!!") is destined to join them in Hell.

How many self-described Christians do YOU know who couldn't pass that test? Shame the Devil and tell the truth, now

I cannot even name a single self-described Christian who adheres to each and every one of the Ten Commandments. And the Jews will argue that there are MORE than Ten and that you're not interpreting them correctly.

I never did understand how anyone can tell who's getting into Heaven and who is not without a Canonical Lawyer sitting on their shoulder all life long, and mebbe not then either. Ever heard two Jesuits argue? Almost as bad as the Jews.

Me, I'm more worried that I'll get to Heaven, find some malfeasor I don't think deserved a pardon and begin raising sand. I suppose Purgatory was invented for the likes of me, he he he.

if they are looking to get to heaven based on their own works then none of em is going.

By whose actions shall my life be judged then, The Light? I have no desire to spend eternity with a bunch of life-long evil doers who knew the magic words that permitted them to escape the burden of their sins and harm to others. Nope, you go on ahead to this sort of Paradise by yourself and enjoy. I won't be joining you or anyone else who is "in on a pass" after a life of spreading despair and waste.

I'd a whole lot rather be in Hell with those who tried to do right and yet failed to attain Heaven, as they did not happen to have a magic formula for escaping personal responsibility.

If this choice confuses you, I can explain to you a second time more slowly.

 

[THE LIGHT]

I cannot even name a single self-described Christian who adheres to each and every one of the Ten Commandments. And the Jews will argue that there are MORE than Ten and that you're not interpreting them correctly.

I never did understand how anyone can tell who's getting into Heaven and who is not without a Canonical Lawyer sitting on their shoulder all life long, and mebbe not then either. Ever heard two Jesuits argue? Almost as bad as the Jews.

Me, I'm more worried that I'll get to Heaven, find some malfeasor I don't think deserved a pardon and begin raising sand. I suppose Purgatory was invented for the likes of me, he he he.

if they are looking to get to heaven based on their own works then none of em is going.

By whose actions shall my life be judged then, The Light? I have no desire to spend eternity with a bunch of life-long evil doers who knew the magic words that permitted them to escape the burden of their sins and harm to others. Nope, you go on ahead to this sort of Paradise by yourself and enjoy. I won't be joining you or anyone else who is "in on a pass" after a life of spreading despair and waste.

I'd a whole lot rather be in Hell with those who tried to do right and yet failed to attain Heaven, as they did not happen to have a magic formula for escaping personal responsibility.

If this choice confuses you, I can explain to you a second time more slowly.

So you would rather spend eternity with sinners that didn't accept Jesus rather than sinners that did?

Everyone has a free will. Sounds like you are just prejudice towards Jesus.

 

[Barb]

If I had to pick just one, and I don't believe that I do (don't take direction well, I'm afraid), I would pick Shinto. Pretty and unobtrusive little shrines, mostly outdoors, appropriate to the blessings asked or thanked for, and no social or government stigma attached to attendance or lack thereof. Actually, no government function at all, no socially controlling dogma, and no exclusive use (dad likes me best) clause.

 

[THE LIGHT]

If I had to pick just one, and I don't believe that I do (don't take direction well, I'm afraid), I would pick Shinto. Pretty and unobtrusive little shrines, mostly outdoors, appropriate to the blessings asked or thanked for, and no social or government stigma attached to attendance or lack thereof. Actually, no government function at all, no socially controlling dogma, and no exclusive use (dad likes me best) clause.

But it isn't what we want that matters, it is the truth that matters.

If a cliff exists and someone is walking towards it; Is it the truth that matters or is it their preference that matters? Do you think the cliff will disappear if they don't like cliffs?

 

[Oscar Wao]

Most religions may have similar concepts of God, but none are the SAME.

They all need a firm foundation to lead to the being they claim to worship. Without a firm foundation, why have the religion, when everyone's going to end up in the same place anyway?

 

[AVG-JOE]

If I had to pick just one, and I don't believe that I do (don't take direction well, I'm afraid), I would pick Shinto. Pretty and unobtrusive little shrines, mostly outdoors, appropriate to the blessings asked or thanked for, and no social or government stigma attached to attendance or lack thereof. Actually, no government function at all, no socially controlling dogma, and no exclusive use (dad likes me best) clause.

You DO only get to pick one. Everyone has both the opportunity and the requirement to, in the privacy of their own heart, form a belief system that makes sense to them.

Name a single individual who has not chosen to accept some aspects of various belief systems while rejecting other aspects and I'll kiss your ass on the 50 yard line of any game you buy the tickets for.

Even the massive variety of ways to call yourself 'Christian' (Baptist, Catholic, Pentecostal, etc.) and the massive variety of ways to call yourself 'Muslim' (Shiite, Suni, etc.) and the massive variety of ways to call yourself a 'Jew' (Orthodox, Reformed, Hassidic, etc) and the spin-offs from the mainstreams like Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. all started with one dude looking another dude square in the eye and saying something to the effect of, "Dude, you are SO wrong about that! What God REALLY says is....."

In the humble opinion of this average Joe, there are as many belief systems (religions) as there are individuals who are technically self-aware.

The sooner we, as a species, learn to accept that our neighbors God (personal belief system) is just as valid in the realm of religion as our own, and that what is or is not acceptable social behavior needs to be decided in a separate political realm where every individual has the same voice, the sooner our children can begin reaching for the stars in earnest.

No matter what you believe, if your goal is to see to it that everyone who does not share the basis for your belief system is converted or killed, you are part of the problem and not part of the solution. The goal of our unique DNA is survival of the life it represents and not to see one religion 'win'. Religion, like social order, political and commercial organization and survival of the fittest are merely tools that life uses to foment the metamorphosis of a living planet into a Sentient World.

Exciting times, eh?