Why do you quote passages from the Bible ALL the time, yet you don't believe in that fairy in the sky? How can you prove a point by quoting something you say you don't believe in?
When I was in my 20's I had most of the new testament committed to memory.....chapter and verse. Most people who claim to be Christians can't quote 10 verses and get it right. My problem is that none of them actually live the way the new testament instructs them to. They think their translation of what a preacher tells them is all they need. The preacher is telling them exactly what he knows they want to hear. Anything to keep the money coming in. Kinda funny that in the old testament god told Noah the exact measurements by which to build the ark. There is nothing in the new testament about how to build a church. The whole thing is a man's game devised to control and get into other people's pockets. That's not just my opinion....that's the truth.
Cammmpbell,
There is no gift, however good or great, that men cannot put to ill use, if so inclined. Faith is no different; some use it as a scam, some as a fraud, some as a tool to beat their philosophical enemy about the head with, but none of those is its purposeJust so we're clear, if you think faith is nothing more than a scam designed to "keep the suckers in line", and Christianity nothing more than worship of some "magical old man in the sky"you are missing the whole point; I no more believe in that notion of "God" than you do. What a puny, petty, limited deity that would be!
When I went to Vietnam, one of the first things I lost was the rather childish faith I had in that sort of a "God"; I sure didn't see any sign of what I thought of as "Him" in that awful place. Yet, there was a part of me that wanted to believe in something beyond, enough so that I said a prayer every day, "Dear God, whatever happens today, don't left me fuck up, and let my men down". Doesn't sound very pious or "Christian" at all, or even much like a prayer, at all, and yet somehow, it seemed to help. There have been many times since, when I have been in places where any sort of divine comfort seemed far away, but even in the darkest moments, there was something there, something that sustained me, somehow; something far greater than anything I could conceive, and it is that something that I have come to see as "God". I can't see it, or touch it, but I can see that presence, in all the world around me; I can sense a meaning and an order to it all, even though it is mostly beyond my comprehension.
Are Christians hypocrites? Of course; we all are. I've never known even one human being who lived his or her life entirely according to ANY set of principles, without failing or falling short. Perfection is not a part of human nature; never has been, never will be. I've seen the worst we can be; pretty depressing; I've also seen the best, which is pretty awesome; and I believe it is that better part of us in which we see that spark of the divine.
All the above, may make me just another superstitious fool, in your view. I can't prove you're wrong, and I won't try. If I am wrong, then life has no meaning, no hope, and when I am gone, I will simply cease to exist; but consider this-what have I lost, in hoping for something more, and believing in something greater? What have I lost, by doing something I believed was good, or unselfish, when I might as easily have done otherwise? If nothing else, has it not made the bitterness of this world easier to bear? What load of bitterness I still carry, must be like nothing at all compared to yours. I don't like you, but I do pity you, I really do.