Why I Am Not A Christian

[Anguille]

I used to live in Italy, and visited the Vatican museums perhaps 30 times.

Let me tell you, those Raphael Stanzas get old.

It drove me to Jackson Pollack and the bottle.

That may be but the swiss guard hunks sure don't get old.

I'm sure there's some sort of sin, there.

FWIW the Vatican is the most spectacular building I have ever seen.

We really have dofferent taste! St Peter's Square is a beautiful space but the interior of St Peter's impresses me as being even more ugly and gaudy and garish than Versailles.

 

[Anguille]

I do agree women will be more apt to give head if they get it but I never really cared for it......unless I was driving.....

Unless you wre driving?? Isn't that even more distracting than talking on you cell phone?

 

[Anguille]

I know what I would say...


"god...you are a jerk!

punishing people for such petty offenses is sick

NOBODY deserves to burn in hell forever simply for having sex outside of marriage
or getting divorced
or being gay
or for just not believing in you

plenty of DECENT and GOOD and HONORABLE people indulge in these acts andthey do NOT deserve to be punished for all eternity...

god
you are a sick bastard
and you should seek help

and
one last thing
you are completely wrong about slavery

slavery is NOT acceptable!

slavery is BAD!

now...go to your room and think about what you've done

and I don't want you to come out until you are ready to apoligize to ALL of mankind"

I find it mildly amusing that you presume to tell an all powerful being what is right and what is wrong rather than to learn directly from Him. You have an incorrect understanding of God and yet somehow it's His fault.

I love when religious people claim to have an inside tract to God's mind.

 

[eagleseven]

We really have dofferent taste! St Peter's Square is a beautiful space but the interior of St Peter's impresses me as being even more ugly and gaudy and garish than Versailles.

The overwhelming beauty of the Vatican reminds me of Jesus' poverty.

 

[Anguille]

There is no point condemning the non-believer. I don't have that power. I want to save the non-believer. I want to empower people through the Atonement of Jesus Christ to change their lives and live more according to the order of righteousness and happiness. I want people to feel the love of God as strongly as I do. I want them to recognize their weaknesses, because until they honestly do, they can't improve on themselves.

Why should I condemn when everything the Gospel teaches is to lift up?

You ring my doorbell to annoy me with that crap and expect to get an earful from me. Members of proselytizing religions who try to suck people into their Ponzi schemes are no better than telemarketers.

 

[Anguille]

We really have dofferent taste! St Peter's Square is a beautiful space but the interior of St Peter's impresses me as being even more ugly and gaudy and garish than Versailles.

The overwhelming beauty of the Vatican reminds me of Jesus' poverty.

Good point. Since I think the Vatican is ooogly I am reminded by it that simplicity is a good thing.

 

[CurveLight]

I do agree women will be more apt to give head if they get it but I never really cared for it......unless I was driving.....

Unless you wre driving?? Isn't that even more distracting than talking on you cell phone?

Lol......nope. It helped me to concentrate on driving even more......the last thing I wanted was an interruption in foreplay.

 

[CurveLight]

I have the answer!!! I know why I am not a christian. They got this little rule:
Exodus 20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
I am so out of here

Actually.....that isn't a Christian rule at all. That would be Jewish.

And the 10 commandments are not a christian tenet?

No. That would be Jewish as well.

 

[Toro]

I've heard that claim before as a reason why people should be religious. That it will make them happy.

I never said that people should be religious because it will make them happy. I was making the observation that the religious people whom I have met tend to be happier.

 

[Toro]

We really have dofferent taste! St Peter's Square is a beautiful space but the interior of St Peter's impresses me as being even more ugly and gaudy and garish than Versailles.

I get the ostentatious display of wealth, but everywhere I looked, there was art. Art on the walls, art on the ceiling, even art on the floor I was walking on. I felt I was doing the place injustice by only spending a day there.

I wasn't impressed with Versailles. Every room seemed to have a picture of Louis XIV in it. "I am the Sun King!" BFD.

 

[Anguille]

We really have dofferent taste! St Peter's Square is a beautiful space but the interior of St Peter's impresses me as being even more ugly and gaudy and garish than Versailles.

I get the ostentatious display of wealth, but everywhere I looked, there was art. Art on the walls, art on the ceiling, even art on the floor I was walking on. I felt I was doing the place injustice by only spending a day there.

I wasn't impressed with Versailles. Every room seemed to have a picture of Louis XIV in it. "I am the Sun King!" BFD.

I agree, there are some beautiful works of art in St Peter's, I just think the space is ruined by all the gilt and mishmash. I love marble but neither place uses marble in an pleasing way.

 

[Anguille]

I've heard that claim before as a reason why people should be religious. That it will make them happy.

I never said that people should be religious because it will make them happy. I was making the observation that the religious people whom I have met tend to be happier.

I understood what you were saying, I just did not word my response very well. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[Intense]

That's the common misinterpretation but anyone who has studied the issue knows it is way off base. Not to mention the fact Jesus never paid taxes once his ministry began.

Im curious how you reached that conclusion. I mean it may be completely accurate, but the scriptures are silent on the matter. Arguments from silence aren't very strong ones. After all, Jesus never went to the bathroom in the Bible either. Does that mean he never did during his ministry? I find it unlikely.

It's not an argument from silence at all. It's about understanding a culture.
Imagine some sequence of fucked up events that left our current english language in bits and pieces and 2,000 years from now someone finds a box that has "Air Conditioner" printed on it. We automatically know it's sole function is to cool the air. However, taking bits of info from our same era people could argue "Air Conditioner" meant "Air Purifier" or that it raised or lowered temps while also cleaning the air. So how would it be determined? The same approach must be used when studying ancient texts.

Hint. One would inspect the filter.

 

[Intense]

I Do believe in God. I'm not certain why anyone would feel attacked; apart from Cecille, everyone who has posted on this thread seems to me to have been rather restrained and held off on judgments.

I'm not "pushing atheism" on anyone. And if I wanted to, this certainly seems like a piss-poor way to do it. My beliefs leave me with all the duties to be good and none of the rewards claimed by christians. Seems to me, this is a pretty raw deal, metaphysically.

Apart from the fact that, IMO, it is true and I am overly-fond of reality.

Sometimes the Joy is in the doing.

 

[CurveLight]

Im curious how you reached that conclusion. I mean it may be completely accurate, but the scriptures are silent on the matter. Arguments from silence aren't very strong ones. After all, Jesus never went to the bathroom in the Bible either. Does that mean he never did during his ministry? I find it unlikely.

It's not an argument from silence at all. It's about understanding a culture.
Imagine some sequence of fucked up events that left our current english language in bits and pieces and 2,000 years from now someone finds a box that has "Air Conditioner" printed on it. We automatically know it's sole function is to cool the air. However, taking bits of info from our same era people could argue "Air Conditioner" meant "Air Purifier" or that it raised or lowered temps while also cleaning the air. So how would it be determined? The same approach must be used when studying ancient texts.

Hint. One would inspect the filter.

Holy shit man.

 

[Ava]

Since you, Madeline, and others, are relatively new to USMB, as I, I will state my beliefs again.

I am an agnostic. That is why I am not a Christian. And while I live a Buddha like lifestyle, I am not a Buddhist, for I do not believe in an afterlife. I also do not wish to be bound by the constraints of marriage[ again ] or religion. I live instead, a Christian-like or Buddha-like existence and am very happy with a kind and compassionate nature. I live a moral life. Heaven and hell are right here on earth, and you will experience them as often as your choices take you there.

I believe in the universal law of cause and effect--the empowering conviction that we all ultimately direct our own lives.

 

[Intense]

It's not an argument from silence at all. It's about understanding a culture.
Imagine some sequence of fucked up events that left our current english language in bits and pieces and 2,000 years from now someone finds a box that has "Air Conditioner" printed on it. We automatically know it's sole function is to cool the air. However, taking bits of info from our same era people could argue "Air Conditioner" meant "Air Purifier" or that it raised or lowered temps while also cleaning the air. So how would it be determined? The same approach must be used when studying ancient texts.

Hint. One would inspect the filter.

Holy shit man.

Any Time!

 

[CurveLight]

Hint. One would inspect the filter.

Holy shit man.

Any Time!

There is no filter.

 

[Madeline]

Since you, Madeline, and others, are relatively new to USMB, as I, I will state my beliefs again.

I am an agnostic. That is why I am not a Christian. And while I live a Buddha like lifestyle, I am not a Buddhist, for I do not believe in an afterlife. I also do not wish to be bound by the constraints of marriage[ again ] or religion. I live instead, a Christian-like or Buddha-like existence and am very happy with a kind and compassionate nature. I live a moral life. Heaven and hell are right here on earth, and you will experience them as often as your choices take you there.

I believe in the universal law of cause and effect--the empowering conviction that we all ultimately direct our own lives.

Well now, this is fascinating. I agree with you -- to a point. But what could European Jews have done to warrant the Death Camps? Or Russians, to "attract" Stalin?

 

[Madeline]

That may be but the swiss guard hunks sure don't get old.

I'm sure there's some sort of sin, there.

FWIW the Vatican is the most spectacular building I have ever seen.

We really have dofferent taste! St Peter's Square is a beautiful space but the interior of St Peter's impresses me as being even more ugly and gaudy and garish than Versailles.

Mebbe the Vatican will not look quite so lovely next you gaze at it, if you bear in mind the Germans did not loot it in exchange for Pope Pius XII"s silence on the Final Solution. Those lovely masterpieces, including the Pieta, represent nothing to me now apart from Jewish blood and Catholic evil. I suspect when it was created, the Pieta was paid for in blood-soaked coins as well

Very little -- mebbe none -- great wealth exists without great evil. Mostly, the existence of one is compelling evidence of the other.