“The work of God”?

Thank you for the well thought out reply.

Do you want to say where it’s “bollocks” or how it’s “bollocks”?
It’s a succinct appraisal of Religious beliefs. It says enough, and I have no desire beyond saying it’s bollocks to spend the months and years it would take to adequately describe the amount of bollocks it is.
 
It is utterly staggering how believers twist and subvert their faith structure to facilitate the irrational nonsense of death in the world without just accepting its twaddle.
I know you mean well but as long as you keep posting infantile nonsense like the above it will be challenged.
You are entitled to believe what you want.
Just keep it to yourself.
Hope you’re enjoying the festive period.

If you ever want to discuss anything properly, just let me know but the above doesn’t tackle any point.
 
It’s a succinct appraisal of Religious beliefs. It says enough, and I have no desire beyond saying it’s bollocks to spend the months and years it would take to adequately describe the amount of bollocks it is.
Ok mate, enjoy the rest of the Christmas period and New Year.
 
I don’t really know how to answer this without prompting people to think it’s a ridiculous reason.

Im not bothered about ridicule, I just want to do it justice, what happened.

I’ll just leave you with a basic description...

I had the most vivid dream of my life and saw ‘Him’.

Believe me when I say I thought about whether or not is was just a dream for many weeks, I mean really thought about it. There’s several reasons why I eventually came to the conclusion that it wasn’t just a dream.

Following that I read Matthew, Luke and John, by the time I’d finished John I was convinced it was true.

It wasn’t an easy process, I was a C.Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris etc. fan before and God is Not Great was a book I really enjoyed.

Anyone that’s completely changed their mind either way will know how difficult a process it is, if you’re being honest with yourself, it takes months.

I'm not religious and probably never will be, but I wanted to know your answer and i'm glad someone else asked as I felt it was too personal. I don't think I have ever encountered someone who turned to religion without something profound happening to them. The only guy I personally knew that found God was a total knob beforehand and actually more likeable once he found some form of faith.
 
The gospels are pretty much in some places word for word rewrites of the story of Siddhartha Gotama and his life, teachings, put in a setting that fits into the religion of the region.

From the imaculate conception, the temptations the fire sermon and the teachings on renouncing wants and need for possesions and wealth to find eternal peace

Those tales would have been prevalent in the middles east as Greco-buddhism had been around in the region for 300 years and such stories told by merchants and the gnostics who tavelled to india in first century AD brought back many writings


I won't dismiss your new found belief, but don't take the gospels as, well gospel, some of it is as with all religions of the time a mish mash of different peoples stories.

That doesn't mean god ain't real though of JC was his son, that is for each person to believe and others should respect that belief.
There may be similarities between different faiths teaching peace and to move away from materialism and the immaculate conception as a concept is likely to have been part of another story, with there being thousands of divine beliefs around the world, but the Gospel story is very different to Buddhism in many areas and as you rightly say, it doesn’t disprove Christianity.

I am very conscious the Bible was written by men and whilst they were trying to understand what was happening and what had happened. There may be one or two things missed or one or two accounts that aren’t 100% accurate, I am not a fundamentalist and take the general concept of the story across all four.
 
I'm not religious and probably never will be, but I wanted to know your answer and i'm glad someone else asked as I felt it was too personal. I don't think I have ever encountered someone who turned to religion without something profound happening to them. The only guy I personally knew that found God was a total knob beforehand and actually more likeable once he found some form of faith.
I do have a couple of friends that haven’t experienced anything profound and turned to Christianity, one was going through a hard time though but the other wasn’t.

That said, they were apathetic to the whole topic and were agnostics.

I think it’s incredibly difficult for someone like me to completely u-turn on my beliefs without experiencing what I did.

I would have laughed reading my post a couple of years ago, If someone else would have posted it, so I understand Swp’s Back laughing now.
 
Not meaning to offend but deep down, those who believe in god, is not just because you can’t believe after this life there’s nothing? Is not like a comfort blanket?
 
Not meaning to offend but deep down, those who believe in god, is not just because you can’t believe after this life there’s nothing? Is not like a comfort blanket?
No, it’s not that.

I was perfectly content with the idea of not existing after death, prior to changing my beliefs.

It’s not just a comfort blanket, day to day life becomes less convenient, if anything.

P.S, don’t worry about causing offence, it’s overrated as an issue within debate.
 
It's make believe. The end.
Indeed.

Early anatomically modern humans had the capability to create mystical and fantastical stories connected to the things that were important to them: the sky, the seasons, the Sun, the Moon, the stars, plants, animals, other humans and their ancestors...

Myths and legends passed down through generations over thousands of years that evolved into cults and eventually religions.

Humans conditioned to believe in all-knowing gods or a god and that everything must have been created, controlled, and understood by higher powers or a higher power. As man realised the hold that could be held over people through religion, it was used to control the masses through their guilt-tripping fear-inducing mental slavery.

Abrahamic religions, Christianity specifically (which I know most about having gone to a Church of England Primary School), are the bastardisations of many much older Pagan religions. Every single Christian festival was stolen from long existing Pagan festivals. The entire Christian calendar overlaps with pre-existing Pagan festivals (all of which coincide with astronomical or seasonal events), and the pagan gods or legends from these festivals were adopted and amended by Christianity to make it easier to convert people.

There is no such thing as sin against devine law. Religion does not hold any cards on morality. Morals are simply a part of a human’s common-sense. Non-believers and atheists have as much of a grip of humanistic morals as any well-meaning religious person. There’s no big man upstairs punishing humans for bad behaviour with global warming or pandemics.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Indeed.

Early anatomically modern humans had the capability to create mystical and fantastical stories connected to the things that were important to them: the sky, the seasons, the Sun, the Moon, the stars, plants, animals, other humans and their ancestors...

Myths and legends passed down through generations over thousands of years that evolved into cults and eventually religions.

Humans conditioned to believe in all-knowing gods or a god and that everything must have been created, controlled, and understood by higher powers or a higher power. As man realised the hold that could be held over people through religion, it was used to control the masses through their guilt-tripping fear-inducing mental slavery.

Abrahamic religions, Christianity specifically (which I know most about having gone to a Church of England Primary School), are the bastardisations of many much older Pagan religions. Every single Christian festival was stolen from long existing Pagan festivals. The entire Christian calendar overlaps with pre-existing Pagan festivals, and the pagan gods or legends from these festivals were adopted and amended by Christianity to make it easier to convert people.

There is no such thing as sin against devine law. Religion does not hold all the cards to morality. Non-believers and atheists have as much of a grip of humanistic morals as any well-meaning religious person.
Firmly agree with all of that, except the last paragraph. Non-believers and atheists have more of a grip on morals than any religious person who thinks their morals are provided to them by their particular god of upbringing/choice (and presumably think in the absence of their particular god they’d be roaming around killing, lying, stealing and coveting their neighbours wives without said direction).
 
I cant see it being past the fanciful idea of sky fairies tbh. The Greeks and Romans had god's for everything, and we look at that as being fairly backwards since we know the sun isnt a god, we know the weather and the sea isnt controlled by a God... Thor became an avenger.

I went to catholic School, had a Nun as our headmistress. But in reality, if their was a god. It certainly isnt the one we are reading about. Basic GCSE RE tells you that they book shad all been edited and changed around to fit certain peoples agendas. For a start, this Christmas thing is all made up bollocks. No where in any document or gospel etc is the birth of christ actually recorded or dated. They just have a rough idea, because King Herod actually existed.

Christmas is a Pagan holiday, and that by its very definition makes every christian who believes in Jesus to be a sinner. as we all know worshiping false idols is a major no no according to the bible, and the facts do not back a Christmas birth.. its not really lambing season in Dec is it ?

Its a book of good ideas and theories and nothing more.. It was so good that political and religious agendas have used it and backed onto it for years. I mean can a church of England fan ever really be called a christian ? based on what ? a fat king who couldn't understand that the church didn't really like adultery, divorce and murder.. so he invented his own branch where all that is fine, also why its more of a hobby to be CoE these days.. Having a blind faith or Dogma is ok if you are into that sort of thing... But something of such historic significance based in fact just isnt their im afraid. The way the catholic church has been allowed to get away with crimes against humanity, child abuse, the crusades, the Spanish inquisition the millions killed in the name of god.. Such god would surely have just popped down and flicked the pope's head off. and all those who say god is Omnipotent, an he is widely described. Then shouldn't he just fuck off and stop making us feel guilty. If i had the ability to end all suffering in humanity i would... Oh and i forgot. I would also help aborted babies, people that wasn't christened, or ones that thought a different guy was in charge and id help them too. also the animals, because ya family pet.. god gives not one shit.. unless you are christened and confirmed you have no soul apparently..

Seriously, you die and the lights go out.. the end.. sky fairies will do fuck all for you, or anyone else. However they will take fuckloads of money from people who cant afford it ? because they represent a just can caring god.. Im getting wound up writing this now. It's all bullshit to make money and assert influence
 
Firmly agree with all of that, except the last paragraph. Non-believers and atheists have more of a grip on morals than any religious person who thinks their morals are provided to them by their particular god of upbringing/choice (and presumably think in the absence of their particular god they’d be roaming around killing, lying, stealing and coveting their neighbours wives without said direction).
Too much of a generalisation to suggest the non religious are good and those that follow a religion would be morally suspect without a set of “rules” to follow. There is good and bad in all of us and people are good or bad to greater or lesser degrees, irrespective of their beliefs or non beliefs.

You should open your mind to the fact that there are plenty of followers of religion who are also able to think for themselves and to make the right moral choice not because they are told to but because they are following their own inherent goodness
 
Too much of a generalisation to suggest the non religious are good and those that follow a religion would be morally suspect without a set of “rules” to follow. There is good and bad in all of us and people are good or bad to greater or lesser degrees, irrespective of their beliefs or non beliefs.

You should open your mind to the fact that there are plenty of followers of religion who are also able to think for themselves and to make the right moral choice not because they are told to but because they are following their own inherent goodness

Plenty of evidence to suggest that the religious element are far more corrupt an immoral than the non believers tbh.
 
Plenty of evidence to suggest that the religious element are far more corrupt an immoral than the non believers tbh.
Another generalisation. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that people will use religion to justify immoral acts or intolerance no one would deny that. I’d suggest a straw poll of convicted murderers, domestic and child abusers and con men wouldn’t unearth a trend to Christian fundamentalism as a motive or excuse. They tend to be amoral, irreligious cunts
 

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top