Twelve Things You Didn't Think Were Sins (That Will Lead You to Hell)

According to the Bible when Christians are persecuted it's good for them. They get to share in Jesus's suffering and it puts them on the fast track to heaven.

 

When you do it "for laughs" to try and get Christians or anyone else to feel their religion (which is very important to them) is stupid. I don't care if the OP was right the bible banning these actions, it's up to Christians to decide what they believe for themselves, they can listen to their holy book as much or as little as they want, and they certainly shouldn't listen to people who don't care about their faith.

 

But according to modern Christianity and common sense they don't want to be, and you should respect that. Period.

 

But it is stupid.. I came to realise it back when I was a Christian, and it didn't take a lot of prodding from non-Christians to get me there either.

I don't see why Christians should wall themselves off from dissenting opinions. They shouldn't be afraid to evaluate the validity of their beliefs. People should operate on truth and reason, not superstition. That, in my view, would make the world a better place for all of us, because people act really stupid in the name of religions and other such unreasonable beliefs. In fact, the basic problem is a lack of reason and rationality. I see challenging religion as a way to get people thinking in ways they may have neglected to do before.

 

Why should people respect that? Why should any belief be treated as sacrosanct and left alone? That's silly.

 

We could be demons sent by God to torment such people. It wouldn't happen if it wasn't his will.

Mark 3:35 (NLT) = "Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

 

Larf. If I'm Yahweh's chosen demon, he never told me about it. But then, I hear he works in mysterious ways, so who knows..

 

It doesn't matter what it is, it is real to them. The human mind is made to feel god or something like god and they care about that feeling so much. Religion is natural, not stupid.

People shouldn't ignore dissenting opinions but they have the right to. They shouldn't be made fun of for that.

Everyone follows truth, they just think they already know it, and those who "know" the truth are vastly more likely to of found it at random than through reason.

Everyone also follows reason, but everyone tempers reason with emotion. You are guilty of following your emotions just like everyone else. You can't call out others for doing the same.

You're not champing reason when fighting religion. There are much bigger areas where people need reason other than on religious views, like politics. fighting religion is pointless and gets us no where. If you really cared about reason you would teach people to think for themselves, not just hope they give up religion.

 

Stop assuming I'm Christian, I'm agnostic.

 

I never said leave Christianity alone, I said respect it.

 

Consider all of the other things you could be doing with your time. Yet you spend a lot of it here discussing religious matters. Why is that? Why did you start?
Can you stop cold turkey? What reason do you give yourself for doing what you do? Do you really believe that reason?

 

more likely to of found it

^ That is ungrammatical. It is incorrect, just like belief in gods.

Yes, people have a right to ignore dissenting opinions. That doesn't mean I don't get to post my views regardless, however. I have the right to express my views and they have the right to ignore them if they so choose.

Regarding god belief being natural, you are right to an extent. The human mind is what it is: An animal mind, the product of a complex animal brain. As such, it has certain quirks in how it works, even in the most sane and sensible of human beings. God belief per se is not wired into the brain, however, but rather is one way that quirk in human thought is dealt with. That is, humans are naturally superstitious and often feel a need to believe in a "higher power." Other factors driving people to such beliefs are the fear of death and a need to find explanatory order in the apparent chaos of reality. Anyway, what kind of higher power it is that suits one's fancy varies, obviously, but that doesn't mean one is stuck with one belief for a lifetime, nor even with the need for that kind of belief - one can make pretty drastic changes if one chooses, and what drives their belief will likely affect, among other things, how able they are to overcome such beliefs.

Also, people temper emotions with reason, not vice versa. Reason tends to be weaker than emotion in guiding us, tends to be easily overruled. Reason is a relatively new human faculty; emotion is older, more primitive and thus more fundamental to our thinking, though obviously the balance varies from individual to individual. The more people understand this, the more hope they have of coming to terms with reality and formulating a more accurate and useful worldview. People who are satisfied with "god did it" won't be contributing much to discovering how the universe works and how things have evolved to be as they are today. "God did it" is a killer of curiosity and of free thought. It is dangerous to our progress as a species.. Free thought and skepticism are what drive scientific progress, not religion. Religion resists change and even tries to subjugate people to unnecessary rules. It punishes those who speak out against it. Religion MUST be challenged (as must ALL dogmas), or we risk the possibility of stagnation and decay as a civilisation.

 

I haven't been in here doing this too much of late, actually. I've been a lazy demon..

Why do I do it.. I'm not sure. Ever since escaping religion, though, I've had a drive to attack it. Others have compared it to how former smokers are about smoking, or how people who have lost weight can be after accomplishing that. I guess it's just a basic desire to share the Gospel.. Because it might as well be compared to how new religious converts are as well - they, too, will preach and try to bring others into their fold. It's just a human thing to do.

Also, I do see religion causing social problems, so therein lies a decent excuse for going after it.

 

I do it as a mental hobby. I'm too lazy to learn calculus.

 

And I'm too lazy to do my German translation work.

 

Grammar is beside the point, how is it incorrect?

You are making the case that religion stops curiosity and free thought? Well then why have scientists in the past believed in god if belief in god majorly hindered scientific progress? (and now, 51% of scientists believe in god according to a poll in 2009(click the link, hit ctrl f, type 51 (I don't care if this isn't grammatical))) My grandfather has a hypothesis on mass and light, is greatly interested in science, and is a deeply religious Mormon. The actual truth is that religion only slows scientific progress only if that part of science questions a religious piece of information. And you know what? After a while, that barrier erodes away and that religious piece of information becomes a metaphor.

It doesn't punish you, only some of the people who follow it do, and those people are extremists who died hundreds and thousands of years ago (at least in first world countries).

Why? How are religious people seriously hindering society? Those 51% of scientists (according to a poll in 2009) are doing a reasonable job at progressing it.

The only place where religion must be fought is where it collides with science, that much we can agree on. But once all the gunk in religion that questions science is gone religion will be harmless. And right now there is very little gunk.

 

You're asking me how inserting 'of' in place of 'have' is incorrect? How have your educators managed to fail you this badly?

Regarding your 51% thingy, "scientists" is a broad term. Do you think that 51% of biologists believe in "God"? What sort of god do they believe in?

Religious people hinder society by wasting brainpower on religious nonsense, and some actually interfere with research, e.g. embryonic stem cell research. Some of them even get violent and blow up other people and important buildings... I think the religious beliefs of jihadists should be challenged. Don't you?

 

You completely misunderstood me, I mean how is the statement wrong? I'll say at the very least it's plausible.

I don't see why there would be a difference unless the biologist's study is regarding evolution. They believe in no god that hinders science.

There are much bigger wastes of brain power, like music, movies, sports, and video games, but I don't see you complaining about that. I really don't see how thinking religious thoughts periodically hinders anything.

Well that's more because people don't want scientists destroying embryos because they think that embryos are equivalent to humans, and I doubt that is covered in the bible.

But does religion cause that? For instance terrorism from the Middle East has only started recently, due to xenophobia of Western involvement in the Middle East.

Yes. However this does not apply to modern Christianity.

 

Why are you so obsessed with Hell?--you should be concerned with God.


So should those religious people who are trying scare people into belief. That's not living the love of God.

 

Then exit the thread. Problem solved.

 

I believe this is fitting.

 

Am I the only one who found the OP humorous?

If one can't poke fun at all aspects of life, you might as well give it up.... oh, wait, that's a sin too.....

 

But that's a total and obvious straw man. You are "spiritual" person, and by that I mean you are not without compassion and insight. What drives you to spit in this wind? If the pursuit of truth is your delight, then pursue it. You tilt at windmills with this nonsense of yours. Perhaps it is just easier than getting a date....

 

Perhaps you have not read your own Holy book?

Matthew 25:45-46 (CEB) = Then he will answer, ‘I assure you that when you haven’t done it for one of the least of these, you haven’t done it for me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment. But the righteous ones will go into eternal life.”

2 Thessalonians 1:9 (CEV) = Their punishment will be eternal destruction, and they will be kept far from the presence of our Lord and his glorious strength.

Hebrews 6:1-3 (CJB) = Therefore, leaving behind the initial lessons about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of turning from works that lead to death, trusting God, and instruction about washings, s’mikhah, the resurrection of the dead and eternal punishment. And, God willing, this is what we will do.

Jude 1:7 (CEB) = In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and neighboring towns practiced immoral sexual relations and pursued other sexual urges. By undergoing the punishment of eternal fire, they serve as a warning.

4 Maccabees 13:14-16 (CEB) = Let’s not be afraid of the one who wants to kill us; because the soul’s contest is great, the danger of eternal punishment prepared for those who break God’s command is severe. So then, let’s arm ourselves fully with the power that clear thinking gives for the control of the emotions.

I need not create strawmen, you guys give me everything I need. I don't know why God would lie, He has his own Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/TheGoodLordAbove?ref=ts&fref=ts

 

Okay...if that's what you think it's all about, I'm not going to change your mind. When you want to be genuine, and meet Christians where they really are rather than this caricature or oddballs you like to swat at, you know where to find me. I'll help when you're serious.