a question for the Atheists..

[Bruno]

Not even one EQ god posted.

[Cecily]

100% with you Rak. Religion has no place in my life, but there's so many valuable lessons I took away from my Catholic background. I take what I agree with, use it to be a better person, and discard the rest.

[Twainz]

Originally Posted by Cecily [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

100% with you Rak. Religion has no place in my life, but there's so many valuable lessons I took away from my Catholic background. I take what I agree with, use it to be a better person, and discard the rest.

^Same^

Except in RNF!

[Cecily]

If there was a god, we'd be able to edit RnF posts.

[Shaakglith12194]

Yeah just kinda hard to believe in a being that could stop all suffering, or even most suffering, who doesn't. It's like, if you were in charge of a bunch of teenagers and put them into an enclosed area with complete power over them, and they started beating, raping, stealing, and just generally fucking each other up, how fucked up is it that you just watch every atrocity? And it's supposed to be ok because they'll be punished when you let them out of the enclosed area? "I won't stop the rape or torture, 'cuz when they get out, they're gonna pay!" But it's their choice because you said they have "free will" to do what they want. It's all ok, because you'll reward some and punish others after the fact and if those people don't do a series of retarded things, you'll punish them just for the fun of it. Brilliant. What a swell guy that god is.

I loved how Old Testament christian god was all like "War! I will wreck thine enemies!!111 Kill, burn, rip the unborn children from the wombs of their mothers!" and New Testament god is all like, "Chill guys, like love and peace and shit. Forgiveness, man." Gettin' his feet washed by prostitutes, trying to make people forget all about the forced abortions and murder. Dude's priorities changed big time.

Here's some gems:
The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open. (Hosea 13:16)
At that time Menahem, starting out from Tirzah, attacked Tiphsah and everyone in the city and its vicinity, because they refused to open their gates. He sacked Tiphsah and ripped open all the pregnant women. (2 Kings 15:16)
Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. (1 Samuel 15:3)
"Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves." (Numbers 31:17-18)
"And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them." (Jeremiah 19:9)
"Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished." (Isaiah 13:16)

Yeah, God said rape the women, kill the kids. Dude was so metal back in the day.

[Lune]

New Testament conveniently abrogates a lot of that hardcore Old Testament shit. I suspect it had something to do with cultural shifts within Christendom; all that ancient babble probably became distasteful and the new testament adapted all of it to "modern tastes".

You see a similar trend with both the Great Schism, and the Protestant Reformation... religious doctrine being redrawn along cultural lines in a way that is more tasteful to the flock.

[Raavak]

A lot of Old Testament commandment stuff were just rules for life... like don't eat pork... why? Because back then you'd get sick and die. Not sure why you couldn't shave, get a tattoo, or pork a man, but at the time it probably made sense.

[Raavak]

And I totally don't like how the God of the Old Testament ordered the Jewish to slaughter all those people in Canaan and stuff. It doesn't sit right with me either.

Maybe I'm a heretic, but I think Moses and the leaders after him made that crap up, then put it in the Bible. But then again, with string theory and all that, I think God is larger and more complex than a human can ever even begin to understand, and a lot of what we have is just filtered down through puny, imperfect, and corruptible human minds to be written into the Book.

But as a Freemason, I believe that God's word is still there. Its just that it takes a lot of wisdom to decipher it.

[Shaakglith12194]

Originally Posted by Raavak [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

And I totally don't like how the God of the Old Testament ordered the Jewish to slaughter all those people in Canaan and stuff. It doesn't sit right with me either.

Maybe I'm a heretic, but I think Moses and the leaders after him made that crap up, then put it in the Bible. But then again, with string theory and all that, I think God is larger and more complex than a human can ever even begin to understand, and a lot of what we have is just filtered down through puny, imperfect, and corruptible human minds to be written into the Book.

But as a Freemason, I believe that God's word is still there. Its just that it takes a lot of wisdom to decipher it.

Or maybe it's just a bunch of crap primitive people made up to understand the world around them, support their barbaric ways, and control people? And maybe now it's a way for people to cope with their insignificance in the grand scheme of things? I think Carl Sagan had it right when he said, "We are a way for the universe to know itself."

[Shaakglith12194]

Originally Posted by Raavak [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

And I totally don't like how the God of the Old Testament ordered the Jewish to slaughter all those people in Canaan and stuff. It doesn't sit right with me either.

Maybe I'm a heretic, but I think Moses and the leaders after him made that crap up, then put it in the Bible. But then again, with string theory and all that, I think God is larger and more complex than a human can ever even begin to understand, and a lot of what we have is just filtered down through puny, imperfect, and corruptible human minds to be written into the Book.

But as a Freemason, I believe that God's word is still there. Its just that it takes a lot of wisdom to decipher it.

Also, it's blasphemy. Here's another gem about blasphemy, it's an unforgivable act:
“I promise you that any of the sinful things you say or do can be forgiven, no matter how terrible those things are. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven. That sin will be held against you forever.” — Mark 3:28-29

blas·phe·my
noun: blasphemy; plural noun: blasphemies
1. the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk.

Here's an interesting theological article that states that Jesus himself says that the Old Testament is the word of God: http://carm.org/bible-isnt-word-god-...tains-word-god
It goes into more depth than that, but that's what's important to take away from it. So there ya go, the J-Man says that it's the word of god, and you have basically said he made shit up. You have now blasphemed against the holy spirit! I'll see ya in hell, all the cool people will be there anyway.