sleeper;1791682 wrote:What are they missing out on?

Religion is dying. Time to accept the fact that it's entirely made up! Sorry reality is here.

oh, ok

Raw Dawgin' it;1791670 wrote:Also, Fuck every athlete who thanks Jesus or God when they do well.

Obviously god likes them better than their opponent

I remember a sign my boss had on his desk:

If I go to church every Sunday and there is no God, I've wasted one hour on Sunday. If I don't go to church and there is a God, I've made a HELL of a mistake.

Wally;1791755 wrote:I remember a sign my boss had on his desk:

If I go to church every Sunday and there is no God, I've wasted one hour on Sunday. If I don't go to church and there is a God, I've made a HELL of a mistake.

This concept is what keeps most people going to church. Really it was the only reason I even made it through early adulthood. I guess other people are fine wasting an hour a Sunday on something they don't believe in, just incase. I feel like a hypocrite sitting there for an hour.

sleeper;1791631 wrote:Stop taking your kids.

Religion is for the poor and stupid. Is that what you want for your kids? To grow up poor and stupid? My kids will never go to church, at least from my own doing. If they grow up and want to worship some shitty god, by all means go right ahead. But it will be a cold day in hell before I ever step foot in a church to worship anything.

TL;DR: Religion is garbage.

You don't have kids, you fucking idiot, and you prolly never will--you're a blowhard who gets his kicks playing tough guy on an internet forum, a guy who likes to stir things up because he can't be held accountable because he hides behind a screen name. Do you really think anyone on here cares what you think?!?

We average an "every other week" attendance rate. I don't know if I'm apathetic or agnostic. I am, at the very least, agnostic. My apathy will not be the reason my kids choose not to believe (if that's what they choose). I also don't want to shove it down their throats, as it was for me, 3 times per week. If they want to go, we go. They love going. It's not about me.

vball10set;1791757 wrote:You don't have kids, you fucking idiot, and you prolly never will--you're a blowhard who gets his kicks playing tough guy on an internet forum, a guy who likes to stir things up because he can't be held accountable because he hides behind a screen name. Do you really think anyone on here cares what you think?!?

lol, you mad? I don't think jesus would approve of you calling someone an idiot.

Wally;1791755 wrote:I remember a sign my boss had on his desk:

If I go to church every Sunday and there is no God, I've wasted one hour on Sunday. If I don't go to church and there is a God, I've made a HELL of a mistake.

This is known as Pascal's wager which has been shredded to pieces as a laughable at best logical progression for an adherence to a religious belief.

Two main reasons: #1) What if you worshipped the wrong god? #2) An all knowing god would know that you only went to church to avoid punishment and didn't actually believe

sleeper;1791786 wrote:This is known as Pascal's wager which has been shredded to pieces as a laughable at best logical progression for an adherence to a religious belief.

Two main reasons: #1) What if you worshipped the wrong god? #2) An all knowing god would know that you only went to church to avoid punishment and didn't actually believe

Your second point is actually in agreement with most church teaching (not Catholic, but many protestant) in that it has to be a true belief in your heart, not just attending church to "save yourself from hell".

vball10set;1791757 wrote:You don't have kids, you fucking idiot, and you prolly never will--you're a blowhard who gets his kicks playing tough guy on an internet forum, a guy who likes to stir things up because he can't be held accountable because he hides behind a screen name. Do you really think anyone on here cares what you think?!?

Damn, you mad.

When you attack someone's fundamental beliefs their first reaction is to get mad at that person. I understand that. The reality is this, you really should be mad at yourself(or your parents) for not possessing the intellectual capacity to dismiss bad ideas based on lack of evidence. The only way religion survives in the age of information(a 10 second google search wins) is to be indoctrinated at a young age by your parents AND to be given several logical loopholes to get out of any rationalization of your beliefs. You can't have the latter without the former because you need your initial belief to be ingrained enough that you reject any other hypothesis and revert to "faith" which is convenient and not based on reality.

I relate a lot to what Zwick said. I was raised Catholic and was indoctrinated by my parents until I got that feeling Zwick described in that it doesn't feel real. That prompted me to explore other avenues and really study the idea of religion and thankfully it didn't take much to realize the entire idea was complete bullshit. Over the years, that conclusion has only gotten stronger and my hatred for anything religious has only gotten deeper. The whole thing is a scam; I hope one day you will see reality.

jmog;1791789 wrote:Your second point is actually in agreement with most church teaching (not Catholic, but many protestant) in that it has to be a true belief in your heart, not just attending church to "save yourself from hell".

I don't disagree. I was merely countering the message from the boss. It's not a good one and has no basis in logic or reason.

After achieving adulthood most people who continue to go to Church do so not necessarily out of 'obligation' but rather to actually get something out of the Mass which helps them be a better person. Mass is a time a spiritual reflection, worship, rejoicing etc... It can be exceedingly uplifting and it can certainly lead one to live a better life, or deal with struggle. For billions of people, Church is a way of bettering themselves and assisting others. Church can be the weekly reminder to live your faith for the betterment of others. There are 168 hours in a week; to spend just one of those hours in prayer, and praise, and reflection, and song, and contrition, is a good decision for most.

sleeper;1791790 wrote:...
When you attack someone's fundamental beliefs their first reaction is to get mad at that person. ...

This isn't something I've ever experienced.

QuakerOats;1791792 wrote:After achieving adulthood most people who continue to go to Church do so not necessarily out of 'obligation' but rather to actually get something out of the Mass which helps them be a better person. Mass is a time a spiritual reflection, worship, rejoicing etc... It can be exceedingly uplifting and it can certainly lead one to live a better life, or deal with struggle. For billions of people, Church is a way of bettering themselves and assisting others. Church can be the weekly reminder to live your faith for the betterment of others. There are 168 hours in a week; to spend just one of those hours in prayer, and praise, and reflection, and song, and contrition, is a good decision for most.

Church does not make you a better person. Fact.

You are delusional. Please seek mental health treatment.

Con_Alma;1791798 wrote:This isn't something I've ever experienced.

Because you are delusional.

sleeper;1791791 wrote:I don't disagree. I was merely countering the message from the boss. It's not a good one and has no basis in logic or reason.

The omnipotent, triune God doesn't exist in a manner that can't* be explained solely through human logic and reason and yet so many rely solely on logic and reason to try an understand it. It's quite interesting to watch unfold.

sleeper;1791800 wrote:Because you are delusional.

...for not getting mad at someone who attacks my belief?

I haven't found a valuable reason to get mad at them. Do you have any that you can share with me?

Con_Alma;1791801 wrote:The omnipotent, triune God doesn't exist in a manner that can be explained solely through human logic and reason and yet so many rely solely on logic and reason to try an understand it. It's quite interesting to watch unfold.

So true! #blessed!!!!

Con_Alma;1791801 wrote:The omnipotent, triune God doesn't exist in a manner that can be explained solely through human logic and reason and yet so many rely solely on logic and reason to try an understand it. It's quite interesting to watch unfold.

Thank you.

sleeper;1791799 wrote:Church does not make you a better person. Fact.

link?

So let's say we've been endowed with these gifts of logic and reason to be more in the image of our creator and separate us from the rest of creation. God then says "ok these special traits I've bestowed up on you ...I'm going to need you to turn them off in order to be able to believe in me" Makes sense.

rocketalum;1791812 wrote:So let's say we've been endowed with these gifts of logic and reason to be more in the image of our creator and separate us from the rest of creation. God then says "ok these special traits I've bestowed up on you ...I'm going to need you to turn them off in order to be able to believe in me" Makes sense.

Turn them off??? Not use them??? I've never heard that suggested before.

Con_Alma;1791801 wrote:The omnipotent, triune God doesn't exist in a manner that can be explained solely through human logic and reason and yet so many rely solely on logic and reason to try an understand it. It's quite interesting to watch unfold.

Convenient. It's all made up anyway, so sure!

Con_Alma;1791802 wrote:...for not getting mad at someone who attacks my belief?

I haven't found a valuable reason to get mad at them. Do you have any that you can share with me?

Presenting you with knowledge and logic that go against every your believe in. That typically produces a response of anger.

QuakerOats;1791811 wrote:link?

I was merely pointing out that you cannot make that statement because it is unproven.

You can't ask for proof of a negative idea. For example, you can't say unicorns exist because I can't prove that they don't exist. Again, religious people have no concept of how the world works.