Blues Man
Diamond Member
- Aug 28, 2016
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So you worship what you don't believe in?I don't capitalize william for the same reason. Too many williams created by human beings.I don't capitalize the word god because there have been many many gods created by human beings.
The name of the Christian god is not God.
I'll capitalize
if a god was really omniscient wouldn't he know if a person is only pretending?Assuming, of course, that you’re not a government school nihilist…y'know, and believe human beings are nothing but accidental constructions of mud and dust.
For those of us who believe otherwise.....
1.We learned about reward and punishment early on, perhaps via this catechism:
He's making a list
He's checking it twice
Gonna find out who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees when you are sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you been good or bad
So be good for goodness sake
2. At some point later in life it became a more serious question, whether there is something after we shuffle off this mortal coil, and might give some of us pause. Of course, not those victims of government school indoctrination, which does everything possible to marginalize, ridicule, erase, any links to religious traditions. For those folks, it’s government we must worship, and the best part is that the great god government is there to reward all no matter if they’re good or bad. Kind of removes that burden of responsibility.
3. But…”Christian beliefs about life after death are based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus’ death and resurrection are part of God’s divine plan for humankind. Through his death on the cross, Jesus pays the penalty for mankind's sin and mankind's relationship with God is restored. This is called atonement. Christians believe that three days after the crucifixion, God raised Jesus from the dead and he once again appeared to his disciples. This is taken to mean that Jesus’ sacrifice was a victory over sin and death. Although physical death still happens, those who believe in Christ and live good lives will be given eternal life in Heaven.” https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zn6ncdm/revision/3.
And if you read Dante, you have a darn good picture of the damage you will face, depending on how bad you are. Although there was a bar called ‘The Ninth Circle,” in the Village, that was pretty OK……
I always gravitated to the view of the Argentine poet, Jorge Louis Borges: "I have always imagined that paradise will be a kind of library"
4. The Old Testament appears to be clear, if subtle, on the issue of an afterlife.
In telling Abraham, the first Jewish person, of his future, there is this:
15.15 As for you, You shall go to your fathers
“Often, in describing death, the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Bible use the phrase “gathered to one’s kin.” Here, the Torah describes Abram’s eventual death as Abram going “to your fathers.” For reasons I will explain at length, the Torah never directly declares there is an afterlife. But throughout the Torah, an afterlife is clearly implied. Sarna notes, “In whatever form, the phrase certainly originates from the belief in an afterlife in which one is reunited with one’s ancestors irrespective of where they are buried.” Dennis Prager, “Genesis”
Make you feel better?
Why would it?
DEad is dead there is nothing after
So you best make the most of each and everyday you wake up ans draw breath
"Pascal's wager is an argument in philosophy presented by the seventeenth-century French philosopher, mathematician and physicist, Blaise Pascal (1623–1662).[1] It posits that humans bet with their lives that God either exists or does not.
Pascal argues that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas he stands to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in Hell)."
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Pascal's wager - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
You just admitted that you think god can be duped by mere mortals
The two gifts accorded mankind are free will and intelligence.
God didn't create robots.
In Genesis, we have an occasion where God loses an argument to one of his creations....
I refer to Prager's book, "Genesis."
"GOD IS MORALLY CHALLENGED—A FIRST IN HUMAN HISTORY
18.24 What if there should be fifty innocent within the city; will You then wipe out the place and not forgive it for the sake of the innocent fifty who are in it? Abraham argues for sparing the entire city of Sodom if fifty innocent people live there.
18.25 Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty, so that innocent and guilty fare alike. Far be it from You! Abraham not only argues with God, he declares God wrong—“Far be it from You”—if God should kill the innocent along with the guilty. The Hebrew words chalila l’cha may also be translated, “Don’t you dare do such a thing . . .” It is astonishing that anyone would feel he could speak to a deity in this way. Such a statement is unique among all bibles and perhaps all holy literature. But it is the essence of the Torah and of later Judaism that humans may have so real a relationship with God that we can actually speak this way to Him. This negotiation between Abraham and God led Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz to title his book on Abraham and the history of Jewish lawyers Abra- ham: The World’s First (But Certainly Not Last) Jewish Lawyer.
18.25 (cont.) Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
Abraham was arguing a principle made famous thousands of years later by the English jurist William Blackstone. Known as “Blackstone’s Formulation” and still adhered to today in Western legal thought, it postulated “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.”4 What is as incredible as Abraham’s arguing with God is his assumption that God is just. It is incredible because we know of no other people at that time or be- fore who made such an assumption about their god(s). This assumption changed history. Never had a human being challenged a god or gods on moral grounds. This is one of many reasons the Torah is as different from pre-Torah thought as life is from non-life, and it is therefore one of the many reasons the Torah—like the emergence of life from non-life—can best be explained by attributing it to God.
Equally amazing, God was in no way upset with Abraham for arguing with Him, or even for the manner (verse 25) in which Abraham spoke to Him. God responded to Abraham’s moral argument by agreeing with him.
He prefaced his next request with a statement of humility.
18.28 What if the fifty innocent should lack five? Will You destroy the whole city for want of the five?” As a bargaining technique, Abraham did not say “forty-five.” He wanted to empha- size the number “five” hoping a compassionate God would not destroy an entire city because just five fewer good people resided there.
18.28 (cont.) And He answered, “I will not destroy if I find forty-five there.”
18.29 But he spoke to Him again, and said, “What if forty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not do it, for the sake of the forty.” Abraham kept lowering the number of innocent people. And God kept agreeing.
18.30 And he said, “Let not my Lord be angry if I go on: What if thirty should be
found there?” And He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
18.31 And he said, “I venture again to speak to my Lord: What if twenty should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the twenty.”
18.32 And he said, “Let not my Lord be angry if I speak out this last time: What if ten should be found there?” And He answered, “I will not destroy, for the sake of the ten.”
Nevertheless, a small group, as Abraham’s appeal suggests, can make a moral impact. In fact, most of the good that has ever even achieved has been initiated by small groups. Examples include the extraordinary group of founders of America, the handful of Christians who brought about the abolition of slavery, the dissidents in the Soviet Union and other tyrannies who helped bring down evil regimes, and the moral impact of the tiny group of people known as Jews.
In addition to a preoccupation with justice, Abraham demonstrated a concern for humanity in general (starting with the extraordinary hospitality he exhibited at the chapter’s opening). The people of Sodom are not his family, his people, his ethnicity, or his religion, yet their fate weighed on him."
God, in fact, appears to appreciate his creation exhibiting this sort of behavior and initiative.
So your god would congratulate an atheist for pretending to believe in him and then reward said atheist with eternal life in heaven ?
He kind of sounds like an idiot to me if he is so easily fooled
My 'God' is capitalized.
Didn't you learn that in government school?
Bet you can't quote where I said "god would congratulate an atheist for pretending to believe in him and then reward said atheist with eternal life in heaven."
Either you aren't the swiftest of students, or you believe that lying is a valid manner of advancing your argument.
Which is it?
To correct you, I've said that there is a determination for reward and punishment in an afterlife.
I don't capitalize the word god because there have been many many gods created by human beings.
So tell me why are you using Pascal's wager for an argument if the god you believe in can see right through it?
if you really believe that your god is omniscient wouldn't you be telling people that those who would make Pascal's wager are doomed because their ruse would be immediately discovered by a god that knows all?
Or do you really believe people should lie about believing in a god?
"I don't capitalize the word god because there have been many many gods created by human beings."
You know very well you're lying.....and that's the answer to my earlier question....you believe lying is acceptable.
The reason you don't capitalize the term is to show the sort of disrespect for the concept, and you've been trained to do.
I am not lying.
Humans have worshiped many gods.
The one you worship is just one in a very long list of gods.
And I told you why I don't capitalize the word god. It has nothing to do with your beliefs.
And FYI my mother was extremely religious so no one taught me not to capitalize the word god. I decided to do that of my own free will
Moron, there has only been one God that advanced Western Civilization.
The paganism that you were taught in government school is an aberration that serves the neo-Marxist masters that own the school system.
Have you ever read a book not assigned by government school?????
Funny how a person who believes in a god calls other people morons.
FYI I read the bible (old and new testaments), the Koran and the writings of many philosophers
But unlike you I just don't blindly follow any dogma.
FYI you have been indoctrinated into a religion more effectively than those government schools you hate so much indoctrinate their students.
"Funny how a person who believes in a god calls other people morons."
I am cursed with being unable to hide the truth.
I don't believe in god....I'm not a pagan.....I worship God.
And FYI I am not a pagan as I do not believe in the existence of any gods