Delta4Embassy
Gold Member
Disbelieve:
-no religion is original. Presumedly there is a first religion, but you'd be hard-pressed to name it since religions date back at least before the invention of writing.
-gods never seem to do anything overt and irrefutable. Ever seen someone do a miracle, or only ever just read about it (or seen a video?) I've seen videos of many things that I nonetheless don't literally believe in (honest politicians come readily to mind.)
-most every religion makes a big deal about faith. To me that says 'we conceed we can't prove a single word of this so you have to have faith.' I believe in the Sun. If I lie out exposing my bare skin to it for long enough I'll get sunburned whether I believe in it or not. But I don't believe if I say bad things about Jesus, God, or the Holy Spirit I'll be punished, incur bad luck, or otherwise suffer for it. If GOd really punished such things why do more than a few comedians openly mock, insult, and defy God in their routines and not then get into a car accident on the way home...(winces) Bad example, sorry.
-if a given religion is true, what about the 25,000 or so others?
Believe:
-gods might well exist but our religions about them be wrong.
-if God conclusively proved it existed to us, and to everyone who ever demanded such proof, would we still have free will to worship it or not? Or would we all worship and submit being way below it on the food chain out of simple self-interest and self-preservation? By refusing to prove its' existence God enables choice. Plus, irrefutable proof isn't ideal anyway. The Exodus Jews fleeing from Egypt across the desert had such evidence. They'd just seen God kick Pharaoh's butt with the plagues and free the Jews from slavery. He then gave them food, water, and other things to survive in open desert en route' to the Promised Land. Despite this mountain of proof the Jews didn't then trust God continually complaining to Moses wanting more and more. They they believed God existed, they didn't have any faith.
-nothing lost believing in God, if not also a particular religion. Be good people, assets, not liabilities, to your community and neighbors, do all the good stuff religions talk about and ignore the rest. As the Jewish commandment says 'immitate God and His upright ways.' Not 'immitate Jews/Christians/Muslims/Hindus/etc. and all their ways. Just God's upright ones.
-perhaps all the various reasons not to believe are by design? See who really has faith and love for God even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary?
-simple risk analysis: don't believe and you're wrong, you're in trouble. Believe and you're wrong, no big deal. Not the best reason being kinda craven, but works.
-no religion is original. Presumedly there is a first religion, but you'd be hard-pressed to name it since religions date back at least before the invention of writing.
-gods never seem to do anything overt and irrefutable. Ever seen someone do a miracle, or only ever just read about it (or seen a video?) I've seen videos of many things that I nonetheless don't literally believe in (honest politicians come readily to mind.)
-most every religion makes a big deal about faith. To me that says 'we conceed we can't prove a single word of this so you have to have faith.' I believe in the Sun. If I lie out exposing my bare skin to it for long enough I'll get sunburned whether I believe in it or not. But I don't believe if I say bad things about Jesus, God, or the Holy Spirit I'll be punished, incur bad luck, or otherwise suffer for it. If GOd really punished such things why do more than a few comedians openly mock, insult, and defy God in their routines and not then get into a car accident on the way home...(winces) Bad example, sorry.
-if a given religion is true, what about the 25,000 or so others?
Believe:
-gods might well exist but our religions about them be wrong.
-if God conclusively proved it existed to us, and to everyone who ever demanded such proof, would we still have free will to worship it or not? Or would we all worship and submit being way below it on the food chain out of simple self-interest and self-preservation? By refusing to prove its' existence God enables choice. Plus, irrefutable proof isn't ideal anyway. The Exodus Jews fleeing from Egypt across the desert had such evidence. They'd just seen God kick Pharaoh's butt with the plagues and free the Jews from slavery. He then gave them food, water, and other things to survive in open desert en route' to the Promised Land. Despite this mountain of proof the Jews didn't then trust God continually complaining to Moses wanting more and more. They they believed God existed, they didn't have any faith.
-nothing lost believing in God, if not also a particular religion. Be good people, assets, not liabilities, to your community and neighbors, do all the good stuff religions talk about and ignore the rest. As the Jewish commandment says 'immitate God and His upright ways.' Not 'immitate Jews/Christians/Muslims/Hindus/etc. and all their ways. Just God's upright ones.
-perhaps all the various reasons not to believe are by design? See who really has faith and love for God even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary?
-simple risk analysis: don't believe and you're wrong, you're in trouble. Believe and you're wrong, no big deal. Not the best reason being kinda craven, but works.
