Zone1 Share the word of God with atheists, but don't argue with them

[Meriweather]

I get it. It wasn't all bad but it's the bad things that form your most vivid memories. The religion thing is only part of the story. If the topic is poverty I might talk about growing up with a functionally illiterate father trying to make it in Appalachia. If the topic is racism I might talk about being moved to sundown towns and dragged to strange churches and backwoods schools full of racist fucks. I find little to be nostalgic about my childhood other than my incredible mother. Life is wonderful for me now but I have my dark moments.

Yes. Bad things are a distraction--and often an almost impregnable distraction for us to ever overcome.

 

[K9Buck]

An example of the arrogance of theists contributing to the warranted disdain for much of religion.

I prayed that God helps you to find and follow him my brother. God bless you.

 

[frigidweirdo]

Once they make it clear that they do NOT believe then disengage and privately pray for God to open their eyes and ears and then move on. And, remember, they too are your brothers and sisters and they too will be with us in God's kingdom to come.

What?
Perhaps the atheists will not pray for you too.

 

[frigidweirdo]

I prayed that God helps you to find and follow him my brother. God bless you.

Which god am I supposed to find?

 

[K9Buck]

Which god am I supposed to find?

God bless you and good luck my brother!

 

[frigidweirdo]

God bless you and good luck my brother!

Well, seeing how you're pulling that "I'm going to post things on here, but I'm not going to respond to anyone who says anything I don't like", I have a question. Why do you bother?

You're literally asking for people to respond to what you say then ignoring them.
Go to a religious forum, instead of telling people on here that you're going to post then ignore. Seems like if there were a God or gods, He or She or They or It of Sam Smith, or whatever would actually want you to USE YOUR BRAIN.

 

[BackAgain]

Or argue with them.

Either way, it doesn’t matter.

Folks will believe what they believe.

 

[K9Buck]

Or argue with them.

Either way, it doesn’t matter.

Folks will believe what they believe.

In this community I say a prayer to God and ask him to help them to know and follow him. Then, I wish them the best and put them on "ignore". Jesus told us to move on from such people and so I do.

 

[frigidweirdo]

In this community I say a prayer to God and ask him to help them to know and follow him. Then, I wish them the best and put them on "ignore". Jesus told us to move on from such people and so I do.

Where did Jesus say "thou shalt put people you don't like on ignore"?

 

[SweetSue92]

All of mankind are slaves to sin. Christians aren't necessarily better behaved than others, we simply believe that through Christ we can be saved from damnation and eternal death. We don't need Christ because we're good but, rather, because we are bad.

But in your form of Christianity, Christ died for nothing. He bled, died, and was separated from His Father--agony--for no reason at all. Because all along it was possible for God to...I don't know...wave some "magic wand" to let everyone into heaven. But He still let His own Son die on the Cross. In agony.

I'm sorry, no. Rejected.

 

[JoeB131]

Here we disagree. It is not religion that is the bane, but human government that is the bane of mankind. When religion and government tried to work together, it was government that was happy to let religion take the fall when it was actually secular policies that weren't working out. Religion definitely does not belong in government--and even more emphatically, government does not belong in religion.

Wow. Wrong again.

Government is a reflection of it's people. Awful people will have awful government - i.e. Nazi Germany. Oh, after the war, the Germans were all apologetic, but before VE Day, they fought for Hitler to the last old man and little boy.

Religion in government is the worst because the biggest problem with you God-Botherers is that you know you are right. Government demands discussion and compromise. You can't have a rational discussion on a subject like Abortion or Gay rights with people who are absolutely positive that God supports their irrational position.

 

[ding]

Which god am I supposed to find?

That's even a dumber argument than bad things happen to good people.

 

[ding]

Wow. Wrong again.

Government is a reflection of it's people. Awful people will have awful government - i.e. Nazi Germany. Oh, after the war, the Germans were all apologetic, but before VE Day, they fought for Hitler to the last old man and little boy.

Religion in government is the worst because the biggest problem with you God-Botherers is that you know you are right. Government demands discussion and compromise. You can't have a rational discussion on a subject like Abortion or Gay rights with people who are absolutely positive that God supports their irrational position.

Tell that to the 100 to 200 million people murdered by militant atheists in the 20th century.

 

[K9Buck]

But in your form of Christianity, Christ died for nothing. He bled, died, and was separated from His Father--agony--for no reason at all. Because all along it was possible for God to...I don't know...wave some "magic wand" to let everyone into heaven. But He still let His own Son die on the Cross. In agony.

I'm sorry, no. Rejected.

You misunderstand.

 

[norwegen]

Once they make it clear that they do NOT believe then disengage and privately pray for God to open their eyes and ears and then move on. And, remember, they too are your brothers and sisters and they too will be with us in God's kingdom to come.

God's kingdom is here.

 

[norwegen]

We were ALL created by God and he will lose NONE of us. In the end, ALL will be with God for eternity.

Even the chaff? Even the goats? As I recall, they were separated from the wheat and the sheep.

 

[K9Buck]

Even the chaff? Even the goats? As I recall, they were separated from the wheat and the sheep.

Thread 'The "Lake of Fire" (Hell) is temporary, punitive, purifying, & restorative' Zone1 - The "Lake of Fire" (Hell) is temporary, punitive, purifying, & restorative

 

[norwegen]

Thread 'The "Lake of Fire" (Hell) is temporary, punitive, purifying, & restorative' Zone1 - The "Lake of Fire" (Hell) is temporary, punitive, purifying, & restorative

You seem to be inventing a new religion.

 

[K9Buck]

You seem to be inventing a new religion.

I provided a plethora of scriptural support. Perhaps you don't accept God's words.

 

[norwegen]

I provided a plethora of scriptural support. Perhaps you don't accept God's words.

You’re a good guy, K9Buck, as Christians are generally. My brothers and sisters. Their approaches to the Bible, though, are very personal and subjective. One of the misguided ways they approach it is to proof-text it to satisfy their preconceptions. They cite chapters and verses, and never the cultural or historical contexts.

For example, off the top of your head, can you answer these questions? Who were the Galatians? Why did Paul write to them? In what other chapters of the New Testament besides Galatians do the Galatians appear?

Using Aristotelian logic, Protestant Scholastics of the Reformation posited that every syllable of the Scriptures is the Word of God in and of itself, regardless of context. As a result, students of scripture could pull a verse from the Bible to use as proof of a doctrine or a practice. Ultimately, people were making the Bible say whatever they wanted it to say.

Very few people read Genesis through Revelation as a single, connected history of an ancient Near Eastern people.

What’s worse is that the Epistles are one-sided. We don’t have the correspondences that they were addressing. From their knowledge of the times and places, scholars can reconstruct at great measure the circumstances which prompted the Epistles, but most Christians don’t even bother to consider the other side of the correspondences.

I beg to differ with you. You didn’t actually provide support. You provided proof-texts.