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Jingy
Social climber
Nowhere
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Camping is wrong.. End times are not near. He won't be coming back mainly because he was made up to begin with. There are lessons to be had from reading the book, but come on.... What did you get from the Sodom and Gomorrah story where the two strangers were going be gang raped and the holy man of the city offered up his virgin daughters....
Would you do that with your offspring if presented with the same circumstances?
You know you wouldn't. What would the TV News present to the rest of the world to consume?
Pate Edit: Is this the same site you got that cat in the sky pic from:
http://www.lolcatbible.com/index.php?title=Genesis_1
Sound Edit: meticulously preserved, - if by meticulaously preserved you mean destroyed shortly after their fakery.. (I heard the mo dropped the first set of two tablets and broke them.. Lucky him, he was a good friend on the mountain top and got a second set... that have never been seen..)
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jstan
climber
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We all have gone on at length as regards the existence of an all-powerful god. It now appears we have at least some data, seen above.
Two possibilities.
1. No all-powerful god who actually cares about us exists.
2. There is an all-powerful god, but it does not particularly like us. So much so it goes so far as to bring about ruinous floods.
These villagers hope to obtain a package of food. The packages while not containing much rice, do thank god, include a can of Pepsi Cola.
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Sir loin of leisure...
Trad climber
I'm from Idaho..bitch
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the native americans stated...you guys(cristians at that time)..go to your chuches and talk about god,we go to our lodges and speak to god..that was when they made mushrooms and peyote illegal...why would anyone let someone else tell them what to think...your supposed to figure it out youself...dumbass
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GBrown
Trad climber
Los Angeles, California
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Tony bird,
I love your summary here:
now, you will say, why am i here? good question. i can't pretend to be above anyone else. i have interest in the crossroads of metaphysics and science and i guess i keep hoping the discussion might get a little better, but it doesn't seem to happen. so, until it does, let's do our best to be disruptive and sadistic to the god thread itself. might as well enjoy that, no? Quote Here
Too freaking true. Hope springs eternal but reality is a bitch when you ignore her! I'm cutting my losses and pulling up my stakes -- no more gold here.
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jstan
climber
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3300 posts and you are ready to give up? Here's the final paragraph:
"A well-informed hunch says American Christians aren't ready for the kind of reformation that will realign their actions with biblical mandates. And in the meantime, the exodus from the church will continue."
The whole piece for those who like to read.
latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-lobdell-religion-20100808,0,3621871.story
latimes.com
The Anne Rice defection: It's the tip of the religious iceberg
American Christianity is not well, and there's evidence to indicate that its condition is more critical than most realize — or at least want to admit.
By William Lobdell
August 8, 2010
Novelist Anne Rice's surprise post last week on Facebook — she announced she had quit Christianity "in the name of Christ" because she'd seen too much hypocrisy — brought cheers and smug smiles from critics of institutional faith, and criticism and soul-searching among believers.
But there's something more at play here than one of America's most famous Catholics — Rice re-embraced the faith of her youth in 1998 and published a memoir just two years ago, "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession" — walking away from the church.
Rice is merely one of millions of Americans who have opted out of organized religion in recent years, making the unaffiliated category of faith the fastest-growing "religion" in America, according to a 2008 study by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.
The Pew report found that 1 in 6 American adults were not affiliated with any particular faith. That number jumped to 25% for people ages 18 to 29. Moreover, most mainline Protestant denominations have for years experienced a net loss in members, and about 25% of cradle Catholics have left their childhood faith, the study showed.
And in a 2008 study by Trinity College researchers, 27% of Americans said they do not expect a religious funeral.
American Christianity is not well, and there's evidence to indicate that its condition is more critical than most realize — or at least want to admit.
Pollsters — most notably evangelical George Barna — have reported repeatedly that they can find little measurable difference between the moral behavior of churchgoers and the rest of American society. Barna has found that born-again Christians are more likely to divorce (an act strongly condemned by Jesus) than atheists and agnostics, and are more likely to be racist than other Americans.
And while evangelical adolescents overwhelmingly say they believe in abstaining from premarital sex, they are more likely to be sexually active — and at an earlier age — than peers who are mainline Protestants, Mormons or Jews, according to University of Texas researcher Mark Regnerus.
On the bright side, Barna's surveys show evangelicals (defined by Barna as a subset of born-again Christians, which he sees as a broader group with more flexible beliefs) do pledge far more money to charity, though 76% of them fail to give 10% of their income to the church as prescribed by their faith. Various studies show American Christians as a whole give away a miserly 3% or so of their income to the church or charity.
"Every day, the church is becoming more like the world it allegedly seeks to change," Barna has said.
Barna isn't the only worried evangelical. Christian activist Ronald J. Sider writes in his book, "The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience": "By their daily activity, most 'Christians' regularly commit treason. With their mouths they claim that Jesus is their Lord, but with their actions they demonstrate their allegiance to money, sex, and personal self-fulfillment."
How to explain the Grand Canyon-sized gap between principles outlined in the Gospels and the behavior of believers? Christians typically, and rather lamely, respond that shortcomings of the followers of Jesus are simply evidence of man's inherent sinfulness.
But if one adheres to the principle of Occam's razor — that the simplest explanation is the most likely — there is another, more unsettling conclusion: that many people who call themselves Christian don't really believe, deep down, in the tenets of their faith. In other words, their actions reveal their true beliefs.
That might explain why Roman Catholic bishops leave predator priests in ministry to prey on more unsuspecting children. Or why churches on Sunday mornings are said to be the most segregated places in America. It also would explain why most Catholic women use birth control even though the practice is considered a mortal sin.
Culturally, America is still a Christian nation. The majority of us still attend church at least occasionally, celebrate Christmas and Easter, and pepper our conversations with "God bless you" and "I'll be praying for you."
But judging by the behavior of most Christians, they've become secularists. And the sea of hypocrisy between Christian beliefs and actions is driving Americans away from the institutional church in record numbers.
Some, such as Anne Rice, are continuing their spiritual journey on their own, unable to reconcile the Gospel message with religious institutions covered with man's dirty fingerprints. Others have stopped believing in God. Those with awareness who remain Christians are scrambling to find ways, like St. Francis of Assisi, to rebuild God's church.
But remember, St. Francis offered a radical example during a time when the institutional church had grown corrupt and flabby. He was a wealthy young man who took a vow of poverty and devoted himself to the poor. His motto: "Preach the Gospel at all times — and when necessary use words."
A well-informed hunch says American Christians aren't ready for the kind of reformation that will realign their actions with biblical mandates. And in the meantime, the exodus from the church will continue.
William Lobdell, a former Times staff writer, is the author of "Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America — and Found Unexpected Peace."
Copyright © 2010, Los Angeles Times
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go-B
climber
In God We Trust
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Romans 2:4, Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
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Largo
Sport climber
The Big Wide Open Face
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after all the millions of prayers to God to save the sick, he didn't once tell us it was germs causing the illness, science finally figured it out, not a peep out of god, but maybe the opposite, leaches, blood letting, witch burning, did God say those things??
Perhaps this illustrates what I have been saying about the pitfalls of us humans demanding that "God" conform to our criteria, in this case, that he should be human-like, speak English, and tell us what ails us. Not only is God positioned this way by many, but others, who are basically just trolling on this subject, insist that God either be this talking puppet Dood or if he is not, then God is a bust. It all seems rather puerile when considered in these "Talking Dood" terms, wouldn't you say?
JL
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cintune
climber
the Moon and Antarctica
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Yep, but just keeping the concept around as an ineffable null set, only in order to play word games with it, why bother? Everyone needs a hobby, I suppose.
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High Fructose Corn Spirit
Gym climber
Full Silos of Iowa
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...but Dr. F, do you think you could ever accept "God" as a metaphor or personification of fate or destiny?
-esp at a later more mature time in a culture that was less fixated on Jehovah (God of Abraham)?
-As in... "Thank God I wasn't born in Afghanistan." or "I want to take a moment and thank God he held back the Grim Reaper through all the craziness of the lightning storm. Because I really thought we were goners for sure with all the static and buzz in our hair."
Or is all talk of "God" just a deal breaker for you.
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Norton
Social climber
the Wastelands
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REPOSTED
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Tung Gwok
Mountain climber
South Bend, Indiana
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Love it Norton. Reinhold Niebuhr (often credited for the serenity prayer) has nothing on your cat.
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WBraun
climber
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Every day these poor slobs here stare God straight into his face and still declare to him "You don't exist!".
This proves you're insane ......
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Skeptimistic
Mountain climber
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Ok Werner. Whatever you say...
Here's someone you and goober may feel a kinship with ...
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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everyday the wannabe guru's run around flippin stones and hollerin of the mysteries they uncover.
fools. for to really understand life and its periphery, the wise man stands still, in humble and apparently ignorant silence.
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WBraun
climber
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Hahaha
Knocked that one right over their heads into the center field bleachers.
Hit the sweet spot on the bat.
Ball games over, back to the dug-out for you losers .....
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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werner as long as you're content in your fantasy, all is well.
otherwise, keep searchin, and let others along their own search without insults.
otherwise you galiantly wear the folly that is yours.
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Norton
Social climber
the Wastelands
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Aug 10, 2010 - 12:28am PT
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Norton
Social climber
the Wastelands
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Aug 10, 2010 - 12:30am PT
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Or maybe this is god.
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