God and America

[ludwig]

What with all the hoo-ha going on in America at the moment, I was wondering - will there ever be an openly atheist president? or is that actually a bigger barrier to cross than the racial one?

[USALady]

I have said all I can say in "defense" of my beliefs. I will never ever turn away from what I know is true. Unless you get to the point in your life where you have been filled by the Holy Spirit, you will never be able to understand my stance on this. I want all of you to know that I have prayed for you. My prayer is that some day you will come to know the truth as I know it and experience the peace that truly passes all understanding.
I expect a lot of backlash on this but my skin is thick and it only reinforces my prayers for each of you.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Good for you. It's important not to let evidence get in the way of a good superstition.

[naomi24]

USALady, The bible is clearly neither coherent, nor consistent, and if considered as a tool by which to live one�s life, it would be a dereliction of responsibility to one�s own intellect not to seek out errors and inconsistencies. I fail utterly to understand you. You know the text is not original, you know it has been translated, and translated again, and altered, and changed many, many times over the years, with sections added, and sections disposed of, and yet you still say it�s authentic and that every word is accurate. How can that possibly be?

Furthermore, history confirms that your religion was not initiated by Jesus, who as a Jewish rabbi would have been horrified by the merest suggestion of a breakaway religion. The creed you follow was determined in the first instance, by St Paul, who never met Jesus, and then by councils of men who, several hundreds of years after the event, added to the initial lie by determining what you should believe. Can you imagine that? Seriously? They have told you what to believe - and worse still, you have taken notice of them! With all due respect, there has to be a certain dishonesty in your assessment in that you purposefully, deliberately, and consistently deny the undeniable. I�m sorry to say it, but your determination to believe that which you know, in reality, cannot be authentic, has resulted in you voluntarily relinquishing your own powers of intellectual perspicacity. Quite simply, man-made religious dogma has blinded you, and you are no longer true to yourself.

Cont�..

[naomi24]

�.Cont

None of us know whether a God exists or not, but if there is indeed a God, I sincerely believe that you, like everyone else who has faith in this monstrous Abrahamic God, who�s appalling psychopathic nature consistently displays the very worst characteristics of man, have failed to heed one of the clearest warnings that the bible contains. You have fallen foul of false prophets. I have unashamedly copied the following assessment from a reply I posted to our resident Muslim, Keyplus, a little while ago - although I received no response to it.

If there is a God then I'm convinced it isn't him. It seems very clear to me that anything, or any being, that possesses the sort of unimaginable intelligence magnificently powerful enough to create the universe and everything in it, and to organise the on-going evolution of all living things, could not possibly be so utterly ridiculous, nor as cruel, nor as hateful, as religion would have us believe this God is.

[naomi24]

Cont�

As for atheists, they don�t choose evolution as an alternative to God. Evolution is an indisputable fact if life. The demon Science has proven it beyond doubt.

I�ve posted the following before, but I�m going to post it again, because I think it�s relevant, and it�s something that I think every believer, regardless of creed ,should think seriously about. It�s from Sam Harris�s Letter to a Christian Nation, which actually addresses all religions, although this particular extract addresses Christians. It gives an excellent analogy between those of faith and atheists, and quite clearly reveals the ridiculous and illogical paradox that is the �one true religion�. He says:

�Consider, every devout Muslim has the same reasons for being a Muslim that you have for being a Christian. And yet you do not find their reasons compelling. The Koran repeatedly declares that is is the perfect word of the creator of the universe. Muslims believe this as fully as you believe the Bible�s account of itself���..and any who believes otherwise will spent eternity in hell. Mohammed�s opinion ��. is infallible. Why don�t you lose any sleep over whether to convert to Islam? ��..The truth is you know exactly what it is like to be an atheist with respect to the views of Muslims. Isn�t it obvious that Muslims are fooling themselves? Isn�t it obvious that anyone who thinks that the Koran is the perfect word of the creator of the universe has not read the book critically? Isn�t it obvious that the doctrine of Islam represents a near-perfect barrier to honest enquiry? Yes, these things are obvious. Understand that the way you view Islam is precisely the way devout Muslims view Christianity. And it is the way I view all religions.�

[naomi24]

�.Cont

Finally, you say �faith in God is not a blind leap into the dark; it is safe step into a well-lit room where 90% of people are already standing. Who are these 90%?

My apologies that this reply isn�t as comprehensive as I would have wished, or perhaps as you will have expected - it�s been one of those days when time got the better of me. Nevertheless I wanted to respond to you as quickly as possible, and needless to say (I hope) none of what I�ve said is meant in any way as a personal slight.

[USALady]

Thank you, naomi. As I've said previously, I respect the views and opinions of everyone however different they may be from my own. I stand by my reply and have nothing else to offer.
As I said, I will pray and continue to pray for each and every one of you. If you don't believe, then it won't matter to you if I pray or not...since I'm sure it will seem as though I am praying to nothing. I'm done on this one but look forward to chatting with you again on another thread some other time.

[naomi24]

OK, USALady. Bye for now.