is trying to
private chat with you.
"As for the “Why is their starving children in Africa if there is a God†question, that’s simple. When sin entered the world it brought with it all these problems from disease to hunger to murder and so on. "<br /> <br /> Seems to be a rather serious implication that these people are at fault...<br /> <br /> As for your age, at this point I don't take it as a valid excuse.<br /> <br /> My step mother was raised Catholic, dragged my step siblings and I to church every Sunday from the time I was 10 to 14. I in particular had a completely unexplained revulsion for these services. My father shared my distaste and would hurry us out the door as soon as he could.<br /> <br /> They sent me to the youth program, where they quickly tried to brainwash us into believing that "god was everywhere", showing us movies or book excerpts and applying it to some christian belief or bible verse. They told us what music we could and couldn't listen to, which literature and things were "sinful". Disgusting. This church had been non-denominational, it didn't teach of any individual sect of christianity. My step mother found a "better" church eventually, following Baptist teachings. <br /> <br /> By this point I already had realized what crap christianity was. <br /> <br /> I'll never forget the last time I stepped foot in a church. The pastor stood up, approached the podium, and said this word for word: "When you go to the polls to vote, be sure to remember god's word. Stop the murder that is going on in this country, the murder that is abortion." He continued on to bash gay marriage, and promote the christian agenda in politics. I was shocked.<br /> <br /> I silently stood, and walked down the center isle towards the doors. I never looked back. This was back in 2008, right before the Presidential election. <br /> <br /> I am now 17. Obviously before your age I had figured out the hatred and bigotry such a religion promotes. <br /> <br /> My question to you is simply this: <b>why</b>?<br /> <br /> Why would a person ever willingly choose to be under the constant thumb of someone who in according to your teachings is capable of serious punishment? <br /> <br /> Why would a person ever willingly choose to be subordinate to a will that is not their own? You certainly would not drop to your knees and kiss the feet of another man because a book (and a highly contradictory one at that) was written about him.<br /> <i>Why would you ever do it for someone who we have absolutely no proof exists or has any influence in anything that has ever happened or that you have ever done?</i><br /> <br /> This is how I feel: <b>no one man, woman, child or theoretical god has authority over me, they never could. I exist, I matter, I am inferior to no one. I am free. I live, and as such I have the right to pursue the life I wish to live. I may go where I please, I may learn of the world without fear, I may develop my own views or morality, politics, and interests. I am free to view worldly cultures without saying "My god is better. My god is right." My mind is open. I have the capacity to appreciate the complexity of nature and accept the beauty of how things changed and evolved, and how infinitely expansive the universe is. I do not say "god did it," and turn away. This inspires me to dream, and to dream inspires me to act. I do not rely on the non-existant hand of "god" to carry society to a better place. That is in the hands of the individual. The power of a person is limitless. A god demonizes and destroys that power, saying "You are not worthy. Only I am."</b>
This part doesn't make sense to me: <i>"God knows what he’s doing, and we cannot comprehend it no matter how hard we think. It would be like an ant trying to understand a human; we don’t have the capacity to comprehend it."</i><br /> An ant doesn't need to understand a human, it just knows <i>"omg that thing is trying to kill me. rruunnn!!!"</i> Though this is probably off-topic.. I apologize.
Hey, sorry I’ve been gone a while. I’m no bible expert here, but I just want to quote something from my previous post. To be honest my family is on vacation and I didn’t really get a chance to read all this. I also apologize if you all think I’m absolutely horrible for stating my view of things, No I do not put blame “that everyone in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Darfur, the Congo, Somalia, Uganda, Liberia and every single citizen of various countries worldwide are at fault because of a corrupt government or unfortunate environmental factors†I don’t think I said that anywhere in my post and certainly didn’t intend it, forgive me for not going deeper as I’m very short on time. Anyway, I’m actually fourteen will be fifteen in a month, =) and so yes I am young, I don’t have answers for everything but I promise all of you someday I’ll be able to defend my religious views much better. I’ve only had fifteen years. I have mind to drag my dad down here and maybe I will when we get home. I guess I just want to say I’ll be back if I’m not banned for causing some world war or something ;) I really think this is a great challenge for me and when I get to sit down and actually look at all you have said I will have allot of questions to ask my family and friends! Thank you for sharing with me your opinions, please don’t think I’m a horrible person, I’m really not. Ok, so here’s my quote: <br /> <br /> "God knows what he’s doing, and we cannot comprehend it no matter how hard we think. It would be like an ant trying to understand a human; we don’t have the capacity to comprehend it."<br /> <br /> And Nitrous: I’m really sorry you took that as what I meant in my post, I should have worded it WAY differently if someone can take that much offence on it. I hope you don’t just draw conclusions of how disgusting I am. I didn’t mean to get anyone upset. <br />
http://www.project-reason.org/bibleContra_big.pdf<br /> <br /> Thought I'd drop this here. It's a PDF file that links every contradiction in the Bible.<br /> <br /> Just gonna leave that there now.
Leviticus 15:19-20<br /> Leviticus 19:27<br /> Ephesians 5:4<br /> <br /> things that made me laugh
Sierra, there is so much you do not know about the Bible, it's origins, the vast contradictions within it (for instance, Judas apparently died two entirely different deaths in two different books in the bible), and the manipulations and brainwashing techniques that have been fine tuned over the years to blind you to truth. I'm going to link you to a couple things, and if you really are confident in the things you believe, you won't be afraid to look at them, and watch the video series all the way through. I want you to cross-reference.<br /> <br /> If you refuse to look, grasp, and do your best to understand the information I am about to put in front of you, then you need to ask yourself why you refuse to do it. Is it because you're afraid of finding out your convictions are based in falacy and don't want to admit that maybe, just maybe, your blind faith is exactly that; blind? Or is it because anything that is not "of God and for God" is automatically sinful and not worth your attention, with would be a belief that only encourages ignorance and encourages you to turn a blind eye to everything that is not included in the lessons that have been spoonfed to you, and you have swallowed without question.<br /> <br /> I was raised by a traveling minister for a mother and a pastor for a father. I grew up in an environment heavily saturated in the Christian religion, and through personal experience and research, and seeking truth, I do not parrot the teachings I grew up with.<br /> <br /> I don't say this to attack you or condemn you. I believed strongly like you did, once. I was ignorant of truth, and I shunned anything that flew in the face of my faith because I had accepted it at face value.<br /> <br /> Just like I used to believe in the Tooth Fairy and Santa Clause. <br /> <br /> I only ask that you review the information I give you. Do not skip over it, don't ignore it and stick your fingers in your ears and keep the blinders on your eyes.<br /> <br /> The book you base your faith on was first written by Polytheists. They believed in several gods. The copy of the bible you have now is heavily edited and revised, and if you do the research into its origins, you'll find that many of the men who wrote it, wrote their parts for political gain and control.<br /> <br /> Don't forget; the Bible's teachings say that if God tells you to kill your child, you must do it without question. If God orders you to kill your fellow man, you must do it without question. It promotes incest and murder, so long as it's in the name of your God. It promotes hatred and persecution of your fellow man. Shellfish are an abomination to consume. Being born homosexual and being in love with a same-gendered person is considered filthy and horrible, and worthy of death.<br /> <br /> To believe in the Bible, and uphold the Christian faith, you don't get to pick and choose which values you keep and discard. You don't get to overlook the biggotry, and the very dangerous shroud that has been pulled over your eyes. <br /> <br /> I, for one, truly hope you take something from this post and the links I'm sharing with you. It's your decision. Pit your faith against facts. Don't be afraid.<br /> <br /> A series in several parts (please watch them all in order, it's a bit long, but the information here is invaluable): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOmSYHzeoNA&feature=related<br /> <br /> A bar graph showing a tally of deaths accredited to God and Satan, taken directly from information in the Bible: http://adsoftheworld.com/files/images/abacaxigod.jpg<br /> <br /> A fully notated/referenced line graph connecting several contradictions in the Bible: http://www.thealmightyguru.com/Atheism/Images/BibleContradictions-ReasonProject.png<br /> <br /> A very powerful and honest narrative of one man's experiences with scientific truth (Warning: some language): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6w2M50_Xdk&feature=player_embedded
Sierra, your implications are blindingly horrible and I could actually <i>feel</i> my faith in humanity die a little more. At least I assume that's what that sudden miasma of combined sadness, disappointment, and incredulity was.<br /> <br /> I thought it was already dead, actually.<br /> <br /> "There is more proof that Jesus walked the earth than there is George Washington was the first American president, that’s not false statistics either."<br /> <br /> Either stop stating sheer lies as fact or <i>give me your proof.</i> All of it. <b>Give me all of it.</b><br /> <br /> Disclaimer: I am not suggesting that <b>a man</b> called Jesus Christ did not walk the earth. I'm suggesting that no son of an all-powerful deity walked the earth.
I believe in evolution. And I think we can see the slightest examples of evolution in dog breeds, the vast varieties. And a test was done and concluded all dog's genetics are by far connected to the Grey Wolf than any other canine.<br /> <br /> It's amazing how a Grey Wolf can go to a Great Dane or a Dachshund through years of selectively breeding for a purpose.<br /> <br /> <br /> And I think natural selection plays a huge role in evolution. When things changed and one species started to suffer the ones with traits better adapted to living in the environment lived.
Sierra, I personally found your post incredibly ignorant and racist. You basically just stated that everyone in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Darfur, the Congo, Somalia, Uganda, Liberia and every single citizen of various countries worldwide are at <b>fault</b> because of a corrupt government or unfortunate environmental factors? How disgusting of you! This is exactly the ego-centric, self righteous type of thinking that's typical of uneducated Christian followers. <br /> <br /> Also, your comment about carbon dating is wrong. A few thousand? Try roughly 45 million. <br /> <br /> I hope one day, when you're not 11 years old, you'll grow up and realize how utterly flawed your logic is.
Actually, evolution makes perfect sense. I mean, maybe it's because we talked about it a ton in my Zoology class, but there is a lot of proof for it and it makes perfect sense. I don't really have time to explain in detail the theory of evolution or bring up the TON of evidence, because I should be writing a paper right now.>.><br /> <br /> But, I am willing to come back later with links and explanations when I actually have time.<br /> <br /> What doesn't make any sense to me is the Christian God or the Bible. There are just WAY too many contradictions to make any sense. There's actually this thing online where some guy went through and found every contradiction ion the Bible and linked them together. And just...WOW. There were a lot. But I digress.