Note the lack of critical thinking. Note the lack of ability to associate truth with morality. Note the lack of comprehension when the words of a belief system are questioned.

As Belushi stated, it makes sense that most follow their belief out of fear but then have to CREATE an explanation to justify thier beliefs, their actions.

I asked a psychology professor exactly how fanatical does a person have to be, before they are considered metally unstable or mentally ill. Of course taking into consideration the DSM-IV-TR (diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Version IV, Text Revision) manual.

For all those who think they are constantly bashed - let it be known that the APA (American Psychological Association)itself is considering this question and has actually set up a whole field devoted to understanding the role of religion on the mind and body. So at this time they hold rigidly, probably more so than usual, where the diagnosis of the deeply religious is concerned, to the manual.

Obviously is it a concern, and all of those I have spoken with have the same basic opinion. This life is about experiencing everything within our human capacity. Any thinking, or belief that hinders that experience, takes away from the growth of the mind and can vastly harm one's ability to concentrate, to be brave and strong, to think critically and logically and to rise above bias and prejudice.

These things are not an illness, according to APA, but they harm millions upon millions of people in this world every day.

Why is it that your God would ask you to be afraid, not to experience, not to grow, but to be biased, to hate, in his name?
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Yes, as Belushi stated, it makes sense that most follow their belief out of fear but then have to CREATE an explanation to justify their beliefs, their actions.

Note the insults and ridicule. Note the questioning of everything. You ask and search always looking to find a means to justify a lifestyle that is contradictory to the mainstream and the teachings of the Lord. Something that will disprove what disagrees with the lifestyle you have chosen.

In every post you make this motivation shines through like a lighthouse beam to warn passing ships of danger.

Y'all take one passage, limit it to what meaning you wish to project, twist it to fit into a context that will let your own mind believe that your belief system is superior to Christianity and justify your sins as something they aren't.

The passage that Belushi has posted and refers to is not complete, tells nothing of what the Amalekites did to the Israelis, and takes place at a time shortly after the exodus from Egypt.

A time when God had made a covenant with the Jews specifically and was using them as a teaching between good and evil, those who follow god and those who deny him. If you read the whole bible you will see times when he also punished the Jews for falling from his graces as well.

The bible is not a single passage but a novel of gods teachings. It is full of stories of good, bad, and warnings of people who will try to disclaim it to justify their personal spiritual failings.

Ask and he will forgive. This is part of his covenant made to all men when he sent Jesus Christ to save us!

the more religious a person are the more delusional and self-destructive they will appear to be...

an example of this is those that stick nails in theirselves for Christ and then try to rationalize it

therefore the more a person relies upon the bible as the source of their morality the more unmoral they will become

examples of this are holy wars ..witch burnings...inqusitions ..in which for the person to prove their morality they resorted to doing unmoral things to others

I look to the "Just Say Hi" forums for moral guidance.

Hello,I'm a reverand but not of the christian,muslim,hindu or jewish faith.The questions about existance is a timeless one,the 5 major religions have different viewpoints and look at things differently plus there are hundreds of smaller religions which makes the views even wider not to mention Atheists,since the conversation is primarily based on biblical/judeo/christian ideas,I will be addressing that concept primarily.First you have to dig and really find out where these religions come from,basicly it is like a bunch of different little rivers that just keep converging into each other-mixing and mashing together yet keeps on flowing,each religion or belief over time evolves or mutates or joins other beliefs-hence my river comparison.If you look at the origins of christianity it stems from judaism and paganism obviously,but just how far down does the rabbit hole go-well-Deep,so where does judaism come from,this is actually very easy-judaism primarily stems from 3 major sources-paganism,sumerian/babylonian,egyptian.Basicly in a nutshell the Jews originally had there own pagan beliefs and worhipped 4 main gods later as they were enslaved by the egyptians and babylonians they were educated by the wise men of knowledge of both great civilizations and mixed and mashed their beliefs with these but they put their own spin on it(the flood story is straight from babylon but with a jewish spin).Anyway later christianity sprouted and had many different little factions all believing differently,each faction had their own version and writings.Now the Roman empire was the super-power of the day,and between 36c.e. and 325 c.e. the christians became more and more numerous but like I said before there were many factions and sub-factions etc.the Roman empire was slowly turning to christianity but was still predominantly pagan,constantine the ceasar had a major problem on his hand the pagans and christians were ripping each other apart which was weakening the empire so constantine makes a brilliant move and foces the christians and pagans to merge to make everyone happy and bring stability to his empire.Now remember my river comparison-paganism and babylonian and egyptian beliefs begat judaism which begat christianity which mutated into another pagan/christian belief which also absorbed many other beliefs along the way.But getting to the bible,the bible is a collection of jewish and christian writings from the first century some go back as far as the 2nd cenury b.c. but not later,anyway the bible contains 66 books compiled into 1 book,so where does this book come from,well in the year 325c.e.the ceasar constantine ordered a council together to solidify all these different beliefs into one,it was called the council of nicea,there a bunch of religious leaders sat around and voted on which writings were going to be in their new holy book the bible,so out of 300 or more books they decided that their holy book only needed 66 books-so it became the christian bible it is today thanks to voting not straight out of heaven like most would have you believe,but also at that council they voted on various other things such as is jesus god or not and many other things as well.This brings us to our conclusion,which is this-their are many paths to life we are all here now breathing and thinking,loving,eating,sleeping,living life,some perceive reality different from others,some just don't care,some just except the socially exceptable majority belief system blindly but you don't have to,READ,SEARCH,THINK,PONDER,LIVE,LOVE and ENJOY.always remember "you are free to sever the chains of fate that bind you"-infinite balance in all things.

The problem is that there are far too many people who simply disbelieve it on the grounds that it is totally self-inconsistent and contains things that aren't compatible with a loving compatible God. Their disclaimer of it has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with any spiritual failings.

So therein lies the fallacy.



Even if God really did send Jesus Christ to save mankind (which makes absolutely no sense in the first place because he would be doing this solely to save mankind from his own wrath!),... But even if he had done such an absurd thing it most certainly would not be dependent on men believing that this be the case.

In order for it to depend on the beliefs of men, would mean that God casts non-believers who are GOOD PEOPLE into hellfire simply because their failed to believe what appeared to them to be an incredulous and self-inconsistent story.

Even the book itself claims that it will appears to be absurd to non-believers. Thus giving non-believers all the more reason not to believe it!

This whole premise suggest that God is only interest in naïve people and casts intelligent thinkers into hell.

Seen this way perhaps there is some truth to it. But what would that truth be???

That truth would mean that God is only interested in people who will serve him blindly, not ask question, and never doubt his word no matter how absurd it might be!!!

Maybe that it what our creator is seeking? Just a bunch of people who will serve him without asking question no matter what he tells them to do.

Would you stone your own children for God without questioning him?

Would you cast your best friend into a burning pit of hellfire simply because he refuses to believe in an incredulous story?

So many of these things only make sense if God is a genuine demon.

I've stated it many times. Even if the book is true then I chose death. I would not wish to spend eternity serving the God that is described in the bible. I would rather just cease to exist thank you.

So my only prayer to the real creator of this universe is that the biblical picture is a totally lie and has nothing to do with reality.

That is my prayer, to the real living God. Please tell me the bible is bogus. Amen.

I didn't see any insults or ridicule.



Questioning is a bad thing? Note the lack of answers. Note the excuses people make for the actions of their God.




Are you talking specifically about Belushi's chosen lifestyle of being an atheist? If so, what do you know about his personal lifestyle except that he probably does not attend church?

Do you assume that anyone who is not a Christian leads a evil and sinful lifestyle of lawless hatred?




Christians quote passages all the time out of context. A complete passage that makes a complete statement (like instructions on how to slaughter someone or how to acquire slaves) should stand on its own.

Indeed Christians all have their favorite passages. ("The wages of sin is death!") and constantly quote them and interpret them their own way.



That's all "he said, she said" garbage. (I guess if I murdered my husband in his sleep all would be forgiven if I told them what a bad person he was and that God told me to kill him.)



Yes we get that this so-called god was the "reward and punishment" type of ruler. We get that. (I'm sure Blushi has read and knows the Bible better than most Christians.)



"Warnings of people who will try to disclaim it to justify their personal spiritual failings?" Is that suppose to convince you that anyone who questions it is just one of those people the Bible warned you about?


I guess you believe that too.

And why wouldn't reasonable and rational people disclaim the writings of an irrational and unreasonable book?



This is the main attraction to this religion. To be forgiven. It's not heaven or the threat of hell. It is forgiveness and acceptance. People need so bad to be forgiven and accepted they are willing to believe ANYTHING to get that.

JB

That's what the Military wants too. Men who will not question authority who will follow orders blindly. They don't like to admit this, but this is what they consider to be the ideal army.

A mass of followers who question and disobey could prove to be a problem to a god who just wants them for slaves or pets or servants. This god, whoever he is, seems to want followers who would be willing to sacrifice their own children to him without question if he asked them to.

Personally I would not trust a god like that.

JB

The definition of slavery has changed over the history. You could have or could be slave to you own brother. A lot of time today slavery still exist in many societies. What makes slavery so bad is how owners treat their property. It would appear that when owners have property not from there own race or gender, they tend to be very abusive and violent towards there property. I just call them dummies. They are not aware of what they have and eventually will lose the priviledge of being owners.

What a lot of people don't realize is that we are all owned by the corporation and we are all legally slaves according to them.
You even have a number. It is your social security number.

I decided I did not want that number anymore and that I didn't care about getting any social security from the government when I get old and I tried to give them back the number and close my account but the said I could not do that.

I even closed a bank account once and they continued to keep my bank account number in their records and keep all records pertaining to me in their database.

You are a slave and they have paper work on you. Get used to it.

Ask, he will forgive you!!!

Unlike many I do not worship another human being. I worship God!

Judging by your reaction,
I must have hit a sore spot with you.

Its okay!

Ask, and he will guide you on the true path!

So therein lies the fallacy.


The fallacy lies in trying to convince a true believer.

My faith has already been tested by far better arguments and trials than you may use.
I have hated God for the better half of my life. I have question everything he has said many times. Ive sworn off him. Ive blasphemed him, and still when I asked, he forgave me!
God is great. There is no fallacy there!

Hey, if you need to be forgiven for your pathetic life of sin, more power to you and your path. I really don't care what you want to believe anymore.

I have other things to do now. I have wasted enough time with this futile and pointless effort of attempting to help delusional people come out of the darkness and into the light of reason.

So I bid you farewell.

How do you know that? How do you know "he" forgave you? How do you know that you did not just forgive yourself and give up on your former life of blaming God?

I realize you believe this, but you say you "know." How do you know?

More importantly, why did you need to be forgiven so badly?

JB

Just ask and when he forgives you, you too will know how and question no more!

Just ask

it is interesting as a guide as it is one of humankind's earliest attempts to deal with the question of morality and ethical behavior and that's what guides me. i don't believe that a literal interpretation is appropriate for the bible but it is not generally a load of rubbish either.

This is broken record.

How can you ask someone for forgiveness when he tells you to kill children?

Someone answer me this?

Not only does your book tell you this (and the majority of you dont want to see it) You try to justify this murder by saying it killing non believers.

Where's the love in that?

The love IN THAT - is completely and solely self-generated.

The Bible not only justifies killing non-believers, it justifies killing �believers� who have �sinned�. Today, Christians have taken it upon themselves to determine which sins deserve merit and which are simply to be waved off � regardless of the Bible's words on these issues.

THEY determine when a sin is offensive enough to warrant turning a fellow believer out of their homes, their churches, and their communities. The same sin, that would shun a fellow believer, in that way, will prevent a seeker access to that which THEY guard, with their own perceived righteousness; forgiveness and salvation.

Instead of allowing all fellow human beings to seek their own path, to take their own journey, and make their own mistakes, THEY, determine when and what intervention should be extended.

This is not a belief in a God, this is a belief of BEING God. THIS is the fanatical, this is the illness, this is how Funches refers to it:



Interesting correlation possiblilty.

Infinity1969 � Your history lesson is LOST on the fanatical mind. They are no longer capable of understanding the nature of that history on their own beliefs. They can �discuss� only what does not go against their self-godly image; that image that portrays innocence and righteousness, enough to speak for their God, and feel no remorse at any discourse or harm the words spewing forth from their fanaticism may have.

Thank-you though, it was indeed a very well stated lesson in a very compact essay.

kumbaya my lord kumbaya ....



what the hell does kumbaya mean anyway?

JB is VERY interested in Christianity. I see her alot on this site. Why would someone come here to irritate,unless their real purpose for being here was to find out why some are able to have so much faith and she cannot? It is a sad excistence to think that this is all there is to life. I know that no matter how hard things may seem on Earth, at the end I will spend eternity surrounded by love and happiness.