people have a tendency to label things 'good' and 'bad' from standpoint of what pleases the flesh


'good' and 'bad' things serve as lessons and help us prepare for the next thing,,,'good' or 'bad'


I dont think God DOES bad things to good people but certainly BAD things happen to good and bad people to prepare them and make them stronger,,,

Hell yea the bible falls under religion. I guess it is convenient for you to try to pass it off as just a book and then when it pleases you beat your children with it figuratively speaking when you want to teach them what you consider the word of god and morality.

But to those of us who know better and know the hypocrisy of the religious to try to make everyone one of them it is not a frivolous thing. We know the terrible power wielded by this book. The fear that is used as a way to control.

And luckily the government will not let christians have it both ways.

I agree it is just book of fables and should be used for researching old dude philosophies and such since that is what it is but until all the christians stop trying to use it as a power tool to drive their religion into every poor souls heart it will have to be treated as more than just a book. It will have to be treated as a religious document.

Since there is no god.

Apart from the things we can prevent with preventative measures and our mistakes along the way, things happen. There is an environment going on around us of organic nature and since it is movement and energy things happen in that environment. Our bodies are also organic so they live and then die.

It is really simple.

Best solution is a good attitude and just knowing we will have to deal with things so we are prepared mentally.

It is a question posed by ignorant people who want to challenge your God.

That's the story of Job.

I personally find that story to be totally unbelievable.

Well, nothing knew there I guess.

Just a note to other Unbelievers-- our OP just got done posting a really bigotted joke about Atheists in the Jokes forum.

Sincere dialogue?


-Kerry O.

sincere dialogue is usually not the aim of the JOKES forum though,,,

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't being a stand-up person for Christ a 24/7 endeavor? It's more than repeating the Creeds and revelling in the Good News on Sunday in Church. Especially after one has been out on a bender in the strip club on Saturday night?

I have a great respect for the Quakers who live near here in Philadelphia. The NEVER proselytize and they would NEVER make this sort of joke. In their cultural memory, they know well what it means to be a persecuted minority for the convictions one holds close. That's why they came to the new world to start over and named their capital city The City of Brotherly Love.

Too, humans of all creeds don't like being made fools of for taking someone at their word who later drops all pretense of sincerity and laffs up their sleeves while saying "Trust me."


-Kerry O.

Could there ever truly have been any intent for "sincere dialog" to begin with?

This man has already confessed in another thread the following:



Saved?

Saved from what?

From the wrath of God?

You need to first convince us that God is out to get us.

Only then would it make any sense to suggest that we need to be 'saved' from the wrath of God.

So before you can convince us that we need to be 'saved' you need to convince us that God is out to get us.

Good luck with that one.

Well he did mention that it was God who created Hell.

If there is one, I think benign neglect seems the most likely. Really, it's hard for me to believe in a superior being who would be so sadistic as to pull the proverbial wings off insects for jollies.

-Kerry O.

Ok, I guess he is trying to convince us that God is out to get us.

I guess I'm just not personally convinced.

He also implied that God does bad things to good people...

Well, that's in the Christian Doctrine.

See the Book of Job in the Old Testament.

It comes with that picture of God.

That's certainly true. It is indeed part of that picture.

By the way, if you would like to read the book of Job it's fairly short. And a quite interesting story actually.

You can read it real quick here just by reading the summary boxes only if you want to get a quick idea of how the story goes. Just scroll down to the enclosed summary boxes and skip over the detailed text.

http://www.easyenglish.info/bible-commentary/job-lbw.htm

In one of the summary boxes they have God giving Satan his permission to hurt Job.


God said to Satan, "I permit you to hurt Job. But you must not kill him."

This implies that Satan is quite obedient to God and can't do anything without God's permission.

~~~~~

Yeh, well, Lucifer and God used to be real tight. Just like George Bush and the Bin Laden family..

Yeh God and Lucifer used to play chess together in paradise. Now they play the earth game.

It certainly looks that way by the story of Job doesn't it?

Also, if Satan is trying to "win" the favor of soul away form God then clearly Satan is not only winning the "Earth game" but even Jesus confesses that Satan won it hands down when he proclaims that only FEW will make it into the kingdom of heaven.

If we look at Satan as trying to "win" souls from God. Then clearly Satan basically had already won the game back in the days of Noah and the Great Flood. That would have just been God flushing all the poker chips (i.e. Human Souls) over to Satan to clear the table, and saving just a couple good chips (i.e. Noah and his family) to start a new round.

In other words, God already acknowledge that Satan won the Game and clearly wanted to try another "Deal of the card" for a fresh start.

As that second game proceeded God once again conceded to be losing the game when he sent Jesus to be the "sacrificial Lamb" for mankind.

All that act would have amounted to in this scenario would be God telling Satan, "Ok you win, all the souls are turning to you instead of me. So I'll try to buy a few soul by having my son crucified and anyone who accepts him as their savior I can keep even though they have not proven their own devotion to me outright within the rules of the game."

Seriously.

A lot of people might read that and say, "How horrible to suggest such a scenario". But truly, if Satan is trying to "win" souls from God he's clearly THE BIG TIME WINNER, and the biblical God is clearly the loser. Satan would have WON the bet if his bet with God was that he could win the favor of more souls than God could.

And clearly God would have lost this bet with Satan.

So this whole idea that Satan and God are in competition for human souls would have Satan as the clear winner, and we can't have that!

So this story doesn't seem to make any sense no matter how we try to describe it.

This is why I feel that it's best to just recognize the whole Old Testament as truly nothing more than a Greek-like fable of Zeus.

It comes complete with blood sacrifices to appease the Male God and everything. All they basically did was move Mount Olympus into Story Book Forest where the Gods can't be proven to not exist.

Other than that, these biblical stories aren't any more credible than the stories of Greek Mythology.

The story of Job is an example of faith. Satan said Job would not worship him if he wasn't protected by Yahweh. Yahweh has said all through the scriptures that he does not want a uncheerful believer who is out for thier own gain.. But 1 who is out to do right and follows Yahweh's way.

Job did not understand what was happening and his friends turned aginst him telling him how Yahweh was displining him because he had done wrong.. Job did not know but knew if he kept true all would be ok.. Satan has not won anything. How can satan win anything when Yahweh knows the beginning from the end ie Prophecy and satan for his actions is banned from Yahweh's presence hence his childrens presence in the Millinium and then after for good.

Job proved many things.. That you see who your real friends are when everything goes wrong in your life. who stands by you is your real friends. How many of us have only learned that lesson through our own tribulations? most I would say. Job is a great example as is Yahshua of believing with real faith and you may not know the out come but what you do know is Yahweh is in control and he teaches us and makes us stronger through tribulations..

Matt 5:10-12
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
NKJV


Rejoice when you are tried with tribulation if you really believe because the final outcome will make you stronger and everyone around you as they see your faith in action.. Things words can never convey. Leading by example is most definately a attribute of Yahweh and his children. Job is not a hard story to understand but many want to twist it for thier own agenda which we see quite frequently these days as is also Prphecied so stay strong and Yahweh will teach you and guide you to places beyond your wildest dreams. That whats been happenoing to me in the last few months after almost 10 years of people saying all kinds of evil against me. Yahweh sustained me where no other comfort was thier. he has lead me to a place in the Indian language means Heavens valley or the Valley of Heaven brought my children back to me in ways that only he could do.. nothing I said could do anything but believing Yahweh brought me through and I am so much stronger for it and learned so much from it.. like it says in Rev 12 once the birthing pains are gone you rejoice over the new life before you.. Blessings of Shalom..Miles

For the sake of world peace, please imagine for a second that this is the "jokes" forum.

A travelling band of NY motorcycle cops arrested five Quakers in Philadelphia, and charged them with causing the tsunami in North Japan.

Quakers are the salt of the Earth. They are what it is when you put grains of sand into salt quakers.

Sign over truckyard entrance: Mr. Molotov and Sons Quakers and Movers


"For goodness sake!
I got the quippy-hickey quake!"