Dude\'s really calm down. It\'s just God...
I really don\'t see how you can be "free" yet Christians have so many "dont\'s". I agree that there are laws and rules that as a society must be followed in order to live productive lives. Such as the ban of murder, crime, among other rules pointed out by the Ten Commandments. I wasn\'t an Atheist all my life. I grew up as a Christian, I was raised with Christian believes and standards. As I grew older, I realized how business like the church was becoming. They wanted more money, money for "God". With the money all the people have given him, "God" must own a couple of mansions in heaven. The church tried to expand and try to affect other areas of this world. Government, education, rituals, laws, and other concepts they considered "wrong" and "sinful". Take the recent "homo-phobia", myself I don\'t agree with gays and lesbians, but truly it\'s their choice. It\'s their life. Christians have no right to ban them to "hell" because of their likes and dislikes. I don\'t think the church has to accept them within their ranks and system, but they shouldn\'t try to make them a whole different species. Besides, according to your beliefs, it was "God\'s" will that they become homosexuals. I have studied the ancient scriptures was past the recent ones. The Bible has a fairly interesting history. As I was studying the Latin Bible, I realized that the Bibles used in most churches today are nothing but a glimpse of what the Bible really was. Editing, additions, deleting, all made the way Christianity is thought today a complete opposite of what it was really meant to be. Being an Atheist, the Latin Bible really made me question my self, it speaks with so much truth. You have no idea what the Bible is until you pick the Latin Bible up. I enjoy reading that Bible not because I\'m suddenly not a "sinner". But because I consider the Bible to be a book of virtues and stories. Not a book meant to be worshiped and translated a million different ways, then try to make people see it your way.
My fields of study require me to get both sides of the story. Up to now, I have yet to meet somebody with the intelligence to argue or convince me that there is a thing called "God". I get replies such as "I don\'t have to convince you of anything, God is great and your going to hell if you don\'t believe.." etc..
Our church was a beautiful architectural wonder. It was beautiful. The interior was fantastic, the walls, the murals. But, is that what Christianity is all about? I see churches spending thousands of dollars on building new churches, taking trips to NeverEver land, spending money on all sorts of things. What happened to the true values of the church?
While attending service, the people around me where really into worshiping. "That\'s good" you say. It would have be, if it didn\'t feel so hollow. I sat there and it felt as if they were faking it. As if they were trying to force themselves to be viewed as a religious person. It really bothered me. I began to question my self when I had sex outside of marriage. I was about 19, and like many "real" Christians I had made the decision to wait for marriage. But, my girlfriend at the time was the most wonderful person. We had dated for about 3 years, and she was also saving herself for marriage. But that night, it just happened. I was really confused afterward, but I loved her and if that was going to send me to hell, I wouldn\'t care as long as I\'m with her. Or so I thought, it turns out everybody at my church found out. The pastor had been talking to my girlfriend, my girlfriend broke up with me, and we never spoke again. As you have stated, my problem is with people trying to implement rules on you. As I have commented, the Bible can be translated into so many different ideas and concepts, how do we know which one is right?
Your views about the "don\'ts" in Christianity are good, but faulty. You speak of not having "free will", and how can I not having if I made the choice there is no "God" while I was a Christian? You centered your statement around the superficial issue. My question to you is: How can Christians have "free will" if some of the choices they make might turn them into "sinners"? How can Christians make choices without taking into account their own feelings, rather than having to think of "WWJD"?
Christians speak of "God" as an loving caring being. Yet, in my opinion, this loving caring being relies on pushing the issue of punishment and how he will punish you if you disobey him. It doesn\'t sound very caring and loving to me. Christianity makes their deity seem two faced. The good side, he gives you life and cares for you. The bad side, he can take your life and can condemn you to eternal suffering. I ask you: If there is a "God", why should we obey him? If he loves us so much, why does he lets us fall into sin in the first place? Why do Christians have to live life according to his standards in order to actually meet him? If "God" really wanted people to follow him, why doesn\'t he just show himself. Religion causes wars, misery, and real "evil" throughout the world. Why would "God" allow this. My choice was made on the fact that there were too many questions surrounding "God". If there was nothing before "God" came, then doesn\'t that mean that he is nothing? Where did this all powerful being come from? Why should people follow him?
The way I see it, I can compare "God" to Castro. People in Cuba in order to live a better life, have to worship and like Castro. Else they live a terrible life, they are punished for their "sins" in a way.
Why do Christians follow a deity that just proclaimed himself "God" of everything. If I was to write a book, call myself "God" and the creator of everything, bury it, then thousands of years later people find it and worship me. Would I be considered a "God"?
But, I guess it all comes down to this: What makes Christianity the "real" thing compared to other religions. If you look back in time, there were so many different religions that originated. Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism all originated around, 500BCE. But most importantly, Judaism, the "father" of Christianity originated at around 30CE. At the same time though, the Vedas were being created. If you look at each religion before Christianity you will notice many of similarities. The way the religion started, it\'s "rules" and "God\'s", as well as other concepts. Many of passages in the Bible are stories that were told ages before by a Hindu, or a Buddhist.
If we look at the religion\'s importance in the order which they appeared, shouldn\'t Judaism be considered "God\'s" original intention of how his followers were supposed to worship him? You are telling me that in the Bible nothing has really changed, though if you look at the Jewish Bible, Torah, many of the practices and believes have been completely eradicated. Why? What made them wrong? It was the "original" religion of "God", though Christians changed it to fit THEIR believes.
Most of the passages in the Bible were told orally before they were written down. Like a kind of rumor, it might of completely changed during the time it was passed down. Also, the Bible is not made up of "God\'s" word. The passages were written by people who "witnessed" the events. Since we are all "sinners" and we all make mistakes, couldn\'t have one of the people exaggerated just a little? The Bible has been found to have many contradictory statements within itself, it just shows that some of it, if not all of it, can be completely inaccurate, or better yet, fake. Don\'t we have books about virtues and values today also? What if the Bible had the same purpose?
I agree there are things in life that can\'t be explained. But, in this case many have been explained. Those explanations are the things that Christians are not willing to believe. Where did "God" come from? Who knows. Where did the universe come from? A big rock that blew up. Which answer seems more satisfying? How old was "God"? Who knows. How old is this universe? There are two answers for this, either this universe isn\'t getting older or younger, or it\'s infinitely millions of years old. That goes into another topic though.
I think "God" is a creation of the human intellect in order to achieve the knowledge of things that we don\'t understand. The unexplainable, as humans, we have the hunger to have everything answered logically and truthfully. Yet, when this is not achievable by those standards, we turn to the "unknown". We use an "unknown" to explain the unknowns.
------This really smart friend of mine------
