do you know the truth about heaven and hell?

[Robert56 0]

quote:

Originally posted by WPMagic:

Person 1: "lalalala blah blah blah blah yada yada yada"

 

Person 2: "What? That made no sense, please explain."

 

Person 1: "You don't agree with me! Tunnel vision! Tunnel vision! Agree with what I say! No matter what you say I respond with 'TUNNEL VISION!'"

 

SmokeShow: It seems that you are well read, and you have taken some time do develop your views. That said, are you going about this the right way?

 

You remind me of a saying I once heard:

 

"A person that believes in a 100% pure anything will not see that purity in anybody else but them self."

 

If you don't have an open mind then you are blind and deft to everything around you.

 

 

 

Originally posted by SmokeShow:

 

Seriously, if you feel there is no God because the Jews are treated with respect in the US and because they have a homeland in the Middle East, then you are seriously misinformed as to the true nature of God.

 

-Wrong...I believe in evolution, that is why there is no such thing as God.

I'm merely pointing out the feelings/beliefs of the Catholic church and I wanted an answer from someone who "believes" to answer me. If Jews are supposed to be wanderers with no homeland, then why isn't God/Pope/Catholic church not following through with that.

 

I do not agree with your belief in evolution, however I will listen to them. I mean how can people claim that we evolved from apes or monkeys? There are no new creatures evolving and becoming more than what man is, shouldn

[Emory889 353]

Wow, I bet the guy who created this thread didn't see the topic going in this direction. That's why religion is a bad topic for discussion. This will probably the only thread in the off topic area to ever get locked.

[Live or Die Magic 383]

Wow, I go away to sulk for a week after the Magic got swept and I come back to find this beauty of a thread! Not only do I hope it doesn't get locked up, I hope it continues for a while. This is great stuff.

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

I'm an atheist, and I find religion to be somewhat silly in my life, but I can certainly understand why it would bring comfort to other people. My issue with religion has always been the things the people do in the name of religion. The second Jerry Falwell said that 9/11 was God's punishment for Jews and Gays, I couldn't believe that God didn't just smite him right there.

 

As for Smokeshow's questions about the Pope, well, you need to understand that the culture of the Western world as well as the culture of the Papacy is radically different than what it was 500 years ago. At that point, a Papal excommunication could toppel governments, and so the Pope had a great amount of power. At that point, Pope's had armies, fought wars, and strangely enough, had large Harems. No joke.

Things are different now. Catholicism is no longer the Western world's most popular religion, and the pope no longer has much, if any, political pull.

[TheDarkSide 0]

I believe in God. There are a lot of religions threw out the world with different views, but if you are debating if there is a God or Not I have a simple answer for you.

 

Yes there is a God.

 

Just take a white sheet of computer paper and hold it up to the air, imagine that single sheet of paper is the blank universe. We all agree the universe had to start off as a blank sheet of paper, if not then God created our Universe with all our planets already.

 

The basics of the Big Bang theory which is the only true way of explaining our universe is, an Atom basically set the whole universe off. Now we don

[Mr Charisma 0]

quote:

Originally posted by SmokeShow:

Supposedly God punished the Jews to be "wanderers" and where ever they reside are supposed to respect ways of life of that land. So, if that's the case then there is no God because our country is certainly not being respected!

If an elephant has 2 eyes, and a mouse has 2 eyes, then an elephant and a mouse must be the same.

 

That's the level of logic applied here.

 

You identify what God requested of the Jews so, when it doesn't happen according to God's direction, then you are suggesting that it means God doesn't exist?

 

You apparently believe in the infallability of man, since you leave absolutely no room here for the possibility that man actually disobeyed God.

 

If I tell my son to drive north on a one-way street, but he chooses to drive south and ends up in a fatal head-on collision, then it's my fault?

 

People that want to hate certain groups of people will spend massive amounts of time and energy determining a justification for their hatred, and lauding it like a jeweled crown.

 

You wear your's well.

[Secretly Space Jesus 670]

quote:

Originally posted by TheDarkSide:

I believe in God. There are a lot of religions threw out the world with different views, but if you are debating if there is a God or Not I have a simple answer for you.

 

Yes there is a God.

 

Just take a white sheet of computer paper and hold it up to the air, imagine that single sheet of paper is the blank universe. We all agree the universe had to start off as a blank sheet of paper, if not then God created our Universe with all our planets already.

 

The basics of the Big Bang theory which is the only true way of explaining our universe is, an Atom basically set the whole universe off. Now we don

[TheDarkSide 0]

Its nice hearing every ones views on here.

 

I just tried to put it simple, because thats the only real way any of us can understand who created this universe. God is so smart, we can not even comprehend how much intellange God has.

 

Basically we don't know what started this universe, but it had to be one single thing. Some people call it an atom, some people say it may have to be way more advanced then an atom. But in a blank slate of the universe like a blank canvas and artist "God" had to put it their to start the painting of the universe.

 

About 2 weeks ago I was watching a show is God real or not. They had some great points supporting God and the bible. One thing I found interesting is a simple rock like Granite can not be made by scientist. Granite is what this earth is made of. They said it had to be mixed with Polonium 218, and only has a half life less then 3 minutes, which mean this world had to be created in a hour I think if I can remember from the show.

 

ill try to find a link for it soon.

[TheDarkSide 0]

This is from one site I found fast, its about the Granite theory.

 

 

A story about two friends from day one.

 

Once upon a time there was a Polonium 218 element of the family of radioactive isotopes. Nuclear chemists classify Polonium 218 as radioactive because the nuclei of the atom continually emit alpha, beta and gamma radiation. This radiation loss causes the atom to disintegrate or decay into a smaller atom. Eventually the material will become lead, which we commonly use for fishing weights and lead-acid batteries in our cars.

 

Polonium 218 would be classified in elementary school as being "hyperactive." It can't sit still very long. In only three minutes, half of the atoms decay into a lighter element, and in only one day it is all changed.

 

Polonium 218 can be created by the decay of a parent atom such as Uranium 238 or some other element below Uranium 238 in the chain. It can also be created as the parent without having come from the decay of a heavier atom. This is very important, so remember this fact.

 

Once upon a time there was granite rock. Granite is a very unique rock but at the same time is very common and plentiful. It can easily be found in mountain areas such as the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Granite is easily identified by its hard crystalline structure and light color. The crystals are large enough to be easily seen with the eye. It has an interesting structure with a mixture of light-colored quartz and feldspar crystals, and darker crystals of mica and hornblende. Granite is solid and hard without cracks or seams, and it is very strong.

 

Granite has another very unique property in that it cannot be created by scientists. It is considered to be an "original" material in the Earth. When melted and allowed to harden, it does not return to the original granite crystalline structure. The new smaller crystalline material is called rhyolite. Granite cannot be made by cooling the initial molten materials. This is very important, so remember this fact.

 

Granite never contains fossils such as are found in sedimentary rocks. All of these properties have led many scientists to refer to granite as a creation rock, since it could not have solidified from molten material according to the evolutionary theory.

 

Evolution cannot explain the presence of granite in its present structure. And where is this granite? Everywhere. Granite is the bedrock shell which encloses the entire Earth. Its exact thickness is unknown, but scientists have speculated that it forms a layer about 4.35 miles (7 km) thick, and in some areas possibly 20 miles (32 km) thick. It occurs on every continent.

 

These are the two friends from day one. We know they were friends because they lived together. The Polonium 218 lived only a very short time (3 minutes), but he left his mark on his friend, granite, in that short time. Polonium emitted alpha particles which left a very distinct mark in the granite. These marks are called Polonium halos. These halos are tiny colored concentric circles which must be viewed with a microscope. The concentric circles are actually concentric spherical marks which appear as circles after the rock is cut open. "How many halos are there?" you may ask. One trillion times 10 billion are present on every continent around the world. They are everywhere.

 

The Polonium 218 was the parent radioactive isotope because other distinct halos which are created by other isotopes are not present. The Polonium halos are not accompanied by Uranium 238 halos.

 

One minute there was nothing. The next minute there were parent Polonium 218 radioactive atoms locked in the center of solid granite. The granite rock could not have formed from cooling molten rock. Granite will not form that way. In fact, scientists cannot make granite by any method. They can make diamonds but not granite. Granite is solid. The Polonium could not penetrate existing granite because it is not porous or cracked. This was day one.

 

These friends are absolute scientific proof that evolution is dead. First, the granite could not have been produced by evolutionary theories, the Earth cooling, etc. Second, the Polonium locks the entire time period into an instantaneous event proven by nuclear chemistry. The time is not "millions and millions and millions" of years. The granite was produced as a solid with the Polonium parent elements inside at that instant. Within the first three minutes, half of the Polonium had decayed into a lower element. The Earth, granite and Polonium were created by God together in an instant.

 

Yes, my friend, it wasn't a big bang. It was a big AMEN (translated, "So be it.").

 

So, have we proven that evolution is dead and the Earth was created?

 

Well, it's faith isn't it? Either you believe in creation which requires a Creator, or you believe in evolution as a theory which ignores a creator. Basically, people who believe in the evolutionary theory either 1) deny scientific fact in order to deny that God exists, or 2) they have not studied well enough to see that evolution is not possible. Science makes it very difficult to believe in evolution because an instantaneous creation is perfectly supported. Evolution cannot be proven.

[Ned Ryerson 94]

quote:

People that want to hate certain groups of people will spend massive amounts of time and energy determining a justification for their hatred, and lauding it like a jeweled crown.

 

You wear your's well.

 

Brilliant!

[MagicMan83 0]

I really thought this thread was dead but 3 days later it's back!

[Osprey 199]

Drunk,

 

I don't worry to much about your atheism, God will reveal himself to you one day and there will be no denying his presence! It may not completely bring you over the evangelical aspect of some believers, but you will believe. Maybe it will take the birth of your first child, or a maybe you'll be out in nature and you will be overcome with a feeling of not being alone, I know there are many people in my church that had their first true spiritual experiece much later in life.

 

I am lucky that I was able to see God's work early in life.

 

That being said I wanted to address your issue with your basic argument of "if God truly existed how could he allow all these things to be carried out in the name of religion or Christianity etc." Thats not a direct quote, I am just paraphrasing an argument that many non-believers use and I feel is your reason for not believing.

 

In order for people to love God (God's ultimate plan) God had to create the capacity for unyielding and complete love within us as we are created in his image. Coming along with the capacity for unbridled love comes the potential for unimaginable evil. That is why such horrible things can be perpetrated by people against other people. In every belief, religious or scientific, there is a balance of good and evil, positve and negative.

 

As far as Jerry Falwell, there are also many people who misinterpret the Word of God and in my opinion, these people are more upsetting to God than murderers because they falsely lead believers away from God's true message, one of love. Much like the radical Mullahs in the Muslim faith that urge people to kill for Allah. They are intentionally misinforming believers as to the true nature of God.

 

God wants his people to love him, and He gives us the ability to do so, but with it came the ability to turn from Him completely.

 

I know i'm not going to sway you with this post, but I just want to share with you some things that I have learned and have strengthened my faith. I know as well that I am not perfect and maybe not the best exemplar of a "perfect Christain-life" that many holier-than-thou types believe we should all attain.

 

If you want to have a discussion or ask me any more issues you have with God I will be happy to answer them or talk about them. I enjoy playing apologist, and I know many people, believers and non-believers have numerous questions about God or Christianity in general.