I hate people!

[Blight]

What I believe is that faith comes from common sense. For example, I believe and have faith that if I service my car once in every 6 months, the car would run smoothly. Or, if I run a virus scan on the computer once a week, then the cpu/notebook would not break down. Or even, I have faith that if I eat 3 meals a day, I would not starve but grow up to be a strong man. Putting faith in religion aside, we just need common sense.

I actually like that. When ever I have thought of faith it some grand ideal or honor code or something that is simply extra ordinary. Simplifying it the way you have seems so obvious now. The examples are mundane, but I think that drives home that faith could be a philosophy of constants or day to day life. Faith in just living. I like that.

And just so you know, I'm not offended; and wasn’t trying to offend you either. It was just that everything you would state would seem to come out of left field on a religious throw. So it really sounded like bait for a fight.

I understand all the principals of believing in a faith that is exclusive. By that I mean, in practicing a said religion makes you believe that everyone else is wrong. I don't have a problem with that though. It was just that it is hard, maybe even impossible, to put it tactfully and not offend someone else. And going further, this is something non-religious people just can't understand. If you follow the beliefs of the church, if you truly believe in a religion like Christianity, of Judaism, or even if you are a Muslim, you, as a natural part of believing in these religions, deny others legitimacy. There is no ground for others to be right, or you don’t truly have any faith.

Opening this beyond religion, any time you believe in one thing, you close your mind to most other options. It is simply what happens when you make your mind up about something. Not having religion is the same way. To many preach open-mindedness and condemn people that don’t have open minds to other people’s beliefs, but then say religious people are superstitious idiots. Well that makes them hypocrites, because denying that anyone can have religious beliefs and remain intelligent is pretty damned close-minded if you ask me.

My point in this line is that I as long as someone doesn’t go around throwing it in peoples faces that they will burn in hell, or that they are going to get how ever many virgins and you are not, it’s okay if they think it. Your thoughts belong to you, not me, and as long as you don’t think I am a horrible person, I can roast and you can keep those poor girls. It is all right with me if someone thinks I’m going to hell, if they can also see that I’m a good person, and judge me on things other than my religious standing. It is important for someone to have those lines of thinking separate no matter what is thought.

[gubi-gubi]

Sorry to break your debate but has anyone read chariots of the gods? I'm not saying I truely believe it but it gives a compelling argument that 'god' was an astronaught. It sounds insane when you say it but it is an inteligent read. It looks at nearly all major holy books and notes the similarities (mainly the great flood). It also mentions the dead sea scrolls which featured in Evangelion. Check it out. I think it's like in its 100th printing or something.

[Zagatto]

I will check that one out. I hadn't heard of it before.
Another great piece of speculative fiction that touches on the nature of God is Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer. What's great about this book is that it's a fun rollercoaster of a ride while introducing some new theories about God and things like cancer and alien species. It's a great read that I highly recommend.

[Puppet Master]

Sorry to break your debate but has anyone read chariots of the gods? I'm not saying I truely believe it but it gives a compelling argument that 'god' was an astronaught. It sounds insane when you say it but it is an inteligent read. It looks at nearly all major holy books and notes the similarities (mainly the great flood). It also mentions the dead sea scrolls which featured in Evangelion. Check it out. I think it's like in its 100th printing or something.

What the hell is an "astronaught"?

[Elcoholic]

Sorry to break your debate but has anyone read chariots of the gods? I'm not saying I truely believe it but it gives a compelling argument that 'god' was an astronaught. It sounds insane when you say it but it is an inteligent read. It looks at nearly all major holy books and notes the similarities (mainly the great flood). It also mentions the dead sea scrolls which featured in Evangelion. Check it out. I think it's like in its 100th printing or something.

Sounds like some Scientology stuff to me. Anyway, its more plausible to me than God creating everything with a snap of the fingers in 7 days. But I don't believe in either.

[gubi-gubi]

What the hell is an "astronaught"?

Guess I ment 'astronaut' lol. Anyway check the book out. It even features this map



You can find info here - http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_1.htm

Basically the map is really old and strangely maps parts of the world unknown to people then. The strangest is that Antarctica is perfectly mapped which might not sound that strange apart from the fact the map shows what it looks like UNDER the ice. The ice is said to have been there before man itself. In the book there are other maps that have strange features such as the USA curving as if seen from space. Really weird book you have to read for yourself. If I say the stuff it would sound like I was crazy.