From Militant Atheism To Christ

Only if one goes by the human perception of God depicted in the Bible. Let's not forget that a force, power or entity powerful enough to create the entire universe is well beyond the ability of mere mortals to fully comprehend. At best, we can only comprehend parts, but not the whole.

One of the reasons I became an atheist as a young teenager was the disconnect between the Bible, such as Genesis and Jonah, and scientific discoveries such as the age of the Universe and the unlikely ability of a human to survive inside a whale for 3 days. If one takes the Bible literally, then when confronted with the facts known through scientific research, it presents a conundrum. If one takes the Bible as a book of wisdom written by intelligent, albeit less sophisticated, desert nomads, then perhaps a person can see the wisdom without becoming bogged down in archaic perceptions.

One of Arthur C. Clarke's 3 laws is "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Another way of looking at this is that what our ancestors perceived as "magic" is simply part of the natural universe. Just because, due to a lack of technological sophistication, they perceived some natural things differently doesn't negate their perceptions of human spirituality.

 

It anthropomorphizes a power that, as mentioned previously, is mostly beyond human perception. He's making exactly the same mistake as Christians who think Katrina was punishment from God.

 

Surprisingly many choose to "burn" in their own lust......it most definitely is a choice.

 

People choose all the time. You may view it as an ultimatum however many choose to go their own way all the time. There is an attraction to that for many.

 

I spent years believing as you do. My earliest posts on this site prove it. (Look at my posts from ~2009 - 2014 if you think I'm lying.)

I pity you because I know what it's like to force one's intellect through the religious gymnastics.

 

Which is better: to burn forever, or to sit on your knees suck Yahweh's . . . er, "ego" for all eternity?

 

You're missing the point entirely.

 

Such arrogance to claim that such a power exists and that you have insight into its mind.

 

You have a nasty view of Heaven (don't know where you got it) I bet there are things you "burn for" in the here and now.

 

'Splain the point.

 

What does Yahweh desire? Your love and worship. Why does he desire it? Ego.

Good thing he doesn't exist.

 

The point is that Yahweh is the one providing this ultimatum. One can choose eternal "paradise," which comprises of forced love and worship like a robot, or eternal hellfire for refusing, and there's no escaping this bizarre and tragic paradigm.

Kim Jong Un might offer you a similar proposition: "Pleasure me 24/7 for the rest of your life or you'll spend the rest of your life in a work camp."

A tyrant like Kim Jong Un can't allow an "other" option. Neither can Yahweh.

 

What would you have God do differently? Put you in a world without hardships so you have no need to grow? Force everyone to be 'good'? With the former, we would be animals, merely subsisting to subsist. With the latter, we would be machines, doing only as programmed. What would be the point?

 

Sure. Why not? He did it with Adam and Eve.

Better yet, why make flawed beings at all? Entertainment purposes?

A good Xtian is already a programmed robot, unwilling to ever question Yahweh.

 

Would you prefer to live as Adam and Eve did, with all your needs taken care of by God, and no knowledge of your own creative intellectual potential?

What is the 'flaw'?

Cant disagree with you on most Christians being robots... except they're programmed by the establishment via 501c3 churches instead of God.

 

So, people in heaven will lack "creative intellectual potential"?

 

Unknown. I doubt it though. It seems likely to me that heaven is merely another stage of existance, or possibly just a new perspective of existance, not a final destination.

 

Otoh, if you believe in an eternal afterlife
You could believe almost anything on similar evidence

 

Bear in mind that this imaginary deity "created" humans in "his own image" which reflects the stupidity of the creator.

 

So the pain and suffering is "justified" by the snake oil promise of an "eternal afterlife"?

Explain why those who are pushing that snake oil promise, while picking your pocket at the same time, enjoy lives of affluence and comfort at the expense of those undergoing the pain and suffering?

 

What "logic and reason" justifies pain and suffering with a snake oil promise of an "eternal afterlife"?

 

So now we are supposed to feel guilty about being "born sinners" ?

 

Love exists and we have evidence that is exists.

Your deity does not exist and there is no evidence for the existence of your deity.

I choose the love that exists because that is REALITY!

 

Unfortunately you only have this world and what you make of it is entirely up to you.

What matters in this life is the people you love. Your possessions won't mourn your passing. The love you share with others is immortal in that it is passed down from generation to generation.

 

Sounds like you are describing exactly what is being offered as an "eternal afterlife".