Have you MISPLACED your imaginary deity yet again? Why is it that theists are always asking if you have "found Jesus" as if he is a lost dog? The problem with these "questions" is that they are rhetorical in that it is IMPOSSIBLE to "find" something that does NOT exist. The MOTIVATION behind these questions is to sow the seeds of DOUBT in the minds of others that PERHAPS they are MISSING OUT on something "special". That is a typical trick used by con artists to dupe people into believing that there is something that they "need" and that ONLY the con artist can supply what they "need". For example look at multi level marketing scams where they make outrageous claims that a diet supplement will cause you to lose weight as long as you buy the overpriced product. In the fine print it says that exercise is essential to achieve the desired effect while never mentioning that exercise alone will achieve the same end result WITHOUT the overpriced diet supplement. Given that there is NO imaginary deity this is no different to any other of the BOGUS claims made by con artists. The end result will always be the same in that you will end up handing over your money and NEVER "finding" this imaginary deity that does NOT exist.
Thanks to the OP for a well thought out presentation, concluding that one finds God thru a full purpose of heart. I agree. But for most of us it is probably nearer to a work in progress than a revelation, or more like climbing a rugged mountain than a leisurely stroll culminating in a breathtaking vista. Even Jesus prayed.
Your failure to discover the existence of God is evidence of your failure to discover him, not that there is no God. So I will say that I know that God does live in spite of your trumpeted proclamation. And no, I cannot show him to you. He is not my prisoner or collectible on a shelf. In fact, I am more his for you to examine.
Look around you. Look at creation. The truth is in plain sight. Everyone believes in God but some people choose to suppress it.
Donald John Trump though he alternates between feeling this way and laughing at those he bilks on this basis.
I asked a priest "Father, do you believe in Miracles?" "Certainly, I've seen a sunrise" he replied. Though that sort of sentiment is scant help to those whom life has given nothing but travail and despair it's still all that religion offers and those who have learned to make do with it are sometimes happier in this life than some holy hypocrites will ever be in any other
My attempts to "look around" would, at best, lead me to some kind of pagan religion, not Christianity.
No one can definitively PROVE there is a God/Gods any more than you can definitively PROVE there isn't. But you sure get worked up over "...this imaginary deity that does NOT exist". Relax. This ain't Iran, nobody's gonna chop your head off over it.
Proper Christians should understand that they themselves can be all the proof anyone could ask that a benevolent God exists and act in accordance
Yes. I've had intelligent and otherwise courageous atheist friends who are "terrified" of televangelists, because they are going to engineer polital takeovers that will outlaw abortion and give every redneck an assault rifle. That's the putative thought process.
Just so. They're also easy to catch and the DNR were PAYING you to catch them last year. Have a trout in your creel some places and you might very well have to give up fishing to pay the fine
You realize, I'm sure, that there are many Christians who fill that bill to the extent humanly possible, and thereby, per your standard, prove the existence of God.
They have no first amendment in Iran. Attacks on the First Amendment here emanate from the Left. Bill Maher is more welcome in Tulsa than he is in Berkeley.
Lol, no one here in the forums has been as adamant about their hatred for the First Amendment as Trump has been.
Lol, the point is that the religious right in the USA is not lobbying to weaken church-state separation. There are plenty of threads in which to bang on Trump.
We have a means to study the Universe we live in, and progressively understand how and why it works. This process is called Science. Yet for some reason Science is never used to prove God claims or even prove the supernatural claims of any kind. Rather the means employed to prove this stuff is always verbal gymnastics and circular logic making references to magic books.
I uphold your right to BELIEVE in as many imaginary deities as makes you happy. However there is ZERO evidence for the EXISTENCE of any imaginary deity. That said there is MASSES of evidence of SHYSTERS using theist dogma to EXPLOIT and FLEECE the gullible while enriching themselves. Believing in imaginary deities makes one VULNERABLE to these shysters.
Yes, there are many atheists who pretend to be Christians. But that speaks more to the godless than to the godly.
