That and finite resources in the city states had then killing babies. If you think about things for just a bit you will see that they had little choice given the conditions at hand. Where there was plenty of resources, those did not happen. Think global and not local and you will not put your foot in your mouth. You might remember the high abortion rates. What is it at, 1 million a year now. We sure have gotten better Eh? And they are not even our enemy. Regards DL
In any story the hero can only be as good as the villain is bad. Batman needs the Joker. Superman needs Lex Luthor. Duh-bya needed Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. God needs the devil.
I believe in Mr. Deity and The Boy, and of course in Lucy as well. [video=youtube;Qzf8q9QHfhI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzf8q9QHfhI[/video]
I like this guy. [video=youtube;4ott15j2KwQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ott15j2KwQ&feature=related[/video] He digs into the bible more. Regards DL
Flawed for two reasons - That God predetermines everything does not mean that human beings lack free will or choice as these are understood. Predetermination is only a doctrine of Calvinists, not of most Christians. Calvinists believe that God predetermines people's fates by setting their good or bad characters. Once their character is set, people are free to choose their specific actions. God knows what will happen in that he knows whether good or bad people are involved - and that's only Calvinism. I'm unfamiliar with the bible translation used in the video. Is it a Calvinist bible? Following the video's logic to its conclusion, God is responsible for everything and people are responsible for nothing. There's no religion I know of that says that. The video maker strains too hard to be clever. Christians have also been troubled at the idea that God would let his Son become the victim of unforeseen evil. The bible passages are probably there to reassure people that all is well because God was not ambushed and is still in control, so the ultimate outcome will be what it should. As an atheist, I needn't worry about the knots theology and the bible tie in people's lives. Even so, I don't enjoy the smirking superiority of some guy who finds a contradiction and uses it to humiliate religious people. Second, I don't like the references to "the Jews." The video maker seems not to know that Jesus was Jewish and a rabbi, and that his disciples were Jewish, and so were his first followers. Christians are the fraction of Jews that accepted Jesus's claims of divine authority. Jesus's disciples and followers could hardly have held Jews collectively responsible for Jesus's death since they were themselves Jewish. There were a few particular Jews who had a hand in Jesus's death. The idea that an entire nation is responsible for the acts of individuals is obviously ludicrous and can only be used in support of oppression. The Second Vatican Council specifically repudiated the idea of collective Jewish guilt. Yet the video maker revives this cruel idiocy. I'm not buying. Mr. Deity pokes fun at the one guy who can't be hurt - God. The video points at people in hurtful ways.
It's a little difficult from your post to determine what you believe and what you think other people believe. Is it your position that god makes good and bad characters in people? So if I have a bad "character" that's not my fault, it was what was given me from god, and then I am "free" to take that bad character and become what I will with it? Is that what you believe?
I do not mind that at all since it is aimed at those who have embraced barbaric human sacrifice and the notion that they should take advantage of the punishment of the innocent instead of the guilty. If a bit of hurt cures them of that really immoral mind set then well and good. As to predestination, it is a common Christian belief and the sacrifice of Jesus hinges on it. I also do not agree with your idea that we still have free will in a predestined system. If we were just talking of a God who could see the future you would have a point. Pre-destined I take as his great but stupid plan putting us little pieces in place to do as he planned. It was God's plan from the beginning to have Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit. This can be demonstrated by the fact that the bible says that Jesus "was crucified from the foundations of the Earth," that is to say, God planned to crucify Jesus as atonement for sin before he even created human beings or *******ned sin. 1Peter 1:20 0 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. This indicates that Jesus had no choice. If God had not intended humans to sin from the beginning, why did he build into the Creation this "solution" for sin? Why create a solution for a problem you do not anticipate? God knew that the moment he said "don't eat from that tree," the die was cast. The eating was inevitable. Eve was merely following the plan. This then begs the question. What kind of God would plan and execute the murder of his own son when there was absolutely no need to? Only an insane God. Thats who. The cornerstone of Christianity is human sacrifice, thus showing its immorality. One of Christianity's highest form of immorality is what they have done to women. They have denied them equality and subjugated them to men. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqN8EYIIR3g&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dspWh9g3hU&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c0RFxXrYzg&feature=related Regards DL
I'm an atheist. I was describing what Calvinist Protestants believe, which seems to be what the video discusses.
You're trying to impose logic on a subject which resists it - religion. Religious books and religious people say what they do to meet emotional needs. We need people to be responsible for their actions, and so they are. We need a just and benevolent God to be in charge, and so He is. We need to feel everything will work out as it should, so we say God will make it so. No point in questioning the logical conundrums all this creates. It's all about feelings.
I would say that it is more a question of self delusion and I would love to be able to just let it all go but unfortunately, I feel that we all have a duty to each other so I have to try to correct them for that as well as the fact that their beliefs cause a lot of harm. I would love it if the problem just disappeared but for that evil to grow, all good people need do is nothing. Regards DL
They feel the same about you. If we all quit Saving each other's souls, the world would be more peaceable.
Twelve pages and no one has addressed a simple question: God created evil. God created Lucifer knowing what he would do before he does it. Lucifer must ask God for permission to do X. Everything is a part of God's plan. How is Lucifer a bad guy? Those damn shoelaces! Always in the way.
