Originally Posted by justabubba

herk, i see you equating faith with the teachings of a Bible which lacks credibility (for a variety of reasons) and requires a subscription to dogma
that, of itself, kills credibility. why would that be necessary to an omnipotent God. as these discussions eventually evolve, God becomes defined in mans' image
just as Islamic extremists abuse their faith to indoctrinate others to follow their (supposed) God-ordained will in the commitment of evil, that manipulation of faith for unGodlike acts is not foreign to (supposed) Christians
"God" is too often co-opted to manipulate the will of others

i can imagine a time when uncivil behavior was predominant, that concocting stories of magical happenings might be an effective means to bring civilized behavior to those in need of it. to impose a fear of a great unknown which insisted on cooperation and goodness, that such fire and brimstone was sufficient to trump antisocial behavior. so, it is not that i cannot see the benefits of preaching this as a mollifying force to try to harrness the evils that do exist

but, for some, who have no use for the dogma and the collective reinforcement of traditions, the alternative can be spirituality ... which is not nothingness. but neither is it subscription to comic book beliefs