A question for Agnostics...

Why did Jesus advocate for forgiving people without repentence?

 

Or perhaps what I am pointing out is the obvious lack of repentance.

 

Then they aren't Christian .. are they? and "jumping in a fountain" does nothing for them in the Mind of God. So they are on there way to Hell.. will that satisfy you need for vengeance?

 

I think it is interesting that in Judaism, Yom Kippur is the day of repenting to god for one's sins, asking forgiveness.

However, the day before is Erev Yom Kippur, where believers repent to those they have wronged, asking their forgiveness - something required before asking forgiveness of god.

 

If you forgive the man who beat you up he is no better off. He still has enough sins on his record to go to Hell. If what he did is a crime he might go to prison for it whether you forgive him or not. He still can go to Heaven by believing in Jesus. He still might get out of prison because of a sympathetic judge.
Only you suffer by not forgiving.

 

The other day I wrote a prayer that one of the men who did a terrible thing to me would feel guilty, kill some of the other people who did bad things to me, go to prison, get abused by guards and prisoners, straighten out his theology, convert every prisoner and guard, get a debilitating illness, then terminal cancer, get miraculously cured from the terminal cancer but not the debilitating illness and go to his deathbed preaching all the way.
Then I canceled the prayer because I want the rapture top come right after he kills the last accomplice.

 

I like this take in general.

But, I'd point out that quantity of sins is not the Christian version of why one isn't going to heaven.

In fact, Matthew quotes Jesus as saying that those who are not actively seeking out people in prison, in hospitals, in poor houses and giving them aid are headed for hell even if they are followers of Christ.

Christianity says it takes a belief in God + living the life that Jesus specified.

 

That's the big question.
Is the ticket to Heaven almost unattainable or embarrassingly easy to get or uneven?

 

Quite an improvement over biblical Christianity.

 

Second one.. very easy to obtain.. so it is a mystery why so many people choose to go to Hell.

 

When asked if I think there is a greater intelligent power responsible for everything I respond with I don’t know. If somehow I found irrefutable proof one existed ( a pretty difficult thing to be convincing enough to me to represent irrefutable proof), I would find it interesting but for me nothing in my life would change; why would it?


Bact to the OPI would ask is a theist belief a rational thing?

 

I think you may be omitting that not everybody believes in Christianity as directed by the New Testament of the Bible.

There is a strong social element to religion. All over the world we see people making choices of religion and behavior based on the society in which they live.

That's true in the USA, too. There are significantly more self professed Christians than there are those who follow the New Testament as the guiding principle of their lives.

 

I visited my neighbor who had a garden that was overflowing in tomato's, potato's, beans, string beans, mustard greens, squash and so forth. I marveled and asked how he accomplished such a thing. He said you have to till the soil, add nutrients, plant the seeds, water and care for it. So he gave me some seeds and let me borrow a push plow with attachments for tilling, weeding, and turning the soil. I took it home and set to working. I didn't know if it was gonna grow or if it wasn't. But I gave it a shot. And it grew. Before long I was rolling in fresh vegetables.

 

Interesting point.

I do think it would make a difference overall if it became clear that the God of the New Testament existed and his son Jesus was sacrificed for us.

In that case, humans would surely start following the direction that Jesus laid down in his life and his teaching.

As, per Matthew 25, that would include active care for those who are poor, those who are in prison and those in hospitals. For example, the idea of portions of our healthcare being available to those who can pay would be seen as unacceptable.

Our attitude toward strangers from strange lands would be very different. The idea of stealing their babies, having children sleep on concrete floors, etc., would be questioned.

Etc.

Would this be a change for everyone? I don't think so, but the bar for caring for each other would certainly be raised significantly from where it is today in the USA.

- Interesting last question!

 

Great! And, I'm glad you had that land as well as the will and physical capability.

In the USA, 56 million people live in apartments.

 

Well, they can still fine something good to believe in, and work to bring it to fruition.

 

I'm not sure what your point is here.

 

The procrastinative nature of agnosticism.

 

I don't accept that being an agnostic is "procrastinating".

That "procrastinating" idea would have to apply to all cases of increasing learning.

If you don't agree with LGBTQ being fully acceptable then you're just procrastinating.

If you don't accept the science of climate change, you're just procrastinating.

If you don't believe there is life other than what's on Earth, then you're just procrastinating.

If you believe there is a god, you're just procrastinating.


You assume YOU are right and others are wrong. Then, you assume it's somehow inevitable that they will admit how right YOU are.

 

Saying you don't know if God exists may count as procrastinating if you believed it was possible to know, and you just didn't do the work to find out. But most agnostics don't think that is how it works.

 

I am always amused to references to ‘the God’. Not Gods?…. The 10 commandments themselves allude to more than 1. Is God and the Creater the same entity? Could they be separate entities? If not, why not?

BTW, IN THE OLD Testament how many commandments did ‘God’ violate? None would be an incorrect guess.

 

gods , plural, refers to the fallen angels who passed themselves off as "gods".

 

You can believe whatever you want.

But, you can not use THAT as a justification for having government enforce your views on the rest of us.

 

Where does it say that?

 

And how did they do that? Are they still doing it? How would you know a real God from a deceiver?