selling jesus has to be the greatest business ever invented. what other business do people so willingly give up 10% of their income for nothing physical in return? in many cases people will willingly give up their estates too. the church i used to attend had people on staff to set up the paper work so that when you die the church gets your money.
...mmm the ultimate chain letter. A promise passed on under threat, only keep paying in. In this mother of all scams, there isn't even a chance of some cashback.
In a land of mythical creatures [i.e. "the universe"], creatures gain existence by convincing themselves that they exist. Biblical genesis works to this end. Conflict fuels a sense of existence. After all, who would fight for what does not exist? And who would fight for what does exist, against what doesn't? You can't have a fictional movie without mythical creatures battling for survival and "freedom" and "peace". Battles [conflicts] provide the distraction needed to engage one's mind enough to suspend its awareness of reality. Reality is always peaceful and free and obvious. It takes a complex fictional battle to capture one's attention with fantasy. This is how 'Harry Potter' works its magic. This is how 'Lord of the Rings' rings true for believers. This is how 'Narnia' necromancy makes noise nice for noobs. This is how the 'Holy Bible' casts its spell. This is how "the universe" works its mojo on a sophisticated mind. So, atheists use theists, and theists use atheists. All unconscious. Tools all. Conflict is the lifeblood of mythical creatures and magical characters. One must rise above the battlefield to see the futility of it all. Transcend for peace. Christ!
People are thoughts in a mind that sleeps and believes, sleeping because it believes. As it gradually awakens, knowledge is introduced into a faith fueled fantasy through insight [ ie. epiphany]. Insight remains in the mind that sleeps, spreading throughout as it is welcome. As it is welcome, it finds the one who would open the door of a closed, entombed, darkened, sleeping mind. One with an open mind will "hear" or otherwise recognize what he welcomes, be it by book, by person, or by insight of his own. He calls these to himself through his own freedom to sleep or wake. Motive determines what one will believe and see and understand through insight or lack thereof. I am motivated to be free and awake. Others are motivated to be free and asleep, dreaming of death and exile and imprisonment. Christ!
I'm asking because you surely devote lots of energy to this subject: just like those who preach the opposite. It's just that they have an agenda: (money or the favor of God, that's what they believe), what's your agenda? So You're just calling the deceitful children out? to save them from what? what are you gaining by it? and even if you do gain certain satisfaction of proving there's no God, then you should be targeting the right people, you won't convince the people you choose to argue with. I'm just curious about your motifs....it almost seems like you want to convince yourself that there is no God rather than convince the rest of us
Thanks for the civility which accompanies your question. Unsure how you get the impression I devote lots of energy on this subject. You ask what do I intend to gain, what are my motifs, what's my agenda. Thinking about what you ask but without expending too much effort on the answer , I would say for some reason or other I have a selfish desire to understand better why people would readily accept preposterous religious claims in the face of all contradictory evidence. How come society will institute such an absurdity over itself, especially one that is so full of error and contradiction it can amount to no more than fantasy, but which is nevertheless blindly and perversely taken as given. That to me is just such cheap value. I think it fair and legitimate ground to argue without need of gain, motif or agenda. It's nothing to do with some kind of satisfaction in the way you suggest , I just really do think the world could have been a far better place without carrying the religion monkey around on it's back. It's not as if thereâs no choice. Humanitarian values are used all the time to rise above all that anyway and are established without the layers of deceit which religion relishes in. I think that would be so much more of an edifying experience all round. And I just like to say so that's all. Although others on this board do it better. Do you think I shouldn't?
stu has reduced YOU to sniping. which is where your comfort zone is anyway. stu is the TERMINATOR of unreason and the irrational! Go stu! keep up the good work man!
Funny, they are operating the same way in my town. Occasionally, there will be a news of church fighting for someone's estates in my newspaper.