Am I the first person to say this? Once again, your argument is fallacious because you assume one of either 2 things:
a) God is the ONLY religious/spiritual/omnipotent being in the Universe.
b) That God exists completely and utterly.
Well, repsecting your position ofc, I can equally argue that your arguement is fallacious as you are assuming either:
a) God does not exist or behaves in the manner as described in the scriptures.
b) God may not or does not exist at all.
Both of which you have as little evidence to support as I do to prove my position.
It then comes down to a matter of faith, as we have already established, either you have faith in God as He is described in the Bible, you have faith in the notion of God but not in the way as described in the Bible or you have faith that God in fact does not exist at all.
It seems like you cannot even try to believe, just for a second, that God might not exist. Yes, you believe that he does, but isn't there the slightest possibility that he did not fuel the beginnings of the Universe, and the consequent invention of life?
Well obviously believing in Him, would lead you to conclude that creation is not possible without Him, as not believing in Him would lead you to conclude that creation is possible (and even likely) without Him.
You may think that now, I am trying to impress my "atheist" beliefs upon you, but the fact is, I went to a Christian school, and I was born and raised a Christian. I have even received all the sacraments.
Nonono I respect your position and appreciate you expending the effort to actually explain what it is you believe in. I was an athiest for most of my life, I can understand how unreasonable we (Christians) can seem at times.
Going to a Christian school and recieving the sacraments however does not make you a Christian, and I know you would understand that. I in contrast don't attended a Christian school and my family isn't religious.
Except unlike you, I am able to realise that he might not be there in the end. We can argue and argue over this point, but it is not what I truly wanted to say.
Do you have faith or not, of this I am still unsure. You sort of imply that you accept He may exist or that He may not, are you like somewhat undecided?
Its not faith, if you admit the possibility that He's not there.
As a Christian, we are taught to accept others for who they are, regardless of their beliefs yet you seem to ignore this every step of the way. Instead, if one does not hold the same beliefs as you, you immediately label them as selfish and suddenly dismiss them. You use God and His rules as a tool to enable your own condescension. Immediately, you feel you are better than us, because we seem to self-glorify, and participate in hedonistic activities.
I disagree. I havn't "not accepted" someone because they have different beliefs to me. Nor do I try and judge them.
I have already explained my position, however I don't see myself as
dissmissive of others beliefs, ambitions or goals in this life. I admitted that I can appreciate the sacrifices others make in order to make the world a better place, however I disagree with their motives.
And I certinly do not think I am better than you. I am hardly innocent of sin, I simply don't take pride in it or tolerate it as acceptable (in my life).
This is what I don't understand. You seem so focussed on contending that "God is the ultimate goal" and that His morals are the only ones which we should be following. You cannot honestly sit there all day and feel that you are doing the "right" thing by judging us and our ways, because that would be contradictory to the entire foundations of "love thy neighbour".
Ok, these are my beliefs, you probably understand them better than most, considering what you have described of your upbringing.
As I said I would disagree that I am passing judgement on you, and this is hardly my intention and so I'm sorry if you feel this.
I do not see how I have undermined the concept of loving ones neighbour, through the expression of my values. I am not causing you harm (as far as I am aware) and presenting the Truth to others is hardly doing them a disservice. Loving thy neighbour does not extend to abandoning your faith in God or compromising with the unbelievers position.
If anything love would entail having the courage to tell someone they are making a mistake and stand up to them, for them (if you get what I mean).
I am not focing anyone to adopt them as no-one is forcing me to adopt theirs. Our views can conflict and we can disagree, but this does not have to led to conflict. Peaceful co-existence and discussion is possible.
But alas, we are bound forever to disagree, because you feel that upholding your faith every second is the "right" thing to do. And so I will no longer argue. This is the last post I will make in this thread.
Oh well. Internet debates prove little and ones such as this tend to develop into very circular arguements, I can see why if you wanna stop now, cya :wave:
