Hey I'm athiest and im looking 4 a debate on religion...but a friendly debate b/c i dont hav a problem w/religious ppl i jst wnt 2 see if i can get a few straight answers....

so here's my 1st question:

Frst of all, why is our god real but all the gods from greek and roman "mythology" aren't?? I mean who's to say that in a few thousand years people won't call "God" mythology?!

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Originally posted by kaylakako:
greek gods aint reel coz they hav bout 50 gods and evry 1 shood know that there iz only 1 god and the bible actually makes some sense and haz an explanation 4 evry thin and the bible will always b reel wether peeple believe it or not. and we mite not even b alive in 1000 years so peeple coodnt call the bible fake or fony

Aside from being a massive run-on sentence, your logic doesn't make any sense. Why are the Greek gods fake because there are multiple ones? You assert that the Bible is true, but how can you prove that? You may believe it yourself, but others don't and they aren't going to accept anything along the lines of "It's true because it is."

There is also a reason I believe in 1 God because science is trying to bring Him down saying He was never real. But instead they are only proving he was here by the one day stopped is our leap year in the Bible

im gonna say that people do call God a mythology and we have our different views. Some people believe there are three Gods God,Jesus, and the Holy Ghost. I believe this is wrong but people have their religion and i have mine and there ain't nothin wrong with that. My question is if there is one true religion because there is only one God in my book so does that mean there is only one religion. This is what makes U.S.A so unique our religious principles. Greeks believe like indians there is a God for everything but there is always a top God. Nobody is judging just commenting

greek gods aint reel coz they hav bout 50 gods and evry 1 shood know that there iz only 1 god and the bible actually makes some sense and haz an explanation 4 evry thin and the bible will always b reel wether peeple believe it or not. and we mite not even b alive in 1000 years so peeple coodnt call the bible fake or fony

The brain example doesn't work. I have not seen my brain, but if I was to have my head X-rayed, I could see it. If I wanted to smell, touch, or taste (ew) a brain, I could go to an autopsy.

I may not be able to easily sense my brain, but it's possible. Is it really possible to sense God in any physical way?

hello everyone i have research a few religions and the thing i dnt understand why people dont believe in a creator i mean how did we come about??..i hope u dnt belive we were made of microorganisms or bacteria in the air joined and formed humans cause thats clearly a myth no doubt ..yea science is a big part of life and also a big part of the Quaran in Islam ...but i mean just because you cant see god, can hear god, cant smell or touch god it does not mean god doesnt exist ..here i as a simple question: (firalio if you want more undertsanding of yourself and life answer the following question in your head)

have you ever seen your brain physically infront of you...

have you ever seen the shape of it or even touched it?

have you smelt what ur brain smells like?? or maybe even tasted it??
......so does it mean it does not exist??? just because you cannot do see or touch god it doesnt mean god doesnt exist.

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last time He spoke to a whole group of people, they collapsed screaming. The

when was this? he spoke to the apostles on the mountain with jesus, in fact I referenced that story below. and though they collapsed it was them trying to prostrate themselves before the glory of god asap, not pain or anything like that.

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The way I see it is that God doesn't affect the world physically. He is more of a force on indiviuals...

Well, ya. Like I said, last time He spoke to a whole group of people, they collapsed screaming. The best way to act when you are that powerful is through other people.

The mystery is what makes it beautiful. Even if God chose to show himself, don't you think there would still be mystery?

The way I see it is that God doesn't affect the world physically. He's more of a force on individuals, who can then cause changes in the world. People choose to follow his guidance or ignore it. Some may not even know he's giving them hints. Looking at it this way solves the big problem of "Why does God let the world suck?" because the blame falls on the people who ignore him and screw things up for everyone else. In other words, God doesn't allow bad things to happen because he's incapable of directly changing things. He has to work through people, which doesn't always work out.

Of course, I'm not saying this is exactly how it all works. I simply don't know. But I've asked many of the same questions and come to the conclusion that, if God exists, he is more of a spiritually guiding force than something that can directly affect events on Earth.

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But what I think, seperates the two of us

Nah we're very much the same on that matter, but I've learned over the years that as I improve myself, I improve those around me and as they improve so do the people around them. The whole thing of good deeds being like splashes in a calm lake is perfectly applicable. It just so happens that one of the spurs for me to better myself is the moral code of my faith.

The whole point of the "mystery" as you call it is again to challenge faith which is really beyond me to explain further. I know sweden has plenty of christian churches around and a priest would be more able to actually awnser this one for you. Just find out parish hours and go in and ask to speak to a priest, explain you have some questions about faith and lay it out for the man. He'll break it down for you from a level I can't. Seriously bro it's these guys jobs to explain things like that.

I'm sorry I couldn't get that last one for you

When the Hebrews heard God in the desert, they were completely changed, for the better or worse depends on the person. All non-beleivers should try looking at the Bible to read things like that. Maybe some is fake. But some things no human can make up.

Thank you yet again for youre answers. I just want to say that I have always felt that there Is something more to life. I mean, this just cant be it. Ive also been connecting a lot of memories, thoughts, experiences and signs, which adds to a picture of myself. I see signs and patterns in almost everything. I see meaning and purpose In everything.

Im just trying to clear out the logic parts In religion and faith. But what I think, seperates the two of us, Is that I dont want to believe In god because you have to or even because Its good for me. dont to believe In god, in order to be happy or juse It as a comfort. I dont wanna waste my time, so to speak, on something I cant be clear about. Whats important for me, Is only the better of man kind. My only wish Is for everyone to be free and happy, how unrealistic that may sound.

And when I conclude all of this, It all adds up to one thing. Misery. You didnt answer the question I had about the mystery. Why? Whats the meaning and purpose of the mystery? You just have to admit that that this mystery, the biggest mystery of all time has caused an endless misery and sorrow. Why cant It just all be clear? Why did he introduce himself for over 2000 years ago and then decided not to reappear, like right now? This Is my biggest concern In religion and god.

I also just want to say that Im not trying, not to believe In god and religion. I just cant. All this mystery just makes you paranoid and confused. Why???

I believe that If there never was any mystery, the world would have been such a much, much, much better place than It Is right now.

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Has god ever shown himself for others

No and Yes. This is an extremely hard awnser to explain because God has shown himself or made his voice heard on earth. But actually hasn't shown "Himself" in the sense of the direct Glory of God, which according to the mythology of christianity and most other faiths would be beyond human comphrehension. He has shown himself as various guises such as the burning bush in the desert, and made his voice heard like the point in the new testament where the disciples and jesus are up on a mountain and the skies part and a voice rings out "This is My beloved son, with whom I am well pleased".
Again the reason he doesn't is that it invalidates faith. Believing with out seeing, having faith in God is the true trial of religion.

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Do you have to believe In god In order to take the next step?

According to the majority of christianity, yes you have to belive in God and accept Christ as your personal savior to go on to heaven and have your sins redeemed. I have a slightly different opinion on that but I won't mention it here so I don't confuse you.

I honestly wouldn't be able to say if it's fair or not, I really don't think it is, but if faith is the key to salvation and you don't have faith it kinda wraps itself up right? that's the offical explanation any way.

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How does one know that these are acts of god?

We don't, we have to take it on faith that Moses really did carry the carved stone tablets that contained the ten commandments (the original basic guidelines) down Mount Sinai and that Christ really did dictate the instructions for living he did through the parables (given we have four seperate accounts to go on and they both come out to saying the same thing we can be pretty sure of that. It all comes back to faith in the end.

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how do you get to believe In god? What made you believe In It?

Hmmm I'm likely not the best person to ask about that. I'm not a main-stream christian in any sense of the word. I'm religous, I'm christian but I don't go to church or anything like that. I'm more of an independant then anything else. I came to belive through essentially what your doing at the moment. I rebelled against the faith I had been brought up with. I walked away and flipped off the entire religion as I left. I then procceded to ask a metric ass ton of questions and learn about everything. and not just philosophy and religion but science and other things. As I got deeper in to sciences (really hard stuff like DNA science and the universe) I got deeper in my studies of what was my christian faith and started to see how it all connected, that science itself is how we view the tools of a creative and amazing God. So I suppose you could say my "conversion" came over a text book and microscope.

I'd like to reccomend some reading for you, this should help you with some of the questions I stumbled over and can help you see how intertwined science and religion really are. The Case for a Creator and The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel are fantastic books written by a converted atheist (so he knows where we both are coming from) and are excellent explorations in to christianity. I'd also like to reccomend that you go to a local church and ask to talk to the pastor. It these guy's jobs to awnser every question about their religion that you can possibly have. They can also explain the nature of faith and the relationship between faith and God far better then a well read layman like me.

Oh, and one more thing. Has god ever shown himself for others. Because from what Ive heard, a normal human being cant handle his precense. And If he has shown himself, why doesnt he just do It agian, so every single person in the world can believe In him, and in result feel much, much better. I mean these guidelines that youre talking about. How does one know that these are acts of god? I dont get the point of the mystery.

Damn you have answers to everything. Thank you for youre examples.

I just wonder one more thing.

Do you have to believe In god In order to take the next step?

And if not, do you consider this to be fair?

And also, how do you get to believe In god? What made you believe In It?

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Technically, there is no mythology, because of you view things from your prespective, nothing has or can be proven. They are now seen as mythology because they are religions no one follows anymore, I guess.

All religion is mythology but not all mythology remains religion is how it was put to us in my mythology class

Technically, there is no mythology, because of you view things from your prespective, nothing has or can be proven. They are now seen as mythology because they are religions no one follows anymore, I guess.

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I blame the people who juses religion in order to get power

Right, that's not religion, it's a perversion of religion and isn't representative of that faith at all.

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The Holocaust wasnt anything religious?

It was directed against a religion that was aribitralily to be a race and given second class status by an oppressive regime that was either atheist or occultist. (the portions who carried out the final solution any way). The jews are essentially scapegoats for all the problems germany was having after WW1, the jewish mechants were prosperous and so i
t was easy to incite anger at them. That plus good propaganda =
Omh teh jews are teh evils" which gets the masses behind the nazi party. So the extermination of the jews in the holocaust, as well as gypsies, gays and russians was a combination of politcal tool and racism, not religion

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If god doesnt have a "job", then what Is the purpose of his existenz.

What do you mean, doesn't have a "job". You need to start thinking of him as a stern Father. One who loves you dearly and wants to help you but knows that you have to learn to stand on your own or you'll never get any where in the world.

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Why do we fokus so much on religion, when there Is no facts or no sorts of proof!!

The bible is in a sense the proof, the history from within is the history of God's direct interaction with man. Now I tink you meant something more tangible but your missing the point. Faith is the key, beliveing with out seeing. Having tangible things invalidates the whole point (see a priest for a better explanation about that)

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It Is the bible that states It extremely clear that you have to follow his rules, or you will go to hell.

Never saw that any where and I've read the whole book. The rules are more what you call "guidelines" things to live your life by as best you can. But we're all sinners and as long as your truly repentant for the sins you commit and have faith in God then you shall pass in to heaven.

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I now what Albert Einstein said. Do you really think that what he said makes It right, because he Is a genius

No I think that because he was a genius he was able to understand the proper relationship between religion and science.

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Also give me an answer about the predictability that god has. How Is that freedom. How do we have free will if everything Is predicted.

Your having one major problem here. Your being to linear in your perception of time. We exist in 4 dimensions these are the 3 planes of movement and time. We can only exist in a linear plane of time, we must march forward till we die and pass out of the time stream. God on the other hand exists out side the time stream. So it's not that he can see the future he's there as it happens all at once and can watch as we move through the stream. Every choice we make is like a spider's web with possible future's stringing off it and God can not only watch what happens as we make a choice, but see the results that choice will have because he's not in a linear time stream