Dean Anderson

From this thread...

Well, this is a new thread created specially for the purpose.

Go for it...

Helen_Bach

Are we allowed to bet on the outcome?

Jehanne

God became Man, the second member of the Blessed Trinity (still God but yet Man, God Incarnate), through an Immaculate Virgin, the Mother of God, founding one (and only one) Church upon Saint Peter (“the Rock and first Pope�), outside of which no one at all will be saved, except through explicit faith in Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, and the explicit vow ("vowtum") to receive the Sacrament of Baptism (which is why infants who die without Baptism do not go to Paradise but to Limbo, the uppermost level of Hell). All those outside the One and Holy Catholic Church will be damned to Hell eternal, to be punished with endless torments and tortures throughout all of time and eternity. To deny one dogma of the Holy Catholic Church is to deny them all, which makes one a heretic, worthy of death by burning at the stake, which simply prepares the soul for Hell, anyway (or allows a “salutatory repentance�, allowing the soul to pass instead into Purgatory, escaping Hell.) Repent or be damned!!!! (I am an atheist, by the way. :Cheeky: But, you ask "why"! )

David Vestal

Step right up, and get yer Christianity! Yes, folks, this miracle solution will salve yer ills, halve yer chills, ease your pains, stop yer strains, and make you happy, all in one!

Eliminate moral quandaries! Know exactly what to do in all moral situations!

Instantly be on equal or better footing with all non-christian philosophers ever!

Instantly become presidential tender!

Automatically know how to pray away life's vagaries (pray)!

Don't be a non-christian, plodding about with no hope or help! Step right up and get yer genuine, bona fide, true and tried, no-distressin', twice-the-blessin' CHRISTIANITY right here!

Sven

Interesting... in the other thread, which was started in S&S and now is somewhere ~else, I looked at his [HT's] profile and was surprised that he had "Non-theism" as his basic belief. Now it's "non-atheism" - that's a really strange form of double-negation, if you ask me!

Mageth

The first step in persuading someone to become a Christian is to convince them that they have a "sickness" that needs a cure. The second step is to convince them that Christianity is the (only) cure for that sickness.

Of course, if the subject lacks belief in god(s), a convincing argument for the exisence of a god is also necessary. And then a convincing argument that that god is the Christian God.

That's a lot of work.

Julian

Hey, Pervy man, the first one is free... :devil3:

braces_for_impact

I could pay lip service for the appropriate amount of funds.

Clivedurdle

You get a personal relationship with the almighty, all loving creator of the universe and his family, all the messy, grumbly bits of life are washed away in the blood of the lamb for all eternity. The veil of the temple is rent and we have the right of access to El Shaddai!

The existential crisis we all face - we are conscious of death and we die - is resolved. Whilst here we get to speak and sing in tongues, listen to xian radio and TV all day, give away our money and spend happy hours doing what exactly?

We all get to sing hosanna for eternity - probably boring.

We are the bride of Christ so the marriage must be consummated, sex is better than Kama Sutra and we get to have babies - what else are brides for?

( Oops, have I just written a new creed?)

captainpabst

I'm an atheist, but I'll take a stab at justifying participation in the enterprise known as Christianity (not necessarily conversion to it).

Christianity has been an important force in the course of world events, particularly the western world. It still is. It's not going away anytime soon.

Besides the fact that it can bring a believer comfort and strength, a large part of its staying power is due to a positive message. I know there are a bunch of questionable, distasteful, and even deplorable things in the bible. Trust me, I know, you don't have to bother quoting them. But there are also things like Romans 13:10 - "love does no harm to its neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." This is a worthwhile thing for anyone to hear and embrace, regardless of one's personal beliefs. These are the things most Christians cling to in order to feel good about faith. Christianity wouldn't survive if it openly advocated hate and violence. I know there is a vocal minority, and I know it is easy to see many religious conservative arguments and positions as essentially supportive of hate and even violence, but...

You should participate in Christianity in order to bring sentiments like Romans 13:10 to the forefront. Be a voice of reason and progress in the inescapable social fabric in which you dwell, and of which Christianity is a sizable part. Non-believers or non-religious people, 15% of the population at best, cannot hope to trump the will of the other 85%. And you see that extremists on the other side are attempting to destroy the fragile conventions that protect minority opinion and that make this country great - the original ideals enshrined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights that enabled our legal system to accomodate the slooooow enlightenment of our society at large (end of slavery, women's sufferage, civil rights...).

I'm afraid that it is just as impossible to enlighten dogmatic souls through rational discussion (or intellectual standoff!) as it is to bomb Iraq into a semblance of stability and popularly supported representative government.

I suggest you participate in the Christian enterprise in order to do what Neo did to agent Smith. Infiltrate and moderate.