IvanK

Sometimes, such as when religious maniacs decide to burn innocent children alive rather then surrender to the Feds, I'm actually nostalgic for a place of eternal punishment where they would suffer for all time. But then I remind myself that giving up that concept is what drives the desire to make human justice as perfect as it can be.

case

Finally!! Someone understands! Clowns have to be the scariest %$#@ing people on the face of the planet!

I suppose that I have a fear of not being able to say the things that I want to say to people before they pass on. Especially my father. I think that and clowns are my only irrational fears.

Bree

Wow - I feel the same way. Finally, someone who understands the spider thing. I hate spiders (shiver) - but not as much as my mother.

It's BAD. Worse than Interview. I found Interview curiously amusing...but Damned is just terrible.

Queen of Swords

My worst fear is to be locked into a room full of those large brown cockroaches that fly.

Compared to that, god is nothing. I even said the "God, if you exist, you'll strike me dead right now" mantra aloud, just now, for the heck of it. Wouldn't you know, I'm still posting.

G B Mayes

Rational Ag said:
God, Strike Me Dead
"Some people use this as proof that God doesn't exist: They say, "God strike me dead in five minutes." Five minutes pass and God doesn't strike them dead. This is so silly to me that it hardly even deserves a response. But I will give one to show how silly it is. Let's say your atheist friend is Fred. You say, "Fred, unless you give me a thousand dollars in the next five minutes, I do not believe you exist." Now, am I justified in rejecting the existence of Fred because Fred doesn't do what I tell him to do? Doesn't that strike you as a rather stupid way of arguing against God's existence?
The question really is, is it a good reason not to believe in someone because they won't do what you tell them to do? In this case, is it a good reason not to believe in the Creator of the universe because he won't jump at your command.

Think about it for a moment. I can't believe in the President of the United States. Why not? Because I told him to come to dinner and he didn't come. I can't believe in a President that won't come to dinner when I tell him to. Do you see how silly that is?

These kinds of questions give a bad name to atheists. There are atheists who are careful and who would never be caught dead making this kind of statement. When you hear an atheist saying something like this, you know that he's silly and small-minded. He doesn't care about being careful about his point of view and he is just saying silly things. He doesn't even take his own atheism seriously. If he did, he'd be a lot more careful than to say a stupid thing like that. Because, obviously, the existence of any conscious being is not contingent upon their obedience to my frivolous commands."

Reproduction permitted for non-commercial use only. ©1996 Gregory Koukl


quote:

[ April 28, 2002: Message edited by: G B Mayes ]

[ April 28, 2002: Message edited by: G B Mayes ]</p>

Rational Ag

I don't think I am terribly Raggy. I'm not comfortable with you resorting to ad hominem attacks so early in our relationship.

Actually, we weren't using this discussion as a means for determining the existence of God. We were using this thread as a means of making fun of ourselves and others for being superstitious or silly about fear of retribution from a nonexistent God. We're poking fun at ourselves because some of us can't altogether get rid of the indoctrination and brainwashing our childhood and societies caused us.

You will find plenty of other discussions showing the improbability/impossibility of God, but this one isn't it.

Absolutely. Anyone who bases the decision on the existence of God over something so trivial is pretty dense. Likewise, anyone who decides whether or not God exists because mountains are pretty; or because they can't explain the nature or beginning of the universe; or because it makes them happy to think about living forever, is equally dense.

I'm afraid you won't be able to make that straw man here. We don't base our decisions about God on just one argument or another. If you spend a little time reading the upper forums, you will find MANY compelling arguments for the nonexistence of God.

Just one more time though, in case you didn't get it the first time. We weren't using this thread for proof of the nonexistence of God. We were using this thread to make fun of ourselves and the indoctrination we have all experienced.

Around these parts you will find that quoting the bible will not get you anywhere. You might as well be quoting from your favorite Tom Clancy novel about what Jack Ryan thinks is right/wrong.

You see, to us the bible is a work of fiction, made up by Hebrew and Greek goat herders thousands of years ago to record a war history and justify societal practice and law.

If you're going to start blabbing about what the bible says, you're going to have to prove to us that what it says is important. That would take a damn long time, and many threads, given the amount of times it's been attempted. So please, if you don't want people to skim across your posts, give your own arguments and don't quote the bible.

If you would be so kind, would you please participate in the ongoing threads about what a True Christian (TM) is? Or maybe you could start your own and tell us what a True Christian (TM) stands for and believes? We here at II have been having a terribly tough time trying to understand it, and would be terribly grateful if you could clear up the matter. It seems there is a lot of confusion over who is a True Christian (TM) and who isn't.

Thanks,

-Rational Ag