Gurdur

Hell, sometimes I think no-one shares a common language.

O damn, you just want to convert me to the true faith, whichever one that might be.

Hey, don't worry, so am I, but probably for different reasons.

Go for it !
I prefer being asked out for a cup of coffee or a beer.

O damn, I strongly suspect you mean something other than what I would mean by love.
Still, sigh, I see no reason to be frightened of love per se.

Now hit me with the punch-line.

[ April 18, 2002: Message edited by: Gurdur ]</p>

Queen of Swords

Originally posted by Booty:
<strong>"Why would love frighten anyone?"</strong>

Why would the refusal of "love" be met with eternal torture?

Queen of Swords

Allow me, Booty. You see, I used to be a born-against - oops, I mean, again - christian. A fundamentalist, actually. So I've done it all and even had some small success in conversion.

(Maybe I still have the old magic - let's see).

The punch-line? This is no joke! You are an eeeevil sinner, rotten to the core. You probably foam at the mouth when you see a Bible. But God loves you anyway, because, well, He's God and doesn't need to explain His behavior. And He wants you to love Him back, because His Son curled up and died for you. Now if you don't love Him back, He and His whole Family will be very angry with you. And then you will be one sorry sinner. You will also crisp like a barbecued worm. But if you love Him, then you will be A-OK and He will give you a pretty house in the sky. But this is only after you die, because, well, He's God and doesn't need to explain His behavior.

So, now that you are no longer frightened of God (there, there) won't you please get down on your knees and accept Jesus?

Into your heart, I meant.

Gurdur

Bah, I bet you tell that to all the snuff candidates.

[[ BTW, please check your email. ]]

Could you please change "sinner" to "hamster", then I'll agree.

um, no, not really; after foaming all day in the PD, I've got no foam left over for mere Bibles,

Even hamsters ?

Damn, sounds like a Libertarian to me.

Naw, now He sounds like.... gosh, like Sesame Street ? Big Bird ?

ugh, Why wasn't I informed at the time through the regular channels ? I could have prevented it.

I'm a hamster, and we hamsters only love hamsterish things.

Bugger ! Maybe He is a Libertarian ?

*hamster*

Bah, that's nothing compared to what I went through in Marble Bar, Australia.

Eh, will it have an exercise wheel ? Somewhere where I can borrow and larder ?

Sounds like the typical conspiricist to me.

hmmm, I'ld prefer some hazelnuts, please.

Queen of Swords

Oh, dearie me. Gurdur, I take it you haven't repented of your sins and received Jesus yet? Well, I give up. This must be a sign that you are meant to be an atheist. Heck, this must be a sign that I'm meant to be an atheist too.

Booty, feel free to take over the conversion process : this nut's too hard for me to crack.

techker

Booty or anyone,

Can you tell me how many times the word "love" appears in bible? I'd like to know, approached often by Christian telling me how much God loves us.

For those who know, please quote passages, thanks!

ju'iblex

In the KJV the words love, loveth, loved and lovest occur &lt;all in different contexts mind you&gt;:

23 times

in the NIV the words love, loved and loves occur

26 times

mind you, some of those might have the word "doesnt" in front so they arent all in the positive sense.

Seeker196

I don't like Love when it is actually Hate


(or at least ignorance)

Echo

Unusual first question. I am generally not frightened by "love", but it depends on who is doing the loving and what they mean when they say they love me. Stalkers are often emphatic about feeling the deepest love for their victims, while terrorizing them relentlessly. That kind of love frightens me. If a man beats his wife every night and then tells her he does it because he loves her, then that kind of love frightens me too.

Most people would probably say that those people are misusing the word love and applying it to feelings and behaviors that do not warrant the use of the term. I would agree and say that, IMHO, the same thing applies to the god described in the bible.

Princess of Peace

Forget the God of the Bible. Most Christians don't really read that thing anyway. What about the all-wise, all-powerful, benevolent God not found in the Bible?

Love means keeping your promises. God does not. Things like: "Ask and you shall receive." If I pray for jelly beans to rain from the sky, or for gravity to be reversed in a specific and well-deserving instance, I'm certain that neither shall come about.

Love means showing favoritism. How do we know that Jacob loved Joseph? Why, he gave him a multi-colored coat that he didn't give to any of his brothers, of course. If God really loved me, he would show the same kind of favoritism (undeserved material wealth). If God loves everyone equally, including the non-believers, what's the point?

Love means being around. Why do people get married? Because they can't stand to be apart from each other. So where's God? What has God done to show (physically) that she's around? Nothing.

I know what love is. God isn't any of these things. But then, how could she be? She isn't really there.