If there is a god

[normaM]

Norma, why do you feel that people need a replacement for a belief?

so what stops you from killing, etc? A set of beliefs? My primary point is that if you don't like /belief/ etc in something move along, why try to belittle those who do hold strong to their faith>

[Mr Danksworth]

after a few hundred retellings noah saved all the animals of the world.

Except for unicorns, dragons, and dinosaurs....they didn't make the cut in god's perfectly created world V.3.

[RR24K]

What makes me laugh is that 99.99% of the whole bible is plagiarized. You would think God would have his own material.

[Mr Danksworth]

^
That's the part that really bothers me. It's so obvious, how can it be missed? For the most part it is just retelling the same moral stories in different ways, with different players.
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the wise man would disregard the first part and apply the second part to his life, getting something out of it... the fool would focus on the first part and bicker about it endlessly, getting nothing out of it.

I'd say the wise man would look at the stories and see them as ridiculous, and then wonder what the use would be taking any 'morals' from it would be. Unless you see it as a story like Aesops fables. In which case suspension of belief is ok. Just don't tell me to believe that a holy turtle ran a race against a rabbit and won as the only reason for me to be slow and steady.

[Glacier]

after a few hundred retellings noah saved all the animals of the world.

Except for unicorns, dragons, and dinosaurs....they didn't make the cut in god's perfectly created world V.3.

Where does it say they didn't make the cut or what about the possibility they were extinct long before "the flood"?

[I Think]

so what stops you from killing, etc? A set of beliefs? My primary point is that if you don't like /belief/ etc in something move along, why try to belittle those who do hold strong to their faith>

I wonder if it's because I see children being warped and brainwashed by people who try to convince young innocent minds that they are sinners.
And that if they go to church, and abandon their intellectual curiosity as well as pay their money, they will live forever on a fluffy cloud with harps and chocolates.
I wonder if its because when I go to other cultures, I can observe first hand the damage done by missionaries, in their blind quest to buy their way into heaven by turning innocent cultures into cultures of sinners.
In my opinion religiosity is doing more damage to humanity than all the bombs dropped in the last hundred years.

[zzontar]

^
I'd say the wise man would look at the stories and see them as ridiculous, and then wonder what the use would be taking any 'morals' from it would be.

What use would there be taking any morals from the stories? I guess that's like saying what's the use in finding good in something... if you don't get it, you don't get it.

[Mr Danksworth]

Yup, flood did happen, at least in the area aof the known reasonably literate world at that time. But as to the rest of it (like the explanation of how most species survived it, nawwww ;-)

I should have worded that better. I meant no 'biblical flood'....noad, ark, animals 2x2 and all that jazz. I just figured it was implied, seen as how that was the topic. I am well aware of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Floods do happen and it's not too much of a stretch to see how ancient uneducated people would think their gods were mad at them. But we know better now, don't we? I'd like to think so.

[Queen K]

weak argument.the flood did happen

Okay, whatever you say.<pats on head>

Okay, whatever you say. <oats Mr. Dankworth on head>

Ancient Black Sea Flood: Nuisance or Calamity? ... the team concluded that there had been a massive, catastrophic flood, which they dubbed "Noah's Flood. ...
dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/02/19/black-sea-flood.html - Cached - Similar
Catastrophic ancient flood cooled the Earth | COSMOS magazine

[chickenlittle]

Anyone can believe anything if they put faith into something - I believe if you and I both live to be 100 years old, I will have read 1000's of books, immersing myself in countless bodies of knowledge in as many facets of life's experience that can hold my interest, helping me to experience and participate in as many of life's and the worlds wonders that your god created for you - You will have read the same book 1000's of times, the same collection of words, the same one sided story - and you can look deeply and try to find faith in the same faiths as the generations before you in the hopes of the ultimate reward in the great beyond

I am an evolutionist...and still have no faith in God (and even less in the creations made in His image - epic fail!)

Wow, what an arrogant assumption. I happen to read a great deal besides the Bible. I not only read books that support my beliefs by other Christians, I also read books authored by people of other faiths including atheists. I have read most of Richard Dawkin's books, all of Sam Harris's books a good number of books by Stephen Hawkings. I learn things from all of them. Some challenge my faith, some reaffirm it. I do not assume I have it all figured out. I try to expand my knowledge on a daily basis.

I am not sure why you find it so offensive that some people have choosen to submit their lives to God.

I experience the love of God on a daily basis. It brings me great joy and fullfillment. I want others to experience the same thing so I share my experience. I do not force it on others.

I don't even force my beliefs on my children. I have been very open with what I believe but have told them all that need to explore and make their own choices. My atheist parents gave me that opportunity and I found God. I bet you don't give your children the same opportunity. You probably teach them that Christians are closed minded, self righteous idiots. Afterall you have to make sure they don't end up all intolerant like those followers of Christ.

[Mr Danksworth]

weak argument.the flood did happen

Okay, whatever you say.<pats on head>

Okay, whatever you say. <oats Mr. Dankworth on head>

Ancient Black Sea Flood: Nuisance or Calamity? ... the team concluded that there had been a massive, catastrophic flood, which they dubbed "Noah's Flood. ...
dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/02/19/black-sea-flood.html - Cached - Similar
Catastrophic ancient flood cooled the Earth | COSMOS magazine

See explanation above your post. Poorly worded arguments lead to silly semantics, my apologies.

[Queen K]

weak argument.the flood did happen

Okay, whatever you say.<pats on head>

Okay, whatever you say. <oats Mr. Dankworth on head>

Ancient Black Sea Flood: Nuisance or Calamity? ... the team concluded that there had been a massive, catastrophic flood, which they dubbed "Noah's Flood. ...
dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/02/19/black-sea-flood.html - Cached - Similar
Catastrophic ancient flood cooled the Earth | COSMOS magazine

See explanation above your post. Poorly worded arguments lead to silly semantics, my apologies.

You are apologing to.....me.......no.....I think Westsidebud. Yeah, that's it.

[I Think]

I found God. I bet you don't give your children the same opportunity.

I for one never once discussed god with either of my kids, neither of them ever brought it up. Had they wanted to discuss it, I would have told them what I believed spiritually, and told them that they would best make up their own minds, and kept the subject open as long as they wanted.

Don't judge my wheat by your bushel.

[Mr Danksworth]

weak argument.the flood did happen

Okay, whatever you say.<pats on head>

Okay, whatever you say. <oats Mr. Dankworth on head>

Ancient Black Sea Flood: Nuisance or Calamity? ... the team concluded that there had been a massive, catastrophic flood, which they dubbed "Noah's Flood. ...
dsc.discovery.com/news/2009/02/19/black-sea-flood.html - Cached - Similar
Catastrophic ancient flood cooled the Earth | COSMOS magazine

See explanation above your post. Poorly worded arguments lead to silly semantics, my apologies.

You are apologing to.....me.......no.....I think Westsidebud. Yeah, that's it.

Nope. I'm apologizing for a poorly worded argument.

[chickenlittle]

I wonder if it's because I see children being warped and brainwashed by people who try to convince young innocent minds that they are sinners.
And that if they go to church, and abandon their intellectual curiosity as well as pay their money, they will live forever on a fluffy cloud with harps and chocolates.
I wonder if its because when I go to other cultures, I can observe first hand the damage done by missionaries, in their blind quest to buy their way into heaven by turning innocent cultures into cultures of sinners.
In my opinion religiosity is doing more damage to humanity than all the bombs dropped in the last hundred years.

You really have no clue what it means to be a Christian do you? It has nothing to do with going to church (we do that for fellowship not brownie points). Any Christian who thinks he is supposed to abandon their curiousity doesn't get it. God named his people Israel. It means to wrestle with God (seek truth, question things, strive for deeper understanding).

Unfortunately I am forced to agree with you on the brainwashing of children and the atrocities commited in the name of God. 1. God gave us free will which means we have to choose a relationship with him. Convincing your children that they don't have that choice is as wrong as any of the other long list of do not's in the Bible. 2. Those attrocities were committed by arrogant, power hungry human beings... not by God. That behavior is contradictory to the Gospel.

Jesus was more critical of the Pharisees than any other group in his time. I kind of doubt that it was his intention for His Church to grow into a bunch of New Pharisees. Unfortunately human nature drives some to seek authority over others...