that just proves that YOU are LAZY.
what is seen typically does not relate.
put some research into it...
it's why i go to the origins.
the core of the Ancient past and what this meant to them, is generally not how it is interpreted today.

always a big difference between the two.

today, it's really wolves in sheep clothing!!

big difference in beliefs and a belief in God coinciding together.

maybe study and figure that out, specifically what it means before assuming you understand...

sharing God is not sharing your belief(s)

Just to throw a spanner into the works here, I have read some research which suggests that we humans do not in fact have 'free will'. There is actually no such thing! Our brains are far more complicated than we ever thought. Even birds are known to use only recently discovered science to find out how to fly as they do from one country to another at times of migration.

Imagine this - the human brain is hard-wired to take the best option and make the best decision in each circumstance. Of course, the decision will always be based on the available evidence. If you're knocked down by a passing car because you didn't see it, or hear it, then of course the information passed to the brain didn't include anything about a passing car.

OK, so that's a simple example to make the point. If this research turns out to be true, then where will the world's religions be then? Nobody actually has free will. If you choose to go to your church on day that's because the info your brain has makes it the best thing to do. If your neighbour goes to a different church the same day, that's because they have different beliefs, possibly totally incompatible with our beliefs.

Things like who said what two thousand years ago, and what is the exact accurate translation of that from some dead language into what we think it might mean in todays' language will all become meaningless and irrelevant. Today's actions are based upon the 'evidence' that seems right to us. As it always has been, of course!

I shall certainly watch this research, because if true, the god delusion will have no further meaning to those who currently believe in it.

those that have a belief in God, must be willing to kill indiscriminately, in an instant, upon direct command from The Lord Almighty


"to believe is to doubt ..... funches 3:16


they probably thinking about the story of Noah's Ark ...all the other boats and people sunk except the ones blessed by Yahweh


Dude if you're bored then you're bored with yourself because no one is here to entertain you only to correct you for all this false misleading stuff you post if not for your benefit then for the sake of others and in the Interest of National Security


anyone that comes to your home uninvited  that you don't know to sell you something they can't even prove exist is "imposing" themselves upon you ...doesn't matter if they are a Jehovah Witness or a Cat Burglar


speaking of a child your belief is no different than a belief in Santa ...imagine if children were killing themselves in the name of Santa...would it not be the fault of the parents and of those that preach that Santa exist ....that is why those such as yourself that have a belief in God is responsible for those that kill in the name of God


if "Free Will" existed ..how can anyone get kidnapped .... funches 3:16

^in my opinion, that is a load of dribble and patooey. science wants us to be on the same level as a reformed animal whom evolved from picking the bugs living off the perma stain from not being able to wipe my own butt, to intelligently being able to sit and shoot water up my ... like the French do :(

an animal is instinctive, they cannot be fully taught nor become completely aware to format such intelligent thoughts to want to evolve until they become human.

and the only true human that feels like they have no "free will" are the insane. only the insane would believe they are a higher evolved form of animal Species that originate in the ape family.

I've been certified insane
Though I refute that I am, and your suggestion
Also many animals have been shown to display intelligence. Octopuses for example. A guerrilla that learned sign language, and them 'learned' to lie, because it was fed up of all the tests those darned pesky humans kept making it do
Did you never here the theory, that dolphins were monkeys, they came from the sea to the land, didn't like it much, so thought, sod this, let's go back to the sea.
Right on

Imagine, if you can, the Earth spins at 24 hours in one day.
Imagine, if you can the Earth circles our star in 365 days.
Imagine, if you can, the Sun makes a single loop in our galaxy every 225 million years.
While there are many references to a galactic year, nobody really knows what the Milky Way is orbiting. Nobody really knows how long it takes for the galaxy to make one full revolution around its center mass.
But, lets just take one galactic year as a reference.
225 Million years.
In that 225 million years, all human history has happened. All dinosaur history has happened and, according to our calculations of 4.5 billion years, the Earth has made some 14 or 15 years galactically.

So, okay, the Earth is old. Big Deal.
Think about the time frame.
Imagine watching the Earth from a far.
Imagine looking as billions of years passed.
Imagine how short a span humans have been here.
Then, think about your life and what is important to you.
How fast is that happening in relation to reality?

Perhaps God exists between all those moments.
Each moment an eternity of moments.
Perhaps God is the essence that allows time to function.
Perhaps not?

To a species locked into a time stream, perhaps God is what exists outside that time frame?
Perhaps? God is not directing, merely observing?
What does that do to your expectations?

What if, God requires nothing from you because you are inconsequential to reality?
What if God merely observes you as part of the whole of reality and assigns a minimal value to your input.
What if, God needsd nothing from you and you need nothing from it?
It makes no promises and provides nothing?
Could you accept such a God?

Think about your religion.
Think about its promises.
Rewards and punishments.
Humans think in terms of rewards and promises, who says God does?
Perhaps, just maybe, in this Universe of some 13.7 billion light years, God might be bigger than that?

You decide.

So, lets get a bit more personal.
On this rapidly spinning planet we live our short pointless lives.
As we do, we encounter different scenarios requiring specific decisions on our part.
When we choose the correct decisions that result to our benefit, we have no issue. When we choose poorly, we tend to blame outside forces, many time, our Gods.
Could it be, just maybe, we decide our own destiny in life and God has absolutely nothing to do with it?
But wait, someone we care about died!
Could it be life is not dependent on faith?
Could it be, life is purely dependent on how that living organism exists?
Could it be, nature... Was just nature and things transpired as they did without a reason?
Say it isn't so!

I believe God has as little to do with our mortality as the tea in China.
In other words, life is always a balance between death and the forces of nature that naturally work against it.
To survive means we are beating the forces against life.
As the planet spins, relatively faster and faster the further your reference, the life and death struggle gets blurred.
God may or may not have a hand in that (who's to say about a being that can exist between moments) but, from any reasonable assessment, inconsequential to say the least.

Religion works to Unite.
Religion tells you what you can and what you can't believe.
There is a reasoning to this.
By convincing you of certain things it dictates how your mind thinks.
Brilliant strategy.
How better to unit people to a common behavior.

Problem is, in this day and age of instant information worldwide, people are thinking beyond what religions want.
The WORST thing for religion is someone that thinks on their own.
Religion NEEDS you to think as they tell you.
When you start thinking on your own, you start asking question and its those normal everyday living life questions that can't be answered by the doctrine.
You are told to read further, pray on it or in extreme cases, taken aside and lectured on how wrong you are.
All the while, what they preach, doesn't quite add up to what you are living.
Religion makes you feel like somehow, YOU are what is wrong.

The thing is, life is as life does.
Reality invades no matter how hard you try to keep it at bay.
Religion fails at real life.
Only reality can deal with real life.

Perhaps, God is in between those moments of reality and offers nothing and demands nothing?
Perhaps, God sees you, has no opinion either way because in the true nature of the Universe, yer not important at all?
Perhaps God is just God and whatever you assign as it is insignificant to the reality?

LOL

You knew it was coming.
A "Caveman Bob" story!

So, Caveman Bob is sitting around his cave and sees a lightning strike on the hill nearby.
Taken aback by such a sight he investigates and soon, another strike of lightning happens close by and he deems it an act of something bigger than reality.

So, Caveman Bob goes back to his group and asks if anyone else saw that bright flash.
As others say "yes' "We saw it too Bob"
Caveman Bob decides it must be God.
He tells everyone else about how God 'enlightened' him.
He tells everyone they should follow him because he has a special connection with God, they do.

Caveman Bob then realizes he can get others to do things for him if he tells them God wishes it.
Soon, Caveman Bob no longer needs to hunt or cut up his food.
This is Good!
So, Caveman Bob starts telling the others they need to do certain things or God will punish them.
Soon Caveman Bob has his whole tribe doing whatever he wants.
This is Good!

Then, Caveman Pete saw a lightning strike and this one killed a mammoth.
Caveman Pete declared his God was more powerful than Caveman Bob's and required each tribe member to pledge allegiance to him and his God in order to feast on the mammoth meat.
But, some of Caveman Bob's following decided Caveman Pete's God was inferior and chose to kill all of Caveman Pete's followers.
For, there can be only one true God.

But see, as time passed, each of Caveman Bob's followers witnessed lightning strikes. Each had their own idea of God.
Soon, there were many religions Caveman Bob had to deal with.
It was a time of great war.
Finally, only a few religions survived.
Caveman Bob was beside himself.
Why can't they just accept his version of God?
So, he went to war, yet again.

Caveman Abraham won most battles and we are currently experiencing Caveman Abraham's version of God but there are many other separatist views that Caveman Bob was unaware of.

Caveman Bob died at 24.
His followers converted his life into God Years and he lived over 5,000.
We still honor Caveman Bob's belief.
In it, he stays alive forever.
Kill the infidels.
Convert the heathens.
We will win, In the name of Caveman Bob!

That was fun, thanx fer letting me write it.

First, I say religion is a brilliant society creation mechanism.
It is supported by just the right references for anyone caring to look.

Its execution has been flawless for thousands of years.
It creates a 'locked in' belief system which allows the participant personal guidance to keep them on track.

It has been 'effective' for thousands of years in many different cultures.
It creates a 'Unity' in the masses and that unity allows them to dictate behavior and decisions.

Completely effective for thousands of years until...
Mankind achieved global awareness.

Its that global awareness that degrades religion.
It breaks the unity.

People start looking at common life situations and learn there are other results to traditional issues.
It caused a question in the believers.
A question religion could not 'effectively' answer.
Individual faith started being questioned.

People started getting wise to what they were told to believe.
People started looking at the reality they actually experience and it didn't align with what their religion was telling them.
People started abandoning the religion they were taught, because it didn't align with the reality they were experiencing.

As more and more people became aware of the actual reality of things, they abandoned their religion.
The seed of religion was set.
Society still values the ideals introduced by religion but reality gets in the way.
People start shunning their religion and substituting reality experience.
Deep down, the core values of religion as they were taught still dictates their behavior but the actual religion and its doctrine gets ignored.
Some people choose to vilify religion and all its aspects while others remain unsure.
Its hard to know fer sure.

During all this activity, religion asserts itself strongly but in most cases, to no avail.
Many have no idea why they avoid religion.
Many actively work to discount religion.
Each feels something is not right.

In this day and age, global presence gives us a glimpse of reality
which
h religion fails to address.
Religion was effective at building unity in the past.
People change.
Religion works to change minds.
Most are hardened against that effort.
None-the-less, religion continues to try.

I'm actually pretty impressed at religion's attempt to regain control over the masses.
What a glorious effort.

As we as a species move into a global front, we can only hope for a significant unity of our citizens.
Will we adopt the best of religion or will we explore society and unity by other means?
What would happen if all the unity of religion were removed?

perhaps that's something someone that been pampered spoiled or privilege would believe ....but drop you into the jungle naked and watch how fast you drop to the bottom of the food chain when it comes to intelligence


anything under the jurisdiction of the laws of physics lacks Free Will ...there are simply tests that can prove this ...one test is to make a pledge to never eat food or drink water ever again and then call upon your "Free Will" not to die which for most might occur in less than ten days ....

but if you do die fear not because you can still call upon your Free Will to come back alive and rise up out of the Grave ...others might consider you to be a Zombie Vampire or one of the undead but I'm sure no one in this forum would hold that against you...and at least you'll have a good argument in favor of "Free Will"

so unless you can cancel out the laws of physics then you lack Free Will and why as of now it only applies to magically things like Religion ..in which "free Will" means God threaten...oops...er..i meant God granted you with the ability to choose one of two options ....

"Religious "Free Will" Options
1. worship God
2. don't worship God and burn

Which caveman made it rain frogs?

DOES GOD EXIST ?

Well, for a dude that doesn't exist people seem to speak an aweful lot about him... often enough to fool me.

That would be Caveman Jimmy.
Ya know, Caveman Frank's brother that has an addiction to licking frogs.
Its his thing, ya know?

maybe if i was 10, drop me in the jungle today and i have better odds making it than those on average my age. that is not being instinctive, but being informative.











free will has nothing to do with your scenario and much of why the topic of free will is foreign to you.

free will is choosing to go the speed limit or not. if you speed and get pulled over, it still was your free will to choose to speed.

free will is stealing that candy bar. if you get caught and get prosecuted, that has nothing to do with the moment YOU CHOSE OUT OF FREE WILL to steal the candy bar.


so, did i have to speed or steal?
NO!!

the fact i did speed and steal was a decision ONLY I COULD FREELY decide OUT OF MY FREE WILL TO CHOOSE/MAKE.



***when your neighbor looks like they could use some help, "FREE WILL" is the condition in life that has caused you to be a person who cares for others and why you choose to go help your neighbor when they did not ask for help (but desperately needed it).***

anyone believing they do not have "free will" should be locked in a padded room and the keys should be tossed away for all eternity!!

Wow, you've got a real downer on anybody you perceive to have mental health issues
Your Christian spirit goes right out of the window, like a bat out of hell
Maybe some of those folks need yours and gods compassion a bit more in their hour of need
You ever been in a mental institution?
They're not very nice places
And even should you get out, you'll find that even the so called 'nice' folks, have a very wicked downer on you
I think you should lick a cane toad

People do have 'free will ' but that can be taken away be someone.
Reading some of this just shows what I already know.
Religion is filled with hate, hypocrisy and self being!

In fact, your doing the opposite of what your meant to be preaching!
As r2 says, you are meant to treat all as equal not chit on them and walk on by!

no, i have a real downer for those in control, who make the rules, make the decisions for all human life, who have been placed on a pedi-stool as a voice of reason and authority WHILE they themselves are actually suffering from some form of Psychological Disorder that does not give them the literal and sane view of life as it should....BE THE ONE choosing how I live!!

Hey, two thumbs up for you too

This is exactly why I've stopped debating Religion/God/Atheism/Spaghetti Man and the likes a long time ago. To debate something we barely understand borders on stupidity.
Belief in God is personal. It's personal because what one understands isn't necessarily what the other said or suggested.
And what God is one talking about here anyway? Allah? Yah? Jesus? Zeus? Odin? Baal? Toth? Thor? Capt'n Ameri- uh, no, that's the avengers