God is a word that persists ...God is repeatedly a complete dick. I will not love or celebrate a character, fictional or otherwise, who acts like a complete dick.
Variably ... without doubt ... so as to keep the god of wisdom beyond the emotionally opinionated! Some minor lust may be beneficial!God is a word that persists ...
Even though I'm just an observer, I never left the game.
“To be, or not to be, that is the question” ...I think it's much more fun to find those silly things that are against God, and try to break as many of them as you can.
Sigh. I suppose the omnibus bill that was supposed to amend this out of existence stalled and died on the order paper or something. Such a simple change, too. Repeal the whole section and let anal sex be treated like any other sex act (for which the age of consent is 16 with allowance for both parties being under that age).Statheists gonna state ...
... Section 159 of the Criminal Code - Canada.ca
And which brings us also around to the "seven generations" ideal of "God's wishes". God's wishes are everything that brings long term blessings. Today I heard a sad story about how our old houses in my old neighbourhood are perceived: too small, with an inefficiently large yard/outdoor space.Which brings up an on topic thought: No one's idea of "sin" should be informing our laws. They should be based on what keeps a society civil (e.g. laws against murder or other violence against others), not what someone thinks is "against God".
Now you sound like Chansen ...Sigh. I suppose the omnibus bill that was supposed to amend this out of existence stalled and died on the order paper or something. Such a simple change, too. Repeal the whole section and let anal sex be treated like any other sex act (for which the age of consent is 16 with allowance for both parties being under that age).
Which brings up an on topic thought: No one's idea of "sin" should be informing our laws. They should be based on what keeps a society civil (e.g. laws against murder or other violence against others), not what someone thinks is "against God".
Nothing. Jesus is a metaphor for all people who suffer and die unnecessarily due to systemic 'sin'. Matthew chapter, "and whatever you do to/for the least of these, you do to me". Hunger, nakedness, imprisonment, loneliness, homelessness, are all failures of the 'system', not individual failings.
How the hell is that supposed to draw people to church, when he's just a guy?This.........
This puts things into perspective for me as to how you regard Christianity/Jesus/religion, (and probably most unbelievers), that's fine, it's honest.How the hell is that supposed to draw people to church, when he's just a guy?
Look at how the news cycle moved on from the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. When a normal, everyday person gets killed by a government, everyone gets concerned for 2 weeks, then they forget.
You think you have a symbolic representative, but all you've got is the claim that you know about one guy who got murdered by the state 2000 years ago. And it's a pretty iffy claim.
You're right, "Christianity" doesn't always align itself with what Jesus taught....people often steer toward those who preach something else that aligns more with the world's politicians rather than a message that doesn't include wars or prejudice. Politicians have known for eons that if they can assimilate fear into the faith (and twist the words and purpose of the Bible) of the people they can manipulate the people, for their own purpose. Even those countries that claim to be more atheist will find themselves manipulated by politicians through politics and "reason", to achieve their new found goals of demonizing immigration for example (even if displaced people show up at their doors for human protection from inhumane governments). No one gets a free pass for messing up.The world was a bigger mess when everyone believed. We sent millions to die needlessly in trenches in WW1, while both sides prayed furiously. Suggesting we are in some downward spiral in lockstep with the secularization of society is just bulls**t. We arc off in bad directions, but eventually we try to set the path right again, often pushing against the faithful.
How, when we are fighting against Christians for things like equal marriage and action on climate change, can you be thinking that God being "less of a priority" is the problem today?!?!? It wasn't non-believers who did things like vote for Donald Trump or Doug Ford. This rash of right-wing populism is fueled by Christians. It boggles the mind that you even entertain this thought.
There are no "good ole days" of religious faith. The Christian bigots harken back for a time when they could be bigots and be proud of it. Those aren't the good ole days either. Christianity hasn't been a leading force for making the world better for hundreds of years.
“I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed, without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today – my own government.”How, when we are fighting against Christians for things like equal marriage and action on climate change, can you be thinking that God being "less of a priority" is the problem today?!?!? It wasn't non-believers who did things like vote for Donald Trump or Doug Ford. This rash of right-wing populism is fueled by Christians. It boggles the mind that you even entertain this thought.
I don't have a plurality of atheists to oppose. It's a plurality of Christians who are on the wrong side of history.As an atheist you will have a large population of unbelievers to denounce that will get your back up and you will want to appear separate from them because you may not agree with the rhetoric they espouse.
Complete bulls**t. You're just conditioned to say that, like a door-to-door salesman. When the book was more popular, we were even worse off than we are now. Basic history tells us that you're wrong about chaos and fear. I'm not suggesting everything is great - far from it - but we've been through worse. We've killed millions at a time in wars and lost millions at a time in plagues, in times when we believed almost universally.I will stand by my comment, the world is becoming more chaotic and Gods message is needed.
I don't think we're talking about a shared faith, but a shared label.By a shared faith, you are attached to a fearful group of Christians who see their influence in decline and are freaking out.
That's great. When an atheist doesn't something horrible, do I get to use that one, too?I don't think we're talking about a shared faith, but a shared label.
I'm remembering the mythical story of Jonah and the whale. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh (part of Assyria) in order to give the people an opportunity to change and repent for all the killing they had done to other nations. But Jonah didn't want them to repent, he wanted blood and for them to be destroyed for what they'd done, so he went somewhere else instead because he disagreed with God......until he was led back by God to Nineveh within a large fish (which happens to be a symbol within Christianity)I don't have a plurality of atheists to oppose. It's a plurality of Christians who are on the wrong side of history.
I mean, where are the atheist-lead groups we are opposing? Which atheists would you have me rebuke?
Want a corresponding list of Christians? What about the Yellow Vesters in Canada? What about the Americans calling for violence if Trump is impeached? I mean, find me an atheist white supremacist group. Because you know I can find Christian white supremacists by the bucket full.
By a shared faith, you are attached to a fearful group of Christians who see their influence in decline and are freaking out. They are easily lead by others. They are quick to find scapegoats and latch on to conspiracy theories, and they are conditioned to believe these things on authority or by suspicion because their faith uses the same techniques.
If these people were mostly atheists, I'd be losing it on them. They aren't. They're mostly Christians.
Complete bulls**t. You're just conditioned to say that, like a door-to-door salesman. When the book was more popular, we were even worse off than we are now. Basic history tells us that you're wrong about chaos and fear. I'm not suggesting everything is great - far from it - but we've been through worse. We've killed millions at a time in wars and lost millions at a time in plagues, in times when we believed almost universally.
Define Christianity.I think Christianity needs to sit in a corner for a century or two. It needs to stop assuming it has all the answers for all the people. It needs to sit down collectively and figure out why it's been such a colossal failure of late. And it needs to police itself better for all of the above.