RecoveXM Posted April 21, 2008 Share Posted April 21, 2008 I wouldn't even get near them again - on Judgement Day when the ground opens up and they all slide down to hell, the suction generated will pull down anyone within a light year of them. The only problem I ever had with Christianity is that it's full of Christians and every other scoundrel you can think of; if I indeed have a soul the greatest danger to it would be to get anywhere near Christians or other religious weirdos. I still believe there is something better though - that has always been my downfall I think. As the noble Roman said, how can there be heaven unless it is devoid of man? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecoveXM Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Towards the end I prayed daily, practically begging for God to reveal himself to me. No response. Oh me oh my - Dostoevsky knew this. I remember what he wrote about the Grand Inquisitor, I believe it is Brothers Karamazov? They took it away from us, the truth. Put their self serving lies in its place. Stole the only chance we had - but the truth is still there in spite of them and their scribes. What stupendous arrogance, to think they could destroy it or even hide it. They told you their lies to keep you in bondage by destroying true faith - which is not theirs to give or destroy or control. They are worse than assassins hiding in the dark, the Daggermen of deception. They told us that which they knew wouldn't work, to destroy our hope. There is no worse crime. Your prayers were not in vain. No. Ears to hear, eyes to see. We are not mocked, not abandoned, we who truly believed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emme Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 If god came to me and proved he existed, left empirical evidence that could not be contradicted, I would accept it. But if there were proof, that would just mean I KNEW he existed. I guess faith is based on not knowing a thing is true or exists, and still believing in it, and that is lost to me. I agree, this is what it would take for me too. But about the faith thing... So what? Faith, imo, is hogwash. It's a negative thing that relgious people put a positive spin on. Try appling "blind faith" to science and see how many discoveries you make. I am talking about blind, religious faith, not faith that the sun wil rise and the like. Blindly believing, simply to "impress" god that "hey, look I dont need proof, you so wunnerfull!" is bullshit imo. yes, blind religious faith certainly is bull-feces, but I think faith in yourself and that everything's going to be ok makes life a bit more livable. After all, slightly depressed people view themselves in a more realistic way... Maybe that's not faith though. Just common self-esteem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mentalhh Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I'd become a christian if God came down, and I knew for a FACT I wasn't hallucinating, dreaming, being tricked psycologically or going mad (reliable witnesses seeing and hearing along with me- those I know and trust- such as my non-religious/agnostic/atheist friends?) Then he'd answer questions, I'd want to understand suffering, which religion was the true faith- whether there was such thing as a 'word of God' on earth. (I wouldn't assume that 'God' was nec. the Christian one). Evolution etc. You know like an interview almost. If he's God and perfect, I think he'd rise above anything which fundies would deem 'insulting'. I'd HAVE to be sure I was fully awake. Dreams don't count in my book. I dreamt last night that I was hanging out with Leonardo of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles last night and really, REALLY bizarre things happened, none of the other turtles there, just him and me against the world for whatever reason- does that mean I should fo to New York and search for giant mutants in sewers? (LOL.)- haven't watched the thing in yonks don't know why I dreamed it. I don't dream often but when I do, they're always weird. So Dreams wouldn't count much, though I've heard so many stories of people who convert based on them (WTF). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecoveXM Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Where is the Perfect One? Who knows? Compared to what? The idea is to become perfect yourself, then you know everything he knows. "-be thou perfect before me-" Humans becoming Perfect? Now that would be a Miracle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathGeek Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 If I could lose my memories over the last two to three years. Or if I could get my emotional drive back for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RecoveXM Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Simon Peter said command me to come to you and stepped on the water - after a few steps he slipped through and into the depths - Jesus pulled him back out laughing. Why did you doubt? The church has no power of miracles - but you do. Be thou Perfect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vomit Comet Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 Bertrand Russel once said that if he found himself standing before God on Judgement Day, he would shout "not enough proof!!!" in his own defense. So, yeah, some massive revelation of truly biblical proportions. Even then, I might question that it was some race of inter-dimensional alien beings trying to fuck with us for shits and giggles. But shit, if it turned out that hell was the real fucking deal and that Jesus was the only way to be spared it, you can bet your bippy that my knee would bow and my tongue would confess. Shit, why throw it all away if the terms are that extreme and absolute? Would you throw your life away holding on to your wallet if five Navy SEALs with submachine guns were robbing you? I'd be a whole hell of a lot more sincere in my devotion, however, if God said "hey, you know all that shit that the church has been teaching all along? Don't worry about it. Hell, let's throw the Bible out, too. So, you tell me, how do you think this should work?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpha centauri Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 I can't imagine anything that would make me go back to Christianity. If Christianity was somehow proven to be true (god forbid, or rather the Flying Spaghetti Monster forbid), I still couldn't reconcile myself to excuse the blatant injustice, bloodthirstiness and discrimination of this tyrannical Christian god. So I guess I'd be hellbound with the rest of the heathens — apparently, the vast majority of humanity according to the Bible. So I'll have to hope for the best: that Christianity is a twisted fable and form of mind control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MesaGman Posted April 22, 2008 Share Posted April 22, 2008 The suspension of natural physics, and making the world topsy turvey, would prove that a God is doing this..... but since all phenenonononoms can be proven.... There is only one conclusion, there is no God, and all the WTF acts of God, are really WTF acts of nature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shion Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 I do not think I could return to Christianity, even if their God appeared to me (without the use of narcotics/hallucinogens). Why should I grovel before any being? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vomit Comet Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Why should I grovel before any being? So that you won't be tortured for all eternity. It's why Sicilians pay protection money to La Cosa Nostra, regardless their sentiments on the matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shion Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Why should I grovel before any being? So that you won't be tortured for all eternity. It's why Sicilians pay protection money to La Cosa Nostra, regardless their sentiments on the matter. Doesn't that constitute as an abusive relationship? So what is my motivation again? Perhaps it is those Buddhist ideas seeping through again. Man, I would make a terrible Christian...wait a minute, I did make a terrible Christian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Captain Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 The only way I can imagine it happening is is a 1984-ish "I love Big Brother now!" kind of way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhia Posted April 25, 2008 Share Posted April 25, 2008 Absolutely nothing. See how easy that was to say? And I mean it, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vomit Comet Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 Doesn't that constitute as an abusive relationship? It certainly does! So what is my motivation again? Sheer and overwhelming economic calculus. I mean, if you were senteced to a billion years in hell and then got to spend the rest of eternity in heaven after doing your time, which I assume would make up for the trauma of hell, then it might still be worth living as you choose while on earth. But if it's eternity in hell, and you're 100% sure that's what'll happen, unless you're a completely insane (as in, stopped taking your Haldol a year ago) masochist, you're robbed completely of any choice. On Pascal's Wager. IIRC, Voltaire's critique of Pascal's Wager is that if Pascal is wrong, it is not the case that neither of us lose anything, because it's a shitty way to live! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shion Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 Agreed, it is a shitty way to live, and now I have a great deal of reading to do, because I have never heard of Pascal's Wager before (formally). I had heard it referred to as 'fire insurance.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Captain Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 Agreed, it is a shitty way to live, and now I have a great deal of reading to do, because I have never heard of Pascal's Wager before (formally). I had heard it referred to as 'fire insurance.' http://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/ Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jincks013 Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 Nothing could make me xtian again. My mind is too open now, I am too used to questioning and demanding answers. I have my own beliefs that are quite off the beaten path and see no point in christianity anymore. I do not want to be controlled and manipulated. I'd suck as a christian because of one major flaw they all seem to have.. I don't fear death. THe entire religion preys on the fear of death most have so they provide a solution in the form of 'eternal life'. Well its hard to control someone through fears if those fears don't exist. I could not ever reconvert, I have to much respect for myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zenobia Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 If a group of extreme xtian zealots powered a massive revolution and took over the government by force, launched an inquisition and started torturing and burning all non-xtians at the stake and forced us all to attend mandatory xtian church services at gun-point... I would become "christian" but only on the surface to avoid being tortured and killed. Meanwhile, under cover of darkness, I would secretly round up as many non-xtians as I could, build a giant space-ark and fly away to another solar system where we would create a new utopia where government and religion are finally, for all time, kept separate. Or, alternately, I'd just put a gun to my head and kill myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted April 26, 2008 Share Posted April 26, 2008 Well its hard to control someone through fears if those fears don't exist. I love that! I find that the longer I'm out, the more matter-of-fact I feel about the fact that hell just isn't what it's bragged up to be. It's just a myth that goes with the rest of the jesus story and religion. I was actually surprised recently to discover that I felt this way about it. It's taken a very long time--the best part of ten years--but it's coming at last! I didn't exactly deconvert from Christianity ten years ago but that is when I started my break with tradition, which theoretically led straight to the mouth of hell, according to how I was raised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 A lobotomy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RisingPhoenix Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 First, I'd have to have a great little conversation with whatever God ends up proving his (?) existence, in a way that holds up to outside scrutiny. (No dreams, visions, or any of that other crap.) I would then ask all the meaningful questions I'm sure everyone else has: why did (s)he create evil? Who the hell wrote the Bible anyway, and more importantly--why? What's the real deal about things like prayer, free will, prophecy, other religions, Christianity itself, football, and jailbait teen-pop stars? (I might not ask about the last two, depending on previous answers.) Only after I got all the answers would I then make up my mind--based on that evidence, straight from the source--as to whether or not I would go back to any church at all. With the knowledge I have right now, however, I don't have a single reason to go back in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShackledNoMore Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 Incontrovertible evidence would make me believe. Actually being a christian might be problematic: what would be the explanation for the bible being full of holes, contradictions, and the fickle and bloodthirsty god it portrays with what I would consider questionable morals at best? And depending on what the "real" answers turned out to be, I might not even qualify to be a xian this time from the xian god's perspective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightflight Posted October 1, 2008 Share Posted October 1, 2008 An overwhelming experience of being loved by God would do it for me; however I can't see being a fundamentalist; too many discrepancies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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