Coolhermit Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I appreciate that I'm in the minority here as I happily believe in **** (often described as god). However my 'belief' does not require others to join me nor does it behoove me to denigrate those who do not accept the idea of 'god' either. Chacun a son gout. Now I spent decades trying to fit in with/make sense of christianity. To be honest I do not think I've ever met a Christian who exhibited any semblance of resemblance to the Jesus they laud so vociferously. Now, on various forums I encounter these loud proponents of Christ. They foam and fulminate and denounce unbelievers and 'wrong' believers and condemn them to hellfire (we've all met them). So I ask these guys: "Tell us what happened when you gave away all your possessions to the poor and left your home to become a disciple of Jesus?" They never answer that. Sometimes they say they have not been called to do that. Then I respond: "What is so wrong with you that Jesus does not reckon you good enough to be a disciple?" Then I follow with: "What is so wrong with Jesus that you don't rate him more highly than your material goods?" They never answer those questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ro-bear Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 People usually only give to their religion as much as their religion gives to them. For such people offerings and displays of piety are payment for a sense of superiority and an insurance policy for the afterlife. Few people follow the tenets of their faith past the point of convenience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Testify Brother Ro! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 what's with the **** crap? The word is JEHOVAH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ouroboros Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Oh, I thought it was Asterix, the Gaul... the comic book... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest eejay Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I think there's only one person I know of who's done that, and that would be Mother Teresa. She defiinately gave everyone her all. I was surprised when I had read last summer, that despite her life, she held many doubts on her faith....amazing!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knitterman Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Oh, I thought it was Asterix, the Gaul... the comic book... It's a Patrick Henry. "I regret that I have but one asterisk for my country." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coolhermit Posted March 2, 2008 Author Share Posted March 2, 2008 Harley: your word might be Jehovah - mine has no word - no name. But you're welcome to your named deity. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The-Captain Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Harley: your word might be Jehovah - mine has no word - no name. But you're welcome to your named deity. :-) I think thats preferable really. If your belief in god is based on your own experience and thoughts it seems appropriate to either have no name or to create your own. Subscribing to some other well established deity name, implies at least some role of dogma in your understanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 I think there's only one person I know of who's done that, and that would be Mother Teresa. She defiinately gave everyone her all. I was surprised when I had read last summer, that despite her life, she held many doubts on her faith....amazing!!! Dig up Hitchens' 'Hell's Angel' sometime... the fact she didn't believe and felt nothing of God is wholly in keeping... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonolithTMA Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Being an atheist now, I will answer with the remnants of my Christian thought. This is how I would have answered even when I was at my most devout level. "Tell us what happened when you gave away all your possessions to the poor and left your home to become a disciple of Jesus?" I give what I can to the poor, if Jesus calls me to do more I will. Not every verse is directly aimed at every person. I think what this verse really means is give away anything that would come between you and being a disciple of Christ. "What is so wrong with you that Jesus does not reckon you good enough to be a disciple?" Because I didn't give everything away to the poor and leave my house? Because I don't think he wanted me to do that literally. "What is so wrong with Jesus that you don't rate him more highly than your material goods?" I do rate him higher than my material goods. See my answers above. Is it rationalization? Yes, in a sense, but it's also practicality. If every Christian gave away everything they had and sold their homes, they would be quite an imposition on the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonolithTMA Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 what's with the **** crap? The word is JEHOVAH! Total flashback to Life of Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellsybop Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I can see them saying that it would make them look too much like Jesus and that they would think it sinful against him. Kinda like trying to put themselves on his level or something. Regardless, it's just an excuse. I am not atheist either, although I feel like I fit in very good with alot of beliefs on here. I'm a misfit to christian society as a deist. I don't put a label on my 'creator' either. Just call it an energy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 ...They never answer those questions. That usually means that they know the only answer they could give would require that they realize what it's really all about. I know that feeling. I encounter it whenever I ask a babblical cretinist/IDiot "So as you claim to have The Proof that ebilushen is bunk... what exactly does evolutionary theory really say? Morontheist strawmen will earn you mockery. You have been warned." Sure as their cheap copy of our original Hel, the first answer they give is the standard strawmen army... and after I call them on that... silence... crickets chirping... more silence... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Oh, I thought it was Asterix, the Gaul... the comic book... O-din O-din O-DIN! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 what's with the **** crap? The word is JEHOVAH! Total flashback to Life of Brian. *hurls a rock* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonolithTMA Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 what's with the **** crap? The word is JEHOVAH! Total flashback to Life of Brian. *hurls a rock* JEHOVAH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurisaz Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 what's with the **** crap? The word is JEHOVAH! Total flashback to Life of Brian. *hurls a rock* JEHOVAH! And so it begins... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 I think there's only one person I know of who's done that, and that would be Mother Teresa. She defiinately gave everyone her all. I was surprised when I had read last summer, that despite her life, she held many doubts on her faith....amazing!!! Looks like someone needs to wake up and smell the bullshit. (no offense intended, of course, I'm simply an ass) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADbERjjQ508 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AtzJd0BZhw&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBWy-TS3v30...feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Am I dead? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodsmoke Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Not last I checked, but the world could hope. Admittedly, I should have added my response to yours; I just thought the P&T:BS episode was worth adding for a more immediately accessible source of info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonolithTMA Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 I think there's only one person I know of who's done that, and that would be Mother Teresa. She defiinately gave everyone her all. I was surprised when I had read last summer, that despite her life, she held many doubts on her faith....amazing!!! Looks like someone needs to wake up and smell the bullshit. (no offense intended, of course, I'm simply an ass) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADbERjjQ508 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AtzJd0BZhw&NR=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBWy-TS3v30...feature=related I love that show, but I hadn't seen that one. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dedhed Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 what's with the **** crap? The word is JEHOVAH! Technically the word is YHWH (Yahweh). The jews never knew god by the name Jehovah, but the translators from greek to modern english made it Jehovah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. S. Martin Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 what's with the **** crap? The word is JEHOVAH! Technically the word is YHWH (Yahweh). The jews never knew god by the name Jehovah, but the translators from greek to modern english made it Jehovah. Do you know what the letters actually are? Neither the Hebrew nor the Greek letters resemble the letters of our alphabet, which means they would not contain letters that look like our YHWH. CORRECTION: The NT Greek alphabet contains letters that resemble or are identical to our Y, H, and W visually. However, they are pronounced so very differently that it can hardly be argued that either the English Jehovah or Yahweh comes from them. Do you know more about the Jehovah-Yahweh story? That's one of the things they didn't teach at my school. Just now I checked a few Bibles--the New Revised Standard Version English Bible and Martin Luther's German Bible. I don't find Luther using Jehovah or Yahweh at all. Nor does the NRSV. I forget in what Bible it was that I read what guidelines they used. Translators follow really strict rules for when to use God, GOD, LORD, LORD GOD, etc. Luther followed the same kind of rules for the German. Luther's Bible is older than the KJV. Biblegatway.com has various versions and languages if you don't have the Bibles themselves. Here is Isaiah 26:4 in two versions; note the capitalization, etc.: NRSV 4 Trust in the Lord forever,for in the Lord Godyou have an everlasting rock. KJV 4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted March 4, 2008 Share Posted March 4, 2008 what's with the **** crap? The word is JEHOVAH! Technically the word is YHWH (Yahweh). The jews never knew god by the name Jehovah, but the translators from greek to modern english made it Jehovah. But then it loses the Life of Brian joke... God's death, do I have to footnote everything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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