130310
An interesting image on Christianity.
image Stumbled upon directly, found at http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/1741723/img/1741723.gif. Saved to file to prevent possible future broken links.
Suggest you read from the link above, because PB resized the image to fit it's size limits, so the text is kind of small.
I'd take it a pinch of salt, for example, the part about Mithra seems too good to be true, but Internet searches do appear to support the information there. However, the failings of the Internet include the possibility of false perpetuation, where people assume something is accurate simply because it is published online, and C+P/paraphrase (possibly incorrect) information onto their own websites -> vicious cycle.
Still, it gives you a lot to think about. I particularly like the quote in the bottom left box, as well as one I ran into on a site about paradoxes in general: "He cannot build a wall He cannot jump". A self-referencing statement about any apparently omnipotent force will tend to result in a paradox, for to be omnipotent one has to be both the Immovable Object and the Unstoppable Force.
If it seems I'm always questioning Christianity, I'd like to point out that I actually question religion in general - I think spirituality is important, but religion is not necessary. Christianity just happens to be one of the most prevalent obnoxious religions (I don't get harrassed by Buddhists), which is why there tends to be a lot of back-and-forth about it.
A lot of them also think they own the world/the world-to-be.
Also, it pisses me off a little whenever people capitalize the 'g' in 'god' when they're making a general reference to a god, and not the Christian god specifically.
e.g., "Some are even deists, such as believing in a God, but yet reject organized religion. - sample from here
People often say that sin is when Man chooses to disobey God, God did not create us as sinners, but he created us with the will to choose. I still (as I said before in a previous post) think that a person cannot choose to disobey God if he has no concept of disobedience - even if we choose to 'turn away', we must somehow innately know that it is an option. Where did this knowledge come from? Was it a part of our creation [id est, did God create us able to sin (deliberately, since He always has a Plan, but He gets mad when we sin??), did it spontaneously appear in us (can't be, since all things are born of God), was it placed in us by a malevolent force (the Devil/Lucifer/Serpent/pick-an-'evil'-entity - they sprouted out of the ground too, did they? How did their sin come about, then? HOW THE HELL DID THE SERPENT KNOW TO DEFY GOD), WHAT.
The whole MUST HAVE FAITH TO SEE thing sounds a bit of a hoax to me, too. That and evangelism ("SAVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR") are the kind of thing I'd include in a religion, if I were creating one - a convenient explanation for the unexplainable and a survival+propagation method. A bit like how if I were a king, I'd convince my people that I was a god. My descendants/heirs, too. You're not supposed to kill gods, y'know.
PLEASE REPLY, SOMEBODY, IF IT'S ONLY "I THINK YOU HAVE A POINT" OR "HMM NO I THINK YOUR ARGUMENT IS FLAWED" OR "I HAVE NO IDEA I WONDER TOO". Discussions work better when I'm not talking to myself, I always win (and I always lose).
Unless it's to point out C S Lewis fell away from faith too, and returned to theism and later Christianity, then no, it's okay, I've heard that before, so there's no need to keep repeating it.
image Stumbled upon directly, found at http://www5.picturepush.com/photo/a/1741723/img/1741723.gif. Saved to file to prevent possible future broken links.
Suggest you read from the link above, because PB resized the image to fit it's size limits, so the text is kind of small.
I'd take it a pinch of salt, for example, the part about Mithra seems too good to be true, but Internet searches do appear to support the information there. However, the failings of the Internet include the possibility of false perpetuation, where people assume something is accurate simply because it is published online, and C+P/paraphrase (possibly incorrect) information onto their own websites -> vicious cycle.
Still, it gives you a lot to think about. I particularly like the quote in the bottom left box, as well as one I ran into on a site about paradoxes in general: "He cannot build a wall He cannot jump". A self-referencing statement about any apparently omnipotent force will tend to result in a paradox, for to be omnipotent one has to be both the Immovable Object and the Unstoppable Force.
If it seems I'm always questioning Christianity, I'd like to point out that I actually question religion in general - I think spirituality is important, but religion is not necessary. Christianity just happens to be one of the most prevalent obnoxious religions (I don't get harrassed by Buddhists), which is why there tends to be a lot of back-and-forth about it.
A lot of them also think they own the world/the world-to-be.
Also, it pisses me off a little whenever people capitalize the 'g' in 'god' when they're making a general reference to a god, and not the Christian god specifically.
e.g., "Some are even deists, such as believing in a God, but yet reject organized religion. - sample from here
People often say that sin is when Man chooses to disobey God, God did not create us as sinners, but he created us with the will to choose. I still (as I said before in a previous post) think that a person cannot choose to disobey God if he has no concept of disobedience - even if we choose to 'turn away', we must somehow innately know that it is an option. Where did this knowledge come from? Was it a part of our creation [id est, did God create us able to sin (deliberately, since He always has a Plan, but He gets mad when we sin??), did it spontaneously appear in us (can't be, since all things are born of God), was it placed in us by a malevolent force (the Devil/Lucifer/Serpent/pick-an-'evil'-entity - they sprouted out of the ground too, did they? How did their sin come about, then? HOW THE HELL DID THE SERPENT KNOW TO DEFY GOD), WHAT.
The whole MUST HAVE FAITH TO SEE thing sounds a bit of a hoax to me, too. That and evangelism ("SAVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR") are the kind of thing I'd include in a religion, if I were creating one - a convenient explanation for the unexplainable and a survival+propagation method. A bit like how if I were a king, I'd convince my people that I was a god. My descendants/heirs, too. You're not supposed to kill gods, y'know.
PLEASE REPLY, SOMEBODY, IF IT'S ONLY "I THINK YOU HAVE A POINT" OR "HMM NO I THINK YOUR ARGUMENT IS FLAWED" OR "I HAVE NO IDEA I WONDER TOO". Discussions work better when I'm not talking to myself, I always win (and I always lose).
Unless it's to point out C S Lewis fell away from faith too, and returned to theism and later Christianity, then no, it's okay, I've heard that before, so there's no need to keep repeating it.