Simple question?

Quote: rxwine

A simple Paws for amusement

I like his outfit, add a pointy hood
and you get this: (why do cults
have a thing for billowy white robes)

Quote: rxwine

A simple Paws for amusement



He brings his fleas for confession.

This is even more touching because the priest looks like a Dominican and they have a special connection to dogs.

I make this post in response to you and
all you do is comment on a dog video?
Really?

Quote: Evenbob

I'm an atheist, of course I'm biased, are
you kidding? And you're just as biased
in the other direction. And I'll
always be 'at the tip of the iceberg'
with NT scholarship because I just
don't care enough about it. Urban
legends are not something I run my
life on. I'd much rather investigate
the real science and real investigations
going on in kids who remember past
lives. Jesus is long dead, these kids
are in the here and now remembering
they were butchers and bakers
and candlestick makers just a few
years ago. And science is verifying
they're telling the truth. How cool
is that.

And sobering. It explains people like
Helen Keller and babies born with
no arms. That's just this time, this
incarnation. Next time you'll be just
like everybody else. It's also
sobering because it makes you slow
down and look around. If I have to
come back and do this again, I want
a peaceful existence, not some silly
religious dogma that thinks this is
a one shot deal and you better do
things exactly right.

I'm glad to see you guys both back sharing your beliefs about the Jesus story.

Quote: Evenbob

I make this post in response to you and
all you do is comment on a dog video?
Really?

I was wondering at first why it took you a little longer in this conversation to degrade the conversation and stop really talking. I predicted long ago you would again revert to childish things, mean comments, and your own blind faith in reincarnation. I think the reason it took you so long to go off topic and stop meaningful discussion this time is that you lucked upon a really top notch scholar who shares a few of your convictions. This was a big help to you and stopped you from quoting from some nutjob website about Stalin being a secret Jesuit priest. When you are proven wrong you break down into this kind of stuff. However, it is hard to show someone as smart and well thought out as Ehrman is wrong. To do so you need to read some other scholars or you can just continue on his bandwagon thinking everything he says seems sensible enough, a welcome blessing for Evenbob. It was when we reached this point and we saw Bob's unwillingness to look at other studies and research that it devolved again.

However, just to address you post: it is sobering that you think the answer to human beings born with disabilities is to condemn them to an infinite series of lives full of suffering without any hope of escape. This seems the opposite of peaceful. This world is far from perfect and everyone one of us experiences suffering of many types. The peace you offer is, "don't worry when you die you will get a whole new set of problems, disabilities, and sufferings over and over again forever." What kind of solution is that? It is a good thing that the psuedo-science you quote along with studies about prayer is not accepted in the larger scientific community for good reason. Maybe you should study why when people have near-death experiences they almost never want to return and want to go to the light and a sense of overwhelming happiness? Anyway, I am predicting a block anytime soon so we might have to wait a while for a response.

Quote: FrGamble

your own blind faith in reincarnation.

Blind faith? Are you joking? There is a
ton of peer reviewed science on
reincarnation now, dating back to the
late 1950's. Children who have memories
of other lives for which there is no other
explanation.

Reincarnation is so boring. Born, die, do
it again. What you offer is much more
exciting. Born, god and the devil fight
for your soul, you go thru temptation
after temptation, Jesus is your best friend
and he's biting his nails pulling for you,
and you do it! You die and go to heaven
for eternal rewards!

Wow. Who wouldn't want that fairy tale
Santa Claus version of life. You will be
reincarnated no matter what you believe,
might as well kid yourself and be in denial
while you're here. It gives you something
to do.

This is the first time I've heard you speak about the real problems with reincarnation and I think you realize it gets even worse than just the boredom. I'm glad you also realize the stakes and the adventure that life truly is when you understand God and His plan for you.

Quote: FrGamble

This is the first time I've heard you speak about the real problems with reincarnation

It's the first time you remember me
talking about it, I mention it almost
every time I talk about the subject.
Reincarnation is very boring, just
like the rest of life. That's why
religions were invented, to make
things more exciting. Why, it's
great when you die, no more of
this sordid existence. It's fountains
of honey and gold rings on your
fingers and streets paved with gold
and 88 virgins and angels singing
and anything you can dream up,
some religion promises it after
you die.

Reincarnation is a bummer, like
life is a bummer for most people.
But there are those who know you
create your own reality to a large
extent, and for them life is not
a bummer.

So do you think religious people just make up their own reality like you do so life is not such a bummer?

Quote: FrGamble

So do you think religious people just make up their own reality ?

Everybody creates their own reality
for the most part, they just don't
realize it. Take a time tunnel trip
back to the 15th century and look
at the reality of superstition and
witchcraft and suspicion they had
created for themselves. All made
up nonsense, but they believed
every bit of it.