Original Sin?
September 3rd, 2019 at 2:13:47 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
Xtions are the victims of a hoax and they don't even know it. They are 'Paulines' and not Xtions at all. Reminds me of an episode of Star Trek where there worship a god who isn't a god at all, but a sham. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
September 4th, 2019 at 7:45:49 AM permalink | |
FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 | Do you think that Peter and the other disciples disagreed with Paul? Do you think Paul was the greatest evangelist ever, communicating clearly the truth that all Christians believe? Do you think Paul just made everything up and everybody just went along with it? Do any of the Letters not written by Paul or the Gospels contradict Paul's theology? Have you read the other Letters in the NT and know their theology about Christ and how it differs from Paul's or the Gospels? I think that episode reminds me of the god you think Christians believe in. You are making up what you think others believe to rail against it. So sad. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
September 13th, 2019 at 11:50:21 AM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 | In 1968 I had a factory job 3rd shift in a cookie factory. My boss was probably all of 28, I was in my late teens. There was a vending machine in the lunch room that dispensed sandwiches. My boss had figured out that if he inserted a long screw driver in one of the sliding doors, the machine rotated a sandwich for free. Over a two year period he did this countless times for me. I ate lunch for free and thought not much about it. I don't recall feeling bad or repenting, and I still don't. But if I was a Xtion, this would mean I'm going straight to hell. What a ridiculous religion. I hadn't thought of that in decades. I was reminded because I'm reading a book where a guy did the same thing. I don't feel the least bit of guilt about this, I think it's funny. It was great fun and made a bond between me and the boss. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
September 13th, 2019 at 12:05:21 PM permalink | |
terapined Member since: Aug 6, 2014 Threads: 73 Posts: 11786 | Matthew 5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. This passage in the bible recently came to my attention What I decipher from this is. Don't pray in a church. If you are going to pray, do it alone I really like this passage Because Prayer is not a problem but Organized religion requiring prayer in a Church rather then not being ok with not attending church and not being ok with just praying in private, is a problem Sometimes we live no particular way but our own - Grateful Dead "Eyes of the World" |
September 13th, 2019 at 12:34:34 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
You can talk to yourself anywhere, cause that's all you're doing. There is no god listening, obvious if you're paying attention and not living in a fantasy world of superstition and the supernatural. If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
September 13th, 2019 at 8:00:09 PM permalink | |
FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 | There is private prayer and public worship. Both are very important and strengthen each other. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
September 14th, 2019 at 10:59:46 AM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
"As I repeatedly have to point out to religious believers, if praying to a god actually achieved results then it is relatively easy to evaluate the outcomes and see some form of resulting difference that can only be explained by some supernatural intervention by the selected god. If the religious are so sure that prayer does in fact produce positive results one would expect the Pope or some other representative of a god on Earth to have done such research and had it independently evaluated and confirmed. The fact that they never have is sufficient reason to be very suspicious of all claims in regard to prayers being answered." https://www.news24.com/MyNews24/Why-praying-is-a-useless-waste-of-time-energy-and-emotion-20150313 If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
September 14th, 2019 at 12:26:51 PM permalink | |
FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 | I'm always saddened and confused by people who think God is a genie and prayer is rubbing the lamp. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |
September 14th, 2019 at 1:03:30 PM permalink | |
Evenbob Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 146 Posts: 25010 |
Prayer is such a joke on humanity. What a colossal waste of time. Meditate if you have to, just don't think anybody outside of yourself is listening. I think prayer is a dangerous practice, it takes your mind and will away from action that might be beneficial to you. "While the main purpose of prayer may be to help others, it never demonstrably does that. Prayers benefit only those believers who say or hear them. Prayer gives them comfort. It lets them think they have some control over a situation that may be out of their hands. It’s the last resort of people who have run out of ideas, and the first resort of people who never bothered to think about how they could actually fix the problem at hand. This is not harmless. There’s a very real downside to praying. It lulls believers into a false sense of accomplishment. We cannot solve our problems – much less the world’s – through prayer. We often see people with good intentions praying for victims in the wake of a tragedy, but prayer is useless without action, and those actions make the prayers irrelevant... Prayer is nothing but a powerful placebo. We’d all be better off accepting that." https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/06/27/should-atheists-pray/prayer-is-useless-and-has-a-downside If you take a risk, you may lose. If you never take a risk, you will always lose. |
September 14th, 2019 at 1:36:42 PM permalink | |
FrGamble Member since: Oct 24, 2012 Threads: 67 Posts: 7596 | Your quote is awful, but in your own comments you dance around an important aspect of prayer. Motivation and a call to action is often the fruit of prayer. God desires us to do good for ourselves and others, prayer is an essential way to be inspired by God who is love. By the way, we would never say talking to spouse we love or to a loving father is a waste of time. “It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.” ( |