Do you believe in God and why

[totally thaied up]

31 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

It's called faith, and it's no different from believing in romantic love, which IMO is the biggest con ever. It's lust till the child is born and then the genetics kick in to keep the man hanging around. At least till the woman decides she doesn't need him any more, just his money and worldly goods.

Sooooo, if one believes in romantic love, IMO one is as gullible as the non believers think believers are.

I feel very sorry that you think like that. 

[Skeptic7]

Time for this thread to be crucified! 

[CMNightRider]

1 hour ago, Skeptic7 said:

Time for this thread to be crucified! 

I think you are starting to feel uncomfortable about the comments you have been making, and this is why you would like the thread to stop. ????

[giddyup]

51 minutes ago, CMNightRider said:

I think you are starting to feel uncomfortable about the comments you have been making, and this is why you would like the thread to stop. ????

Seems like it's run it's course to me and you're just flogging a dead horse.

[ivor bigun]

It's called faith, and it's no different from believing in romantic love, which IMO is the biggest con ever. It's lust till the child is born and then the genetics kick in to keep the man hanging around. At least till the woman decides she doesn't need him any more, just his money and worldly goods.
Sooooo, if one believes in romantic love, IMO one is as gullible as the non believers think believers are.

Wow,that is the sadest thing i have heard on this thread, your poor old life must be so sad, i would hate to have to go through life feeling like you must, yes i fancy my wife but its not lust its far far deeper than that ,and even if we could never make love again i would still love her more than life.

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[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, ivor bigun said:

yes i fancy my wife but its not lust its far far deeper than that ,and even if we could never make love again i would still love her more than life.

Her choice, not yours.

You're just the mark.

[ivor bigun]

Her choice, not yours.
You're just the mark.

So sad,actually i am not poor ,but not well.off ,while her family are and she owns lots of land ,so if anything she would have been the mark ,all those years ago, also i know she loves me with all her heart.

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[notmyself]

On 6/12/2019 at 5:04 AM, CMNightRider said:

 

Heaven or Hell, it's your choice.  You have until your last breath to choose.

 

 

 

[Skeptic7]

2 hours ago, CMNightRider said:

I think you are starting to feel uncomfortable about the comments you have been making, and this is why you would like the thread to stop. ????

Nope. I'll go toe to toe for another 110 pages, but you gotta get some new material! ????

Edited June 13, 2019 by Skeptic7

[BritManToo]

22 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

So sad,actually i am not poor ,but not well.off ,while her family are and she owns lots of land ,so if anything she would have been the mark ,all those years ago, also i know she loves me with all her heart.

I used to think that too.

Of course I was wrong, I was just the mark, but that was back in the UK.

It's a similar game here where they're usually land rich, but cash poor, we provide the cash.

 

Back to the OP, if there's a god, he needs a bloody good kicking.

Edited June 13, 2019 by BritManToo

[ivor bigun]

I used to think that too.
Of course I was wrong, I was just the mark, but that was back in the UK.
It's a similar game here where they're usually land rich, but cash poor, we provide the cash.
 
Back to the OP, if there's a god, he needs a bloody good kicking.

Back to the OP well thats me,and i dont believe in God. But i do believe in love.

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[CMNightRider]

                    Historians confirm what the Bible says about Jesus.

The gospels report that Jesus of Nazareth performed many miracles, was executed by the Romans, and rose from the dead. Numerous ancient historians back the Bible's account of the life of Jesus and his followers:

 

Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 55-120), an historian of first-century Rome, is considered one of the most accurate historians of the ancient world.   An excerpt from Tacitus tells us that the Roman emperor Nero "inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class called Christians.  Christus [Christ], from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus."

 

Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian (A.D. 38-100), wrote about Jesus in his Jewish Antiquities.  From Josephus, "we learn that Jesus was a wise man who did surprising feats, taught many, won over followers from among Jews and Greeks, was believed to be the Messiah, was accused by the Jewish leaders, was condemned to be crucified by Pilate, and was considered to be resurrected."

 

Suetonius, Pliny the Younger, and Thallus also wrote about Christian worship and persecution that is consistent with New Testament accounts.

 

Even the Jewish Talmud, certainly not biased toward Jesus, concurs about the major events of his life.  From the Talmud, "we learn that Jesus was conceived out of wedlock, gathered disciples, made blasphemous claims about himself, and worked miracles, but these miracles are attributed to sorcery and not to God."

 

This is remarkable information considering that most ancient historians focused on political and military leaders, not on obscure rabbis from distant provinces of the Roman Empire.  Yet ancient historians (Jews, Greeks and Romans) confirm the major events that are presented in the New Testament, even though they were not believers themselves.

[Skeptic7]

3 hours ago, CMNightRider said:

I think you are starting to feel uncomfortable about the comments you have been making, and this is why you would like the thread to stop. ????

I don't make myself uncomfortable, but excel at making believers so. You think this is discomforting??? This is nothing. You should read me on the unmoderated sites! ???? ????

[luckyluke]

CMNightRider with his Bible postings is trying to ridicule the Christians.

 

Well at least that's how it come over. 

 

Not sure what his agenda is. 

[notmyself]

1 hour ago, luckyluke said:

CMNightRider with his Bible postings is trying to ridicule the Christians.

 

Well at least that's how it come over. 

 

Not sure what his agenda is. 

 

I thought the same some time ago and mentioned it. I also mentioned earlier in the thread that I have a soft spot for Creationists and such because they are being honest. Mr/s CMN fully believes what is put forward. No question.

 

 

[scoutman360]

Watch a few episodes of Ghost Adventures, you might change your mind. Some episodes will make the hair on your neck stand up.

 

But I agree that the "Jesus is the Son of God" thing may need some thought, open to interpretation. I am not knocking His message, and badly needed influence on our world today. The New Testament was written 30-90 years after his death. Who was there? A bunch of illiterate poor fishermen who could not read nor write.

 

How did their experience become reality 90 years later? Probably not. The details don't matter. It is the message that counts.

[Macthehat]

In the book  "The God Delusion", Richard Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that belief in a personal god qualifies as a delusion, which he defines as a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence. ... When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. 

I tend to agree with him , but as a few have already mentioned , if some people find comfort  in this delusion and don't harm others in the process who am I to tell them any different . 

You dont need religion in your life to be a good person . 

[notmyself]

3 hours ago, Macthehat said:

In the book  "The God Delusion", Richard Dawkins contends that a supernatural creator almost certainly does not exist and that belief in a personal god qualifies as a delusion, which he defines as a persistent false belief held in the face of strong contradictory evidence. ... When many people suffer from a delusion it is called religion. 

I tend to agree with him , but as a few have already mentioned , if some people find comfort  in this delusion and don't harm others in the process who am I to tell them any different . 

You dont need religion in your life to be a good person . 

 

It can be and should be but to be fair there are innumerable delusions that are unrelated to religion though they all have one thing in common... irrational belief. Two years into a degree in psychology I dumped it. I would never get a job in the field unless I gave the religious facet of irrational belief a free pass. Rather than just say **** *** straight off of the bat I questioned it and was told that it was just the way it was. it was & is but if I vocally state it then nobody will hire me. It was a hard decision but I just upped sticks and went to Australia, Indonesia and some of SE Asia and Pakistan.

 

It's not promulgated but forcibly propagated on others, namely children.  

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

12 minutes ago, notmyself said:

It can be and should be but to be fair there are innumerable delusions that are unrelated to religion though they all have one thing in common... irrational belief. Two years into a degree in psychology I dumped it. I would never get a job in the field unless I gave the religious facet of irrational belief a free pass. Rather than just say **** *** straight off of the bat I questioned it and was told that it was just the way it was. it was & is but if I vocally state it then nobody will hire me. It was a hard decision but I just upped sticks and went to Australia, Indonesia and some of SE Asia and Pakistan.

 

It's not promulgated but forcibly propagated on others, namely children.  

Love is exactly the same.

We all want to believe the women are in it for something apart from the money, but they never are.

It's just a job for them.

[VincentRJ]

The issue, as I see it, relates to the difficulty that most of us have in dealing with uncertainty. Imagine the conditions that people had to contend with, thousands of years ago when humans first formed a language that allowed them to think and contemplate about the past and the future, and think about concepts in abstract terms. 

 

During those times, they would have suffered from the effects of so many mysterious and unpredictable events that they struggled to understand. Who or what is sending those devastating bolts of lightning down to earth, followed by the loudest roar they had ever heard, much louder than the roar of a Lion?

 

Who or what was sometimes causing the ground beneath them to suddenly shake and split open, causing trees to collapse and giant boulders to come cascading down the hillside?

 

Why did so many people die for no apparent reason, children often dying soon after birth, mothers dying during birth, mature and strong men quickly and mysteriously dying as a result, (which we now understand), of a bacterial or viral infection?

 

Why were there sometimes long periods of little rain resulting in famine and starvation, and sometimes huge amounts of rain causing massive flooding and loss of life?

 

We know that some people are stronger and more confident than others. Some people are more able to deal with uncertainty than others. Imagine the problems and difficulties that the chieftains or leaders of a tribe or small nation would have, when most of the population they are trying to control is quivering with fear and uncertainty because they don't know what terrifying event is going to occur tomorrow, or next week, or next month.

 

Creating religions and the various Gods, as an explanation for the causes of these mysterious and often devastating events was a very smart way of pacifying and motivating the 'less confident' members of the population, which would have been the majority, and helping them to deal with the uncertainties.

 

Even though the act of praying to the 'God of Thunder' is not in reality going to prevent a storm occurring, the belief that the prayers will prevent a storm, has a calming effect and helps the believers deal with the uncertainties.

 

For example, let's consider that a severe and damaging storm has not occurred for a period of 6 months. During that 6 month period, the locals have been praying and performing rituals, which have given them the confidence to deal with the uncertainties and be productive and happy. When the storm eventually occurs, as it usually does, the locals might question Why. We've been praying and performing the rituals as required, yet this storm has destroyed our village and killed half of us.

 

The leaders of that community might come up with a smart answer, such as, "Villagers, you have offended the Gods with your impious behaviour. You have committed incest, and have lied, and have stolen other people's possessions. You have worshiped other Gods. The storm and the lightning which set your village afire, is your punishment.

 

Of course, as societies developed into larger nations, each with their own Gods, the leaders, kings or chieftains, had to encourage the citizens to fight the 'infidels', even when the infidels were members of the different sects of the same, broad religion, such as Protestants and Catholics, or Sunni and Shia.

 

This problem raises the issue of the Placebo and Nocebo effects. In order to maintain the 'calming and controlling' Placebo effect on the subservient population, the God or Gods that are worshiped, and/or the interpretation of such Gods, have to maintain their supremacy. Hence the religious conflicts that continue into the present.

 

This religious component is even a part of modern science, in the sense that many scientists agree to distort or exaggerate their evidence-based conclusions in order to help and conform with the political requirements for dealing with environmental issues.

 

The late Dr Stephen Schneider who worked at Stanford University, focusing on climate change science, integrated assessment of ecological and economic impacts of human-induced climate change, and identifying viable climate policies and technological solutions, had a very illuminating comment to make on this issue.

 

I think it's been quoted before in this thread. 

 

"We have to offer up scary scenarios, make simplified, dramatic statements, and make little mention of any doubts we have. Each of us has to decide what the right balance is between being effective and being honest."

 

Being honest, is to admit that we don't know, or that we are uncertain. Politicians understand that in order to be voted into power, motivate the population and get action, they need to be able to express certainty on any issue they are promoting. For example, a political party might state,  'If we reduce taxation on businesses, that will encourage more businesses to invest in our economy, and we will all benefit with more jobs'.

 

They have to express certainty on this, even though the reality might be, 'If we reduce taxation on businesses, we might get more jobs and be more prosperous. On the other hand, other factors might work negatively to increase our national debt which might reduce the value of our currency, and result in an economic downturn'.

 

Is it any wonder why apparently reputable scientists, whose jobs are governments funded, will co-operate with the political requirements to express certainty on this issue of climate change?

 

Hope I have managed to clarify everything so you can all sleep peacefully. ????

[notmyself]

11 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

Nope. I'll go toe to toe for another 110 pages, but you gotta get some new material! ????

 

lol There is none.

 

I'm here for a while yet and as per T&Cs relating to keeping on topic:

 

No rational reason has ever been put forward that there is a supreme being so it join's Colin the unicorn who supposedly lives in my shed & the cloud that looks like a dog or some ****. My interest in the subject is why or what makes people believe such things rather than what they believe.

 

Francis Collins, a true Christian, says that our genome and in fact all genomes are enough evidence for evolution. 38-40% of the U.S. reject evolution because it's just wouldn't work with their belief. Many of the fractures that occur in various beliefs are due to new data or 'learning' where a certain group consider a position as untenable. It gets watered down so much of it is like sitting on a plumped up cushion which you have to plump up yourself when needed and thank your maker for allowing you to do so. If that is not servitude then what is <deleted>?

 

Some parts of this post are unrelated to the quote too mate.... lol

 

Since members are throwing about Bible (off topic) commandments 

 

https://biblehub.com/kjv/ezekiel/25.htm

 

A Prophecy against Ammon

 

1The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 2Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them; 3And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; 4Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. 5And I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couchingplace for flocks: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 6For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel; 7Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.

Doesn't count some will say OT y'know... like Jesus is a .net update. 

 

 

[ivor bigun]

Love is exactly the same.
We all want to believe the women are in it for something apart from the money, but they never are.
It's just a job for them.

So sad,you must have been really hurt.

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[BritManToo]

6 minutes ago, ivor bigun said:

So sad,you must have been really hurt.

Yes, but only once ............

And I learned god didn't exist at the same time.

[ivor bigun]

Yes, but only once ............
And I learned god didn't exist at the same time.

First marriage,rushed into,ended after a few years,lived with a girl long time,both were a lot younger than me, hurt but life goes on then another relationship ended when she kept on about marriage. Free and really having a ball in my 40s,then discovered Thailand by accident,rogered anything that moved( female that is) one 3 year relationship,ended but still friends god has it been 26 yrs? By then had buisiness in BKK back and for every 2 months,met my wife ,her sister had a business and met there,eventually married and lived in UK for years then came back here,my life has been fantastic ,i wish i could do it all over again,as the song said " even the bad times were good" my wife and i are still very much in love.
Such a shame yours is not the same,oh and its nothing to do with money,even though her family are quite well off.


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[notmyself]

6 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

First marriage,rushed into,ended after a few years,lived with a girl long time,both were a lot younger than me, hurt but life goes on then another relationship ended when she kept on about marriage. Free and really having a ball in my 40s,then discovered Thailand by accident,rogered anything that moved( female that is) one 3 year relationship,ended but still friends god has it been 26 yrs? By then had buisiness in BKK back and for every 2 months,met my wife ,her sister had a business and met there,eventually married and lived in UK for years then came back here,my life has been fantastic ,i wish i could do it all over again,as the song said " even the bad times were good" my wife and i are still very much in love.
 

 

Still time mate.

 

[ivor bigun]

 
Still time mate.
 

To be honest,i do believe she loves me more now than in tje start,anyway if she left our son would give her hell.

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[frantick]

I can't understand something from nothing, nor nothing from something.  Therefore, maybe there's always been 'something'.  But, if it's the 'God' in any current religious teachings, it's not one I can follow.

[Issannative]

No I don't, because believing in a noval that was written a thousand years after the events were supposed to have happened is just crazy

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[notmyself]

On 6/14/2019 at 8:18 PM, Issannative said:

No I don't, because believing in a noval that was written a thousand years after the events were supposed to have happened is just crazy
 

 

72CE at very best so a generation. Agree in any case.

 

 

 

 

 

[CMNightRider]

On 6/15/2019 at 2:18 AM, Issannative said:

No I don't, because believing in a noval that was written a thousand years after the events were supposed to have happened is just crazy

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                               History of the Bible - Who wrote the Bible?

The Bible was written over a span of 1500 years, by 40 writers.  Unlike other religious writings, the Bible reads as a factual news account of real events, places, people, and dialogue.  Historians and archaeologists have repeatedly confirmed its authenticity.  

 

Archaeologists have consistently discovered the names of government officials, kings, cities, and festivals mentioned in the Bible -- sometimes when historians didn't think such people or places existed.  For example, the Gospel of John tells of Jesus healing a cripple next to the Pool of Bethesda.  The text even describes the five porticoes (walkways) leading to the pool.  Scholars didn't think the pool existed, until archaeologists found it forty feet below ground, complete with the five porticoes.

 

Four of the writers of the New Testament each wrote their own biography on the life of Jesus.  These are called the four gospels, the first four books of the New Testament.  When historians try to determine if a biography is reliable, they ask, "How many other sources report the same details about this person?"

 

Two of the gospel biographies were written by the apostles Matthew and John, men who knew Jesus personally and traveled with him for over three years.  The other two books were written by Mark and Luke, close associates of the apostles.  These writers had direct access to the facts they were recording.  At the time of their writing, there were still people alive who had heard Jesus speak, watched him heal people and perform miracles.