So I'm a Christian who believes that since I have the Holy Spirit inside of me I will go to heaven when I die, and if I don't, I go to hell. A lot of the people on the WEPR forums believe that nothing happens and we just cease to exist.
Now if I am right, that means that atheists and other similar ways of thinking are going to have a bad eternity. But if I'm wrong, then I might just be a fool in this world but the same will happen to me as everyone else. It seems that I have much less to lose. Just food for thought.
I don't think the abusive slave master picture is well related to my relationship with God.
Does your god not refer to you like a slave? Beats those he calls misbehaving? Order you to do things for him? All of these things have been seen true Yahweh's actions in the bible, so how does it not apply to him?
Sorry - they have a lack of evidence, and we have Occam's razor and various and conclusive arguments.
That's not evidence. That's an appeal to ignorance. You can't prove a negative.
I'm not arguing for or against the existence of God. Whether or not Occam's razor and the arguments for atheism hold water are beyond the scope of my argument. I merely took issue with your statement.
As for more general comments on the thread, logic and reason are nothing but a shadow. An interpretation of reality, a vehicle of everlasting meaning. Religious indoctrination is dangerous, but so too is the militant nihilism so prevalent on threads like this. The atheists are so quick to hate what they do not understand, yet they call Christians the ignorant ones.
Calling someone ugly won't make you pretty, calling someone stupid won't make you smart, reciting a platitude won't make you free, and calling a belief irrational won't bring you closer to the truth.
Religion may not be the path for you. It's not for everyone. If you don't understand it, let it go. Don't try to undermine it for others. Find your way.
How can it not be? I can choose to believe in God, as I am. Nothing is forcing me to believe.
If it was really a non abusive relationship God wouldn't need the threat of hell looming over your head if you didn't want that relationship.
There is also a reward that is much more motivating than the punishment. Instead of being scared into it by hell, I am motivated by a positive desire to be in heaven.
Does your god not refer to you like a slave? Beats those he calls misbehaving? Order you to do things for him? All of these things have been seen true Yahweh's actions in the bible, so how does it not apply to him?
Nope, He doesn't do that. Give me some Biblical references that clearly illustrate that. The closest he gets to that is the shepard/sheep relationship. He asks obedience, but doesn't yell orders.
lack of evidence is no evidence that something isn't true.
I think that Believe is not a choice too. I can't think, 'hey, today I'm going to believe in god, and tomorrow not.' at least, I wouldn't call that believe. god chooses his herds.
Though it is reasonable to assume it doesn't if no evidence exists.
What if there is reasonable evidence, but you can't prove it? Kinda like you try to prove the big Bang with math, and you can prove most of the way back to point zero, but you can't prove point zero. Even if there is evidence to support your theory, you still can't prove anything. It may be reasonable to think that everything was created from nothing and that humans were created by it raining on rocks for a couple million years, or it might be reasonable to think that an invisible man with magical powers created everything from dust in one day. Either of these can be debated, but both seem kinda silly to me.
