I grew up atheist for 16 years. I had always kept an open mind towards religion, but never really felt a need to believe in it. My sister started going to a Wednesday night children's program at a church. Eventually, I was dragged into a Christmas Eve service. Scoffing, I reluctantly went, assuming that this was going to be a load of crap, but when I went, I felt something. Something that I've never felt before. I felt a sense of empowerment and a sense of calling. Jesus called upon my soul, just like he did with his disciples. he wanted me to follow him. Now, my life is being lived for Christ. He died on the cross for my sins, and the sins of everyone who believes in him. He was beaten, brutalized, struck with a whip 39 times, made to carry a cross up to the stage of his death. This I believe to be true, and I can never repay him for what he has done. I still have my struggles with Christianity, but I've found this bit of information most useful. Religion is not comprehensible in the human mind, because we cannot comprehend the idea of a perfect and supreme being, a God, but we can believe it in our heart, and that's the idea of faith. Faith is, even though everything rides against me believing in Jesus, I still believe in him because I know that it's true in my heart. I invite my fellow Brothers and sisters of the LORD to talk about how Jesus has helped you in your life. No atheists and no insults please
Links only work as well as you make them work. For future reference: link/text. You missed that last part.
So we've got a boy defying all laws of physics, and it isn't in the big news? Why is that?
On the side of police evidence, we've got a photograph and a tape with someone saying 'hey'. When looking at the photograph, it seems to me the human shape is only induced by the reflection of the tree foliages (phenomenon claled Pareidolia) on the window. I don't need to explain why a tape with a voice saying 'hey' isn't really... solid evidence.
There are apparently only few 'witnesses', the woman's mother and a nurse 'witnessed' the levitating, and another person said to have seen strange things (not detailed in the article) in their house. Let's also keep in mind psychiatrists "determined that she had induced her children into delusional behaviour".
It does sound funky.. like most ghost stories. But there's nothing excluding some banal reason behind all that, you never know the woman's motivations...
Honestly, these numbers surprise me so much that I'm questioning the methodology of the survey, as well as how they phrased their questions. If these numbers are truly accurate then I've been underestimating the sheer depth religion plays a role in people's lives of casual believers.
I would have expected less than ten percent at most. Attributing one's god to a SPORTS GAME OUTCOME is ridiculous, even if you believe in that god. To me, this speaks of a far greater delusion imparted by religion on how the religious view the world than I've previously concluded. If they're attributing supernatural causes, believing that their prayers seriously affect events such as this, and are adamant in these beliefs, just what else are they believing prayer is going to change? I always thought that, for the casual believer, prayer was something they did, but didn't rely on it or expect it to change much.
Of course, I still have strong suspicions the survey was poorly conducted. This seems far too high a number.
Half of Americans Say God Plays A Role In Who Wins the Super Bowl
Yeah there definitely seems to be some odd way in which the survey was either asked, or is being analyzed...
That percentage includes Americans who pray for God to help their team (26 percent), think their team has been cursed (25 percent) or more generally believe God is involved in determining who wins on the court or in the field (19 percent)
So in reality, about 19% think God is a factor. The other two shouldn't be clumped with it in the data. 1) Praying to your god about helping your team is, of course, different than believing it played a factor 2) thinking your team is cursed doesn't at all mean god has a role. People believe the Cubs (baseball) are cursed..but this is from a goat and his owner, not a deity.
Attributing one's god to a SPORTS GAME OUTCOME is ridiculous, even if you believe in that god.
You have obviously never watched football. You frequently see players pray before the match to invoke god's blessing, and winners thank god by some gesture. And I'm sure football is by far not the only sport where people are so superstitious, as this survey about the Super Bowl seems to indicate. Personally, I'm not surprised.
Even the Eagles, in their song Frail Grasp On The Big Picture (album Long Road Out Of Eden) criticise this in the lines "And we pray to our Lord - Who we know is American - He reigns from on high - He speaks to us through many men - And he shepherds his flock - We sing out and we praise His name - He supports us in war - He presides over football games - And the right will prevail - All our troubles shall be resolved - We have faith above all - Unless there's money or sex involved"
I'd like to know why theists and atheists have such difficulty agreeing upon what qualifies as evidence. Why are religious texts, which are biased by necessity, being presented as self-sufficient proof?
In any religion where god is omnipotent, your understanding of the nature god is flawed, due to omnipotence paradoxes. ( "Can God create a stone so heavy that He cannot lift it?" If your understanding of nature is flawed, your understanding of God's purpose is probably also flawed, meaning any argument you make in favor of worshiping him due to his purpose or nature being good is baseless.
God doesn't want to interfere with free will, we must make our own decisions to get into heaven.
So, God creates all matter, all energy, all forces, all physical laws. God also creates life, including human beings, and all organs and biological mechanisms thereof. Then God creates for them this "free will", right?
So, your all-knowing, all-powerful, all-creating God made everything exactly to His own specifications, leaving no room for error...and still has to wait and see how we behave, as though we weren't programmed (by Him, in all his all-knowingness) to do exactly what we end up doing from the start? How exactly do you see this as making sense?
