Orpheus 47k wrote: Hell the sun could be are god or an alien could be and also look at what religion is ,it tells you that there is a afterlife if only your good or pure or a great leader
A lot of Protestant denominations even dropped good works from the pact with the devil to ascend into heaven.
Now, all you need to get there is faith. Think about that for a second...that's something that god doesn't seem to require (after all, showing himself in the way the Bible leads people to believe isn't that convincing or supported by evidence). Back in my theist days, prior to going to Catholic seminary, I asked god for more evidence. So, I have verifiable proof that he doesn't give a shit if I believe or not, because he didn't get back to me on that.
However, that's EXACTLY the sort of thing a church would say to try and expand their ranks. All you have to do is believe what we tell you, there's no ethical stipulations on anything after that whatsoever, which is convenient for the church, given that historically they have single-handedly led whole nations to war.
It's a pretty good indicator of the fact that the Christian credo is man-made. It's focal point is something the church demands, not god. If you doubt this, ask the big man yourself. And if he responds to you and not me, join a Calvinist church because apparently you have been predestined to the elect members of heaven, and I am doomed to Hell, despite any efforts to the contrary I might conceivably try.
Lol, gotta love god for setting up one of the most 'god awful' incentive systems around...or rather, the people who claim to speak for him. Join our church or else.
Last word for me on this topic: imagine I held a small child about the age of six captive. I'm out to test whether or not god exists, so I grab a serraded knife and start gutting the kid like a fish. He pleads for his life as his entrails spill to the floor but I continue. Neither have heard of the gospel before.Trick question: when does god stop me? Answer: he doesn't. The kid dies a slow and painful death by evisceration and burns for all eternity in a pit of fire. I, on the other hand, happen to bump into a member of 'god's congregation' in the grocery store, he proselytizes, and I buy into it. I get hit by a car the same day and ascend into heaven, where all of us good christians watch all of the heathens, dissenters, Buddhists, Muslims, etc. burn forever. We all have a good laugh at the expense of the non-believers over a beer and a joint with God, Jesus, Moe, and Larry.
THAT, is what you have to accept to be a Christian...beyond all the nonsense about the miracles in the bible, Jesus' divinity, etc. You have to believe that there's nothing fundamentally flawed about it; which is why I'm so exacerbated by the excess of Christians espousing moral superiority to everyone else, including myself. It's a fantasy only a Christian could believe in; anyone reading this is morally superior to their god by god's own schizophrenic standards. Even were a god to exist he would have no authority to punish you when he himself is morally culpable for his inaction in the holocaust, the WTC attacks, or numerous other atrocities committed by men against innocent civilians.
And I'll repeat it for the last time: there's a lot of smart people on this forum that are still under the illusion that god cares about them, or that he even exists. Imagine the worst tragedy that could befall you, or that of an innocent creature, a baby kitten, for instance. Plead for your/their life to an ethereal god; no answer nor help will find you/them. And we're to believe that a god, of which no evidence is present, is going to start caring about what I did in anyone's life after a lifetime of absolute apathy to any action whatsoever?
Again, this is something only a theist could believe.
"I'm going to get into your sister. I'm going to get my hands on your daughter."
~Gatito