Nervous wrote (View Post): › Quizzle wrote (View Post): › In fact one of the disciples of Jesus once said "It may be better to be without a wife and stay single in one's life than it would be to be married". Or something on those lines. I think that was Paul in his writings to the various churches. I don't think he was justifying pre-marital "stuff" though. IMHO he was stating that if Christians have the time to be good parents and the type of personality that would aid them in that pursuit, then by all means, they should have children and raise them so that there would be more Christians to spread the "Good News" about Jesus Christ.

Ahhh cool. I sort of just decipher what I read by myself and internet research. So I don't always get accurate with what I read. Thank Jason ;]

I believe in God, Jah, Allah, Buda, Krishna, Zhu, Brahma, Exu etc, in the psychoanalysis, behaviorism, evolution, power of the mind, power of suggestion, power of the wind, atomic power, power generators, scripts generators, shell scripts, etc etc etc..

Here you go Quizz, in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 7.


1 Corinthians 7

1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote. It is well for a man not to touch a woman. 2 But because of the temptation to immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does; likewise the husband does not rule over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not refuse one another except perhaps by agreement for a season, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, lest Satan tempt you through lack of self-control. 6 I say this by way of concession, not of command. 7 I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. 8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain single as I do. 9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.


...


32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; 33 but the married man is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided.

Quizzle wrote (View Post): › Nervous wrote (View Post): › Quizzle wrote (View Post): › In fact one of the disciples of Jesus once said "It may be better to be without a wife and stay single in one's life than it would be to be married". Or something on those lines. I think that was Paul in his writings to the various churches. I don't think he was justifying pre-marital "stuff" though. IMHO he was stating that if Christians have the time to be good parents and the type of personality that would aid them in that pursuit, then by all means, they should have children and raise them so that there would be more Christians to spread the "Good News" about Jesus Christ. Ahhh cool. I sort of just decipher what I read by myself and internet research. So I don't always get accurate with what I read. Thank Jason ;]

I think religion is what you make of it.It's like a song.You hear the words but in the end you interpret it the way you see,not the way someone else says it should be. Who's to know who is right or wrong.?

i'm sorta in the same boat as beck, but without two sons

i'm prolly one of the few college students that i know that still actually goes to church every sunday while on campus, i just like going to church, one hour out of a week is not a big deal, one of the biggest peeves i have is when someone says they stopped going to church because they have no time, no time as in you cant stop watchin tv for one hour just to go to mass? find that a lame excuse, people should just say they don't like it or do want to, i'd be perfectly happy with that repsonse

but back on topic, i think there should be something btw option 1 and 2, i pray at nite most days and go to church on sundays, but that isnt to say that i dont find some things wrong with my religion, i never took religion to mean that you belive in every single word that is taught by your church, i find a great distinction btw church and religion

I'm catholic btw, didn't mention it above I don't think

To add to what Pete said, and Nerv I believe too, I am not perfect. I sin and I have only one higher power to repent to. I know that I'm not the ideal model for Christianity. But I am trying to change my life for the better and be more involved on a personal level.

And there is a difference between religion and having a true relationship with God, Jesus or whatever deity you chose to worship. Anyone can follow a religion. Go to said church weekly. Read books and study. Put on a facade that you are a "good Christian" or "good Catholic" or "good Muslim". Whatever it is. All you are doing is going through the motions and warming a spot on the pew every week.

I believe it is the relationship that you have in your heart that is what is important. Not necessarily going through the motions and traditions of your "religion". You can't just say "I believe in God" and expect that to be enough. Even Satanists believe in God.

Thanks again Jason. I was reading out of a modernized bible and it worded it a lot differently. ;]

Something I can't understand is how come Religion and Science can't both just merge? I mean why can't Evolution have been created by God? Even the big bang, or something like that?

Well it is... But its a sad excuse for a religion because of what they try to teach. Its more of a "lets make church something that makes everyone feel happy and not convict them of anything". I mean my friend goes to a church (forced to, she hates this place prefers mine) and they say God is a gay, black woman. Which I have no idea why...

And modernized bibles are easier to read, but they lose alot of meaning in the translations. Thats why its good to read the same passage from 2-3 different bibles. King James, NIV, and I use a Teen Study Bible for my 3.

I'd agree with Beck and Nervous on this case, I just don't see how anything science could do this. Until you can prove to me that you can make a human out of a single celled organism than I'm not gonna believe you.

Quizzle wrote (View Post): › Thanks again Jason. I was reading out of a modernized bible and it worded it a lot differently. ;] Something I can't understand is how come Religion and Science can't both just merge? I mean why can't Evolution have been created by God? Even the big bang, or something like that?

I think of science justifying my faith in many ways. People believe things they read in tabloids, but people don't believe the Bible. How many BRILLIANT agnostic/atheists do you think have existed since the Bible was published? Tons of them have tried to discredit the Bible, yet have no CONCRETE proof of a discrepancy. I don't think you can prove something by a failure to disprove it, so I can't state that the Bible is logically without doubt. However, the fact that it's not been disproven definitely allows my faith to prosper even more.

Who's to say the crossing of the Red Sea is impossible or that God didn't use his creation to make it happen? Did it happen in the exact way portrayed in "The Ten Commandments"? Maybe, maybe not. I saw a documentary that described evidence of a gigantic volcanic eruption that caused a tidal wave through the Med during that exact time. As with all waves that large, the wave actually draws the water AWAY from shore. You must also take into account that the Bible was translated through Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and English.

I have no doubt ANYTHING can be accomplished with God's help. I believe that things which fail to be accomplished are due to a lack of the amount of faith required to accomplish it.

I don't believe you can prove His existence or non-existence with a cause-and-effect type proof.

It's a choice to believe. Consider holding your child's tiny fingers in your hand and realizing how many times their tiny little knees will be scraped over the course of their childhood and how many times their bodies will heal or mend. Consider them growing smarter every day, learning to comtemplate their existence and their own free will to do as they choose with their life. It's impossible for me to believe God doesn't have His hands all over creation of that kind of being.

In the end, it's a choice. God gave us all that choice. My daughter asked me the other day, "Why did God give us free will, Dad?".

I did my best:
"When you become a Mom, would you attempt to FORCE your child to love you and to do as you command or would you rather be an example for them and have them CHOOSE to love you and follow your instruction/advice because they believe in their own mind that to be the best way of life?"

Which choice is more true? One that is forced or coerced with power and retribution, or one that is made freely by acquiring knowledge and wisdom through life experiences?

Life is cool. I choose to believe.

God bless you all,
Jason

This reminds me of a quote I memorized for some reason.

"Man's unfailing capacity to beleive what he prefers to be true has always astounded me. In spite of mountains of evidence to the contrary, he will pin all his hopes on the slimmest of doubts. God has not been proven not to exist. Therefore: He must exist."

Needless to say, I voted for #4

I would like all of you to watch these videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RV46fsmx6E and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o&feature=related


Pretty much sums it up

"There's an invisible man in the sky"

"I don't think you can prove something by a failure to disprove it, so I can't state that the Bible is logically without doubt. However, the fact that it's not been disproven definitely allows my faith to prosper even more."

Quotes from the Bible vs. quotes from video games...interesting indeed. "Alpha Centauri" so Google says.

"Mountains of evidence to the contrary" and "slimmest of doubts" are EXTREMELY general terms. All the scientific doubters surely should have some fairly solid evidence to dismiss ideas so easily and quickly, especially after 2000 years.

Maybe the existence of God has only YET to be proven? That book the Bible mentions some stuff along those lines. Just imagine how dreary and primitive life could be if our historical brethren had resolutely dismissed ideas that they could not "prove" at the time.

Can you prove the "fact" that you exist such that no one could doubt it (no "Cogito ergo sum" quotes please)?Better yet...can you prove that I don't exist? If you do, does that mean I don't? Truthfully, it doesn't matter. What's the definition of "proof"? Who came up with that definition? From where did they originate? That's the beautiful thing about faith; it doesn't require "proof".

I prefer this quote:
"Man's unfailing capacity to believe what he prefers to be true has always astounded me. In spite of mountains of evidence to the contrary, he will arrogantly believe that he alone sits atop the pinnacle of life in the universe. If I have neither seen nor touched God, then He must not exist."

Eternal advice from Carlin. I'm...gonna have to pass on that one. Well at least Carlin WAS funny at one time.

I'm going for optimism on this one.



God bless you all,
J
Yeah, I mean that, and yes, all of you.

i'm not read enough to be quoting from the bible like jason but i think i can say a word or two

i have been raised catholic, had my communion, confirmation, gone to church at least once a week and now away from my parents at school, i still choose to attend every sunday

bit repetitive but i just wanted to create an underlying base on how i practice my faith

but to my point, i still think that science and religion can coexist and there are other things based described by religion (or God really) that cant be explained by science

for example, the bing bang theory, i perfectly agree that over time chunks of dust and rock could have come together to form what is now earth and the rest of the solar system and what not, thing i want to know is how exactly did all this space dust and rocks come from? was there a start somewhere?

evolution, natural selection and evolution can coexist with God, for example the classical brown v white moths, brown moths are more likely to stay alive in the forests as they blend in with the trees, a good passive camoflauge, over time nature selects for this type of trait that may have come from a random dna change long time ago and so a new species can eventually evolve,

its a bit of a colloquial example but i don't see how thats totally against God, now for cells becoming humans, there are such things as endosymbiotic theory (i dont want to make this to deep of a discussion) that explain how certain aspects of a cell have come together but i still think that evolution needs a push from God

or the neanderthal, there are skeletons of human like beings before the homosapien and we could have evovled from 'cave men' naturally or with God pushing things along, or God totally smiting cave men and creating humans

last point, (my post not as good as i thought it would be originally since im being distract by southpark) is that as a catholic i still do not believe in adam and eve, i think some things should be taken more as an example that an actual occurence

and furthermore, although i believe the catholic church has changed this recently, according to the catholic religion, a person must be baptised to rid them of original sin, usually when a baby is born and is to die for some complications, anyone can baptize a baby by doing the sign of the cross on their head and the baby is rid of original sin and can go to heaven, HOWEVER, if no one has baptized the baby, if the baby die within minutes of being born it would go to hell, this i would never believe because we are taught that God is all loving and forgiving and I just don't see how this God would send a newborn baby to hell

and that is my not very smooth flowing post, what i wanted to get across is that science and God can coexist and sometimes one should not take everything literally and that somtimes believers can also have doubts in their religion while still maintaining overall faith in their religion and being 'good' followers

I'm starting to think you are the Bizarro-Plan9 Nerv... Or maybe I'm the Bizarro-Nervous.

Your views on just about anything and everything are diametrically opposite of mine.

Different strokes I guess... still wuv ya loads tho

EDIT: And Alpha Centauri was my religion for a few years

Ahh, that's fine. If the Bizarro universe theory didn't exist, then Seinfeld would have had some gaping plotholes.

Despite our differences in faith, philosophy, or even playing style, my faith supports your right to believe whatever you wish. It is your life.

I also defend your right to state your beliefs. Intellectual discussion is necessary for the good of mankind, whatever their faith, race, or nationality.

Judge ye not, lest ye be judged. That's another good quote/idea for which more secular people might have a use.

Have a great week folks.

God bless you,
Jason