Thread: Religious Discussion

Sorry Seraph, didn't see you there. As for evidence of Christ's existence, to what are you referring? The Gospels? Contradictory and written long after Christ supposedly died Mark, the first written, didn't come about until late 69-early 70 AD, with the other four that are included in the bible, as there are far more written over the next 10 to 40 years. This means that the first wasn't written until about forty years after the supposed death, in a time when the average life expectancy is around 30-35 years. Past the Gospels, what's next? Josephius Flavius? Wrote his works at around the same time as the author or authors of Mark whoever hethey might have been, and the oldest surviving pieces don't make any mention of christ. That didn't appear until the fourth century, when they were added by Eusebius, who also said If by falsehood a man may be lead to God, it surely cannot be a sin. Hard to take the word of anyone who admits that lying's okay as long as it has a desired outcome. The hard fact is that no one, not a single person, wrote about Christ during the time he was actually supposed to be alive. Historians of the time, including those in the area where he operated, make no mention of him at all, or of any person resembling him. All writings concerning Christ come from at least 25 years after his death Paul's works were written around 55 AD, but are hardly significant as he seems to place Christ as a mythical figure who was never on earth he also knew nothing about most of the miracles. The vast majority of writings on Christ were done from the second century on. I could be wrong here I'd appreciate any new info you have on it that I may not have heard. I think your conclusion is wrong on prayer being religious has had massive survival value throughout most of human history. The more devout you were, the more fanatical in your faith, the better your chance of surviving to pass along your genetic material. It's no wonder then that many people would have such a trait. That's evolution for you. That which increases survival potential gets passed along. All religions throughout time have been destructive at some point, with the so far notable exception of neo-paganism wicca and such. Buddhism doesn't get off on this one. In addition to fighting currently going on in some parts of the world buddhistsMuslims and BuddhistsHindu, we can look at Tibet under the rule of the Lamas, the people of Tibet were kept in abject poverty while the priest caste lived a life of leisure, and common punishments for even the most minor of offences included eye-gouging, ripping out the tongue of the offender, and disembowelment. Moving on to the message, it's good only if one takes bits and pieces of it. You have to ignore, for example, the Christ endorsed slavery, never repealed the law to kill homosexuals And if a man should lay with a man as if with a woman, they both shall be put to death found in Leviticus, he looked down upon women referring to his own mother simply as woman, he never spoke out against rape neither did anyone in the entire bible, and he never allows for any kind of goodwill towards those of other faiths. It's safe to say that the bible can be made to command one to do anything, provided the right passages are ignored or included. Lastly, it's not enough to just be good, love one another, and care for your fellow man you must also believe. A good, just, and noble atheist suffers the same ultimate fate as a horrible unrepentant murderer Everlasting torment in hell. PS Atheist and agnostic are not opposed. See my post in the Creationism vs. Evolution, making 'bullshit' sound sexy thread.