I Believe In God

“Screw that. Moral and religion don't have to go hand in hand. There are plent of dogmatic Christians that have been proven immoral and there are plenty of agnostic or athiest people that have lived just and ethical lives.
Just because the majority of the people believe in one particular invisible man in the sky doesn't mean I'm immoral if I don't.
The point of it, for me, is I don't mind if you hold group prayer at a government function if you don't mind me singing loudly and disruptively during it.

God told me to.”

“"BTW, God prefers it if we call him "Joe", short for Jehovah."
Phaedrus
07:45:21 PM
11/14/03

God's name is Joe? I thought it was Harold? I've always read, "Our Father, who art in heaven, Harold be thy name..."”

“See? God just told me that you're in deep doo-doo.”

“I did not.”

“Straight to hell, HPM, straight to hell...”

“Yeah, but thats later.”

“Phaedrus, you seem to judge religion merely by men who supposedly adhere to it. Every religion has hypocrits. Heck, every THING has hypocrits, it's not just a religious thingy. I've always read that if I let a hypocrite get between me and God, then that hypocrite is closer to God than I am. I don't care about men who may fail... that's predictable. I am a Christian BECAUSE I fail, NOT because I'm perfect. I recognize that I have and will continue to fail at my own ideals. I'll have successes too, but plenty of failures. I don't look at other people's lives, I look to God.

If you're worried about Christians saying you're immoral, well, so are all of us, them included! Me included. It's all about the "remedy" for that immorality that counts. And if you don't believe you're immoral, then that's okay, why care is someone else may think you are? If you say you aren't, that should be good enough for you. There's no need to convince others you aren't immoral. Those who believe in God have every right as those who don't. Some folks don't like God crammed down their throat, and some folks don't like God yanked from them. It works both ways. Some don't wanna hear from the government that there IS a God, and some don't like to hear from the government there ISN'T a God. In public schools kids are taught they came from a primordial ooze and evolved through random process and natural selection into the organisms they are today. How meaningless is that? Our government tells us we can legally suck unborn babies out of the womb and call it "meaningless and cumbersome and inconvenient tissue", but then they read "In God We Trust" from the same government. Isn't it ironic that the same government can call a fetus just meaningless tissue in a woman if she doesn't want it, but if a woman decides she does want it, that same meaningless tissue can put someone in jail for manslaughter if they deliberately cause a miscarriage, or it would be a double-murder case if the mother was killed? What kind of inconsistent and confusing messages is our government cranking out? Religion has importance in every facet of our lives, including government policy. It's a moral fiber that holds a nation together.

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion...Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." - John Adams”

“Why don't all the bozos who want to establish a Christian Theocracy go back to the Old Neighborhood and put it near the others, right between Iran and Israel? On the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, mayhap?

Try foisting your religion on THEM and see how far you get.”

“Jesus, Buck. You can miss the point more thoroughly than any long-winded person I've ever seen in my life.”

“"Why don't all the bozos who want to establish a Christian Theocracy go back to the Old Neighborhood and put it near the others, right between Iran and Israel? On the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, mayhap?"
Tilt
08:27:53 PM
11/14/03

Tilt, anyone who is promoting a Christian Theocracy is rather naive. Even the founding fathers realized this was futile. Men are just too corrupt to pull something like that off. History tells us so, and the Bible tells us so. God wants us all to make up our own minds, not be force-fed any specific doctrine. Even within Christianity you have bazillions of demoninations. If we set up a Christian Theocracy, which shall it be? The First Baptist Church? The Second Baptist Church? The Third Baptist Church Down The Street On The Left From The First? The Mormon Church? The Reorganized Mormon Church? The I Don't Care How You Bring 'Em, Just Bringhman Young Church? The Anglican Church? The Anglican Orthodox Church? The Assemblies Of God? Lutheran Church? Lutheran Church Missouri Synod? Southern Baptist? Christian Reformed Church? Church of God? Church of God In Christ? Church Of God of Prophecy? Church of Mothership Behind Hale-Bopp? Eastern Orthodox? Covenant Church? Evangelical Covenant? Evangelical Free Church? The Episcopal Church? Methodist Church? Greek Orthodox? Church of Swaggart's Tears? Mennonites? Roman Catholic Church? United Methodist? Divided Methodist? Church of the Godly Homos? Weslyan Church? Presbyterian Church In America? Presbyterian Church USA? Pentecostal? Charismatic?

Heck, Christian's can't even agree themselves on many things. In most churches the basics remain the same, but some like to be baptized by dunking, some by sprinkling, some like wine, some prefer grape juice, some like electric instruments, some don't like any instruments, some like liturgy, some don't, some like structure and nice clothes, some like to bring their surfboards and Tevas, etc., etc. The founding fathers didn't want the government to tell everyone exactly how THEY should worship God and make it the law to do so. They wanted people to have these freedoms to congregate as they choose.

But that's not forcing religion on anyone or trying to set up a Christian Theocracy.”

“"Jesus, Buck. You can miss the point more thoroughly than any long-winded person I've ever seen in my life."
Phaedrus
08:30:47 PM
11/14/03

Ha ha! Why is it that you're not the first person who's ever told me that? Ha ha!”

“I can see this can go on like the doggy thread, and I'd love to continue, but my gal has called three times now and I keep telling her "I'll be right there"! Ha ha! Gotta run, have a great weekend!”

“God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food....


thank You, God for every breath i take. for every trail i hike. for every laugh from a child i hear. for every lick i play on my guitar.”

“Some folks don't like God crammed down their throat, and some folks don't like God yanked from them. It works both ways. Some don't wanna hear from the government that there IS a God, and some don't like to hear from the government there ISN'T a God.

This thread is unbelievable. Not that it's novel but that it's so banal. It's the same old, tired christian screed that has been refuted over and over and over again. It's not unlike the Young Earth Creationists getting thoroughly whipped in debate with the scientific community, and then going to the next venue and repeating their long-refuted fallacies all over again, like it's never been refuted at all.

You can tell a christian zombie until you're blue in the face that removal of references of God from government is NOT the same as the government telling us there is no God. Three minutes later, the zombie will repeat the same fallacy like it's God's Truth. Intellectually dishonest fools.

I'm seriously beginning to worry about this country. There seems to have been a sea change lately where the christians have made repeated, concerted attempts to subvert the constitution. Maybe because a religiously deluded fool is president? I don't know. But christians have certainly redoubled their efforts to undermine our rights. It's truly pathetic.”

“read david limbaugh's new book. perhaps it will clear a few things up, mutt.”

“it's always amazing how people spout off about their "rights" and molest the constitution to support their agendas.

no court has ever said you can't pray. i pray all the time.

SOME of these right-wing christian groups are melodramatists who want to shove religion down everyone's throats, and when they are told they can't, they whine about their rights and how everyone is against christianity. how childish.”

“One of the standing orders of organized religion is to make sure to proselytize. Without a good recruitment clause in your religious meme, it will die out as its members do. Churches are fine and dandy for maintaining the faithful, but to recruit new Christians, you have to get out there and bring the faith to those who don't have it. Those people who don't come to the church must have the church brought to them.

This is the motivation for public prayer, I'm sorry to say. If you need to pray, and have your personal relationship with God, a silent prayer is just effective, isn't it? When it is voiced out to those who may or may not be of the faith, it is nothing more than religious propaganda.

This has no place in government, whether that be a high school football game or the legislative session of the Missouri senate.”

“It's our inability to define God that has led to all the chaos. We are using definitions for religion (Christian and all the rest) that were designed to explain extremely complex and abstract idea's to a very primitive people.

Try this on for size...
Genesis is how you would explain the big bang theory to a six year old.

Soul mates and past lives… it's about information being stored in your DNA.

You know why you aren’t supposed to eat pork….people got sick because it wasn’t properly stored or cooked.

The aborigines in Australia believe that everything in the Universe is made from a rainbow snake and how it vibrates determines what it becomes. Sounds like current Hyper String theory to me.

Most of the Eastern philosophies (they are not really religions) seem to be about Quantum Physics, or Quantum Physics is really about them.

There are a great many truths in the Bible, Koran and many other books..But we tend to pick and choose what suites us. The Native American leader that married Spirithand said one of the most profound things I have heard in years…

“In the world of religion, the truths stay the same, only the ceremony changes”




I am not saying there is no Higher Power; I am one of the strongest believers in “God”. I’m saying that our definition has got to progress past the third grade level. Our understanding of space and physics has shown that our world is a must stranger and vastly more complex place then we will ever understand.
I don’t believe that we will ever truly understand God; we aren’t hard wired the right way, just like we cant “see” all the dimensions around us…..but that doesn’t mean that they don’t exist, does it.

If you really want to spend some time bending your brain, the next time your in the mountains try to REALLY define God, not just the usual stuff about…the one who created us all or the mother of the universe. Really think about, if we are created in ‘his’ image does that mean “he” has a mouth?? Does he eat food then??? Where did “he” come from?????? Where does “he” live????


I tell the kids where I work that’s it’s not as important to put a name on God as it is to believe. One kid calls God, Bob, when I asked why he said, “its as good as any others I’ve heard.”

“it's just not hip to be a Christian...

i don't get it, but i'm actually ambivalent.

as putty on seinfeld said....why should i care? you're the one to hell......


LMAO!”

“I was taught that proselytizing was a sin.”

“i think they make a cream for that now....”

“Cool, maybe it will help the swelling and that annoying itchy, burning feeling.”

“Hey Matt! How about an ignore feature for threads? I don't give a rat's a$$ who believes in what. HeII, I believe in the great pumpkin, but don't feel the need to shout it to the world.”

“I believe the ignor thread feature works as a manual override function:

Don't open the thread you're ignoring.”

“What a concept...

You mean that we are really in control?



Naaaaaaaaaaaaa”

“Christ had a word for those who insist on public prayer (Matthew 6:5).

If the shoe fits…”

“I know I shouldn't ask this, but... Got a Link?”

“Matthew 6
5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”

“This will give you the chills........GOOD chills.


A young man had been to Wednesday night Bible Study. The Pastor had shared about listening to God and obeying the Lord's voice. The young man couldn't help but wonder, "Does God still speak to people?" After service he went out with some friends for coffee and pie and they discussed the message.

Several different ones talked about how God had led them in different ways.

It was about ten o'clock when the young man started driving home. Sitting in his car, he just began to pray, "God...If you still speak to people speak to me. I will listen. I will do my best to obey." As he drove down the main street of his town, he had the strangest thought to stop and buy a gallon of milk.

He shook his head and said out loud, "God is that you?" He didn't get a reply and started! on toward home. But again, the thought, buy a gallon of milk. The young man thought about Samuel and how he didn't recognize the voice of God, and how little Samuel ran to Eli. "Okay, God, in case that is you, I will buy the milk." It didn't seem like too hard a test of obedience. He could always use the milk. He stopped and purchased the gallon of milk and started off toward home. As he passed Seventh Street, he again felt the urge, "Turn Down that street." This is crazy he thought and drove on past the intersection. Again, he felt that he should turn down Seventh Street. At the next intersection, he turned back and headed down Seventh. Half jokingly, he said out loud, "Okay, God, I will". He drove several blocks, when suddenly, he felt like he should stop. He pulled over to the curb and looked around. He was in semi commercial area of town. It wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst of neighborhoods either. The businesses were closed and most of the houses looked dark like the people were already in bed. Again, he sensed something, "Go and give the milk to the people in the house across the street." The young man looked at the house. It was dark and it looked like the people were either gone or they were already asleep. He started to open the door and then sat back in the car seat. "Lord, this is insane. Those people are asleep and if I wake them up, they are going to be mad and I will look stupid." Again, he felt like he should go and give the milk.

Finally, he opened the door, "Okay God, if this is you, I will go to the door and I will give them the milk. If you want me to look like a crazy person, okay. I want to be obedient. I guess that will count for something but if they don't answer right away, I am out of here." He walked across the street and rang the bell. He could hear some noise inside. A man's voice yelled out, "Who is it? What do you want?" Then the door opened before the young man could get away. The man was standing there in his jeans an! d T-shirt. He looked like he just got out of bed. He had a strange look on his face and he didn't seem too happy to have some stranger standing on his doorstep. "What is it?" The young man thrust out the gallon of milk, "Here, I brought this to you." The man took the milk and rushed down a hallway. Then from down the hall came a woman carrying the milk toward the kitchen. The man was following her holding a baby. The baby was crying. The man had tears streaming down his face. The man began speaking and half crying, "We were just praying. We had some big bills this month and we ran out of money. We didn't have any milk for our baby. I was just praying and asking God to show me how to get some milk." His wife in the kitchen yelled out, "I ask him to send an Angel with some. Are you an Angel?" The young man reached into his wallet and pulled out all the money he had on him and put in the man's hand. He turned and walked back toward his car and the tears! were streaming down his face. He knew that God still answers prayers.”

“That was no angel. It was Phaedrus!”

“He gives miracles.

Also, he gives us hand and minds to help the miracles happen.

God is a friend of mine.”

“Death is result of debate about God

A Taylor police dispatcher took the call at precisely 12:44 p.m. on Oct. 18.

A 49-year-old man said he'd just blasted a man with a revolver and a shotgun because the man said he didn't believe in God.

The dispatcher said the alleged shooter told him he'd just shot "the devil himself" and was still armed and standing over the body of the 62-year-old victim "in case he moved."

"I want to make sure he's gone," the alleged shooter told the dispatcher.

The dispatcher asked the suspect how many times he shot the victim.

"Hopefully enough," was the suspect's chilling reply, according to the dispatcher.

When police arrived in the 15600 block of McGuire, they could see the victim seated on a living room couch with major trauma to his head, officers said.

They said they were certain he was dead. He was.

Lying on a hallway floor was a black 12-gauge shotgun. Two spent shotgun shells lay on the floor nearby.

Later, police found a revolver with five spent cartridge casings.

On the way to the police station, the suspect told police "he did not want to deal with anyone that did not believe in God," according to the report.

The report also indicated that the suspect and the victim knew each other, although their relationship was unclear.

The suspect said he was an Eagle Scout, the report said.

The suspect said the victim had told him there was nothing he could say that would convince the 62-year-old to believe in God.

Following this discussion, the suspect said, he went into another room and removed his shirt. Then he shaved his face.

He tried once more to convince the victim to believe in God, but this time, he had the shotgun.

"How long would it take you to believe in God?" the suspect said he asked the victim.

"Not until I hear Gabriel blow his horn," the victim allegedly replied, while tipping his hat.

That's when the suspect shot him.

"I did it because he is evil; he was not a believer," the suspect told police.

The suspect said the victim "has been locked up most of his life."

Michigan Department of Corrections records indicate the victim was on probation for a drug conviction.

At the police station, the suspect commented that he believed there is a God.

Then, looking at the floor, he seemed to have second thoughts: "Maybe there's not," he said.”

“Man claims he's Jesus, fires random shots

Mary Jo Denton
Herald-Citizen Staff

Some Moss Road residents were evacuated from their homes early today after a man claiming to be Jesus fired gunshots at random, law officers said.

After it was over, Chad Hancock (age and address unavailable) was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault.

His girlfriend, Alisa Davidson, 20, was charged with disorderly conduct, according to warrants on file in the case.

It began just before 2 a.m. Thursday when someone at the Shannon Maynard residence on Moss Road called the Putnam Sheriff's Department and reported that a man there had a gun and was claiming to be Jesus Christ.

Deputy Cpl. David Gibbons and Deputies Ron Harris and Chuck Ledbetter rushed to the scene.

They were met outside the home by Shannon Maynard, who told them he had just run from his own home in fear of his life "after Chad Hancock had aimed a .22 caliber handgun at him," says a report by Deputy Harris.

Allegedly, Hancock had pointed the gun at Maynard, saying "Stand before me, look me in the eyes -- you need to run, you're the demon."

Maynard told the deputies he had allowed Hancock to move in with him a few days earlier and that Hancock had been watching the movie, "The Passion of Christ" earlier that evening and believed he was Jesus Christ, the report says.
<snip>”

“This is the reason it's best to discuss religion on the internet only!”

“Some of my residents watch a local tv evangelist/program called "Shine a Little Light". Today they got really wound up on the show and I hear the evangelist holler...

"my God my God...my God can take sugar diabetes and turn it into sweet & low!!! AMEN!!"

I'm not debating what she said regarding God...so don't take this wrong (sarge) I just thought it was hilarious!”

“That is kinda funny.”

“so you're now going to donate with a major credit card?”

“it loses something without the accent...wish I could get a video clip of it...

lol..no Y2...this is a local evangelist on the local cable access channel. I can go up there and personally donate on my way home!
last edited: 8/16/05 1:58:38 PM”

“Take lots of pink packets with you to drop in the plate!”

“I feel a healin comin on. I need my high cholesterol turned into ham bones on high.”

“I saw one lady caught up in the spirit and she told me that I needed a Holy Ghost enema. WHOA SISTER!!!”

“Holy Ghost and enema don't belong in the same sentence, LOL.”

“don't worry Nigal be sure to let her know

....God makes no mistakes...its ok if you're full a #&%!$! ROFLMAO”

“LOL @ Carlette

Well said.”

“In a couple more years, I would bet the artificial sweeteners will be shown to cause pancreatic cancer.”

“you believe in god? what? you want a gold star?”

“The ADA receives money from The NutraSweet Company.”

“Anyone read the book Life of Pi?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0156027321/103-0780236-7167864?v=glance[url]



You can get it on Audiobook if you would rather listen to it. It's a fantastic book, very well written. It offers a view of religion and God that I think is very eye opening. It is an excellent read.”

“Freakin weird!!!!

I tried to create a I dont believe in god thread and It doesnt show up!!! I tried three times :O!”

“Um, do you have fuego turned off?”