American Christians buy millions of Bibles they seldom read and don't understand

[웃 910]

Neither the president nor the queen profess to love me as my father! And they do regularly appear in public, on television, give interviews, etc. So it is your argument that is illogical!!

Well God loves you so much that He gave you the free will to believe in Him. And if you don't, well, that's okay, He will send you to a demonic place filled with fire where you will feel like you are being burned alive forever.

Edited February 15, 2011 by Lord Infamous

[Dan and Judy 614]

so I remember reading something about a study done in the 70s (it could have been the 60s, it's been awhile) and it said they had a larger number of people diagnosed with psychological disorders who were not religious, than people who were religious. I'm going to see if I can find that or something more recent that contradicts it. I'm just curious.

Duh, If you aint religious and you hear people(that no one else can see) telling you what to do, you are crazy. If you are religious and hear people(that no one else can see) telling you what to do ,you are saved or maybe even a prophet

[Dan and Judy 614]

Duh, If you aint religious and you hear people(that no one else can see) telling you what to do, you are crazy. If you are religious and hear people(that no one else can see) telling you what to do ,you are saved or maybe even a prophet

opps, that no one else can hear

I don't know what it means if everyone can see them, but only you can hear them, It's probably a good thing

Edited February 15, 2011 by Dan and Judy

[HeatDeath 430]

Well God loves you so much that He gave you the free will to believe in Him. And if you don't, well, that's okay, He will send you to a demonic place filled with fire where you will feel like you are being burned alive forever.

This is actually incorrect. That would be grossly inconsistent with His character as revealed in the entire Torah. This grotesque doctrine was Augustine's idea, and cannot be found in any of the Scriptures.

If you refuse the amnesty Jesus has offered for your sins, then at the Judgement you get the just sentence for your sins: death. Then you just die again. Permanently. Forever.

[Fandango 1,439]

Well the whole point is I didn't grow up in much of a religious setting. My dad is Jewish.

I went to church here and there but it wasn't like I had some type of strict Christian upbringing.

We never said grace before dinner and when my brother and I would go over to my neighbors house (they were Filipino) and when they said grace we were trying are hardest not to burst out laughing.

I'd say if an average American family was a 5 in terms of religious upbringing then we were a 2 or a 3.

As far as strictness, if 5 was average my parents were a 1 or a 2. The house was the neighborhood hangout. It was raided by the police when I was 18 if you want to get an idea of how non-religious the household was....

Just because I say God is deaf, blind, and mute doesn't mean I am putting out some sort of inner fire burning inside of me due to my fundamental Christian upbringing (your words).

God = deaf (logically you have to agree, you can talk His ear off and you'll never get a response)

God = mute (DUH!!! Nobody has heard an audible sound from the invisible guy upstairs for thousands of years and back then human stupidity was at a thousands year high)

This explains a lot!

Btw, 'technically' your God=deaf theory is logically wrong. Just because you feel you never get a response doesn't prove deafness.

That's just me splitting hairs. I feel sad for you that you feel this way. God has proved not only His existence to me, but also that He listens, answers my prayers, and is always there for me. You of course have your right to not believe, and I can respect your beliefs (despite you not respecting mine), but I can't think of how empty I would feel inside if I didn't have a relationship with Him, and that makes me feel very sad for you.

[Amby 490]

LI - I'm not a believer either and some of the time I feel like you make great points, but other times it seems like you're really angry about this god thing. You obviously don't have to answer, but did something happen to make you feel this way?

[Fandango 1,439]

LI - I'm not a believer either and some of the time I feel like you make great points, but other times it seems like you're really angry about this god thing. You obviously don't have to answer, but did something happen to make you feel this way?

A lot of my good friends call me Li, so at first I was like '#######?' cos I thought you were talking to me.

[Amby 490]

A lot of my good friends call me Li, so at first I was like '#######?' cos I thought you were talking to me.

I really almost typed his whole name since you posted right before me. Then I decided I call you "peep" and you're smart enough to figure it out

[Fandango 1,439]

I really almost typed his whole name since you posted right before me. Then I decided I call you "peep" and you're smart enough to figure it out

hah.

For some reason that I can't remember, I think LI is a woman.

[Amby 490]

hah.

For some reason that I can't remember, I think LI is a woman.

so he's a lesbian? he's talked about visiting his wife's family before

[Fandango 1,439]

so he's a lesbian? he's talked about visiting his wife's family before

Oh then I'm wrong! Obviously, I'm getting him confused with someone!

[chri'stina 190]

Well the whole point is I didn't grow up in much of a religious setting. My dad is Jewish.

I went to church here and there but it wasn't like I had some type of strict Christian upbringing.

We never said grace before dinner and when my brother and I would go over to my neighbors house (they were Filipino) and when they said grace we were trying are hardest not to burst out laughing.

I'd say if an average American family was a 5 in terms of religious upbringing then we were a 2 or a 3.

As far as strictness, if 5 was average my parents were a 1 or a 2. The house was the neighborhood hangout. It was raided by the police when I was 18 if you want to get an idea of how non-religious the household was....

Just because I say God is deaf, blind, and mute doesn't mean I am putting out some sort of inner fire burning inside of me due to my fundamental Christian upbringing (your words).

God = deaf (logically you have to agree, you can talk His ear off and you'll never get a response)

God = mute (DUH!!! Nobody has heard an audible sound from the invisible guy upstairs for thousands of years and back then human stupidity was at a thousands year high)

I don't know why you acted so weird about what Steven said. It wasn't even that long ago on here that you said that in real life, you won't even tell your family members that you don't believe in God anymore. You don't want the confrontation or something, you said. You get to vent all this stuff online instead of real life - towards people you don't know. It painted a picture of fundamental religious relatives. Now all of the sudden you didn't really grow up religious. So why do you hide your feelings from them, if that was even the truth?

Something else must have happened to make you so bitter. You are always changing your VJ signature to something to try to make God or especially Christianity look bad. So which youtube video or scripture verse is next to share in your signature? I don't believe in Hinduism but I also don't make it my VJ mission to bad mouth them or put youtube videos making them look bad in my signature. It's not really that normal.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I don't know why you acted so weird about what Steven said. It wasn't even that long ago on here that you said that in real life, you won't even tell your family members that you don't believe in God anymore. You don't want the confrontation or something, you said. You get to vent all this stuff online instead of real life - towards people you don't know. It painted a picture of fundamental religious relatives. Now all of the sudden you didn't really grow up religious. So why do you hide your feelings from them, if that was even the truth?

Something else must have happened to make you so bitter. You are always changing your VJ signature to something to try to make God or especially Christianity look bad. So which youtube video or scripture verse is next to share in your signature? I don't believe in Hinduism but I also don't make it my VJ mission to bad mouth them or put youtube videos making them look bad in my signature. It's not really that normal.

Spot on, sister. That's exactly my understanding of what he's said before.

ETA: Joseph (his real name), does your spouse share the same views about Christianity as you do?

Edited February 15, 2011 by 8TBVBN

[웃 910]

LI - I'm not a believer either and some of the time I feel like you make great points, but other times it seems like you're really angry about this god thing. You obviously don't have to answer, but did something happen to make you feel this way?

No. Not that I know of.

I don't know why you acted so weird about what Steven said.

Because he painted (at least somewhat in my mind) a picture of a very strict religious family and religious upbringing. It couldn't have been any further from the truth.

It wasn't even that long ago on here that you said that in real life, you won't even tell your family members that you don't believe in God anymore. You don't want the confrontation or something, you said.

First off my dad is not religious. If you asked him if he believes in God then he probably would say yes because he probably does. But I've never seen him pray, read a bible, or go to church. My two brothers are both atheists. My mom is the one that is a little bit more on the religious side. She hasn't been to church in YEARS but strongly believes in JC and God and could quote scriptures and tell you about stories from the bible because she has read it so many times. But she isn't someone that is going to shove her religion down someones throat. If you knew her you would know that religion isn't really a big part of her life right now.

You get to vent all this stuff online instead of real life - towards people you don't know.

Who besides Bill Mahr and a couple other guys "vent" about how stupid religion is in real life. Do you want me to wake up every morning, call my mom up, and make fun of her? This is a forum where people discuss religion and politics. They are 2 of the things that you should never talk about in real life, or so they say. Why? Because everyone is gonna have a different opinion and it will lead to a lot of arguing (hence P&R). When religion comes up every once in a while I will respond. If I think of something new or a have a question then I might start a topic on it. What is the problem with that?

It painted a picture of fundamental religious relatives. Now all of the sudden you didn't really grow up religious. So why do you hide your feelings from them, if that was even the truth?

I don't hide my feelings from anyone. I've stated numerous times when religion pops up with my mom that I'd rather not discuss it because I have different religious beliefs. I've told her a long time ago that me and my 2 brothers don't believe in a God and it kinda just went through 1 ear and out the other. I've also tested your theory that I should only talk about religion with family members. Wasn't really the best idea. I hang out with my cousin a lot. About a year ago or maybe a little longer I used to bring up religion all the time. He loves to argue about anything. The first time it popped up it was uncomfortable. Then maybe it came up 2 or 3 times more. I learned very fast not to ever bring it up again because we're just going to disagree and be mad at each other.

Something else must have happened to make you so bitter.

Spot on, sister. That's exactly my understanding of what he's said before.

ETA: Joseph (his real name), does your spouse share the same views about Christianity as you do?

Joseph is not my real name, BTW.

I'll give you a hint: My name means "Gift from God".

My wife is Catholic.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Joseph is not my real name, BTW.

I'll give you a hint: My name means "Gift from God".

Hmmm...ok. I thought I remember your original display name was Joseph and Anna. You met your wife when you were down in Mexico - she was a waitress. You like to or used to run. You're fairly young (early 20's when you joined VJ). Correct me if I'm wrong.

My wife is Catholic.

So there must be a lot of things you keep bottled-up inside just to maintain peace and harmony because I can only imagine her reaction if you said the kinds of things you say about Christianity here to her.

Edited February 15, 2011 by 8TBVBN