Evangelicans?

[valour]

Don't need any of them IMO. Good people know not to steal, lie, kill, be good to each other etc. No religion makes a person a better one. It doesn't take an expert to analyze the Bible and see what's wrong with it, #1 it was written by men, that they could put whatever they want in there and no one is suppose to question it. Ever find it odd that whenever God speaks to someone, its in private? Never to a group of people, I always found that suspect. And there isn't much truth in there, what's been proven? No adam and eve, no flood/ark, degrades women, the earth doesn't have corners, no one that wrote it ever even met jesus...which those miracles of his never proven to have happen, Thomas Jefferson agrees. Its an old book that's taken too seriously, too far and been used as a tool along with most religions to do harm. World would be a lot better off without it.

It was written by men of God under the inspiration of God. Why would Matthew, Mark , or anyone else teach people to do good things and love one another? What motive would they have to do that? What would they gain from that?

God created Adam and Eve in the beginning, God does not degrade against women, he chose a woman to give birth to the Savior of the World. If I am not mistaken the Apostles walked with Jesus when Jesus was in the flesh, so they knew him well. I agree that the world would be a better place without religion, but it would be a better place if Jesus was accepted and not rejected.

[MikeJones]

R13 alot of hienous crimes are comitted by men in your age range. Should we lump you in with them? Most of your post's are to debunk christianity. Why not worry about your own salvation and not others path to it?

[R13]

It was written by men of God under the inspiration of God. Why would Matthew, Mark , or anyone else teach people to do good things and love one another? What motive would they have to do that? What would they gain from that?

God created Adam and Eve in the beginning, God does not degrade against women, he chose a woman to give birth to the Savior of the World. If I am not mistaken the Apostles walked with Jesus when Jesus was in the flesh, so they knew him well. I agree that the world would be a better place without religion, but it would be a better place if Jesus was accepted and not rejected.

Why wouldn't they? I never said they were bad people, maybe they were great people, I promote being good and doing good things too...they just said jesus told them to, I don't think anyone needs to be told that or have to have a book to understand. And yes the bible does degrade women, it says they should keep their head covered, not speak in church etc. And yes, they did walk with him, but they are the ones that wrote the bible...it was handed down word from them. To the last part, Jesus isn't disliked by many, I like him, muslims, buddhists etc. Like him. And his story isn't much different than others and others have similar teachings...I actually think Buddha is very similar and also says to question everything, no matter if he said it, to not accept it unless it agrees with their own common sense and reason.

[Gotch]

What I'm curious about is why, when something like this happens and Christians have their religion abused and used for obvious evil--why don't Christians get just as mad/madder than the rest of society? I kind of expected that out of this thread, but instead it's turned into a deconstruction of OT vs. NT to try to somehow justify (?) what happened.

These "churches" used Christianity as an excuse to do heinous things. Where's the outrage? Where's the outcry to religious leaders to call these terrible human beings to the carpet for standing behind Christianity as a shield to do sinful things?

To me, it's false prophets like this that should really be taken to task by the core of Christianity today as opposed to homosexuals who want to get married, for instance.

The death of children in the name of Christianity pisses me off a lot worse than a whole lot of banners the religious right movements want to take on today.

I'm in agreement with this for the most part.

[Gotch]

When did I say he never existed? I think he did historically, but a divine being? Nope. Maybe a very controversial teacher that was made a martyr, he needed a good story, so you collect the ones of "gods" before him.

I didn't say that you did say that. I said the question you posted came for the same basic camp as that question. I then posted a link that answers your question in minute detail.

[CoeburnCane]

I am outraged that this happened, sorry I forget to voice that.

OK--then remember what happened in this thread and use it when someone abuses Christianity to perpetrate things that are wrong & evil. It happens WAY more than it should, every single day.

I am also outraged that an atheist would attempt to use it to pin this on true Christians.

If you're a true Christian, stand up against the false ones and you don't have anything to worry about, nor be upset about when someone does what you should have done in the first place as a "true Christian"--which is call these cats to the carpet and be excessively outraged. If you're a "true Christian" and get bristled when people attack Christianity for something like this, maybe you're NOT a "true Christian" after all.

We all know that that is a false doctrine, but what can we do about it if that type of behavior is accepted there where the boy lived?

Just because something is "accepted" somewhere doesn't mean it's right in every situation. See the bastardization of Christianity in America to the point of abuse and the religion's use of an excuse to do whatever "in God's name" and get away with it. If these "churches" who did this were for real to start with, they would have went out of their way to distance themselves from this practice and offer an alternative...but they didn't. And it's not their fault b/c they didn't do that--it's their fault because they stood behind this practice as theologically sound.

The only way to stop this is spread truth, but then a person must accept it.

News Flash: Not everyone's going to accept Christianity. Instead of pushing 100 bible verses at somebody and preaching til you're red in the face, offer a hug and attempt to understand their culture and what they're going through. THEN--maybe some headway can be made that's positive change that makes us all better. Jesus did preach to the masses, but the way he taught Christian love was by example, which was offering comfort and a shoulder to lean on to the least of all of us. Most Christians we see today are too busy trying to beat people over the head with the Bible (any version you want to name) as opposed to showing true human compassion towards their fellow man.

I do believe this is a very important issue, so if you have any suggestions as to how to do anyhting other than to speak out against it I am all ears.

See above. Those that put a bad face on your religion but portray themselves as believers are the ones that should be taken to the perverbial stake to be burnt FIRST. Take them to task for spreading falsehoods, lies, and misrepresenting your religion while acting as a representative of it, and things would get a lot better a lot faster. To paraphrase a parable--get the weeds out of the garden so it can grow.

[R13]

I didn't say that you did say that. I said the question you posted came for the same basic camp as that question. I then posted a link that answers your question in minute detail.

That's not my position though, I think he was a real person, but that's as far as it goes. Buddha and Muhammad were real too, doesn't mean I think they were divine. There's no evidence of that with Jesus or any of them.

[Gotch]

The link answered the question you DID ask.