Topic: Three questions to ask a highly religious person
Anonymous A started this discussion 3 weeks ago#134,115
1. Why is your religion the One True Religion and all other gods are False Gods?
2. If your god can predict the future then doesn't that mean we lack free will? If a person is living in a boat in the middle of the ocean and god predicts that exactly 100 years later, down to the millisecond their 3rd grandchild will be eating strawberry ice cream on a base on Mars, doesn't that mean no one in between those two events has free will?
3. Why do some religions believe in hell and some don't?
> As Dave used to say, "Get your bible out and I'll show you.' > > Which brings me to question 4: Why am I supposed to believe in the bible when it's all based on lies?
“It is a curious thing that God learned Greek when he wished to turn author- and that he did not learn it better." - Nietzsche
Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 3 weeks ago, 22 minutes later, 3 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,748
Funny how they're born into the one true religion usually. Glad I got out before I die, that would have been the most tragic thing. I was Baptist and internet says there's maybe 100 Million of them. Their excuse was always deflection based bible snippets "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" to justify why their splintered sect was the correct one.
> Funny how they're born into the one true religion usually. Glad I got out before I die, that would have been the most tragic thing. I was Baptist and internet says there's maybe 100 Million of them. Their excuse was always deflection based bible snippets "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" to justify why their splintered sect was the correct one.
There have to be equivocations or it’s treated as a test of faith and mystery.
Religion is the greatest racket in history. You sell an invisible product that generates real income and all the onus is on the believer. Go pray during a plague. Nobody died! A miracle! Or if people die 1) their faith was wanting or 2) His ways are mysterious and they were called home for blah blah blah.
> 2. If your god can predict the future then doesn't that mean we lack free will? If a person is living in a boat in the middle of the ocean and god predicts that exactly 100 years later, down to the millisecond their 3rd grandchild will be eating strawberry ice cream on a base on Mars, doesn't that mean no one in between those two events has free will?
Catholicism asserts that humans have free will and whether or not you make it into heaven is determined by whether or not you accept to forgiveness of Jesus in purgatory. So the future is not predetermined.
Anonymous I joined in and replied with this 3 weeks ago, 39 seconds later, 8 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,782
My pastor favorited this thread. Sadly, he was imprisoned for an affair with a 14 year old, and embezzlement of church funds. He would enjoy this thread today if he hadn’t had his throat slit before being thrown off the tiers. We miss you, pastor!
Anonymous H replied with this 3 weeks ago, 3 minutes later, 8 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,783
Although to be forgiven for your sins, you have to confess to your sins. So you can’t just accept forgives you have to acknowledge that you were wrong about everything you ever did wrong in your life. Purgatory is a process of being purified of sin, so while you’re in purgatory you will pay for your sins even if you eventually do make it to heaven.
Anonymous H double-posted this 3 weeks ago, 2 minutes later, 8 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,785
The way it’s usually described is they’ll make an analogy to the process of smelting ore in order to purify a metal. The more tame interpretation is the flames of purgatory are metaphorical, the more literal interpretation is that you burn in purgatory to pay for your sins before you enter heaven.
Anonymous I replied with this 3 weeks ago, 3 minutes later, 8 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,788
Being religious would give me anxiety. Who has the keys to heaven? The old pagan faiths had story variations rather than set canon. You could choose certain gods and goddesses to venerate as needed. Now, do you need to be Presbyterian, Baptist, Catholic, Mormon, or one of the various Pentecostal branches to reach heaven? Does a moral, decent believer burn in hell for being a Lutheran when it turns out only the 7th Day Adventists are right?
Anonymous H replied with this 3 weeks ago, 3 minutes later, 9 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,789
@previous (I)
In Catholicism the only unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which is considered to be different from not believing in God out of ignorance. The idea is that if you’re someone of another religion or if you’re an atheist, it’s not really your fault, so you only go to hell if you reject God after finding out that God exists after you die.
Anonymous H triple-posted this 3 weeks ago, 6 minutes later, 9 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,792
Nobody really knows if God exists or doesn’t exist, that’s why religion is called faith, faith is belief without evidence. So it wouldn’t make sense to punish people for that.
> > 2. If your god can predict the future then doesn't that mean we lack free will? If a person is living in a boat in the middle of the ocean and god predicts that exactly 100 years later, down to the millisecond their 3rd grandchild will be eating strawberry ice cream on a base on Mars, doesn't that mean no one in between those two events has free will? > > Catholicism asserts that humans have free will and whether or not you make it into heaven is determined by whether or not you accept to forgiveness of Jesus in purgatory. So the future is not predetermined.
Anonymous H replied with this 3 weeks ago, 3 minutes later, 10 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,811
@previous (A)
You have free will to choose what you will do next. Obviously God can know the future the same way you can. The sun will rise tomorrow, you know that, God knows that. What are you going to do tomorrow? Depends on what you decide to do.
Anonymous H quadruple-posted this 3 weeks ago, 14 minutes later, 11 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,816
Probabilities can also become certainties. For example, some quantum effects are random, but on a macroscopic level, physics is deterministic. There might be some chance an electron can tunnel across a barrier, but if you throw a ball at a wall, there’s no probability it will magically end up on the other side of the wall, because the odds that every single particle in the ball will all quantum tunnel across the wall all at the exact same time is so low it will absolutely never happen. This also applies to various other things.
Anonymous K joined in and replied with this 3 weeks ago, 3 minutes later, 12 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,824
@previous (J)
You’re phrasing it as a yes/no question, but the answer is somewhere in the middle. I already elaborated on what I meant. Obviously you know the sun will rise tomorrow, you don’t know what everyone in the world is going to decide to do tomorrow. Do you know the future? You do and you don’t. It depends.
> You’re phrasing it as a yes/no question, but the answer is somewhere in the middle. I already elaborated on what I meant. Obviously you know the sun will rise tomorrow, you don’t know what everyone in the world is going to decide to do tomorrow. Do you know the future? You do and you don’t. It depends.
So you believe that God cannot predict the future with 100% certainty. Unless I have misinterpreted your post.
Anonymous L joined in and replied with this 3 weeks ago, 6 hours later, 20 hours after the original post[^][v]#1,428,863
@previous (A)
The Catholic view generally is that God knows no time. If you think of time the same way you think of x, y, and z as dimensions, maybe time is t, God is outside of that 4d space. So it is possible for God to know everything, but God doesn’t know everything "at the same time" since God isn’t a part of time. You really do have the free will to make choices and you determine your own choices not God, but God’s knowledge of your choices doesn’t affect your choices. God doesn’t know what you’re going to do before you do it, but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have knowledge of everything.
> As Dave used to say, "Get your bible out and I'll show you.' > > Which brings me to question 4: Why am I supposed to believe in the bible when it's all based on lies?
One truth not to be denied. We ALL are the product of Family Incest. Detailed with some missing parts of course.