Religion and scuba

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I don't believe that organized religion has benefitted mankind or our planet. Look around and everyday you see evidence of hate and war largely due to differences in religious beliefs. If you want to be spiritual then please keep it to yourself. But that's my own personal opinion.


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I don't believe that organized religion has benefitted mankind or our planet. Look around and everyday you see evidence of hate and war largely due to differences in religious beliefs. If you want to be spiritual then please keep it to yourself. But that's my own personal opinion.


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Show me said evidence... The largest wars and death toll have nothing to do with religion... All to do with different beliefs and lust for power though... Racial divides etc... The "religious" wars are child's play compared to things like wwi/ii, the Atlantic slave trade etc...

...big picture... I live in a very diverse contry so I would know a thing or two about different religions...

Please don't cite difference in BELIEFS as difference in RELIGIOUS beliefs


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I honestly can't believe that an all-loving god would see things this way......

What you or I believe doesn't prevent God from seeing things His way. God is love; He's also righteous, perfect and holy. His views on sin are of course different from ours. While I doubt you will accept the witness of the reference, Romans 3:10 & 3:23 teaches that there is none righteous, no not one, for all have fallen short of the glory of God. This forms the basis for the need to accept the sacrifice of Christ as atonement for our sins and thus be reconciled to God, to become a member of His family. But we're not forced to be members, anymore than Adam and Eve were. It's a choice.

If you want to be spiritual then please keep it to yourself.

So if someone amongst many headed for Hell finds salvation, keep it to yourself?

It would be hypocritical & illogical for someone with a Christian worldview to withhold it from influencing his/her decisions/practices in other areas of life. That's one of the main criticisms against self-described Christians; that we talk the talk, to some extent, but don't live the walk. You shall know them by their fruit.

So basically, we're not keeping it to ourselves.

Richard.
 
As for why bad things happen to 'good' people, this gets back to original sin. Humans aren't innocent or good, except in their own minds/by their own standards.

So why do bad things happen to babies and small children?

I have seen some REALLY bad things happen to those humans.

It's fine for you to say it's God's will, and that is beyond human understanding.

But please don't pretend that these kids deserved it, because of Eve. And please don't tell their parents that.
 
Anyone who really believes that the creator of the universe is capable of inflicting pain and torture on simple human souls has had their reasoning processes and perceptions poisoned by some innately evil and ignorant depravity, a corrupt malefic toxin that can only be the product of diseased animal brains, the worst manifestations of primitive human thought.

Such things are inconsistent with any conception of true divinity. Only the darkest and most savage instincts can imagine a God capable of cruelty directed toward his children, who are the only mortals capable of envisioning his existence.

Any religion that preaches the concept of hell has by so doing exposed itself as a fraud, something reflective of the lowest human instincts, something completely removed from divinity, from divine love, despite what 'magic' books and their malicious interpreters may say.

The concept of Original Sin is a manifestation of the evil minds that invented such an obviously false and cruel lie.

"Love one another" is the prime commandment for human beings, and the only one necessary.
 
Such things are inconsistent with any conception of true divinity. Only the darkest and most savage instincts can imagine a God capable of cruelty directed toward his children, who are the only mortals capable of envisioning his existence.

Seen this?
 
What exactly are you talking about?? You have any idea of what happens to a soul once a body dies? Or are you looking at what happens in the physical as God "torturing" his children...

God is just, you wouldn't understand if you don't believe in an afterlife... Sometimes bad things happen to us directly because of the decisions we make... Or maybe to help us understand something better... Or sometimes we are even used as examples for others to understand... I'm not sure what torture of his own children you are referring to... But if you are talking about Israel or the Hebrews just for your understanding... People are given choices... Abraham made a choice... And his line made a covenent with God... The covenent had conditions... Simple as that... He could've either accepted or rejected the covenent... He accepted and therefore whenever the covanent was broken the relevant consequence would ensue...

We could go on and on but it would be wasting time...


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God is just, you wouldn't understand if you don't believe in an afterlife... Sometimes bad things happen to us directly because of the decisions we make... Or maybe to help us understand something better... Or sometimes we are even used as examples for others to understand...

I'll ask you the same question I asked Rich, in #175.
 
As I just said God is just... So you may see something bad happen to say a baby (classic example) and think where is God to stop this... But the earth belongs to us and we have the power to change it... If for whatever reason some chain of events (popular in scuba) cause a disastrous effect and innocent people get caught in the middle of it... God has the power to make them whole and set things right... Even if it's in the afterlife (think about how small our lifespan is when you consider an eternity)... Or for those that believe in reincarnation that baby may reborn as a well hung billionaire with wings for the atrocities suffered in this life

Just as there are laws of physics though, cause and effect, there are laws of God that does the same thing (give and you shall receive, folloe God's law and salvation awaits, step out of God's grace and you're on your own, choose life and live)... A righteous priest is killed... Does that mean he did something bad? Not necessarily... Who knows what God had waiting for him on the other side... If a baby dies... Do you know what awaits their soul in the afterlife? Do you know what further depravity they might have been saved from?... And then that's where faith actually comes into play... Believing that God is just, loving, all powerful etc and just following his guide for your life... I.e. His will


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