Sufferings is result of our sins?

[Moai]

And yet again -- didn't answer the question!

 

It's okay boshemia - don't take it personally. I've asked the same question and it is ignored every time.

 

Your questions will never be answered. Reasons being:

 

1) There is no rational answer to your question, as the basis for the belief system is flawed. Ergo, you will get quotes that kind of address the question, but really don't.

 

2) To really think about said questions would plant the seed of doubt, so the question is not considered. Doubt is the province of Satan, and that's how he gets in.

 

3) The feeling that accepting the position outweighs any intellectual satisfaction gained by searching for an answer. Most people who become "born-again" or are almost pathologically religious never consider the antecedents of their belief system. They go to Bible study, but no serious questions are asked, and in the rare case that one might be "gos says it is so" is the answer and that is good enough. It has to be, as to continue to question or come up with a different answer isolates the person from the group.

 

There are many factors that go into belief in god in general, and religion specifically. Social norms, fallacious reasoning (god=morality, for example), peer pressure, the need to belong, and the fear of death--and the corresponding reward in Heaven--aid in the person dealing with such cognitive dissonance.

 

Read a few pages of posts and count the contradictions. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

[sb129]

I am resisting my deepest urge to point out the obvious, but... your pot might be a bit cracked.

 

Hey I did fight back the urge ask if there was a bong to go with that pot, but I decided against it.

 

No offense to you LB, you did call me a spiritual vampire who sucks the energy out of everyone around me, but I have forgiven you. You remind me of my mother... in many many ways.

 

However... it would be nice if just once you could answer a question. I mean a real answer, as in "I believe..." and "This is why I believe"

 

Boshemia, you are priceless.

[boshemia]

Your questions will never be answered. Reasons being:

 

1) There is no rational answer to your question, as the basis for the belief system is flawed. Ergo, you will get quotes that kind of address the question, but really don't.

 

2) To really think about said questions would plant the seed of doubt, so the question is not considered. Doubt is the province of Satan, and that's how he gets in.

 

3) The feeling that accepting the position outweighs any intellectual satisfaction gained by searching for an answer. Most people who become "born-again" or are almost pathologically religious never consider the antecedents of their belief system. They go to Bible study, but no serious questions are asked, and in the rare case that one might be "gos says it is so" is the answer and that is good enough. It has to be, as to continue to question or come up with a different answer isolates the person from the group.

 

There are many factors that go into belief in god in general, and religion specifically. Social norms, fallacious reasoning (god=morality, for example), peer pressure, the need to belong, and the fear of death--and the corresponding reward in Heaven--aid in the person dealing with such cognitive dissonance.

 

Read a few pages of posts and count the contradictions. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

 

 

BUT I AM a Christian, even if it's not an answer that you can understand, at least an answer I can understand would suffice.

 

I wasn't raised in a Christian family, my family all had a mass conversion about 1990 or so. When I was a child my family never talked about God, or prayer or any of those things. My mother was an alcoholic, and a drug addict. She spent my childhood in bars jumping from man to man. I've had 1 biological father, 1 adopted father, 4 step fathers and a host of live-in father figures.

 

I was molested from the ages of 4 to 12 by seven different men, and one woman. By the time I was a teenager I was a bona fide mess. I hated myself, I was literally so disgusted with myself that I couldn't (and still can't) look in the mirror for more than a second. When I was 19 I once again tried to kill myself... and this time I succeeded. During the two hour ride to the hospital (I live in the sticks) they lost me a few times.

 

I had a vision of sorts, I saw God's hand over me... I heard him say "I'm not done with you yet"

 

No, he hasn't spoken to me often... but yes I have heard his voice.

 

At one point he told me that I was pregnant with a son, and so I went to the Doctor. The test was negative, and he sent me home. I heard the voice again, so I went back to the doctor, the test again was negative. 5 weeks after the first test I heard it again, I went to the doctor again... he found out it was me and I could hear him yelling down the hall. "That girl isn't pregnant, send her home" I heard the nurse answer back... "Her test is positive." I was five to six weeks pregnant with my son.

 

Yes, the doctor thought I was nuts, and the many other times that I have heard that voice and told people not to go on car trips, not to go to a certain place, or not to run from the cops... When we first began searching for my aunt that was adopted at birth, I told my mother... God told me that she will be with the family by Christmas. We didn't find her, she found us... in the first week of December. They thought I was crazy too. Then they thought I was psychic.

 

So if you were to ask me why I believe in God... I can tell you because I've seen him move in my life, and I've heard his voice. I believe, because I choose to believe. I can't explain the many experiences I have had, but I've learned to trust them.

 

If you were to ask me why you should believe in God... I wouldn't be able to tell you. I agree that there is no proof, there are many inconsistencies among religious texts, and even two born-again Christians can't decide the specifics.

 

I have learned to doubt many of the teachings I have come across. I have learned to research the information, and come to my own conclusions. My faith is my own, and I don't share it with many because in my studies I have proven to myself that many of the beliefs I was taught have no scriptural, historical, or spiritual basis to them.

 

Even more... all I know, is all I know. There is still so much that I don't know, and for me to say that "this is a fact" I first have a responsibility to challenge that fact, confirm it, or deny it. You have a responsibility to do the same, since you can not disprove my beliefs, and I can not disprove yours... that leaves us at the eternal impasse.

 

IS THERE A GOD? That's for each man to decide for himself...

 

but as always... that IS just my opinion.

[boshemia]

Boshemia, you are priceless.

 

Now for a low price of $ 99.95... and if you call now I'll throw in a free toaster.

[Topper]

I was hoping you would throw in a set of kitchen Knives and a autographed picture of Elvis.

[a4a]

Yes, all predestined. Those who belong to Lord will eventually come to Him; anyone who have a heart for HIm will be taught by God Himself. There are pots for glory use, there are pots for common use. God, only God can know a people's heart. God is justice and almighty. Can a pot ask why pot maker made them that way or this way? No way!

 

We are pots

 

I am not a pot.

 

A pot does not have free will to choose it's purpose nor does it have the ability to choose what shelf to sit on.

 

Pots of common use???? porta john???