The Official God Thread - To Discuss God and Seek Answers

[queenofnines]

You know if only black people believed in God, what you are doing would be considered racist and predjudice! Shoot, just for me saying this will be considered racist and predjudice...  

There you go again, bringing up black people because no one has paid attention to you in awhile.    Psst...it only makes you look like the racist bringing them up so often and for no reason, marie!

[queenofnines]

Priests don't rape those children because of their religion...

Why is there such a high concentration of pedophiles in that position then?

[queenofnines]

To me, you simply sound as if you are totally against Christians, no matter how many law-abiding, good moral ones that there are.

And this is a typical response.  I'm not against the "good" Christians like you think...I still think it's unfortunate that their one and only life is based on something that's not true, for sure, but if they can keep their beliefs within the confines of their church and homes, it's cool.  Christianity at large CAN'T seem to do this, however, and that's where the problem lies.

[queenofnines]

People make their own choices (when murdering, raping, etc.) whether or not they are Christians, nons, atheists, etc.

Do you still think those men would have flown planes into buildings on 9/11 (or blow themselves up on a daily basis) had they not thought they were getting 72 virgins in heaven?  It's possible, but a LOT less likely.  People only kill themselves in this way if #1 - they're nuts or #2 - they believe they'll receive an eternal reward.

What about the mothers who have drown their 5 kids in a lake to spare them from hell?  Would they still have done that if they knew hell was a fairytale?  Again it's possible, but only if the mother was completely insane.  The murdering mamas did MEAN well, after all, even if the act itself was completely useless and senseless.

How about the parents that let their kids die because they PRAY for them rather than taking them to the doctor?  Again, they MEAN well by trying to serve their god, but reality gets the best of them because prayer doesn't work.  There is no god there to cure a disease that needs attention from medical professionals.  If they knew this, you can bet most would not neglect their children!

[SurveyMack10]

Priests don't rape those children because of their religion...

Why is there such a high concentration of pedophiles in that position then?

There are WAY more rapists that aren't priests than that are haha

[Falconer02]

Again, they MEAN well by trying to serve their god, but reality gets the best of them because prayer doesn't work.

This always perplexes me too. I mean if their god has a divine plan set in stone, and yet his followers ask him to make sure the outcome comes out in their favor, is god going to suddenly re-write his plan for the followers prayer? Wouldn't this idea fall into a time-paradox where since he changes one thing, everything after it will be different from the original plan? If so, his divine plan isn't set in stone. And if believers don't believe this and say it still is, there's no point to praying at all since everything is predetermined.

There are WAY more rapists that aren't priests than that are haha

I don't know how this really fits in correctly. They're still pedos in a high authoritative position. If one is to respect ones beliefs, the 'leaders' pushing those beliefs shouldn't be going around *bleep* children. Notice how when one says "Catholic Priest" nowadays, the word "pedophile" immediatly enters ones head.

[jordandog]

You know if only black people believed in God, what you are doing would be considered racist and predjudice! Shoot, just for me saying this will be considered racist and predjudice...  

That has absolutely NO bearing on this entire topic. Are you that desperate to get a comment in here?!
If only cucumbers were Catholic priests who were pedophiles, then that would be prejudice and racism against Catholic cucumbers!

[amyrouse]

Priests don't rape those children because of their religion...if that was the case all rapists would be that religion.

I seem to remember this earlier in this topic...

Want to argue that it's not religion that's the problem?  In the case of priests raping little boys, consider that they are in a religion that expects them to be celibate, says sex is a disgrace except within the confines of marriage, abhors homosexuality, etc.  Think about all of that repressed sexual tension...

Besides that, your statement is a logical fallacy, Mack.  You're a smart cookie...really take a look at your statement here. 

There are WAY more rapists that aren't priests than that are haha

There are also way more rapists that are Christians than that aren't...and I'm willing to bet that they aren't all black, Marie... 

[queenofnines]

There are also way more rapists that are Christians than that aren't...

That's what I was trying to say to jcribb: believers make up the majority of the population.  So statistically, there's more people who are believers who will commit the bad stuff...and they often think they have a free pass to do so with the god card.

[SurveyMack10]

There are WAY more rapists that aren't priests than that are haha

I don't know how this really fits in correctly. They're still pedos in a high authoritative position. If one is to respect ones beliefs, the 'leaders' pushing those beliefs shouldn't be going around *bleep* children. Notice how when one says "Catholic Priest" nowadays, the word "pedophile" immediatly enters ones head.

They abuse their position...they're not good Christians, they just use that as a way to get power...doesn't mean the whole religion is bad, in fact the religion in no way supports rape

[SurveyMack10]

There are also way more rapists that are Christians than that aren't...

That's what I was trying to say to jcribb: believers make up the majority of the population.  So statistically, there's more people who are believers who will commit the bad stuff...and they often think they have a free pass to do so with the god card.

The point im making is anyone can claim to be a Christian and to serve God, but that doesn't mean they do. However, that doesn't make the religion bad. When followed correctly it's wonderful. It just means the PEOPLE made bad choices, the religion didn't make that decision for them...especially when the religion is against rape.

[amyrouse]

There are also way more rapists that are Christians than that aren't...

That's what I was trying to say to jcribb: believers make up the majority of the population.  So statistically, there's more people who are believers who will commit the bad stuff...and they often think they have a free pass to do so with the god card.

The point im making is anyone can claim to be a Christian and to serve God, but that doesn't mean they do. However, that doesn't make the religion bad. When followed correctly it's wonderful. It just means the PEOPLE made bad choices, the religion didn't make that decision for them...especially when the religion is against rape.

The point queen was trying to make above is that, specifically in the cases of the Catholic priests, the religion places restrictions on them that by some are seen as unnatural...but, I've said time and again that rape isn't a sexual crime but a crime of power, and these priests are using their position of power to humiliate and belittle those without power (and that sexual tension queen mentioned above could be attributing to this need of power...they don't have any control over their sexuality and physical wants/needs, etc etc).

Many people can claim, though, that the claim that Christianity is against rape is wrong.  There is scripture that can be interpreted as passive about rape, or as anti-victim.  Many of the major figures raped their slaves...and Lot's daughters raped him (some interpretation is going around that Lot spent years raping his daughters, so they didn't view what they did as wrong).  I'm not anti-religion or anti-Christianity...but the fact is there that there are people who will interpret scripture that way...and other than saying they've got it wrongly interpreted, how can one honestly claim that they are?  There are arguments about whether the Bible/Torah/Koran is factual or a book of stories...when there is so much contention within the religions, how can we honestly tell someone their interpretation is wrong?  I believe wholeheartedly that my religion is against rape...but scripture in my holy book could be interpreted otherwise.

[tammyrwa]

First off, there are many other religions that have done wrong in the name of their religion- why are you just targeting Christians?- the Muslims have done terrible things in the name of religion, and I don't see you slamming them. Second, there is no proof that hell doesn't exist- what do you think is going to happen after we die?. Third, bad things happen to everyone, including Christians, calamities, tragedies, and sadness happen to them also- are you saying that once you become a christian that nothing bad should happen?- things also happen to people Christian or not because of unbelief, and God can only warn us, and if we choose not to listen, we suffer the consequences, ie; you have a feeling that you shouldn't go to a certain place, you have a bad feeling, but you choose to go anyway, it is not God's fault- you were warned.

[jordandog]

you have a feeling that you shouldn't go to a certain place, you have a bad feeling, but you choose to go anyway

I have this happen to me on a fairly regular basis, always have, but I do NOT attribute it to 'god warning me'. It is instinct, a highly acute sense of myself and my surroundings that I have developed over the years and, in some cases, a memory of a prior experience with something or someone I cannot quite put my finger on. It is how and why our brains work the way they do ie to help us survive. It is no different really than an animal that has had a close encounter with a predator and at some point later on is in that same situation/surroundings, senses that something is not right, but continues in their action. Sometimes they escape in one piece, sometimes they are injured, and at times they become dinner. That is a very simplified breakdown, but I think it gets my point across. 

[amyrouse]

you have a feeling that you shouldn't go to a certain place, you have a bad feeling, but you choose to go anyway

I have this happen to me on a fairly regular basis, always have, but I do NOT attribute it to 'god warning me'. It is instinct, a highly acute sense of myself and my surroundings that I have developed over the years and, in some cases, a memory of a prior experience with something or someone I cannot quite put my finger on. It is how and why our brains work the way they do ie to help us survive. It is no different really than an animal that has had a close encounter with a predator and at some point later on is in that same situation/surroundings, senses that something is not right, but continues in their action. Sometimes they escape in one piece, sometimes they are injured, and at times they become dinner. That is a very simplified breakdown, but I think it gets my point across. 

I think you said it well, Jordandog.

A good example...the moment I laid eyes on the man that raped me, I wanted to run in the other direction as fast as possible, but I didn't.  If that was g-d telling me to leave, then why didn't g-d remove me from the situation instead of trying to do some psychic mumbo jumbo on me?