Have you tried praying for a friend?

[PugofCrydee]

well....I could take more time out of my day to knock all these questions out of park but then people would just bring up more and MORE questions while disregarding everything that iv already said. I'v had this conversation before with atheists and it generally keeps going in circles.



actually ....ok fine ill do it.


if you're referring to hell I hope we can both agree that "thou shalt not kill" is a good thing to believe in....and if someone kills people then maybe something bad should happen to them....or else there would be a lot more murder in general ....its common sense really, some people dont care about laws one bit (or even understand why they exist).....but they DO care about their soul...that part of the reason why having a GOOD core belief system is VERY important in society.

, Before Constantine popularized christianity the roman empire had whats known as an Imperial cult . its basically where the leaders would convince people that they themselves were living gods . The ancient egyptians also did this...In a way,Kim Jong il did it too...if THAT doesnt sound screwed up to you then I dont think we're going to agree on much of ANYTHING. Im not saying that christianity becoming predominant in the roman empire changed EVERYTHING but it ruled out some screwed up things that were going on (like imperial cults). Constantine also was the first emperor to establish hospitals all across the roman empire and this was due to his belief in christianity ...People eventually just realized that christianity was the better choice ..

fast forward to now and you'll see that most of the kinks have been ironed out (many of which were due to correct people/leaders and not christianity itself) and Christianity has risen to the top of all other religions, with over 2.2 billion adherents worldwide ...but i'll let YOU be the judge as to why that is. we'll likely disagree on that though.

SO you might also want to consider that some of the ways you consider yourself to be a good person might be rooted in christiatny . christian values have been ingrained into many cultures across the world for a LOOOOOOONG time....Before the settlers (mainly referring to the British) set up colonies in australia people were living in tribes in the desert, constantly waring with each other, and raping the women of their tribes..... and literally eating each other .yes I'm talking about cannibalism, among other strange things aborigines did that civilized people might be sickened by today...

The british brought christian missionaries who educated people with christian morals and values and, over time, those values have become ingrained in the culture .


and yes there was also violence that took place but christianity as a belief can't really be blamed for that because unfortunately the british also brought their guns and man power to australia and some of them used christianity as a political tool...some horrible things ended up happening but ,again, christianity is not to blame for that..PEOPLE are ....

but MOST missionaries just wanted to spread the teachings of jesus so that MAYBE people would understand how to live a better life....one that doesnt involve raping the women of their tribe as some kind of "traditional right" .

The same could be said for the spanish when they came to America..there were a lot of christian missionaries they brought with them who ended up getting murdered in cold blood by natives tribes...not to mention , many of those tribes were enslaving other tribes and sacrificing them to some kind of sun god



idk about you but I'm SO glad that christianity was ingrained into american culture over the years .....or else THIS might still be a thing ...


https://www.amren.com/news/2013/08/...would-ride-1000-miles-to-wipe-out-one-family/

AND this....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aG8WqEyXIyc





You should watch the 2003 film called "The Missing" a lot of that kind of stuff really happened in the 1800's back before america was fully settled.

I'm sorry, I don't see an answer as to why your perception of a god would make a place to burn those he created (don't forget you are taught that he made you with sin in you).

If a parent specifically made a cremation chamber for their child and said 'if you do anything other than what I say in your life, I'm going to put you in the fire room. Forever',.... I mean, why would that parent set it up that way knowing they're going to see that child fail?

Isn't that the definition of cruelty?


Also, I didn't see you address the second question.
I kind of sense you're getting annoyed, I'm sorry if you are. But if you can provide clear and accurate answers it'll help me understand your point of view.
If you'd prefer to end this line of debate, just say so. It won't offend me :thumbup:

 

[AtTheGates]

I'm sorry, I don't see an answer as to why your perception of a god would make a place to burn those he created (don't forget you are taught that he made you with sin in you).

If a parent specifically made a cremation chamber for their child and said 'if you do anything other than what I say in your life, I'm going to put you in the fire room. Forever',.... I mean, why would that parent set it up that way knowing they're going to see that child fail?

Isn't that the definition of cruelty?


Also, I didn't see you address the second question.
I kind of sense you're getting annoyed, I'm sorry if you are. But if you can provide clear and accurate answers it'll help me understand your point of view.
If you'd prefer to end this line of debate, just say so. It won't offend me :thumbup:

I answered every question you asked and no offense but I feel like you disregarded all of it , didnt read it correctly, or it was just too subtle to understand...I really dont have to re-word it.

and now you are bringing up MORE questions.


once again we're going in circles .which is exactly what i figured would happen.


so yes theres no point in continuing this discussion.



we can chock it up to :you're an atheist and I'm a christian ....we're not going to see eye to eye on this..


good debate though! .

feel free to do some further research on the subject though. This article is relevant to the second question of yours that I addressed http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/why/appeal.html



and this one details some of the crazy stuff that christianity superseded : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_cult



and this is a modern day version of Imperial Cults that I mentioned where people are led to believe that the North Korean royal family ascended directly from heaven as some sort of living gods .The ancient egyptians claimed something similar, as did the aztecs and mayans : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Korean_cult_of_personality



^Again, most of that garbage was knocked out of the park due to the widespread advent of christianity...but unfortunately its still going on in North Korea (Where christianity is illegal)


often in a situation where atheism is encouraged as part of culture, eventually what happens is PEOPLE try to fill the roles of gods...and that can get downright SCARY....like in north korea children are taught from an early age that there is no God and have no concept of any religion...so then the royal family can brainwash them and make then believe that THEY are basically living gods .

 

[Hot_Tamale]

I'm sorry, I don't see an answer as to why your perception of a god would make a place to burn those he created (don't forget you are taught that he made you with sin in you).

If a parent specifically made a cremation chamber for their child and said 'if you do anything other than what I say in your life, I'm going to put you in the fire room. Forever',.... I mean, why would that parent set it up that way knowing they're going to see that child fail?

Isn't that the definition of cruelty?

I hate the idea of hell too but look at the flip side of the debate, what if there is no afterlife? I'm not comforted by the fact that a serial killer or a merciless dictator both meet the same fate in the end as a Mother Teresa type figure.

 

[theslowesthand]

often in a situation where atheism is encouraged as part of culture, eventually what happens is PEOPLE try to fill the roles of gods...and that can get downright SCARY....like in north korea children are taught from an early age that there is no God and have no concept of any religion...so then the royal family can brainwash them and make then believe that THEY are basically living gods .

I guess i'm atheist, or sth similar. I've tried many times to "get into" christianity but my scientific mind couldn't let me i suppose; there's just too much that i've got "issues" with (the same goes for other major religions). So i'm left being atheist or whatever it is i am (actually i'm probably a mixture of things).
I kind of accept the idea that god (or eternal essence, or whatever you want to call it) is in each & every one of us. Like our dna is in every single cell of our bodies. Each one of us reflects the "light" of god, irrespective of how good or bad you are; to god, all is the same.
But i actually have given up caring whether my beliefs are right or wrong, as I feel i'm "f*cked" whatever religion or philosphy i choose. I don't care if my "soul" has an afterlife, i'm past caring, as in THIS life i feel i've died a thousand deaths (eg depression), and NOTHING can make up for the continuous torture i've been put through, not everlasting life in a dreamy fantasy land, NOTHING. The damage has been done. END OF STORY.

 

[nicole1]

As a nonbeliever and former Christian, I think of prayer as an exercise in wishful and positive thinking. That can be good, but if you're going the religious route in making friends, there's a better approach. You can actually go to small meetups with people who are like-minded or at a local church event.

I learned long ago that prayer, in my experience, didn't heal my anxiety problems nor did it drop things in my lap. To make things happen, I had to put in the work. And that can be assisted with prayer. For instance, you can pray for strength as you go to the meetups and pray for calmness as you are in church.

To just pray for a friend and it happens, I don't think that's how it works.