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fartman inspired me http://i50.tinypic.com/ddhu87.jpg http://i45.tinypic.com/xpao42.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe0n5mqkf6c

LMAO!

I was hoping for a big asshole when I opened this thread That is pretty interesting/cool though.

Obviously an inside job.

Your second paragraph...you completely misunderstood what I said, but this isn't a surprise to me because you're getting defensive. I'm not going to continue the discussion. There is no point. Religion causes so many problems because people conflict over it, almost in the same way people bicker back and forth about whether or not God exists. Many atheists shove their ideas down our throat as much as obsessed Christians push it down theirs. If the discussion is going to turn into that, I'm going to drop it from the board entirely, put a ban on it, and suspend anyone bringing up religion in ANY topic. There's no way I'll respect any discussion, or anyone involved in that particular discussion, that hits rock bottom simply because they don't have the discipline to appreciate another person's opinion.

No, I'm saying the Bible COULD be one interpretation of something that has had multiple, which is what has branched out to create so many religions in this world. I've come to accept others' beliefs, as well as accepting those not believing at all for various reasons (ex. due to there being multiple religions, or just basing everything off of science and finding inaccuracies in the Bible). I don't like pushing religion down anyone's throat for the reasons I've been discussing in this topic. Because of how I am, I don't like those that DO try and force it on others, and in addition to that, I don't like the non-believers that basically cripple the idea by mocking it. That's just how I am. I'd like to think that if science is advanced enough to tell us the age of the Earth, it has had enough time (through the years, and through the millions of people who have been questioning it) to tell us a little more about how we came to be. When will we know? I would say we'll know more once God (or a god) is proven to be real or fake. The likelihood that he's proven fake is so out of reach, because it means we would have to turn theories about the birth of our universe into facts...doubt it happens, and with no answer, even the non-believers have to wonder how the hell a design was put into place so effectively...even if that "wondering" doesn't necessarily lead you to believe in God, you're still as puzzled as I am.

This is something else I question. I think a lot of the Bible has been misinterpreted over time, altered so much. Some of these punishments mentioned in the Bible don't exactly fit into place, and I'm almost in line to say that different cultures, over time, had a big influence on these written words...whatever book you or I decide to read. Of course, we aren't going to stone someone to death...but maybe that was ideal for a particular culture thousands of years ago. The Earth being 6,000 years old (according to the Bible)...well, I'd like to know when all of this was first written/translated (not just the Bible, but well before that), and even deeper into the equation, how long was the Earth inhabited before it was written? How did anyone have any knowledge of how long the Earth existed in the first place? These are the words of God, of course, but again, I'm one to point out that things may have been translated poorly over time, some even from the start.

The medical doctor, and I thank God for providing us all with free will. I'm not a religious freak. I don't think praying to God heals me. I will be honest: I'm not really sure if I believe in miracles. However, I'm thankful that the road my doctor walked to get where he is today was one that he chose to travel, and that I was fortunate enough to pick him among a crowd of eye doctors. I give 100% credit to him, for the hard work he dedicated his life to, to land the career he has. With God in full control of everything, preventing sicknesses and diseases, my doctor...well, he wouldn't be a doctor. In fact, in that case, I doubt doctors would even exist...and again, that's where free will comes into play.

that picture is the perfect representation of how the knicks season will be

No, humans wouldn't have free will, because if God (or a god) was intervening that much, there would be no struggle...and there's no point of free will. A man, diving off a 10-story building, would be saved...and that is just one example of his free will being ripped away. Extrasolar planets aren't perfect for life, though...and out of the 750 or so we've found outside of the solar system (I'm sure the number has grown a bit more), we have only found exoplanets that are similar to the others in our solar system...not necessarily Earth, and when we do find something close, it's only because it shares a similar property. Us humans all have similar body temperatures, but we aren't the same. My green eyes are like my cousin's, but she's a female with blonde hair. Words like "theoretically" and "probably" are also words that scientists want to avoid at all costs, whether they want to admit it or not. If a scientist were to acknowledge an unknown form of life outside of the Earth, he would really have to acknowledge the possibility of a higher power...and, in that case, a god. Theories are based on assumed facts, but we all know that assumed facts have been manipulated and changing for years in the field of science. I can never compare a comic book, or a fairy tale, to religion. We know exactly where Batman came from, who created him, and when. Nobody has a clue who has written about the first god, or who claims to have seen one, etc...and Batman was created with everyone's knowledge that he was a fictional character. Far different. What if someone really did see a higher power building pyramids that are so massive and well-constructed, it's impossible to imagine it being done by your average human? There are far too many unexplained events that science will never fully dig into. Things just don't happen, not with this kind of design, not this complex. We have billions of people, hundreds of testimonies, and still no answers to how this all started, if there's life on other planets, if there's another Earth with humans, if we can create life out of nothing, etc. It all goes back to this: if I was God, and I wrote my story and handed it to multiple people to translate (or I created a story by walking the Earth during that time)...you could go thousands of years into the future and see that the story shares the same ideas (ex. a higher power). But, it was manipulated and altered to fit the understanding of that particular culture, creating multiple religions and, thus, making some believe that this is all a hoax. A hoax...that some genius actually sat down at a table, thousands of years ago, and wrote what is the greatest collection of books on Earth...and that "story" (whether it's fact or fictional) actually persuaded nearly an entire planet to believe in something that most had never seen before (again, if this was created by a typical human). It's just very hard to imagine that.

There are a little under two deaths on Earth every second, and 150,000+ per day. Do you expect him to save every single person? You're right, he's an all-loving god, and he doesn't pick and choose. Living on Earth is about free will, and how you live your life AND impact those around you...that's what you'll be judged for when the time comes. Sit back and imagine a world that knew, for a fact, that God existed...and not only that, but he was saving every life on Earth. Not taking into account how crowded it would be, you're basically going to see a planet full of mindless drones. The world would be so perfect, you really wouldn't have a purpose, at that point. The general idea is that there were "gods" or some sort of a higher power, a creator. Much like a story you and I could tell someone, then have them pass it down to a line of 30 different people...how things took shape on this Earth, over that course of time...those stories were probably misunderstood by other cultures, even slightly, which is why you see multiple religions/beliefs in numerous different books. Maybe a "Water God" was Jesus Christ walking on water, and as years passed (and not just years, but centuries), that story, and all that followed it, were translated differently. Pictures were created to tell a story, and eventually, those pictures and shapes were all transferred to books. But you're as much sure of this as you are about how the universe was created, because none of us have experienced absolute death (that we know of). See, science is about presenting facts...so why would a scientist come out and say that he/she knows the final result of death? Visually, you're just a body...but what you present in happiness, sadness, among many other emotions and reactions...you're a soul. One can basically "regenerate life" using apple seeds, and if scientists claim this universe was created from a Big Bang, life is indeed life, and that means scientists can't rule out life after death for humans, as much as they can't for other things on this Earth. If you take an all-black culture from centuries ago, and look at their pictures (nothing else), without any knowledge of God or a god...you'd have to assume that a picture of God (or a god) would be the same skin color. Language was created by man, and interpretation? Created by man. -------------- Like I've said many times before, I fail to see how we all came from something that didn't involve a designer. Our bodies, everything around us, were designed to function perfectly together, with the perfect Earth and its atmosphere and resources, perfect distance from the sun and moon to support life (MUCH unlike any other planet we've ever discovered). I find it hard to believe that particles around me can't collide and create before my very eyes...never witnessed by anyone, ever, in any open environment. Puzzling to me.

http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/anthony-davis-unibrow-meme.jpg