WORK

My situation is similar to firebirds (but I'm having it easier ). What is the same is the enormous help that friends have been. About 80% of them atheists or agnostics. I guess God works through all of us eh?Yes, you're right, God can work through all of us and dose, but some allow Him to work through them more than others.And I'm curious where you are from or live, because it can't be the United States of America where a full 92% say they believe in God.Measles and the tragic seduction of pseudoscience | Fox NewsIf so maybe God isn't nearly as discriminating as ChristiansVery well said:
Galatians 2:6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man's person for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to meColossians 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.Just maybe you're not so special after all.
Here I would disagree, but not boasting of myself, for I am not worthy of His calling, but He does consider me, and all He has created, as special:Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.Of course, maybe what's true is that people don't need God to be good folks.Whether you like it or not, we are all encouraged to do good by God, even if we don't want to admit it:Romans 1:20-21 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so F7 that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Romans 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another

I think God hates the judging of others and the total absence of any sort of humility. What do you think, Steve? I still refuse to believe that you intended to start a thread with three questions, expecting people to only reply with yes/no answers. That is totally assinine and nearly the opposite of discussion.Can you imagine twenty replies along the lines of: Ridiculous.

yes.

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Aslan is not a Tame Lion

yes
no
yesAlso in response to post #46

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And I'm curious where you are from or live, because it can't be the United States of America where a full 92% say they believe in God.

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Measles and the tragic seduction of pseudoscience | Fox News

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If so maybe God isn't nearly as discriminating as Christians

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First, a belief in god is not a declaration of Christianity. Second, if you look at that study you will also find the following statistics:1. about a third of Americans believe in ghosts (34 percent)
2. an equal number in UFOs (34 percent)
3. about a quarter accept things like astrology (29 percent)
4. reincarnation (25 percent)
5. witches (24 percent).What does this tell you about Americans?

I'll drink to that. Cheers, jar (:raig

Yea, those damn "E-pissys". Where else would I have learned to go to an Orthodox Jewish wedding and be completely comfortable. [Gawd, can they pack away the liquor!] Where else would I have learned to take our youth group to help Rev. Oni slap a fresh coat of paint on the Cleveland Buddhist Temple. Where else would the head priest of our church, who was also a Navy chaplain, help me trace down the North Vietnamese artillary officer I mentioned in my previous post.I walk in the sunshine, Steve, not the shadows. The way Christ did. He's not my personal savior, mind you, but I do admire his style. And a host of other religious leaders and philosophers. Including that guy Siddhartha Gautama. You know, the Buddha. Fascinating character. So, I have nothing to fear from strangers. They're just friends who don't know me yet.BTW - Check out the Egyptian Book of the Dead. It's a great read, but don't intone any of the prayers in church. Bad PR. And nice to meet you too.(:raig

1. Yes - But please call them "spirits". "Ghosts" sounds like Casper. Very embarrasing.
2. No - They died when the last Martian crashed in War of the Worlds.
3. No - Their calendar is out of sync with astronomical observations.
4. Yes - "We are Star Stuff" - Carl Sagan
5. Yes - I'm married to a white witch. She has power, and I've seen it in action. Not hocus pocus spells, but perception. An old soul.(:raig

[qs] And I'm curious where you are from or live, because it can't be the United States of America where a full 92% say they believe in God. {/qsAnd maybe both sets of statistics are correct, but atheists and agnostics are that much more helpful than Christians!Anyway, like Pink and Ned, I'm more interested in discussions than rhetorical questions leading in to a sermon, so I'll wander away from your soapbox now.

Okay, my point was that saying that 80% of the people you know are athiest or agnostic means you don't get out much or you're circle of friends is small and limited.

I think the correlation of atheism increasing with education is quite true. And if so then i suspect, seeing as i consider most the guys here to be very intelligent, that they are all highly educated, and so have mixed in circles of the highly educated, all of whom are less likely to believe.I live in the UK (thankfully we're not quite as innundated with christianity, tho i regret the fact we seemed to have passed it to america), goto the top science uni there, and i think i know 2 christians, everyone else i know (were talking a fair few, i do a reasonable amount of things) is athiest or at least agnostic.Once again you seem to be taking a very condescending point of view making out these people have few friends. Its really not the best way to go about making new friends, perhaps you should work on it.Also your first post was most blatantly not rhetorical, and not wanting yes no answers, you wanted a yes/no with an explaination, and as someone has said i feel that you were not pleased with the result. Mainly because your view of athiests as fat lazy selfish idiots was overturned, and suddenly you do not seem holier than thou.Perhaps you should read a few posts from are more reasonable christians such as jar and mike, although still fools for believing , you can at least hold a good conversation with them.Unseul

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Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life....
Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused.
Do unto others before they do unto you.

athiests as fat lazy selfish idiotsI never said this. And I never said athiests have few friends, I said there are few athiests in the USA.To be honest with you all, you don't have worry if I'm a bad conversationalist, because I don't plan on posting here much longer.I just hope you get my point that you're waisting your time looking for answers to life's big questions on the internet. I am, nor someone far more intelligent than me, although possible, not likely to say anything that will cause you to reexamine your notions.Only through real world experiences and interacting with people of all walks of life, especially those who think very different than you. This don't cut it. I mean actually getting to know people who are not athiest, christians specifically.And incase you're about to say anything, more of my friends are athiest than christian, so I routinely interact with people who believe quite differently than I do.I know I'm going to get a lot of stuff for this post, but imagine if instead of spending time on this forum, you made it a goal to befriend a devout christian, not just one who is nominal.Test your comfort zone.

Yup I have friends who are devout Christians. They enjoy deep discussions on a number of issues. They also don't run when faced with things they can't answer. Byes!!

Hey steve-Firstly, you've posted 80 times on this forum. I think it's time you stop accusing everyone of wasting time, when apparently you have similar habits...I've been on this board about the same amount of time as you, and I've already reexamined a couple of my notions, and am definitely thinking in quite a different way on one point.It's not because I'm weak - I'm just open-minded.I'm friends with devout Christians. They pray before every meal, belong to church groups, go to Bible studies, run youth groups. A few are even Southern Baptists. I've gone to church with them a few times, but it was far too hateful of an experience compared to my Christian upbringing, and my current spirituality.You implore us to "test our comfort zone" when you won't even be honest with us in this anonymous forum.I think you have some serious misconceptions about who you are conversing with, and I hope you mature out of this aggressive, superior attitude.

They also don't run when faced with things they can't answer.That's good, because they'd be running a lot, which would keep them in shape, but because man doesn't know the answers to a lot of questions, they'd be doing a lot of running.Actually I'm just going to spend more time with the real world to seek my answers to questions of have for God instead of being hutched over a keyboard.

I think you have some serious misconceptions about who you are conversing with, and I hope you mature out of this aggressive, superior attitude.Well if thinking that you are all well educated and intelligent individuals, then I'm sorry about my misconception.If I was aggressive, I apologize I didn't mean to scare you.As far as the superior attitude, how could I have one with individuals of such high intelligence?But I gotta tell ya, nothing beats experience. Go ahead, breath some fresh air, get out of that florescent lighting and take in the sunshine.Like I said, I have a lot of free time right now, but I'm confined to what I can do, so I thought I'd check something like this out. And my expectations have been met.Good day gentlemen.