A question for Athiests/Evolutionists. (re: How can one not belive in something greater than himself? et all)

TheLiteralist says,

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The only source of comfort in many cases is the fact that God will judge all men at a future date (Judgement Day).

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You mean your faith that God will give everyone what he deserves on Judgment Day.It's your faith that a judge who (as you yourself admit) often punished the good and rewarded the evil on Earth can be expected to rectify these injustices in the afterlife. What's keeping God from continuing to punish the good even on Judgment Day, with the excuse that He works in mysterious ways?I submit that the I'll-pay-you-back-after-you-die scam is one of the most objectionable aspects of faith. In this day and age, it's still used to get people to suffer and make others suffer without the slightest reflection or compunction.regards,
Esteban Hambre

TheLiteralist,

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He seeks willing servants. All are free to do as they wish. He merely warns that the consequences for disobedience exist and are extreme compared to anything we experience here. He also indicates that the rewards for obedience are beyond anything we experience here.

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Thus making it clear that the only reason you have for "denying your selfish lusts" in the first place is your selfish lust for a pie-party in the great Beyond. Is Jesus afraid he wouldn't get many willing followers if he didn't promise a sweet payback for their obedience, or warn them that they'd be helltoast if their faith should falter?

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I fail to see how Jesus indicating a day is coming when each man will give account to Him for all his actions and be duly rewarded is a scam or can be used to hurt others.

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No need to be disingenuous. I feel justified in noting that the evidence for the existence of an afterlife is lacking. However, there is abundant support for my claim that plenty of violence and terror both in history and in our time have been inspired and excused through religion and faith in the afterlife's bountiful rewards. Perhaps you could rationalize the 9-11 hijackings as being motivated by fanatics of someone else's religion. However, your Bible contains wonderful passages wherein the Israelites are instructed to massacre the Canaanites, and Abraham is instructed to murder his son Isaac, for no other reason than God wanted it so.regards,
Esteban Hambre

TheLiteralist claims,

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Jesus doesn‘t seem to be one to use enticements to get followers

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But as you quote Simon Peter saying, the disciples stick with him because they're gunning for eternal life. You admit that fear of possible punishment is good enough reason to get you to believe. This is Pavlovian conditioning, not mature reasoning. I once asked a Christian on these boards what he would do if God told him that no reward was in store for believers. Would he still believe if faith had to be its own reward? He emphatically responded that Jesus was obliged to reward His followers, and that seems to be the consensus among believers.This basically reduces faith to the status of conditioned behavior. Say all you want about amoral, materialistic atheists, but at least admit that your aims are as materialistic as they get. You want eternal life, you want freedom from punishment, you want the perks of the sweet afterlife that your religion promises you. Otherwise you wouldn't believe, because there wouldn't be anything in it for you.regards,
Esteban Hambre

TheLiteralist says,

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Some people ignore legal laws with obvious consequences and do so knowing full well there are lawmakers. But you would be like one who doubts the existence of the lawmakers. Does it matter, here on earth, if the lawbreaker doesn't believe in the lawmakers (especially in the peculiar case where he has read at least some of the law)? Won't he still be prosecuted and punished if found guilty?

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You have clearly demonstrated that you personally disapprove of how the God of the Bible chooses to do things. You have not disproved His existence.

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It's not up to the atheist to disprove the existence of God. You're pushing your claims that God exists, that He has told everyone His rules, and that a great judgment awaits everyone in the afterlife. None of these assertions is supported by anything except your faith that they're true.The least we can say about earthly laws is that we can confirm the existence of the lawmakers, the courts, and the prisons that create and enforce these laws. There is abundant evidence of the consequences of ignoring earthly laws. This evidence doesn't exist for God or His laws.regards,
Esteban Hambre