Thank you all for your replies. I am going to lump my reactions to (some of) you together in this one post. Please don't feel ignored if I didn't react to you. I am not intentionally ignoring anybody, it's just that I want this post to stay a bit focused.
jar writes:
She doesn't. It couldn't care less about whether or not you believe.
Jar, apparently your concept of God is different than that of most religious people. But I knew that already from previous posts of yours. As a religious person, you are a-typical, and I appreciate your opinion all the more for it.
[qs=Larni]if you were a priest greedy for converts to fill his coffers or provide man power, then it [convincing people that they must be believers before they die] make[s] perfect sense.[/qs]
That's supposing that the priest in question isn't as gullible as his flock. But what if he is? What makes him preach what he preaches? That's why I mentioned the 'meme' meme. To me, it's a compelling solution to the problem of why religious ideas - which I tend to think of as 'problematic' ideas, in that they can cause a lot of problems, making it not at all obvious that they should be successful - are so enduring. Like a gene wants to be copied just for the sake of it, so does a meme.
Chiroptera writes:
Hey! High stakes testing! We're down with that here in the U.S.
I don't know what you mean, can you explain?
Phatboy writes:
I have personally believed that many people do, in fact, become believers once the choice is clear to them
That would be obvious...
Phatboy writes:
...which for some, happens after the physical death.
... but that would not, to me at least. But it's your opinion, and that's what I asked for. Thanks.
robinrohan writes:
God reveals himself to good people only.
So if God doesn't reveal himself to me, I may draw the conclusion that I am not good?
purpledawn writes:
IMO there is a difference between being good and doing good. A bad person can do good things and vice versa.
But how do you become a bad person per se? I would have thought that your actions (doing good or bad) determine what kind of person you are. So, if a "bad" person does good things, then they are not wholly bad, I would say.
We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. - Richard Dawkins
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