Tribute Thread For the Recently Raptured Faith

So you think that it is impossible for a Creator of all seen and unseen to impress upon you? What would your idea be of God if He did exist? That He would simply tell us that we already know the essential message and thus should simply go and do?That we need not concern ourselves with His guidance on a living real-time basis? That by doing unto the least of these we are already doing unto Him?What is God going to do in the meantime? Wait for us to complete our lives and grade us on a curve?I suspect that you don't count on Him actually existing and are preparing to grade yourself.Edited by Phat, : No reason given.

I said that if there was a God He wouldn't be as stupid as you (and Faith and jaywill) make Him out to be. Why would He have to give us a message to do what's already built into us by evolution? The only message that He has to get through to (some of) us is to drop that silly religious malarky and do what we already know is right. As far as I know, there's no curve mentioned in the Bible. It's strictly pass-fail. God's whim (grace) will decide whether or not we did enough.(I picture the Judgement - if there is one - as God asking, "Remember that guy who asked you for spare change at 8:47 GMT on September 22, 2018? Explain your reaction, please.")Edited by ringo, : Spvlling.

I might say that I saw that same guy stealing from my place of employment and decided that I was not going to cast pearls before swine. He may well chastize me for judging, however. I doubt He would be surprised at my response. AS I have said elsewhere, once you let everyone in your house you either have to change them or accept them as they are. Whether God wants me to throw my earnings around indiscriminately or not has not been determined. Would you mind giving your hard earned money to someone who had no respect for social order?

His attiutde or his philosophy or the color of his socks is not relevant. If he needs help, help him. That's the principle.

OK, but you will get taken advantage of many times.

That's a poor excuse for disobeying Jesus.

I suppose that's between Him and me.I dont use it as an excuse to do nothing, but I feel I have a right to decide how my money will be spent. Perhaps I am wrong...but the evidence shows that we have no supreme ruler to direct things---all we have is each other. And I won't allow the law to determine that I must give everything I have. Again, socialism without trusted authority is a risky investment. If I work hard for my money---and I do---I'm not simply going to obey a social law that says I MUST help the masses indiscriminately. If I believe that Jesus tells me to help someone I will help them no matter what I personally think of them, but I'm not going to adopt a principle...Matthew 25...and combine it with secular socialist ideals and claim that mandatory sharing will lead to utopia on earth. Reality does not support that.

But of course socialism does not make any such claims.BUT there is direct evidence that social ideals can make life a little better for the least of these.

If there was such a law, you certainly would allow it.But it isn't about law. You shouldn't need a law to force you to do what's right. The Christian principle, which is also the humanist principle and the socialist principle, is that you should contribute what you can and receive what you need. NOBODY has made that claim. I have corrected you on that point several times. Please pay attention.I promise you nothing but blood, sweat, toil and tears.

No. I would fight and defy it. I can't promise that I will keep up.A life with only duties and no rewards is hardly worth the sacrifice.Edited by Phat, : No reason given.

No you wouldn't. Some people would say that virtue is its own reward. Doesn't being a decent human being appeal to you at all?But of course socialist/Christian principles do have material rewards as well. You get help when you need it too.

The two are not synonymous. Altruistic socialists will never find heaven on their own nor will they join together and sing Kum Ba Yah and make the world a paradise without the help of the messenger. We need Jesus. The fact that you do not see this does not negate its reality. But of course, you will say that He has not nor likely will show up to help us and so we have to do it on our own.And I say that History shows me that socialism in extreme form is not to be trusted any more than any other human form of government. If there ever is a law requiring me to give all that I have to the state, I would fight it. Hopefully successfully before it even became a law. If I help my fellow humans, I want to do it willfully and cheerfully. If you claim that humans need to be forced in order to do it successfully, you are exposing the main flaw in socialism---that society creates its own authoritarian structure for keeping social order. Humans are flawed. Period. We need freedom from imposition from other humans. We need the right to keep our stuff. Having a common pot won't work....someone somewhere will steal from that common pot.

My assumption is that I am decent by Grace anyway. I am not like a Jehovahs Witness that has to put in work in order to earn the right for salvation. If God does not like me as I am, He most certainly wouldn't like a begrudging servant who has to work for Him day and night. You can make a case for Jesus commanding us to do this or that (even though you dont believe in Jesus) and then relabel your socialism as Christian/Socialism, but I see through the charade. You want a secular human society that sees the need for everyone to contribute. Mandatory contribution! That is what I fight against.

You keep repeating that but you have never given us any reason to think it's true. The fact that it isn't real negates its reality. If you think it's real, demonstrate it. Who said anything about an extreme form? You're arguing against a strawman. The problem is that you don't want to help them at all. You keep making excuses not to. I don't make any such claim. Exactly the opposite. I keep telling you that as a social species, it comes naturally to us.

Stop lying.