The C.C.O.I. (Christian Cult Of Ignorance) and Willful Ignorance

Can the naked wear trust and belief?Can the hungry eat trust and belief?Will trust and belief comfort the sorrowful or educate the ignorant?Will trust and belief heal the sick?

To be a good Christian you must first and last be a good humanist.But honesty might also help.Stop misrepresenting what I say.

And the second is like unto it; thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

Well, I don't see what any of that has to do with either communion or Calvin.And you can look up Calvin and his theology.Yes, you may be right and Calvin is certainly making inroads into US Christianity.

That is not logic, it's bias. You have no idea whether or not God also sent messengers to all lifeforms.And notice the ellipses. You and so many other bumper sticker quote mine Christians are guilty of stopping at the feel good point and failing to actually read what is written.It does not say "God so loved humans ..."In addition it goes on to make it clear that it is not talking about life after death but rather acts while alive; that the condemnation is evil behavior and that the evil do not come into the light where their behavior can be seen. Note it is all about behavior when alive, doing good. Who knows. No one can know the answer to that until after they die and even then they may not know.

That's fine although once again I think you misrepresent what Ringo has said as well as what you can and cannot do.Can't and won't are not synonyms.The problem comes when you misuse what is written in the Bible to justify your behavior. An example is taking the John 3 quote out of context to make you feel like someone else has paid your debts and so you don't have to.

Have you ever read the Bible Phat?Have you read Romans?Stop living by bumper stickers Phat. Stop listening to anyone that tries to con you with bumper stickers.Romans is one letter and you are simply taking one paragraph from a long letter out of context.If there is an afterlife and if there is a judgement and if there is a forgiveness by the judge, a pardon, it will be a gift freely given by the judge.Paul was marketing that concept, that no matter what you do cannot earn salvation because you will never do all that could be done, you will never be perfect.But that does not mean you are not charged to attempt perfection.What you want though and what Paul was marketing was somewhat dishonest and not at all what Jesus was marketing. You want foreknowledge of the outcome of the judgement.Sorry but neither you nor Paul nor anyone else can know that.

It is irrelevant whether or not anyone agrees with what I say. It is not a matter of popularity.The issue is whether or not what I say makes sense, can be supported by evidence, reason, logic and reality and if it would improve life for others.

It is certainly unreasonable. What does the evidence show? What percentage of critters have gone extinct? They are not a resource to be used, they are there to share with, to enjoy, to learn from. It does not make your responsibility any less and god keeps telling you that.Every time you buy a lotto ticket and pray "Let this one be a winner" God intervenes and says "That's not my responsibility, Phat. NMP!".But what does any of that have to do with what I said and you quoted?

But what you want is not Christianity but rather a "What's in it for me?" philosophy of life.

But what will help is you changing? What help is it you pray for?Do you pray for reality to change?Do you know what you must do to lower blood sugars?Do you have health care?Do you do what the doctors tell you you must do?

When you begin with the answer and then only look for evidence to support that answer that is the behavior to expect.Hope exists because there are also people who do not approach issues knowing the answer. Anselm was a product of his era, his mythos, his generation. Remember this was a period before science or the scientific method; a period when regular bleedings were considered a reasonable way to "commune with God".But many have learned much in the thousand years since Anselm.

Much of what is attributed to Paul is like the OT prophecies about Jesus, just made up and not at all what is actually written.Remember that Jesus did not create Christianity, that was done by others, mostly unknown others; by the editors and redactors and committees of Canon. That's certainly an easier sell isn't it?

So your response is that the idea of people marketing a product makes you uncomfortable and you do not want to challenge anyone to question what they believe?

Ah yes. The term for that is "Confirmation Bias".That is a big part of the problem.