God Bless USA Bible - You Can't Make This Stuff Up

[Offthemat]

Evangelical atheists are often of Marxist bent. 

[ThreePointTakedown]

1 hour ago, jross said:

I like the questions you ask when you want real answers.  You did not answer my questions about OT/NT knowledge and have ignored answers I carefully provided just for you.  You are not listening.  The Old Testament reflects the cultural and historical context of ancient Israel and the surrounding area, which one needs to understand to then comprehend the New Testament.  To apply the Old Testament to Christian behavior is to take someone's words out of context, much like today's politics.

There are plenty of books with good insights.  I'm not a fan of the Old Testament overall and I have a shelves full of inspirational, philophosy, religious, business, leadership, self-help biographies, DIY, fiction, and so on.  I read often!  OT Proverbs, OT 10 Commandments, and NT has some of the best wisdom collected that I've ever seen.  Knowledge of the Old Testament context, with application of the Golden Rule, allows me to keep the baby and drain the bath water.  

Argh... I'm glad its trying to convey information to a reader. Can that information be considered true or accurate? The answer is we don't know. So what good is a book that claims to be truth or breathed from a higher power if we can't even conclude its authentic? There are other writers that have conveyed the same historical context without claiming to be the alpha and omega and were far more accurate in descriptions.

[jross]

Proverbs convey practical guidance from the sands of time.  A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.  The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

[RockLobster]

15 hours ago, jross said:

Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.  If my content annoys you, there is an ignore feature.  If the topic annoys you, there is an ignore for it also.  If you want to silence or change my mind, logic and data are your tools.

I do not attend church, I do not pray, and I am not religious.

Yet.. so many of your recent posts are focused on your perspective of religion. So many.

How foolish are you to think you can judge others based on religion, and then hide beyond not having any religious beliefs.

Edited April 3 by RockLobster

[Ohio Elite]

4 hours ago, RockLobster said:

Yet.. so many of your recent posts are focused on your perspective of religion. So many.

How foolish are you to think you can judge others based on religion, and then hide beyond not having any religious beliefs.

[WrestlingRasta]

17 hours ago, ThreePointTakedown said:

Being unconvinced is not being closed to the possibility. 

You didn't *just* say you weren't convinced.  You added, and actually emphasized your entire post, by saying people who were convinced only said that because they don't have a good reason.

Hold up to what you actually said at least, especially if you're going to talk about "it all comes back to accountability" a few posts later.   (kind of proving my point for me)

[jross]

8 hours ago, RockLobster said:

Yet.. so many of your recent posts are focused on your perspective of religion. So many.

How foolish are you to think you can judge others based on religion, and then hide beyond not having any religious beliefs.

Imagine that!  In a topic called "god bless usa bible" with comments that the "nation was founded on Christian values and also freedom of religion" that a forum member provides biblical education.  

Religion is not essential for people to naturally expect others to follow the Golden Rule and adhere to the law. These expectations arise inherently when any two+ people live in proximity to each other and care about survival and well-being.  This is where my judgement of self and others come from.

Multiple religions and views share expectations to follow the Golden Rule and to follow the law.  Some religions substantially suppress human rights.

There are religious people of the same doctrine that are the best and worst people you can know.  The "Christian" people are making errors because they are human and largely not because the New Testament commands it.

It is important to me for Christian critics to understand the nuance between its doctrine and human behavior.

Here you seem(?) to think I am judging based my religious views (it isn't) when actually it just so happens (coincidence?) that the Christian doctrine NT is all about the golden rule...

My criticisms of religions are mostly driven by logic, scientific evidence, and how close it supports following the golden rule.  My criticism of people is mostly golden rule and community law adherence.

[ThreePointTakedown]

7 hours ago, WrestlingRasta said:

You didn't *just* say you weren't convinced.  You added, and actually emphasized your entire post, by saying people who were convinced only said that because they don't have a good reason.

Hold up to what you actually said at least, especially if you're going to talk about "it all comes back to accountability" a few posts later.   (kind of proving my point for me)

Agreed. The reasons that have been presented. Their reasons. Have not convinced me. As I see their beliefs as being harmful to everyone. I feel the need to point out that they don't have good reasons. If they did have a good reason. They should share it and convince me. Since that has not happened yet. I remain unconvinced. 

As the default position is disbelief rather than ChatJBT's 'I believe it until its proven false'. Would have you believing lots of things. Things that are contrary to the thing they really are trying to defend as a reasonable belief. 

Edited April 3 by ThreePointTakedown
you

[WrestlingRasta]

28 minutes ago, ThreePointTakedown said:

Agreed. The reasons that have been presented. Their reasons. Have not convinced me. As I see their beliefs as being harmful to everyone. I feel the need to point out that they don't have good reasons. If they did have a good reason. They should share it and convince me. Since that has not happened yet. I remain unconvinced. 

As the default position is disbelief rather than ChatJBT's 'I believe it until it’s proven false'. Would have you believing lots of things. Things that are contrary to the thing they really are trying to defend as a reasonable belief. 

I guess I was wrong 

[red viking]

22 hours ago, jross said:

Proverbs convey practical guidance from the sands of time.  A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.  The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

So do other religious texts and non religious texts. Its 99% common sense stuff. Nothing profound. 

[red viking]

23 hours ago, jross said:

Proverbs convey practical guidance from the sands of time.  A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.  The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.

So do other religious texts and non religious texts. Its 99% common sense stuff. Nothing profound. 

[red viking]

Wed actually be much better off as a country if everybody followed buddhism rather than christianity. 

[jross]

1 hour ago, red viking said:

Wed actually be much better off as a country if everybody followed buddhism rather than christianity. 

 

Maybe?  What does the data indicate?

Most Free Countries

 

Least Free Countries

 

And Buddhist?

 

Reference

• https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2012/12/globalReligion-tables.pdf
• https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/freedom-index-by-country

Edited April 3 by jross

[mspart]

Well, that is interesting data.   Perhaps RV typed that backwards on accident and meant we would be better off as a country if everybody followed Christian teachings rather than Buddhist teachings. 

mspart