God does love everybody

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Off topic.
New thread material.
But while were at it.
Yes these rational men are truly creators:
Of Global warming, of nuclear bombing, and of rational government (see Stalin)

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Ah I see, so men of reason are Stalinist golbal terrorists. Sounds reasonable?

[malorum]

Many political systems, including the american constitution and political leaders make extensive reference to God and religious ideals. Soviet communism was notable in representing a system supposedly based on reason rather than upon religious ideals.
The soviet suppression of religion did not really seem to make the CCCP a better place.

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Many political systems, including the american constitution and political leaders make extensive reference to God and religious ideals. Soviet communism was notable in representing a system supposedly based on reason rather than upon religious ideals.
The soviet suppression of religion did not really seem to make the CCCP a better place.

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If you insist on using Soviet Communism as an example of "reason" then I will insist on using Spanish Inquisition as an example of Christian "compassion". And we will get nowhere.

Oh, and P.S., your premise is entirely wrong. The founding fathers were likely more influenced by reason than Christian ethics. Men like Jefferson were students of the Age of Enlightenment and the authors of that period. And thus they built a government based more on reason than Christian dogma, otherwise there would be no need for a separation of church and state if you believe that the goal was to codify christian morality.

[mackthefork]

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God set out a test, and the Christians failed.

See, he instilled us with a powerful mind capable of reason, logic, compassion, etc. He gave us dominion over all the earth. And he gave us a set of lies which would betray everything good in us -- told us we were insignificant, unworthy, unable to do anything for ourselves without his help or mercy. Those who bought into this schtick (aka Christians) sickened the Almighty. But there were those who chose to ignore that hogwash and took pleasure in their god-given bodies and minds and lived as free-thinking men rather than unworthy sheep, and were good in heart not because it offered some afterlife reward but because it was the course of reason. These men lived as creators, challenging the world and the ideas around them, rather than sacrifice their given faculties for reason in favor of comfortable myths. These men passed the test and were the true receivers of God's blessings.

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Wow I actually like that idea a lot, strange as it may seem.

Mack

[malorum]

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I will insist on using Spanish Inquisition as an example of Christian "compassion".

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Good example. I recall I quote to the effect:
"The screams of the penitent are like the singing of angels, each scream represents a soul taking another step toward heaven".

[mackthefork]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Off topic.
New thread material.
But while were at it.
Yes these rational men are truly creators:
Of Global warming, of nuclear bombing, and of rational government (see Stalin)

[/ QUOTE ]

Ah I see, so men of reason are Stalinist golbal terrorists. Sounds reasonable?

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Show me a war not motivated by religion, and I'll show you a religous motivation for that war.

Regards Mack

[malorum]

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Show me a war not motivated by religion, and I'll show you a religous motivation for that war.

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WWI and WWII
please teach me some history.

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God set out a test, and the Christians failed.

See, he instilled us with a powerful mind capable of reason, logic, compassion, etc. He gave us dominion over all the earth. And he gave us a set of lies which would betray everything good in us -- told us we were insignificant, unworthy, unable to do anything for ourselves without his help or mercy. Those who bought into this schtick (aka Christians) sickened the Almighty. But there were those who chose to ignore that hogwash and took pleasure in their god-given bodies and minds and lived as free-thinking men rather than unworthy sheep, and were good in heart not because it offered some afterlife reward but because it was the course of reason. These men lived as creators, challenging the world and the ideas around them, rather than sacrifice their given faculties for reason in favor of comfortable myths. These men passed the test and were the true receivers of God's blessings.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow I actually like that idea a lot, strange as it may seem.

Mack

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I don't propose it to be the case. Just that if there was a god, who would he want to call His people: the sheep who denounce their earthly bodies and minds, or those who seek and strive to know more rather than accept multi-millenia-old myths?

I wrote an essay "God is Dead" on this subject in which God ends his own supreme being life after seeing the flaw in his own creation: namely, that a being meant to serve and worship is in the end, ugly and useless, while a being meant to create, challenge, and achieve without the day-to-day reliance on the almighty, is in the end much more beautiful and worthwhile to the universe.

[mackthefork]

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Show me a war not motivated by religion, and I'll show you a religous motivation for that war.

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WWI and WWII
please teach me some history.

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WWII - What do you want? Are you suggesting the German plan to eradicate Jews from the world is not a religious motivation. It was not condemned by the Vatican either, which is as good as support in my book.

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The Pope's defenders have claimed that such a declaration would only have caused the Nazis to retaliate heavily against both the Church and the Jews, and that by remaining silent he enabled a Church underground to save tens or hundreds of thousands of Jewish lives.


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Maybe but maybe not, I don't trust them anyway, these kinds of justifications are too convenient for me.

Give me time WWI will be no better is my guess.

Mack

[chezlaw]

[ QUOTE ]
God set out a test, and the Christians failed.

See, he instilled us with a powerful mind capable of reason, logic, compassion, etc. He gave us dominion over all the earth. And he gave us a set of lies which would betray everything good in us -- told us we were insignificant, unworthy, unable to do anything for ourselves without his help or mercy. Those who bought into this schtick (aka Christians) sickened the Almighty. But there were those who chose to ignore that hogwash and took pleasure in their god-given bodies and minds and lived as free-thinking men rather than unworthy sheep, and were good in heart not because it offered some afterlife reward but because it was the course of reason. These men lived as creators, challenging the world and the ideas around them, rather than sacrifice their given faculties for reason in favor of comfortable myths. These men passed the test and were the true receivers of God's blessings.

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Its a good way to nullify Pascal's Wager type arguments.

chez