No other Book like it!

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I searched at Biblegateway.com where Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary is quoted. There are many research resources available there. Have you ever read, More Than A Carpenter, ... Read More 

I searched at Biblegateway.com where Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary is quoted. There are many research resources available there. Have you ever read, More Than A Carpenter, by Josh MacDowell? (Not sure of surname spelling)

 

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That's not the only passage. By the way, what commentary are you referring to? You either take the whole thing literally or nothing in the bible is worth anything. I can't ... Read More 

That's not the only passage. By the way, what commentary are you referring to? You either take the whole thing literally or nothing in the bible is worth anything. I can't say any of it is solid fact, because nothing in the bible is solid fact at all, in regards to the real world. However, There are irrefutable contradictions and the "turn the other cheek" idea of jesus' teachings are the candy coated Sunday sermon version and not even close to the unabridged story that's there for anyone who reads the bible for the sham it is to see. It's not even a case of reading between the lines, more like a case of reading everything instead of disjointed verses here and there.

 

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Danny, I think you were referring to me, Rebecca when you answered to Rachel. If the passage you mentioned is the only one you are referring to in regard to your incorrect ... Read More 

Danny, I think you were referring to me, Rebecca when you answered to Rachel. If the passage you mentioned is the only one you are referring to in regard to your incorrect belief that Jesus told His followers to kill others, then a short reading of trusted Biblical commentaries will teach you what He meant. He wasn't referring to having his followers rise up against others, He was referring to what would happen to those who believe in Him. In fact, if you read the previous chapters in Matthew, you'll see that He clearly teaches to love your enemies and not fight back.

 

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Oh, I have one more thing to say to Walter. First off, as far as you comment about everyone thinking like the BORG in an Atheist world, You're gravely mistaken. In fact, ... Read More 

Oh, I have one more thing to say to Walter. First off, as far as you comment about everyone thinking like the BORG in an Atheist world, You're gravely mistaken. In fact, it's more like the church and it's members are already a hive mind, and all one needs to do to see this fact is read through all the christian nonsense posted in the comments.

Secondly...You claim that Atheists are no different than christians in the eyes of Americans, however, here's where I can definitely prove you wrong. According to various poles, Atheists are among the most untrusted members of American society, considered the least American, and according to former president George Bush Sr., should not even be considered citizens. So much for "love thy neighbor." The ironic thing is christians display more bad and flat-out criminal behavior than Atheists in the United States.

Enjoy your delusion. Richard Dawkins, along with some of the world's top intellectual minds have projected that within the next 25 years or so, there will be enough scientific understanding of the universe and it's development/origins that everyone will either need to renounce their religion or be declared insane. Religion is already a mass delusion, I just hope that I don't die in an accident before that happens. I want to be around to see the day when religious faith is an automatic symptom of insanity.

 

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Firstly, to Rachel...It's late and I just came home from work. My response will be brief, and while I cannot remember the exact verse offhand, Matthew 10:34-36 paint a pretty ... Read More 

Firstly, to Rachel...It's late and I just came home from work. My response will be brief, and while I cannot remember the exact verse offhand, Matthew 10:34-36 paint a pretty good description of what jesus had to say about his mission on earth. Fortunately fairy tales aren't true.

For reference...

Matthew 10: 34 34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man's enemies will be the members of his household.

To Walter...

If I was wrong about the Diploma issue as far as enlistment goes, then Military recruiters are even bigger liars now than they used to be.

The founding fathers must have not done much research into various global religions,because to believe that religions can co-exist peacefully, especially monastic faiths is pure idiocy. This, of course, is given that Monastic faiths have the core fundamental of converting the entire world. The methods employed to do so have never benefited mankind at any point in history ever. Even now, in California, where Gay Marriage was recently legalized by the state's supreme court, there's a push to pass a proposition to reverse that decision, and the main push is by republicans and christian organizations. I challenge you to find a single Atheist that would deny anyone their civil rights. Yet, as with woman's suffrage and ending segregation, there's a massive push by the church to deny a group of people their basic human rights.

There's no way around the fact that religion makes people behave worse than those without it. The only exception is Buddhism, because the monks keep to their temples and follow the idea of being Zen, which is a very peaceful idea.

To everyone who believes jesus was real or original in his teachings, anything concerning turning the other cheek or loving thy neighbor or anything else along those lines was taken from the teachings of Confuscious. Wake up and learn your history.

By the way, if soldiers were patriots these days, they'd have already held a revolution to return the government to what it was supposed to be, instead of fighting an unjust and unnecessary war for a corrupted government. Anyways, I'm done discussing this issue with your here on this letter. We'll have plenty of other things to discuss when my next letter is poested/printed next week.

 

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Norway has a population of where they are from the same background and DNA. The population is 94.4%Norwegian (CIA World Factbook). So, using Norway as a comparison to in ... Read More 

Norway has a population of where they are from the same background and DNA. The population is 94.4%Norwegian (CIA World Factbook). So, using Norway as a comparison to in a multicultural Nation like the US makes no sense. See my other arguments including the wealth from oil which pays for other jobs not oil workers and crime is increasing due to influx of immigrants, recent Prime Minister is an ordained Lutheran Minister, etc. Suggesting the US which is 65 times the size of Norway having 65 times the amount of oil is ludicrous.

You obviously don't check your facts. The US military has not abolished the requirement for a high school diploma. Again, please check your facts. Also, the study is for people entering the military not after they enter. So again the general population has twenty one more times the number of people without a high school diploma. Also, if you read the study, there is a greater representation of the middle to upper income than the general population.

As for your obsessions with Christians that is your personal problem. Christians are human and have the same problems as other humans. Atheists are no better or worse than Christians in Americans eyes.

There are too many other non-factual details in your comments to address. However, I will end a response to your comment, "If you think that it's really possible to have all religions peacefully co-exist, you're gravely mistaken." Well, you don't believe this but the Founding Fathers were Deists and believed all religions would co-exist in America. Anything else is un-American. God bless all the great, intelligent, courageous, and patriot military members and good luck to Danny in the afterlife.

 

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Where in the Bible does Jesus tell his followers to kill all who do not believe in him? Jesus said the opposite; pray for your enemies. He said as he was dying on the cross, ... Read More 

Where in the Bible does Jesus tell his followers to kill all who do not believe in him? Jesus said the opposite; pray for your enemies. He said as he was dying on the cross, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." He also said, "Turn the other cheek." Jesus came to kill "death" and that he did. He stood up for the woman caught in adultery. He replaced the ear on the soldier after Peter cut it off. He healed and healed and healed. He came not just to give life but abundant life. I would suggest to anyone who does not believe in Him to pray to God and ask for eyes to see and ears to hear. Jesus said this whole idea of His existence and mission would seem foolish to those who are dying.

 

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I've explained once before why I don't list my sources. I suggest you do some more digging.I used Norway as an example because of not only it's Atheist majority, as is stated ... Read More 

I've explained once before why I don't list my sources. I suggest you do some more digging.I used Norway as an example because of not only it's Atheist majority, as is stated in a 2007 government census, but it also has the lowest violent crime rate in the world, the highest literacy scores, the strongest economy, the best educational system in the world, and the lowest rate of unemployment in the world. That last fact has nothing to do with the oil export business, because not everyone can work the oil pumps.

As far as the US not being able to export a natural resource, there is PLENTY of oil we could drill, use, and export. Our gas could be less than 50 cents a gallon if we were to tap all of the sources of oil that exist in U.S. territory. Of course, due to the whining of greanpeace and PETA, drilling domestic oil sources was outlawed. Flawed system indeed, along which capitalism and our government's concern with the well being of other countries.

Are you trying to say that the welfare system ISN'T a reward for laziness? Look at the majority of people on welfare. Most of them are of black or latino decent and nearly every single family on the welfare system gets on it, stays on it, and continue to have unnecessary offspring, which they have to increase the amount of aid in their welfare checks. I know people on welfare that have nicer furniture, cutting edge tvs, sound systems, and video game consoles, all while not working a moment for any of it, while the rest of us struggle to keep the bills paid working full time.

You completely missed my point about the ten commandments. Christians are the biggest hypocrites, and not surprisingly so, since hypocrisy is canon to your religious texts and your own god is a jealous, lying hypocrite. God can not exist because the laws of the universe alone prove otherwise. Not to mention that within the bible god proves to be nowhere near omnipotent, merciful, OR all knowing. In fact, throughout the bible there are plenty of places in which he doesn't know what's going on, or didn't see an event coming, as well as a steady decline in the extent of his powers.

The statistics about the educations of the members of the armed forces that you presented seem to mostly cover their educational status after entering the army. However, if the members of the armed forces were so educated when they joined, then why did the military have to abolish the requirement of a high school diploma to join up? I think the answer there is obvious.

You're retarded if you think I'd try and reverse punch a tank. Not to mention that civilians don't own tanks. I don't even get the point of you trying to bring that up.

Finally, Atheists are the only people that truly have it together. If you think that it's really possible to have all religions peacefully co-exist, you're gravely mistaken. But then again, you believe that Giants exist, or at least existed, as well as both angels and demons which are also stolen from mythologies that predate anything written in the bible. We know better. You're right, I'm not a threat to the government. But christians sure are, considering the "Reclaiming America for Christ" seminars and movement, staged by christian leaders such as Pat Robertson and the late James Kennedy. Once again, to anyone who thinks this is a good idea, I suggest you watch "The Mist." The character named Mrs. Carmody is a perfect example of the theocratic leader, a condensed profile of the christian church and it's leaders from the first crusade to the Salem witch trials. In fact, if the law didn't punish murderers despite motive the way it does these days, I wouldn't doubt that christians would still be out burning "witches." The funniest bit is, Christ isn't a name, it's a title, and you can't reclaim a country under a title it was never claimed over and never could be given the meaning of the title.

I suggest you familiarize yourself with Russell's Teapot, as it's a perfect summary of religion, especially christianity.

You clearly don't even understand my points very well, you're simply determined to twist my words around to make me out to be similar to hitler in my ideals, as per your last response.

How about a brief lesson in Christian morality? The bible says to stone to death disobedient children, allows for incest, as well as polygamy AND misogyny, and jesus himself states that his disciples should kill all those who would not accept him or his reign as messiah and the son of god. Furthermore, Christians are the biggest lobby against a group of people having the same civil rights as anyone else. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Even today, christians are one of the largest most intolerant groups in existence, second only to muslims.

 

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Well, Danny, it appears nothing in this world is perfect but atheism in your mind. You can argument your point all day, but at the end of the day atheism will never be the ... Read More 

Well, Danny, it appears nothing in this world is perfect but atheism in your mind. You can argument your point all day, but at the end of the day atheism will never be the popular position. I quoted my source for Norway, but like all your other data points you fail to give credible evidence which further marginalizes your argument about atheism. Atheists who spew hatred and lies will hurt their cause. In America, every religion has the right to exists as long as it does not attempt to overthrow the government of the US. My argument was and continues to be use truthful referenced facts instead regurgitating bias assumptions, and human logic is not logically or we would all be one voting the same and supporting the same government and positions like the BORG. Blaming our differences on religions background makes no sense. Even Christians don’t agree on some the basics of the Bible. For some Christians it is the inspired Word and for others it is the WORD of God. So, making an argument that religion is irrelevant because it is illogical is illogical in itself. No matter what the topic is why we don’t consider everyone’s point of reference and may the one with the most convincing argument win?


I won’t address each of your points but I will summarize what I read you to say:
- Basic instincts are preferable to the dogmas of religion, given that we do have the ability to evaluate things with logic, it makes sense that the only people who should even be allowed to reproduce are those who are financially stable and can provide the proper living conditions to raise offspring including limiting how many children a couple can have.
- Norway is Utopia because of the high percentage of Atheist
- Blacks are lower-class citizens raised in a state of brutality
- You were bullied around as a kid and Christian bullies were the worst
- The welfare system doesn't work. Look at it. It's not aid for the poor, but more of a reward system for laziness and irresponsible reproduction. And.
- Because people in the Bible break the Ten Commandants, God cannot be real.
“Most people in the Army and the Marines are the lowest common denominator and most often don't even graduate high school because they can't cut it.”

In my mind, you can’t say your family has genetic factors that if you reproduce the cost to society are too great. This was my point about Hitler not whether he was a Christian or not or whether he worshiped some ancient Germanic Gods, but rather he chose the survival of the fittest through the creation of a master race. So, taking your argument that you were bullied and are a member of a group of less than 1% of the US population, you obviously don’t fit in so the best course of action for a logical society would be to get rid of you as you are a threat to the stability of collective. Should we allow you to stay, you must be productive at any time we no longer your job instead of re-training you we get rid of you. When you turn XX or get hurt in an accident or have a mental illness, and are no longer a productive member of society we get rid of you. The government must close all religious buildings down because they promote alms to the poor and waste time on healing people. What a crazy world that would be when people become a one or a zero? I prefer the crazy world I live in, where ideas including religion are debated and the person we pick to be our leader is the best of the choices we have not the best. There is no such thing as the best leader. There are leaders best for the time and only from those available leaders who are willing to make the argument. For example, what would Winston Churchill do in today’s society and are today’s people the same?

As for the population of Norway, it is not 70% atheist and their wealth is from oil and they have a monolithic society. Now, that Norway is opening up its borders to immigrants, the numbers of hate crimes are increasing. So, I will agree to disagree on your utopian few of Atheism and Norway. The rest of world is not as wealthy as Norway and cannot rely on oil and gas to run their government. The rest of the world has to actually produce something besides a natural resource. One more food for thought, the Prime Minister of Norway, from 1997 to 2000 and 2001 to 2005 was a Norwegian Lutheran minister, Kjell Magne Bondevik. To bad, the US can’t elect a minister, maybe we could claim the US is better because the athesit put them into office. The reason you began to bring up Norway was because Norway is so great because of the high percentage of atheist. Here is my main point your view of the world is that Christian and all religion is bad but is is not shared with the majority and picking and choosing random facts does not pass the scientific argument of thesis and valid research, but it does pass the test for the blatant lies and deceptions that the US media does. So, maybe a career in the media or moving to Norway is in your future.

There are some many other things that you state which are false and trivial but I will take one last attempt to request you use truthful facts. I am very offended at your statement; “Most people in the Army and the Marines are the lowest common denominator and most often don't even graduate high school because they can't cut it.” It shows your ignorance and if I wasn’t a gentleman I would have some very derogative things to say about your ancestry and all the other inappropriate things us illogical humans say and do. In your logical world, you would use your karate and the more logical folks would bring a tank. See how your logical humans work, I really hope your believe system works out for you especially when you let some fine Soldiers and Marines know what you think about them. Rather, I will point a study that indicates members of the military are of the highest caliber. The report is by Shanea Watkins, Ph.D. and James Sherk dated August 21, 2008 and titled “ Who Serves in the U.S. Military? The Demographics of Enlisted Troops and Officers.” Specifically, they say “American soldiers are more educated than their peers. A little more than 1 percent of enlisted personnel lack a high school degree, compared to 21 percent of men 18–24 years old, and 95 percent of officer accessions have at least a bachelor’s degree.” And “The facts do not support the belief that many American soldiers volunteer because society offers them few other opportunities. The average enlisted person or officer could have had lucrative career opportunities in the private sector.”

There is no need to respond with your lies as your radical, illogical, uneducated opinion will remain in the fringe and you are no threat to my country or my God. However, I will continue to challenge you because I would hate for your misrepresentation of the truth to deceive anyone.

 

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I got my information about Norway from a 2007 census. I win there since my information is more recent. And actually, The prison population is less than 1% atheist, and they ... Read More 

I got my information about Norway from a 2007 census. I win there since my information is more recent. And actually, The prison population is less than 1% atheist, and they do in fact share the same prison as all the crazy theists. It would probably correlate the same with the black population, as the majority of black Americans are lower-class citizens that live in very poor conditions and are raised in a state of brutality.
Humans aren't other animals species. While we are in fact an animal, whether or not creationists want to think so, we've evolved into a complex, technologically advanced societal species. You should watch more documentaries on south American tribes, by the way. They're usually tight nit groups that rarely have any sort of conflict with other tribes due to their isolated states. Even though they've remained technologically stagnant, even their primitive religions aren't as horrid in their dogmas as Christianity, nor have these tribes committed atrocities of the same type or scale as other religions, mainly monotheistic ones.
I don't need to go observe elementary school children. I remember my elementary school experience. I would see half of my bullies at church when I went to school in my hometown, and when I attended a couple other school districts, including two christian private schools, all the other bullies were christian, or at least claimed to be. The worst bullies were the ones in those private schools.
Want a lesson in "atheist good" as you put it? First off, we have PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY. There is none with christianity. All you have to do is repent for your "sins." This dogma alone is one of the reason the majority of people in the prison system are members of some sect of christianity, before committing the crimes that got them thrown into prison. Then there's the massive amount of hypocrisy in the bible, which is also something that in and of itself proves that it's not the divine word of some all-powerful sky wizard. Almost everyone the christian god shows favor to in the bible breaks one or more of the ten commandments, as well as exhibits behavior that is completely illegal today, including incest and polygamy. A simple read through of the bible as read through the eyes of someone reading it for what it really is, another book of mythology, determines that the christian god is akin to a child with an anthill and a magnifying glass who, despite his ability to cause destruction and great suffering to the ants, is tremendously afraid of them. God can't even follow his own rules. The same behavior is easily observed in christians on a daily basis. The vast majority of inner city gang members are raised christian, most often catholic. That's easy to find out. Go ask a few gang members yourself, if you can't find a survey on the internet or the newspaper.
I don't make things up, either, as I gain nothing from lying about this issue. I notice you didn't have a single response for the fact that Hitler believed he was doing the work of god, invoked jesus in many of his speeches, or that Stalin didn't do anything that the christian church and other such faith systems have done in the past. Once again, the problem there was fundamentalism anyways. Which is yet another reason why being Atheist would make for a peaceful society, because there aren't any dogmas or fundamentals other than being a critical thinker and keeping one's head in reality. As I've said in many of the other comments I've left in this blog, Fundamentalism, both religious and political, are what's keeping the world in such a state of turmoil, and have allowed and caused all of the greatest atrocities in history. Religious fundamentalism is far worse than political fundamentalism, because religious fundamentalists are far more determined to bring the world under the complete control of their religion, and who would win if that happened? The world would be the same as it would have been had Hitler won world war two. Go watch "The Mist." It paints a pretty accurate picture of how people would behave under a Theocracy.
Life isn't precious. For something to be precious, by definition it must be hard to acquire or a rare commodity. Pregnancy is actually quite easy to achieve, therefore it isn't. To further elaborate on this, an embryo is barely alive, and it most certainly is not sentient life, on top of the fact that for all intents and purposes, it is a parasite throughout its entire development right up until birth. Therefore, there is absolutely nothing wrong with abortion,and those who think there is something wrong with it are clearly ignorant of these facts. Most pro-lifers are republican christians, which is redundant because most republicans ARE christians. Republicans are also very elitist and support military growth. Most people in the Army and the Marines are the lowest common denominator and most often don't even graduate high school because they can't cut it. Pro-choice propaganda allows for more fodder for the war machine.
The last time I checked, hospitals were built to provide health care to the general population, not specifically for premature babies. Take a look at the world. The current system doesn't work. I didn't right the oath that doctors take as part of their career choice, however, it IS rather inefficient to attempt to keep premature babies alive when they know there's practically know chance of their survival. The welfare system doesn't work. Look at it. It's not aid for the poor, but more of a reward system for laziness and irresponsible reproduction. And people wonder why there's a population problem. While it is true that it is the instinct of every organism that procreates through sexual intercourse to reproduce as much as possible to ensure the survival of the species, humans are one of the few species that have sex for pleasure as well as reproduction, and given the advancements in medicine including contraceptives, there's no reason for there to be so many unnecessary pregnancies/births. And while I have stated that basic instincts are preferable to the dogmas of religion, given that we do have the ability to evaluate things with logic, it makes sense that the only people who should even be allowed to reproduce are those who are financially stable and can provide the proper living conditions to raise offspring. There should be a limit to how many children a couple can have, and maybe even a temporary halt on reproduction period. There are tons of foster kids and orphans that need a home.
Hunting for sport being entertainment and thinking that killing a wild animal species being wrong are both cases of nurture, not nature. If necessary, EVERYONE would hunt for food. Humans don't behave as pack animals, and we have various ways of appointing leaders these days. Humans did kill off leaders in monarchies and patriarchies, and those existed when the church held more power than the thrown. That says something, doesn't it?
I could rant forever in response to your responses, Winston, but doing so is what's kept me from writing another letter. I will add, however, that the population or size of a country has nothing to do with what would work for a large country such as the United States. I noticed you didn't have any attempts to contradict the statistics about Norway's crime rate, economy, or education system that I gave in my last comment. Our country would be a much better place without religion and partisan politics. Even the version of capitalism our economy is based on is failing. The top 1% of the country that is the rich elite has more control over things than the common citizen, because they control most of the money. There are already plenty of cost-effective alternative energy sources to run our cars and generate power for our electrical grids. But you'll never see them used in our lifetimes, because the current energy source corporations wouldn't be able to make much of a profit off of them. Think about it.