About this "terrorism" crap

I'd say something about the "experiences" but I won't. Verdictis, you have changed over to literal mode, I don't want to have to talk as if it is to a 5 year old to make you understand. Example?

One of many nonsensical banters you have managed to post in this thread. Stop taking everything so damn literal and join the conversation. Dodging everything by doing what you're doing is senseless, and a waste of everybody's time.

Just know that each and every one of the experiences you mentioned hold no validity outside of your own head. So stop trying to use them as supporting evidence. Maybe this girl is simply a talented singer. They do exist you know.

I've seen lights in the sky before, but that doesn't mean they were aliens does it? Because by the logic you seem to follow, you'd believe they were.

Let me clear that up a little bit, because if I'm right, you'll say the above example has nothing to do with anything. Just because you think something happened, doesn't mean it really did. If you're content with the "I believe it so it's true for everything" logic, I suggest you stop interacting with society.

"Stubbornly unreceptive to new ideas" is a perfect definition of what we're dealing with. Thank you Test.

 

I'd climb Mount Everest too, but I won't

Non-sensical.

Nothing nonsensical about it at all. The knees in question are his, after all.

Telling me what to do again--purdy funny stuff. In reality, I've dodged nothing. What I've written is not senseless and you are in no position to know if everybody's* time is wasted.

LOL!!! So you have claimed. Respectfully, I reject your assertion because these experiences did not happen within the confines of my head. I was there, you weren't.

I will repeat them/write about these real experiences as I choi]se. Because you don't want to address them or believe they occured or only happened *within the confines of my head doesn't invalidate them. I am enjoying your attempts to tell me what to do, however.

There is no doubt she is talented. God has given her a great gift, indeed.

Doesn't mean there are no aliens either, does it?

Since I've joined this conversation, you've written about, how I feel, what I fear, that I'm closeminded, etc...this *amazing familiarity* is hilarious.

Just because you assert nothing happened doesn't mean it didn't

Putting words into my mouth does your argument no favors.

I agree. You're writings have been a perfect example of it, Kai.

May the Peace of the Lord be with you this and all days, Kai. I prayed for you this morning as promised.

I'm curious how you will respond since these are not just in my mind

Was it all in their heads too?

Maybe your aliens are hard at work, eh?

 

Wel then.
This thread has gone off on a tangent...

~PM~

 

no..you are just really quick to jump on definitions or how certain words should be interpreted...

*Appreciate the sentiment. However, I am a firm believer that words mean things. It's not about being literal or closeminded. It's about the meaning of the terms any person may use when expressing themselves*

not perfect..but you are useing your own guidlines to judge or perceive others information about what they may be telling you...like...some are judging yours...

again...too literal...it was what some of like to call...a phrase..there are many out there that have absolultly nothing to do with the literal "meaning" of the words...i would never tell anyone what to do...dont you EVER imply that that was what i was getting at...more of a suggestion from my point of view...

because it is...a fallacious argument in your eyes you are therefore *..... stubbornly unreceptive to new ideas.*

so you have admitted to not accepting anothers ideas based on your belief...that is fine...that is your right and your perogative...and that word is getting really overused..with your knowledge of using words literaly...im sure you can find something else...

a negative viewpoint...should have just said possible...you taint something that is unknown with a negative outcome...perhaps it is your personal experience talking...but remember..my personal experience is quite different from yours and i am speaking from mine...

..and my knees bear the scars of new information...and new insights...and revelations...i might have scabby knees..but im better for it..*and you perverts stay away from that comment...lol* not saying that you would have the same experiences...or that you are not better for going about things the way i do...just as you speak from your personal experiences that you choose to share...i speak from mine...just trying to clear that up before you get too literal there...

we all relate to the world and people in different ways..and there is no possible way to fully understand how each person thinks...what each person means exactly by the way they interact with folks...and assuming or trying to define what specific words or phrases mean to one person...we all need to realize that someone else might feel differently about said pharse...or definition of a word...being able to understand that complexity about our nature as humans is the first step to being able to communicate in a logical, sensible, tolerant way...least thats what i think...but what do i know?

peace out...worky work...have a great day all!!!

 

That's a really interesting, thought-provoking theory. Along the same line, if we examine the basic structure of the universe, both at the quantum and relativistic levels, it is strikingly similar to basic neural structure. I'm devolving into wild speculation now (it's fun, so it's all good), but it could be that the purpose of the whole thing is to evolve intelligence, and it could also be that the mechanism you described is how that happens.

Thanks, this is why I love these kinds of threads.

 

Here's what I find funny. People want to use science to explain everything yet know one bothers to ask the question, where did that science come from. Here's what I mean by that. The Earth orbits the sun at just the right distance to keep it warm. Any closer it would be too hot to support life and any farther away too cold. Yes, science explains why it is possible and even how it works. But science is unable to prove how it got that way to begin with.

Science is a wonderful and fascinating thing. The Law of Gravity is my favorite. You can't see it , touch it, smell it or taste it yet it's there. Whether I chose to believe it or not it's there. I can say I don't believe in it and walk off the roof of my house and guess what happens, I smack the ground very hard. But wait I didn't believe in gravity therefore it doesn't exist, so why did that happen? Nobody here will disagree the gravity is real and absolute. It is truth, not because we are told so but because we experience it everyday of our lives.

Now then the question is, where did gravity come from? Was this just some random thing that by chance came into being? No it was created to hold things in place. It had to be designed that way by a Creator.

The same goes for mankind. Maybe it's just me but I refuse to go through life thinking I am just some accident that happened to develop this way. The human body is too complex to have just be happenstance(sp). It also had to be designed by a Creator.

The science behind both of these items was created. But yet so many people won't look past the science at all. They stop at science and use that as their stance that God doesn't exist because they can explain things with science. Not everything about God is mysterious and unexplainable. He gave us the intelligence to figure these things out not to worship the science He created but to use it to better utilize the resources He has given us. Science is just more evidence that God does exist rather than a replacement for Him.

I hope I made sense with this, I kept getting interrupted and lost my train of thought a few times. I would like to ask one more thing though. This is kind of a personal question...

How come it is when someone says they believe in God and are a Christian that they are automatically deemed as weak, handicapped, closed-minded and intolerant? I can just say that I am a Christian and I get comments like, "Oh you're one of them" or I am told that I am weak and can't think for myself and use my faith in God as a crutch. Yet we are the ones that are intolerant and closed-minded. Seems like a little hipocritical to me.

 

I would also like to say I agree with what Test has said in regards to peoples' intentions in a forum. It is very hard to read type and know exactly what they meant because there is no tone of voice to go by nor do we understand what a particular phrase may have meant because we take it the wrong or a different way than intended.

 

Well said, Faith!

 

Don't write in a way that suggests you are telling me what to do and I assure you, I will never imply it.

This is hilarious. If it takes a fallacious argument to present a *new idea* then, in my experience, it's not much of a new idea.

No, I *taint* something "unknown" from a despicable source.

LOL this "too literal" notion is purdy funny. I'm interested in how far you are willing to take it.

I agree we all see and relate to the world as individuals. With that in mind, I would never presume to know what you think, what you fear, whether you are closeminded or open to new ideas, ect... I WILL, however, ask if I want to know these things

You too! Peace of Our Lord be with you always!

 

Thank you.

Again, thank you!

I'm puzzled by this question. Speaking for myself, when I read this question I think to myself, "Does this person think I, as a 45 yr old man who started converting to Catholicism at the age of 42 I didn't question myself about what I was doing? The Faith to which I was committing myself?" Let me assure ya...I asked MANY MANY MANY questions

From where I sit, there is all sorts of tangible evidence validating the existence of God.

Good, thoughtful questions. Life isn't a random happenstance because God created the world. Because God created this world doesn't mean He didn't or couldn't create other worlds.

Old saw relevant to your vegas question: An old man began praying, "God, please let me win the lottery. I will do great good for others with the money." For weeks he prayed this prayer. After a while, he grew frustrated. "God," he prayed. "Why won't you let me win the lottery?"

All of a sudden a loud voice crashed down upon the man, "YOU HAVE TO BUY A TICKET!"

 

I wasn't aiming that at any individuals just a general comment because that happens alot to Christians. You know I used to wonder about how people believed in God as well. I used to be one of those "You're just weak" guys before I accepted Christ as my savior. So I understand how you and others can not believe in God and Creation and salvation through Christ. I have been there in those very shoes. All I can tell you is that over a period of time I began to realize there has to be more to life than just being born, living 70 years and dying. I had no purpose in life, no meaning. So I began to search for my purpose and I found that in Christ. Everything just made sense to me and I had a peace about me that I could not explain or understand. I still to this day can't explain the peace I felt that day. It's that peace that allows me to get through my trials. As I live day to day I have my ups and downs more downs than up lately but such is life. I just know that when I follow Christ and His example my life albeit not free of trials is much better because I know He's with me. It's a relationship thing that I just can't explain. I am not a very intellectual and smart person, to me it's just simple and I am afraid we as human try to always complicate things. If something is to simple we just can't believe it. That is our nature. Sory for rambling.

I too consider you a friend and comrade Hamma. I don't think any less of you or anybody that doesn't believe the way I do. I am always here for you or any CDL as a friend. I make a really good sounding board I am told. Even if I don't have the words to say sometimes it's nice just to be able to allow people to have someone listen to them.

I don't question my beliefs you're right. I believe what I believe because I question what I am taught.

I believe it has been said here already that we can what if all day long. If we do that we never have a belief in anything and we have nothing to stand on.

For the sake of argument what if I am right and God does exist and created everyting and there is a heaven and a hell? What if you don't accept Christ as your savior you go to hell? I mean if everybody who says there's no God, we make our own destiny, we live and we die and there is no heaven and hell is right, then we all are ok. But if I am right then I am ok but they are not.

This discussion has been great for me. I had gotten away from God and this has helped me get back to where I need to be. Thank you all for your input in this thread. I would love talk to anyone one on one about this anytime. I will quote Hamma from the rally when I say all you have to do is "HOLLA HOLLA".

 

But with this logic, doesn't the Creator have to have a creator, and so on and so forth? If you were to claim that the Creator has always existed, then couldn't one also argue that the universe has always existed? Either way, something had to have randomly happened or had to have always existed.

But science doesn't claim that the human body just "happened." Things that seem very "unlikely" to occur have a decent chance of happening over millions and millions of years. Supernovae after supernovae the "right" elements for "life" were formed in a molecular cloud which collapsed and began to form the sun and the other planets found in our solar system (as well as other stars and planets too). The earth was covered in an ocean of random compounds and elements, floating around, bonding and breaking from each-other. The first "life" was a compound that would attach to specific elements and compounds that would form a replica of the original one, and then break apart.

This story is very very very long. However, if you are interested in it, I would suggest reading Richard Dawkin's book, "The Selfish Gene." Dawkins does a much much better job at explaining evolution than I could possibly do in a forum post.

 

Hello. I was asked to come and back up a friend of mine you know here as Cyrus. I am in another one of his gaming communities, where I have apparently generated a name for myself as something of an artist of debate. Which isn't necessarily something I seek to discourage.

He asked if I would be interested in tossing my hat into the ring here, and I accepted, as it seems like a fun distraction. Now that introductions are out of the way, time for the meat. And we all love meat. (Unless you're a wuss.)

Although it was only briefly touched on, Terrorism as we know it is 100% a religious symptom, and I don't think its fair to say it is only an Islamic sympton. It surely is, but it is not relegated to only Islam. Christianity is also prone to this sort of thing (admittedly moreso in the past than the present, although nowadays it is still prevelent). It's unfortunate that the people of the world have been routinely misled as to what the real issue is here. The threat to our personal security is not the people that do the bombings. These are the instruments of the enemy we, as human beings, face. The true enemy, the true evil that sets about the vast majority of the worldly evils we now face... is faith.

If you believe in a god, you're part of the problem. There are no neutral parties.

Muslim terrorirsts are not evil, as we define the term. They are simply the muslims who follow the Qu'ran the closest. The Qu'ran contains literally hundreds of passages that say, in as many words, that Allah is the one true god and anyone not believing that should be either converted or killed. The Qu'ran specifically says that if other religions exist on the earth, then Allah is unhappy and it is the duty of muslims to convert or exterminate the other faiths.

Interestingly enough, Christanity holds a very similar doctrine (as does Judaism, if in a somewhat less militaristic sense). The bible states over and over again that god is the one true god and all other gods are false. God specifically states that lack of faith in him is a mortal sin punishable by an eternity in 'hell'. (To segue here, I would be interested to know how one suffers in hell if one's nervous system (which registers pain) is rotting in a coffin 6 feet below the earth.) Throughout the Old Testement (which the bible states is inerrent. That is, without fault) Christians are encouraged to conquer and kill their enemies. They are also encouragd to do any number of other seedy things, like stone adulterers, homosexuals, and get this, blasphemers to death outright. Now, here's the wacky part:

If you DON'T do this... If, for example, a christian meets a homosexual and DOESN'T kill him on the spot... he's sinning against god and runs the risk of going to hell. Here's a couple more things god considered a terrible sin, punishable by anything from exile to death. Please keep in mind I'm not making any of this up.

Planting a crop every seventh year.
Touching a dead mouse.
Wearing clothing composed of more than one kind of fiber.

The bible also states (very clearly) that males are allowed to sell their sisters into slavery so long as they are not mistreated. This is condoned by the inerrent, infallable bible. And in case you wanted to take interpretive liberties with the bible, no, you can't. The bible says so. You also cannot call ANY of this immoral, because the bible states clearly that it is the source of morality... so you cannot push your own ethical interpretation on it. It is ethics incarnate.

Who follows this stuff nowadays? Almost nobody. Any sensible christian will say that they really only pay attention to the New Testement, which was filled with all sorts of hocus pocus about a guy who sounds an AWFUL lot like Horus.

Who was Horus? Oh, just an egyptian who was:

Born of a virgin.
The only begotten son of god.
Mother's name was Meriam. (The virgin Mary was translated from earlier Hebrew texts where her name was Meri.)
Father's name was Jo-Seph
Foster father's ancestry was royal descent. (Joseph was also of royal descent)
Announced to his mother by an angel.
Was born during Winter Solstice.
Concieved by "a" holy spirit.
Birth was witnessed by shepherds.
Birth was witnessed by three solar deities. (as opposed to wise men)
Herut (as opposed to Herod) tried to have Horus murdered.
Was baptised.
... by a guy who was later beheaded.
Was tempted in the desert by Sut, the evil one.
Resisted temptation.
Had twelve disciples.
Walked on water, cast out demons, healed the sick, and restored sight.
Raised someone from death.
Was killed by crucifixion.
Buried in a tomb.
Descended into hell, only to raise from the dead.

Some of that should sound similar. If it doesn't, you've never in your life read any portion of the new testement. Horus was worshipped somewhere around 1,000 BC. (That's one thousand years before Christ.)

Anyway, enough of that fun.

I find it unfortunate and sad that to this day, the idea of some sort of invisible sky-father who is all-loving and all-forgiving, yet despises people who don't worship him and let's horrific things happen to great people without lifting a finger (at least, during any age where it could be accurately recorded) perplexes me. I would find it only silly, and not terrifying, were some people not driven to murderous rage whenever they feel their religion is under attack or threatened.

I'll admit that religion scares the everloving shit out of me. None of this stuff is real. The only real thing here is the bodycount, the innocent deaths, the perversion of intellectualism and the rampant bigotry and racism and sexism that these clubs encourage and sanctify.

And the worst thing? There's no talking to these poeple. It's like trying to tell a three year old that Santa doesn't exist. You can provide all the evidence in the world, and they'll simply giggle at you and say you're silly for not believing. We adults all know that santa is, in fact, just your parents... and yet, the same argument is used by otherwise rational adults about a mythical figure who is equally as improbable and meaningless.

In the end, I believe, as Sam Harris does, that the human race has two paths to take. The abandonment of religion in favor of reason, or annihilation. Because christians, jews, buddhists, muslims, hindus and all the others are completely and utterly convinced that they are all inerrently right and everyone else is inerrently wrong... and that will only lead to one conclusion. And nothing, to me, is more frightening than that.

 

well i apologize if that is how you percieved it..i was speaking figurativly...im sorry you are having a problem sorting that out with literallly...im assuming you dont' mean to be or sound arrogant and all knowing..but in the way you have approached some of your answers and in your writing..that is how you come across...

you have run that word into the ground....you keep claiming things are:

1. containing a fallacy; logically unsound
2. deceptive; misleading
3. disappointing; delusive

you have as of yet to explain how they are "fallacious" in your eyes...please do so we can finally understand the constant use of this word...you are obviously speaking or seeing things from your experience..however..us not knowing how you feel or think...we cannot read your mind to understand how they are indeed... containing a fallacy; logically unsound...deceptive; misleading...disappointing; delusive...throw us a bone...

so you prejudge? just asking..don't throw the "you dont' know how i feel or what im thinking" thing back at me here.. heh

im not quite sure why you tossed that in there...im not sure if you are mocking me...laughing at me or what...or find it amusing that i may use an anagram to describe something...again...outside the box thinking...i do it...and from what i have perceived from your writing and prose...you do not...again here your words and the way you write seem almost hateful and mocking...not if that is what you are intending...but to use your words...or idea...dont' write in a way that suggests or might imply that...but you have stated that you will write as you wish...yet you expect us to understand every little nuance in your words...but will not accept ours? just a question..not telling you how you think...

whithin my writings i try to stay level headed and steer away from anything that might sound negative or hurtful or hatefull...you may not see it as that...as i do not see anything but arrogance and stubborness in the way you write...it is our own perception...


im not asking anyone to change or degrade or disavow anyones faith or beliefs....nor have i ever thought i was telling someone what they think or how they think...

so you have no questions about life, the world and its surroundings and environment?...everything is laid out for you and yours thru your religion?...i applaud that..not many people can say that about thier lives...



i empathize with what faith said about people making preconcieved notions about lives...being a christian and "one of those"....i carry that burden also in my life...being gay folks assume the worst....from the religious folks we get "sinners"...and the assumption that if we accept jesus christ as our savior it will make things all better...we wont be gay...we won't sin...im still curious as to what that big sin is? anywho...i know many gay folks who are devout christians and who worship on a regular basis...yet...often as not are not accepted into mainstream religious organizations...they love...they pray...they raise families with good moral religious upbringings...they are not child molesters (im not even gonna go where i could with this one ) there is no hidden agenda to make the world gay...and aids is not a punishment from god...boy am i tired of hearing that one from the church...ugh...so anyway....with that little insight from me...perhaps you can realize my reluctance to blindly accept a concept that i have...well...no faith in at this time...

 

I like the idea of questioning ones faith in faith. =P

 

So Cyrus is calling for backup, eh?

Interesting introduction. I am glad we are worthy of your presence.

Not true. It is also used extensively as a secular political tool.

In other words, the pepetrators of these heinous acts are not responsible for their actions, but are forced to act out because of a faith they may happen to have?

I believe in the God of the Bible, but I think terrorism is wrong. I agree there are no neutral parties - everyone makes a choice thereby placing themselves in one distinct group or another. But because I believe in God makes me a part of the problem? How exactly?

Who is "we" and how do you define "evil"? Also, by what standard do you define "evil"?

Interesting but not altogether incorrect statements.

Doctrine is defined as a teaching or dogma or set of guidelines. What doctrine in Christianity or Judaism (but less militaristic) is similar than Islam? Some specific examples please.

Lack of faith Jesus Christ will consign a person to an eternal hell. (Old Testament saints fell under a different dispensation, but faith was still a prerequisite through which righteousness was imputed.) All sin is "mortal" meaning any one sin is enough to warrant the sentence to hell.

Since God created your nervous system I am pretty confident He would know exactly how to reconstitute it if He had to.

Any student of the Old Testament would tell you that there are no Christians in the Old Testament. Christians are called that because they are followers of Jesus Christ, who did not come in the flesh until around 2 B.C. or so. The Old Testament does contain many places where God commands His people Israel to conquer other nations for one reason or another. Stoning was used as a form of capitol punishment within the Jewish nation to deal with sin. Sin is a serious subject when the holiness of God is concerned.

Killing a homosexual on the spot is never something God instructs Christians to do. You are incorrect here or you are in fact making it up. As a born again believer is Christ, we are told to love the sinner. Christ Himself loved those for whom He died. But I can tell you He hated the sin for which He had to die. I know a number of homosexual people - I have never considered killing any of them!

Again, any student of the Old Testament can point out your improper contextual view of each of these instructions. Every dietary and cleanliness instruction was meant for the Jewish nation. You yourself are taking interpretive liberties with the Bible and I can see that you personally have never seriously studied it.

Actually, the Orthodox Jew still observes these laws.

Not true. I am a "sensible Christian" and the Bible is only complete with both the Old Testament and the New Testament. You can feel safe leaving out the maps.

This is your opinion and unprovable.

If you were a student of the Old Testament you would also know that there are many prophecies concerning Jesus Christ that are similar to many items you mention here.

I find it unfortunate that to this day people would reject the idea that there is an almighty God who created the universe with the word of His mouth. God has said in His Word that this world is under the curse of sin and will be until the Last Days. Your lack of faith in Jesus Christ, while saddening to me, does not trigger some murderous response where I think you must die. It actually results in a saddening of my heart that a young person such as yourself has such a hardened heart towards God.

Me too!

That statement cannot be proven.

I don't belong to a "club", I have a relationship with the Savior. The bodycount, the death, and the perversion of intellectualism and these other ills you name, are due to sin. I neither encourage nor "sanctify" any of these things.

The worst thing is that you flatly reject something that could be true. I could say there is no talking to people like you! Yes, Santa is a myth. But Santa is based on a historical figure. Jesus Christ is neither improbable nor meaningless - that is an ignorant statement. Jesus' existance has never been in doubt and Christianity is far from meaningless!

Right and wrong has to be established by something or someone outside the human race or it is all relative. The authority to establish absolute morality must also originate on a level of authority outside the human race or it too is relative.

God is that authority and final say and He has communicated His plan for this world through His Bible.

 

you see...now manis post makes sense to me...in the way that it is a very favorable form of argument/debate/discussion...if he disagreed with said statement or whatnot..he gave a reason...he knows his audience and can communicate his responses in such a way that are not offensive...or likely to be misconstrued...guess those classes you took are paying of eh? im glad

i always liked you mani...even tho you "want to kill me" lol

 

Manitous, ask and ye shall recieve.

Bible vs. Homosexuality:

"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." Lev 18:22

First of all, I find it interesting that a book that is word-for-word the "Word of God" would never once assume that women would be educated enough to actually read the thing. See, if a woman reads that, she would be awfully confused... she would basically be forbidden from having sex, even though the bible says you should be fruitful and multiply. A catch-22.

You could say, "Well, obviously, women couldn't read back THEN, but they can now," why wouldn't have God's divinely inspired authors have forseen this?

Anyway, moving on:

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them." Lev. 20:13

Now, please explain to me, a secular moron, how this is NOT an order, a direct order from God himself, to kill homosexuals. This is god, here. This is the inerrant Word of the Lord, telling you, the good catholic, to kill homosexuals. It's not even your fault if you kill them! "Their blood is upon them!" That means, not upon you! You're absolved of all responsibility. I'm surprised you guys don't take automatic weapons to gay pride marches. Lots of God's Work to be done there.

See, you can't just explain that away. Orders don't get more plain than that. Kill homosexuals. They have committed a horrible sin against god and are to be put to death. The bible CAN'T BE WRONG, so if you DON'T do this, you're immoral and sinning. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Bible vs. All non-catholics:

"He who is not with me, is against me." Matt. 12:30

"No one comes to the father, but by me." John 14:6

How are you any different from Islam or Judaism? They make the same exact claims. Absolute certainty. Way I see it, if you just take those two religions plus yours, according to the laws of probability, you have a 2 in 3 chance of being wrong and going to hell. I personally wouldn't like those odds.

Now, to respond to you personally:

I feel I should remind you that the bible is inerrant, and the source of all morality, according to your faith. Therefor, you are in NO PLACE to render judgement on what the bible actually means. There is no context. You can't take it metaphorically because it doesn't say you can. I'm going to wager nobody really below Cardinal is allowed to say what the bible is and not really saying. The bible says what it says, and there is no mention in the bible, anywhere, ever, that the contents are subject to change based on the times. If that were true, gays would be marrying.

Also, in regards to Horus, his story was written before the story of Jesus. Since the story of Jesus was first told in its entirety in the book of Mark, which was written in 70 A.D. (40 years after Jesus' death, interestingly enough), that puts the two stories apart by about 1,070 years. To put that in perspective, the Great Depression was less than a hundred years ago and, off the top of my head, I couldn't tell you who was President then. And hell, I have a 20th century education. These guys through the earth was a flat disk!

The story was written, in its entirety, by Egyptians, who really had no reason to be prophesizing for a jewish offshoot that wouldn't exist for another 1,000 years. However, I think its interesting that a story so precious to Egyptians somehow found its way into the stories of a people who, for a long time, were slaves of the egyptians and exposed to their myths for a very long period of time. Awfully big coincidence, doncha think?

You are also, likewise, totally incapable of disproving Gerichosigal, the God of Toasters. See, Gerichosigal is a god I keep around in my back pocket for situations such as this. Gerichosigal created the earth and the universe specifically so that humans would eventually evolve to invent toasters. Once we have created enough toasters, he will wipe out all human life and ascend all the toasters to his heavenly paradise where they, and all toaster-loving humans whome he spares, will be living for all eternity.

You cannot disprove him any more than I can disprove your god. However, here's where my point is made: Your god and my god possess the same amount of actual, physical, court-admissable evidence: none. They both cannot, by definition, be disproved. Therefor, they have the same validity. Your god, Yahweh, and his son Jesus, are on the same level as Gerichosigal the Toaster Overlord. So please. The "you can't disprove him, either" argument may pass against the kid who mouths off in Sunday School, but in the adult world, you'll need to do better than that.

Finally:

Wow. Your god is an asshole. Seriously, imagine standing there, and he's like, "Sorry, my son, who I love eternally, but I need you to condemn you to a lake of horrors so intense that words fail to describe it and oh, yeah, you'll suffer for eternity without end."

And you say, "Well, that's ok, I don't have a nervous system anymore. In fact, I also don't have neurons or vocal cords, so I'm not sure how we're having this conversation."

And he says, "Don't worry, I specifically reconstructed your nervous system so that you'll suffer. By the way, did I mention I love you very much?"

"Wow, god, you're a dick."

"I know. Just wait until I get started about how worthless women are."

"Don't I know it!"

And then everyone has a good laugh, until you're sent down to a lake of burning suffer to scream for eternity.