Before I go on, FullonEdge, this isn't me flaming anything you've said, just so you know.
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FullonEdge said:
I think that the emerging idea of universalism where all religions worship the same God and merely take different paths to either "oneness" or heaven is a dangerous one.
I don't understand how that can be a dangerous belief. I don't understand this whole idea of God only favoring one group of people. Why can't we all share God? Why does he have to belong to one group of people? Last I heard, he loved
all his children, not just a select portion. It's the whole "God is on our side and not yours" belief that's caused a lot of the fighting between religious people in this world, and I don't mean that to be offensive, either.
Originally posted by FullonEdge
It's more like wishful thinking. The Bible says God is a "jealous God" who punishes sin and is in fact the only deity.
Well, I personally don't agree with the Bible on a lot of things, and that's one of them. I personally fail to understand why someone would want to worship a god who would like only a small group of people.
It's not wishful thinking, either. I seriously believe that God loves us all, no exceptions, and lets us use our free will to choose any path we deem right for us to get to him.
I mean, don't get me wrong, believe whatever you want regarding God. I just personally feel otherwise.
Originally posted by FullonEdge
As for atheism, I think everyone is aware that a deity exists,
No, not everyone.
Originally posted by FullonEdge
some may deny the existence out of stubborness (seeing how religions can be corrupted and how evil human nature is) or out of ignorance (thinking they don't need a god)
Actually, a lot of the atheists I know say they don't believe in God simply because they just haven't seen sufficient enough proof that he exists. Besides that, every single religion out there claims that they have the proof. And Christianity's got a bunch of denominations, meaning that even people within the same religion have disagreements regarding God and everything. So is it any wonder why some people are wary to be religious?
A few people may not believe in a god because of the reasons you've stated, sure. But those are not what the atheists I've talked to state as their reason for not believing in a god.
Originally posted by FullonEdge
even though God promises hell to be real.
Supposedly. Hell is supposedly real. A book claims that it exists. That doesn't automatically mean that that's true, though.
Besides that, I dunno, if people are going to be Christians, I would think they should become Christians because they truly feel that's the right religion for them, they truly get something out of it, and not just because they want to avoid a potential eternity of hellfire. That's what it seems some Christians out there are like to me-they only do things because they don't want to go to a place that may or may not exist, and not for any other reason. Not saying that you're like that or anything, but that's what it's seemed like with some other Christians I've met.
Originally posted by FullonEdge
Why would you want to risk unimagineable torture for eternity?
Well, hey, let's turn this the other way-why would you want to risk whatever punishment another religion has for eternity. Perhaps you should start believing in the god of another religion, just in case that's the one we all should've been following this entire time, right?
You have your reasons for why you don't follow any other religion, and those reasons are also the ones of people who choose to not follow Christianity as well.
Originally posted by FullonEdge
Yes, I do think rationalism has gone a little too far.
I beg to differ. I think it's very important to question religious dogma of any kind.
Angela