Why do people follow the bible and take it seriously?

[you gon always be my latin queen bitch]

daygo do you go to church? (are you religious?)

[The King]

Why do people follow the bible and take it seriously?

Because their fucking stupid and afraid of the truth. The Bible gives a purpose to people's lives. But the truth of it is, our lives are pointless. We'll be dead in 80 years, new animals of our species will take our places, and over tens of thousands of years, an insignificant period of time with respect to the age of the earth and universe, no one will remember who the fuck, anyone is. Life is pointless. Their is no afterlife, their is no hell, their is nothing. That's the truth. It's science, it's common sense, it's reality, and every single event in the history of man-kind says it's true. Enjoy it while we can, because that's all we'll ever have.

Don't you find it extremely arrogant that people think there's an afterlife? That their so fucking important that they'll be something after death for them? Fuck no. You're unimportant, I'm unimportant, Kobe is unimportant, Obama is unimportant. It's all unimportant. Our lives are meaningless. And anyone who thinks the human race has a greater purpose or is "special" should just go ahead and kill themselves. We're no more special then the millions of trees who keep us alive. No more special then a seagull eating out of a dumpster. We all go to the same place. We all decompose into the earth and our atoms assimilate into other things

When you think about it, I'm just a bunch of atoms, pushing buttons made of atoms, connected to a computer made of atoms. That's all we are. Their is no soul, their is mystical force. Their is nothing more, nothing less. And whoever thinks their is an afterlife, is seriously ignorant to almost every thread of common sense imaginable. So stop thinking we're special, and that we're going somewhere when we die. Not going to happen. Every event anyone has ever experienced in the history of mankind says so. Unless you believe some bullshit written 2000 years ago. And that would be really insane.

[you gon always be my latin queen bitch]

the king, therefore the bible/church etc...is a bidness?
would you agree?

[QuietTruth]

[Shallow]

blue...
you feel better about being an atheist?

its the best thing homie...you dont worry about death...you just accept shit the way it is. if anything being an atheist is the most liberating thing. thats how i see it..if niggas wanna believe in god..fine..believe in god. just leave me out of it.

You don't worry about death? So if you're chilling in the park enjoying the day and some dude rolls up and starts firing shots every where, you're just going to sit tight and not care if a bullet hits you? Or are you going to find cover and avoid getting hit? Just about everyone is afraid of death and value their life. Religious people just take it a step further and want to make sure they don't die after they die.

I've said something in an older thread that sums up what I want to say again;

We have so much and bask in it that we can easily just live our lives to the fullest. Go tell some kid who is going to live his entire life in a caged off garbage dump picking scraps and giving them to his masters for food and to avoid being tortured to "stop worrying and enjoy your life". I don't know if there is a God, but I sure as fuck hope there's one. Not for me. If I live my 80+ years in the lifestyle I live it maybe when it's all over I won't care if there's a God. But there are hundreds of millions to billions of people that really suffer ann don't have time to debate theologies. They just suffer, and they hope there's a God.

So go scoff at those that believe in a better life. Laugh at them. Feel sorry for them for being stupid. Whatver you want. But you've never faced endless suffering. You get to sit in front of a computer and browse the web. There are young children in the world sold as sex slaves from 3 or 4 years old an dieing of STDs before they ever even hit puberty. Go tell them not to sweat death. Tell them that they can liberate themselves by accepting that there's no God.

why worry about death homie?. everybody gonna die sooner or later. if niggas start shootin at cuzz then of course i will do everything in my power to survive that shit. look homie..i love life and love being alive. but that dont mean im scared of death...cuz i ain't. as for endless suffering..u think everybody who done suffered greatly believe in god?. my uncle spent almost 10 years fightin cancer...nigga couldnt eat...work...fucc..all he did was throw up...i used to send cuzz money..and believe me that nigga did suffer some unimaginable pain. he survived though. and no he didnt believe in god before or after. to him...god is bullshit. And the lil kids who is living hell right now..the last thing they need is some bullshit god. let kids be kids homie.

As far as my own mortal life, I don't worry about death. Your uncle suffered for a portion of his life and lived. I'm talking about kids that never knew joy and are dead. How am I or you supposed to let kids be kids when they spend their whole lives in shit and are now dead? The first thing a dead kid needs is God, not the last thing.

People follow it for all the wrong reasons. Mainly fear.  Kids believe in Santa Claus because they are afraid they wont get the presents the want at Christmas...until some adult explains to them that Santa is not real. He is make believe.  Imagine if there were no rational adults to explain that to young children. They'd become adults that believed in such a ridiculous idea of a fat man from the North Pole watching over everyone to see who's naughty and nice, and swoops down in one night to bring presents to EVERYone lol. Seems so silly for adults to believe such an obviously made up character huh?  Not like God and that Jesus character. Their existence makes so much more sense...

So if an adult never told you Santa wasn't real you'd still believe in Santa?

I guess you're as stupid as your post is then. Most kids I grew up with just figured out Santa wasn't real. We didn't need a sit down explanation. Kids simply outgrow certain things. Scoffing at the idea of God when many of the world's most reasonable and intelligent people belive in God is simply ignorant on your part. Santa was made up as a story and admitted as such. By all historical accounts the early Christians believed in Jesus and died for real to promote them. It was never implied anywhere in history that Jesus was allegory to them and they didn't really believe. No one died defending Kris Kringle.

No, I wouldnt still believe in Santa. Which is why I am able to understand that religion is completely bullshit as well.  Adults fear death just as children do. They dont fear getting coal in their stockings the same way children do.  People become completely stupid and tend to believe in anything that will comfort them when they are in fear.  More intelligent people understand this, which is why the more intelligent people invented this scam in the first place.  Does it matter if people who you consider "intelligent" believe in God? No. Does it make God any more real? lol Definetely not. There are intelligent people who think a rabbits foot brings them good luck. Does that mean its logical to believe rabbits feet are lucky? The "idea" of God has not, and never will be proven because it is fake.  If you need to cling to a higher being like a baby does a security blanket to make you feel better about the fact that when you die...it will be OVER. Then go ahead. Thats your choice. Just don't get upset when logical people look at you and laugh.

You said Santa and God are the same and you said adults tell children Santa is fake and that's why they stop believing. Now you're changing your stance.

Keep scoffing at the idea of religion and those "logical" people you hang out with and laugh with can laugh at Isaac Newton before they laugh at me. A man a lot smarter than maybe every athiest combined believed in the "idea" of God. He actually attributed his genius to God and called it a gift. It was the only way he could explain how he could see things in math and science that 99.9% of the rest of the world's smartest people couldn't even fathom.

I guess he wasn't that smart after all. Who needs physics and calculus anyway?


I don't laugh at or scoff at athiests. If you don't believe in anything after, fine by me. I don't think less of you or think you'll be punished. I simply chose to have faith in more from this world than what we have as humans from anywhere between 1 and 100 years. It doesn't change anything about the way I live my life. There is nothing I enjoy doing that I refrain from doing because I think God says it's wrong. If I fel it's right I'll do it. If I don't I won't

[The King]

the king, therefore the bible/church etc...is a bidness?
would you agree?

Sure man. But I don't see the purpose. The people in charge of the church probably don't have some evil agenda. They probably believe every word of the shit.  What bothers me the most is how hypocritical religious people are. Isn't the majority of America religious? And if so, why is American a shit whole of morality? Isn't the point of religion to promote being a good and moral person? Look at the American culture today. Not one person can honestly say America is a moral country. What country has the most murders, most rapes, most violent crimes? And I bet most of these people committing these crimes believe in god.

Religion should bread selflessness. But instead, the majority of people are so concerned with their own personal wealth, their own personal problems, they could give a shit how their actions affect other people. I know so many people who spend every waking moment dwelling on their insignificant problems. Unless you have cancer, or you're child just died, or someone burned your house down, what real problems do you have? Very few.

My point is, religious people aren't all stupid, but the majority of people in general are. The majority of people are fucking dumb. And the majority of these dumb people, believe in idiotic things (like the Bible) to explain the shit they don't understand. Religion is a crutch for people who are either to stupid, or too lazy to realize, and learn the truth.

your soul is just another word for your identity. Your identity is merely your memories, stored in your brain. Your brain ceases to function, along with the rest of your body when you die.

Wise words.

[QuietTruth]

Sure man. But I don't see the purpose. The people in charge of the church probably don't have some evil agenda. They probably believe every word of the shit.  What bothers me the most is how hypocritical religious people are. Isn't the majority of America religious? And if so, why is American a shit whole of morality? Isn't the point of religion to promote being a good and moral person? Look at the American culture today. Not one person can honestly say America is a moral country. What country has the most murders, most rapes, most violent crimes? And I bet most of these people committing these crimes believe in god.

And that's the fuckin' truth. And it's a damn shame!

And the majority of these dumb people, believe in idiotic things (like the Bible) to explain the shit they don't understand.

Hold up, becuz Atheists can't explain anythang more than we can.

If anybody is more arrogant and ignorant it's them, more than anybody else. Just look damn it. They think they are the smartest groups of people to walk God's green Earth. Calling religious people dumb. Like we retarded. Wait up a minute, how could you walk around believing everybody is unimportant. Again, it's crazy how ya'll quick to call stupidity on people, yet look at the ways ya'll minds operate.

[Shallow]

the king, therefore the bible/church etc...is a bidness?
would you agree?

Sure man. But I don't see the purpose. The people in charge of the church probably don't have some evil agenda. They probably believe every word of the shit.  What bothers me the most is how hypocritical religious people are. Isn't the majority of America religious? And if so, why is American a shit whole of morality? Isn't the point of religion to promote being a good and moral person? Look at the American culture today. Not one person can honestly say America is a moral country. What country has the most murders, most rapes, most violent crimes? And I bet most of these people committing these crimes believe in god.

Religion should bread selflessness. But instead, the majority of people are so concerned with their own personal wealth, their own personal problems, they could give a shit how their actions affect other people. I know so many people who spend every waking moment dwelling on their insignificant problems. Unless you have cancer, or you're child just died, or someone burned your house down, what real problems do you have? Very few.

My point is, religious people aren't all stupid, but the majority of people in general are. The majority of people are fucking dumb. And the majority of these dumb people, believe in idiotic things (like the Bible) to explain the shit they don't understand. Religion is a crutch for people who are either to stupid, or too lazy to realize, and learn the truth.

your soul is just another word for your identity. Your identity is merely your memories, stored in your brain. Your brain ceases to function, along with the rest of your body when you die.

Wise words.

What stats are you looking at? The US is not even close to the top of the list when it comes to muder, rape and violent crime rates. It's not the safest country in the world when it comes to that.

You say the US is supposed to be a religious country like every other country isn't. Name me all these non-religious countries to compare to the US.

[.:DaYg0sTyLz:.]

daygo do you go to church? (are you religious?)

not a chance lol

[.:DaYg0sTyLz:.]

People follow it for all the wrong reasons. Mainly fear.  Kids believe in Santa Claus because they are afraid they wont get the presents the want at Christmas...until some adult explains to them that Santa is not real. He is make believe.  Imagine if there were no rational adults to explain that to young children. They'd become adults that believed in such a ridiculous idea of a fat man from the North Pole watching over everyone to see who's naughty and nice, and swoops down in one night to bring presents to EVERYone lol. Seems so silly for adults to believe such an obviously made up character huh?  Not like God and that Jesus character. Their existence makes so much more sense...

So if an adult never told you Santa wasn't real you'd still believe in Santa?

I guess you're as stupid as your post is then. Most kids I grew up with just figured out Santa wasn't real. We didn't need a sit down explanation. Kids simply outgrow certain things. Scoffing at the idea of God when many of the world's most reasonable and intelligent people belive in God is simply ignorant on your part. Santa was made up as a story and admitted as such. By all historical accounts the early Christians believed in Jesus and died for real to promote them. It was never implied anywhere in history that Jesus was allegory to them and they didn't really believe. No one died defending Kris Kringle.

No, I wouldnt still believe in Santa. Which is why I am able to understand that religion is completely bullshit as well.  Adults fear death just as children do. They dont fear getting coal in their stockings the same way children do.  People become completely stupid and tend to believe in anything that will comfort them when they are in fear.  More intelligent people understand this, which is why the more intelligent people invented this scam in the first place.  Does it matter if people who you consider "intelligent" believe in God? No. Does it make God any more real? lol Definetely not. There are intelligent people who think a rabbits foot brings them good luck. Does that mean its logical to believe rabbits feet are lucky? The "idea" of God has not, and never will be proven because it is fake.  If you need to cling to a higher being like a baby does a security blanket to make you feel better about the fact that when you die...it will be OVER. Then go ahead. Thats your choice. Just don't get upset when logical people look at you and laugh.

You said Santa and God are the same and you said adults tell children Santa is fake and that's why they stop believing. Now you're changing your stance.

Keep scoffing at the idea of religion and those "logical" people you hang out with and laugh with can laugh at Isaac Newton before they laugh at me. A man a lot smarter than maybe every athiest combined believed in the "idea" of God. He actually attributed his genius to God and called it a gift. It was the only way he could explain how he could see things in math and science that 99.9% of the rest of the world's smartest people couldn't even fathom.

I guess he wasn't that smart after all. Who needs physics and calculus anyway?


I don't laugh at or scoff at athiests. If you don't believe in anything after, fine by me. I don't think less of you or think you'll be punished. I simply chose to have faith in more from this world than what we have as humans from anywhere between 1 and 100 years. It doesn't change anything about the way I live my life. There is nothing I enjoy doing that I refrain from doing because I think God says it's wrong. If I fel it's right I'll do it. If I don't I won't

I didnt say Santa and God are the same. I said they are believed in for the same reason. Fear.  Children believe in Santa because they believe if they are good, and ask Santa for presents...they will get them. They believe if they are bad, they will get a stocking full of coal.  Likewise, people who believe in God (Im using religions such as Christianity as an example) believe for the same reasons. Heaven being Presents, Stocking full of coal being Hell.  Its obviously a device invented to keep people in line.  Its a political tool. Man is always afraid of what he can not understand. In order to ease those fears, you create an answer out of nothing.  Its far to difficult to simply say, "I dont know".  So instead you have this group who claims to know what NO one can in order to comfort their own insecurities.  Smart politicians play on those fears. As stupid as George Bush was, the people around him were smart enough to know that even in the 21st century you can control people with fear.  Imagine 1,000's of years ago.  NOBODY knows what happens after death and everyone fears it (admit it or not) so what easier tool to use to control people then to pretend to know the answer to THAT.

As far as you bringing up Isaac Newton lol Are you serious?  You can be a relatively smart human being, even a genius and still believe in something completely illogical.  You think there are no geniuses that believe in a lucky rabbits foot, etc? lol

I am a firm believer in, do what you want as long as you dont hurt anyone. If you believe somehow that your religion makes you better, by all means...believe away. But dont pretend that because you live by a blind faith, you know the answer. You dont know the answer, just like me. The only difference is most religious nuts pretend to because some other man told them so. lol  I am completely secure in the fact that some things we are just incapable of understanding now.  1,000 years from now....if we havent become completely extinct, maybe man will have a much better understanding of things. At one point it made complete sense to believe the Earth was flat and that the Sun revolved around us.

And you say you dont believe a non believer will be punished. What religion are you?

[LAXCENTRAL]

 

[you gon always be my latin queen bitch]

nah the king reason i ask is cuz them priests, pastors etc.. are the ones doin the rape, molestin but they get away wit it wit a payment in the millions?
where the fuck are the hundreds of millions of comin from to pay off these "victims" thats a gang of money but it stops them from goin to prison

but i feel what your sayin tho on the bible, whoever invented it...made a good business i guess lol

and this bible/church etc.. shit is so complicated and one sided to some, when you tell em your a "christian" they get hurt and say nah the best is to be a ________whatever religion they are lol

so you figure you will have gone thru a few relgions and still might be lost without a religion to call home

[LAXCENTRAL]

 

[Shallow]

People follow it for all the wrong reasons. Mainly fear.  Kids believe in Santa Claus because they are afraid they wont get the presents the want at Christmas...until some adult explains to them that Santa is not real. He is make believe.  Imagine if there were no rational adults to explain that to young children. They'd become adults that believed in such a ridiculous idea of a fat man from the North Pole watching over everyone to see who's naughty and nice, and swoops down in one night to bring presents to EVERYone lol. Seems so silly for adults to believe such an obviously made up character huh?  Not like God and that Jesus character. Their existence makes so much more sense...

So if an adult never told you Santa wasn't real you'd still believe in Santa?

I guess you're as stupid as your post is then. Most kids I grew up with just figured out Santa wasn't real. We didn't need a sit down explanation. Kids simply outgrow certain things. Scoffing at the idea of God when many of the world's most reasonable and intelligent people belive in God is simply ignorant on your part. Santa was made up as a story and admitted as such. By all historical accounts the early Christians believed in Jesus and died for real to promote them. It was never implied anywhere in history that Jesus was allegory to them and they didn't really believe. No one died defending Kris Kringle.

No, I wouldnt still believe in Santa. Which is why I am able to understand that religion is completely bullshit as well.  Adults fear death just as children do. They dont fear getting coal in their stockings the same way children do.  People become completely stupid and tend to believe in anything that will comfort them when they are in fear.  More intelligent people understand this, which is why the more intelligent people invented this scam in the first place.  Does it matter if people who you consider "intelligent" believe in God? No. Does it make God any more real? lol Definetely not. There are intelligent people who think a rabbits foot brings them good luck. Does that mean its logical to believe rabbits feet are lucky? The "idea" of God has not, and never will be proven because it is fake.  If you need to cling to a higher being like a baby does a security blanket to make you feel better about the fact that when you die...it will be OVER. Then go ahead. Thats your choice. Just don't get upset when logical people look at you and laugh.

You said Santa and God are the same and you said adults tell children Santa is fake and that's why they stop believing. Now you're changing your stance.

Keep scoffing at the idea of religion and those "logical" people you hang out with and laugh with can laugh at Isaac Newton before they laugh at me. A man a lot smarter than maybe every athiest combined believed in the "idea" of God. He actually attributed his genius to God and called it a gift. It was the only way he could explain how he could see things in math and science that 99.9% of the rest of the world's smartest people couldn't even fathom.

I guess he wasn't that smart after all. Who needs physics and calculus anyway?


I don't laugh at or scoff at atheists. If you don't believe in anything after, fine by me. I don't think less of you or think you'll be punished. I simply chose to have faith in more from this world than what we have as humans from anywhere between 1 and 100 years. It doesn't change anything about the way I live my life. There is nothing I enjoy doing that I refrain from doing because I think God says it's wrong. If I fel it's right I'll do it. If I don't I won't

I didnt say Santa and God are the same. I said they are believed in for the same reason. Fear.  Children believe in Santa because they believe if they are good, and ask Santa for presents...they will get them. They believe if they are bad, they will get a stocking full of coal.  Likewise, people who believe in God (Im using religions such as Christianity as an example) believe for the same reasons. Heaven being Presents, Stocking full of coal being Hell.  Its obviously a device invented to keep people in line.  Its a political tool. Man is always afraid of what he can not understand. In order to ease those fears, you create an answer out of nothing.  Its far to difficult to simply say, "I dont know".  So instead you have this group who claims to know what NO one can in order to comfort their own insecurities.  Smart politicians play on those fears. As stupid as George Bush was, the people around him were smart enough to know that even in the 21st century you can control people with fear.  Imagine 1,000's of years ago.  NOBODY knows what happens after death and everyone fears it (admit it or not) so what easier tool to use to control people then to pretend to know the answer to THAT.

As far as you bringing up Isaac Newton lol Are you serious?  You can be a relatively smart human being, even a genius and still believe in something completely illogical.  You think there are no geniuses that believe in a lucky rabbits foot, etc? lol

I am a firm believer in, do what you want as long as you dont hurt anyone. If you believe somehow that your religion makes you better, by all means...believe away. But dont pretend that because you live by a blind faith, you know the answer. You dont know the answer, just like me. The only difference is most religious nuts pretend to because some other man told them so. lol  I am completely secure in the fact that some things we are just incapable of understanding now.  1,000 years from now....if we havent become completely extinct, maybe man will have a much better understanding of things. At one point it made complete sense to believe the Earth was flat and that the Sun revolved around us.

And you say you dont believe a non believer will be punished. What religion are you?

You're denying what you said to avoid having to take it back. You said, not me, you, that people stop believing in Santa because adults tell them he's fake. We both agreed that is not the case and now you're changing what you said and trying to avoid saying you were wrong. When I'm wrong I admit it. (Ask NIK in the sports forum).

And now you're trying avoid that you distinguished between logical and intelligent. You said intelligent people understand God is fake and then you put the word under quotations to mock me and people I consider intelligent. Then I bring up Newton who is 100X more intelligent than anyone you can name so you change the stance to logical people and try and avoid the fact you said intelligent people.

Of course it is no more logical to be athiest than to be Christian. Atheists blindly believe in nothing and assert that God cannot be and Christian do the opposite. If you were agnostic you'd be logical. But logic is based on reason and when there is no solid proof for something there is no reasoning your way onto to either side.

Now you're trying to equate a stupid superstition that takes up no time and is more reflective of a person's quirkiness and try and compare it to deep faith in something very important. Newton didn't just believe in God to go along with shit and it wasn't a simple quirk to his personality. He spent much of his life studying and trying to decipher God and Jesus and what the Bible meant. There are very many very smart men and women that do the same. That's why God has nothing to do with Santa. It's not fear driving them. It's faith. You have faith, or you don't. You can't teach it or explain it. It doesn't prove that there is a God, but it shows that scoffing at people that believe in God is immature.

As to what I am, since you asked. I'm Christian. I believe in Jesus. I believe in what he said and how he lived. I believe he was the physical embodiment of God in the flesh. I was raised in and still attend the Greek-Orthodox Church. I think the Old Testament cannot be taken as anything more than morality tales and fiction and I feel the same about any and every writings of Paul in the new testament. I feel that since Jesus corrected Moses he would have corrected Paul. And as far as Jesus goes there is plenty of evidence to show that good people that don't believe in him are fine. I don't have a problem thinking the Gospels were tampered with because the Church, every church, contradicts what Jesus said time and again. If they were going to make it up, why not just make it up as they do things so they don't look like hypocrites? Unless that's just part of the plan to trick people. The bottom line is when I think of Jesus or read the scriptures I have and feel faith and I can't explain that.

[.:DaYg0sTyLz:.]

People follow it for all the wrong reasons. Mainly fear.  Kids believe in Santa Claus because they are afraid they wont get the presents the want at Christmas...until some adult explains to them that Santa is not real. He is make believe.  Imagine if there were no rational adults to explain that to young children. They'd become adults that believed in such a ridiculous idea of a fat man from the North Pole watching over everyone to see who's naughty and nice, and swoops down in one night to bring presents to EVERYone lol. Seems so silly for adults to believe such an obviously made up character huh?  Not like God and that Jesus character. Their existence makes so much more sense...

So if an adult never told you Santa wasn't real you'd still believe in Santa?

I guess you're as stupid as your post is then. Most kids I grew up with just figured out Santa wasn't real. We didn't need a sit down explanation. Kids simply outgrow certain things. Scoffing at the idea of God when many of the world's most reasonable and intelligent people belive in God is simply ignorant on your part. Santa was made up as a story and admitted as such. By all historical accounts the early Christians believed in Jesus and died for real to promote them. It was never implied anywhere in history that Jesus was allegory to them and they didn't really believe. No one died defending Kris Kringle.

No, I wouldnt still believe in Santa. Which is why I am able to understand that religion is completely bullshit as well.  Adults fear death just as children do. They dont fear getting coal in their stockings the same way children do.  People become completely stupid and tend to believe in anything that will comfort them when they are in fear.  More intelligent people understand this, which is why the more intelligent people invented this scam in the first place.  Does it matter if people who you consider "intelligent" believe in God? No. Does it make God any more real? lol Definetely not. There are intelligent people who think a rabbits foot brings them good luck. Does that mean its logical to believe rabbits feet are lucky? The "idea" of God has not, and never will be proven because it is fake.  If you need to cling to a higher being like a baby does a security blanket to make you feel better about the fact that when you die...it will be OVER. Then go ahead. Thats your choice. Just don't get upset when logical people look at you and laugh.

You said Santa and God are the same and you said adults tell children Santa is fake and that's why they stop believing. Now you're changing your stance.

Keep scoffing at the idea of religion and those "logical" people you hang out with and laugh with can laugh at Isaac Newton before they laugh at me. A man a lot smarter than maybe every athiest combined believed in the "idea" of God. He actually attributed his genius to God and called it a gift. It was the only way he could explain how he could see things in math and science that 99.9% of the rest of the world's smartest people couldn't even fathom.

I guess he wasn't that smart after all. Who needs physics and calculus anyway?


I don't laugh at or scoff at atheists. If you don't believe in anything after, fine by me. I don't think less of you or think you'll be punished. I simply chose to have faith in more from this world than what we have as humans from anywhere between 1 and 100 years. It doesn't change anything about the way I live my life. There is nothing I enjoy doing that I refrain from doing because I think God says it's wrong. If I fel it's right I'll do it. If I don't I won't

I didnt say Santa and God are the same. I said they are believed in for the same reason. Fear.  Children believe in Santa because they believe if they are good, and ask Santa for presents...they will get them. They believe if they are bad, they will get a stocking full of coal.  Likewise, people who believe in God (Im using religions such as Christianity as an example) believe for the same reasons. Heaven being Presents, Stocking full of coal being Hell.  Its obviously a device invented to keep people in line.  Its a political tool. Man is always afraid of what he can not understand. In order to ease those fears, you create an answer out of nothing.  Its far to difficult to simply say, "I dont know".  So instead you have this group who claims to know what NO one can in order to comfort their own insecurities.  Smart politicians play on those fears. As stupid as George Bush was, the people around him were smart enough to know that even in the 21st century you can control people with fear.  Imagine 1,000's of years ago.  NOBODY knows what happens after death and everyone fears it (admit it or not) so what easier tool to use to control people then to pretend to know the answer to THAT.

As far as you bringing up Isaac Newton lol Are you serious?  You can be a relatively smart human being, even a genius and still believe in something completely illogical.  You think there are no geniuses that believe in a lucky rabbits foot, etc? lol

I am a firm believer in, do what you want as long as you dont hurt anyone. If you believe somehow that your religion makes you better, by all means...believe away. But dont pretend that because you live by a blind faith, you know the answer. You dont know the answer, just like me. The only difference is most religious nuts pretend to because some other man told them so. lol  I am completely secure in the fact that some things we are just incapable of understanding now.  1,000 years from now....if we havent become completely extinct, maybe man will have a much better understanding of things. At one point it made complete sense to believe the Earth was flat and that the Sun revolved around us.

And you say you dont believe a non believer will be punished. What religion are you?

You're denying what you said to avoid having to take it back. You said, not me, you, that people stop believing in Santa because adults tell them he's fake. We both agreed that is not the case and now you're changing what you said and trying to avoid saying you were wrong. When I'm wrong I admit it. (Ask NIK in the sports forum).

And now you're trying avoid that you distinguished between logical and intelligent. You said intelligent people understand God is fake and then you put the word under quotations to mock me and people I consider intelligent. Then I bring up Newton who is 100X more intelligent than anyone you can name so you change the stance to logical people and try and avoid the fact you said intelligent people.

Of course it is no more logical to be athiest than to be Christian. Atheists blindly believe in nothing and assert that God cannot be and Christian do the opposite. If you were agnostic you'd be logical. But logic is based on reason and when there is no solid proof for something there is no reasoning your way onto to either side.

Now you're trying to equate a stupid superstition that takes up no time and is more reflective of a person's quirkiness and try and compare it to deep faith in something very important. Newton didn't just believe in God to go along with shit and it wasn't a simple quirk to his personality. He spent much of his life studying and trying to decipher God and Jesus and what the Bible meant. There are very many very smart men and women that do the same. That's why God has nothing to do with Santa. It's not fear driving them. It's faith. You have faith, or you don't. You can't teach it or explain it. It doesn't prove that there is a God, but it shows that scoffing at people that believe in God is immature.

As to what I am, since you asked. I'm Christian. I believe in Jesus. I believe in what he said and how he lived. I believe he was the physical embodiment of God in the flesh. I was raised in and still attend the Greek-Orthodox Church. I think the Old Testament cannot be taken as anything more than morality tales and fiction and I feel the same about any and every writings of Paul in the new testament. I feel that since Jesus corrected Moses he would have corrected Paul. And as far as Jesus goes there is plenty of evidence to show that good people that don't believe in him are fine. I don't have a problem thinking the Gospels were tampered with because the Church, every church, contradicts what Jesus said time and again. If they were going to make it up, why not just make it up as they do things so they don't look like hypocrites? Unless that's just part of the plan to trick people. The bottom line is when I think of Jesus or read the scriptures I have and feel faith and I can't explain that.

thats just way too long. Ill read and respond later when Im REALLY bored.