Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, from what I've read you seem to be a more intellectually-driven person. Catholicism made more sense to you and others who weighed the facts and went with Catholicism. And that's well and good if Catholicism works for you. I always say, if religion helps a person get through another extremely difficult day in an even more extremely difficult life, then use it--believe in it. My thing is to just to give both sides of the story to the people in here who are on the fence about trying to make a decision which direction to go. If after they've heard my and others' skeptical side of the negatives they still want to pursue Christianity, then by all means they should go for it if Christianity will help them.
I was wondering where I read this sort of thing before and now I remember. My comment posted right there just before you posted yours...
Seems a lot like that to me too, but ultimately it's always the same thing...
Again that two-headed God coin, and in this case a way to explain why it is that so many followers don't seem to hear anything or have their prayers answered. Of course, here too there is always a way to reconcile an explanation no matter what is happening. Really love this "rebellion" part too. As if growing up believing in God and then starting to think about why is rebellion. As if critical thinking is rebellion. I guess if we're to believe this sort of thing, then I'm quite the rebel.
Think of the Christian religion as a well-oiled, well-run corporation--because that's all it is. What is the business model of a good corporation, say for example a healthcare insurance co: to maximize profits for the corporation and minimize the contents of a customers' wallets. What is the purpose of a Christian ministry: to save souls???????? Forget it! Don't be so naive. The purpose of a Christian ministry is to maximize profits for the ministry and minimize the contents of the congregation's wallets. How does the insurance co do this: increasing premiums for its customers. How does the ministry do this: ask for more donations and say, oh...God will call the pastor home if the congregations doesn't give more $$$$'s (remember how Oral Roberts pulled this stunt way back in 1987) and other sundry tricks and lies.
Think of the Christian religion as a well-oiled, well-run corporation--because that's all it is. What is the business model of a good corporation, say for example a healthcare insurance co: to maximize profits for the corporation and minimize the contents of a customers' wallets. What is the purpose of a Christian ministry: to save souls???????? Forget it! Don't be so naive. The purpose of a Christian ministry is to maximize profits for the ministry and minimize the contents of the congregation's wallets. How does the insurance co do this: increasing premiums for its customers. How does the ministry do this: ask for more donations and say, oh...God will call the pastor home if the congregations doesn't give more $$$$'s (remember how Oral Roberts pulled this stunt way back in 1987) and other sundry tricks and lies.
I thought that Oral Roberts was killed when he was struck by a speedboat while walking his pet duck?
I never could figure out how Ernest Angley could heal so many people and not cure his own horrible toupee.
Thanks for that. I was not familiar with Ernest Angley and was going to look him up but now I think I will just remain ignorant. I do not need to finish my afternoon looking at bad fake hair.
I never could figure out how Ernest Angley could heal so many people and not cure his own horrible toupee.
Yep. obviously the "miracles" were fake. Or else he didn't know how to write a $10,000 check for a decent one. Or he wryly thought, "If these yokels will give me hundreds of millions of dollars for all this ridiculous nonsense you can bet they'll buy this is real hair."
Me too. The problems with Christianity are SO numerous they have to be catalogued--it's not enough to just make a laundry list. There are sub-problems within the problems and sub-problems within sub-problems. An entire thread couldn't do justice to addressing the flaws, it would take an entire website and even then....!
I want to do another thread on the fatal flaws of Christianity (there are so many) but I'm not sure if I have the time or the energy to deal with it even in abbreviated form. Just a start would have to include the lack of historical evidence for Jesus and the apostles, theodicy, internal contradictions, external contradictions, scientific errors, suffering, unanswered prayer, failed prophecy, innumerable Christian sects, inconsistencies in doctrine, absent deity, impossible task of reaching the entire world, reconciling different theories of atonement, inaccuracies in translations and that's just for starts.
Bothers ya, huh?
So much so...you go onto a forum titled Religion and Spirituality and rag about it (incessantly) to a bunch of strangers on the internet...every day, for years.
Look...a third of the world is Christian...over half believe in & embrace a Abrahamic Religion...and it's growing.
You will just have to either learn to cope...or live your life in the obvious obsessive, compulsive, angst that you demonstrate daily on this board.
Maybe start a thread about the mental & emotional condition (problems) that constrains some to constantly go off about that which they know most of the other people in the world find to be Divine, Holy, & Sacred and lovingly embrace.
THAT is the real answer to this thread.
Bothers ya, huh?
So much so...you go onto a forum titled Religion and Spirituality and rag about it (incessantly) to a bunch of strangers on the internet...every day, for years.
Look...a third of the world is Christian...over half believe in & embrace a Abrahamic Religion...and it's growing. You will just have to either learn to cope...or live your life in the obvious obsessive, compulsive, angst that you demonstrate daily on this board.
Maybe start a thread about the mental & emotional condition (problems) that constrains some to constantly go off about that which they know most of the other people in the world find to be Divine, Holy, & Sacred and lovingly embrace.
THAT is the real answer to this thread.
And you will need to "either learn to cope...or live your life in the obvious obsessive, compulsive, angst that you demonstrate daily on this board", because atheists are not going and we're not going to be silent.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Forget it! Don't be so naive. The purpose of a Christian ministry is to maximize profits for the ministry and minimize the contents of the congregation's wallets. How does the insurance co do this: increasing premiums for its customers. How does the ministry do this: ask for more donations and say, oh...God will call the pastor home if the congregations doesn't give more $$$$'s (remember how Oral Roberts pulled this stunt way back in 1987) and other sundry tricks and lies.
