All religions that believe in Hell as ultimate punishment are using scare tactics to keep their populations in check, it seems.

do you think we should fear hell and all of those things written in the bible , thats about all thats keeping me from going straight into science facts and stuff ( that , and also a higher being = GOD) or it just that science is trying to sucker us into thinking about all this crap about 1000 billion years ago

Are you asking me? Because if you are, I don't believe in Hell, and I think bible stories are meant to be parables.

The whole religion thing is best summed up for me in this:

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

-- St. Francis of Assisi

For myself, I never listen to God. I listen for Him.

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Speak less. Say more.

hello there whaywardj! nice to see you on the forums!

i don't know if this suprises anyone, but i am not that religious. at the same time i'm not an extreme atheist. But then again, i'm not sure what to think about God (yes, I capitalized).

I'm in between. I have my own personal relationship with God. I don't know who God is, or Where he is, or even When he is. But sometimes I feel his/her/his-her presence around me. I don't know if this is wierd, but I just feel comfort in knowing that God is here. At the same time, I don't believe as much as religious people do.

I guess I'm still young, and growing into what I believe/don't believe.

We'll see where I end up!

What would be worse...

To believe in it, live a moral life, and you die and it's not true, so nothing happens.

Or

To NOT believe in it, you die, and it is true and you go to Hell.

^ scare tactic ^
:-D

But what happens if you DON'T believe, but really WANT to, Tone? Or if you've led a moral life, but don't/can't "believe"?

I figure.

If I live what is in my opinion a good life, despite my doubts in God and all that other bull.

He'd still let me through the pearly gates.

I'd like to believe me and God have our understandings of eachother, even though we don't always get along.

I mean you gotta admit, it can be hard to take the dude seriously, what with him floatin' up in the air all invisible.

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Heil Frasbee

This has got to be one of the greatest threads ever. I enjoy talking about evolution vs. creation argument a lot.

It is obvious that in today's world, we have those who are strict evolutionists, and those who are strict creationsists. And some in the middle. And others swaying to one end over the other slightly (like me).

However, the scientific method (today's effective approach to understanding our natural environment and it's living entities) supports the occurance evolution to such a degree, that many consider it a fact, and no longer a theory.

In Biology, a theory is something that has been tested MANY MANY times, and still holds is value. Do not confuse this with theory as in 'an idea', or hypothesis, as is used in many other disciplines.

I do not want to take anything away from the creationists point of view. Although the scientific method does not support this, it still has significant influence in the way it has shaped our culture and other cultures for the past 1000's of years.

Does it suprise you that more than 90% of the World population believes in some form of God, or Superior being? Probably not.

Unless the first two atoms were named Adam and Eve...
haha

most definitely Evolution!

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And since you know you cannot see yourself,
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,
will modestly discover to yourself,
that of yourself which you yet know not of.

haha good one shh!

__________________
And since you know you cannot see yourself,
so well as by reflection, I, your glass,
will modestly discover to yourself,
that of yourself which you yet know not of.

After careful re-consideration, I'm opting for Creationism. That would give us Adam and Eve and mean that the all the rest us would have to had come from brothers and sisters doing each other...which would mean incest was okay with God and I could f my relatives with imputiny...especially my aunt. Man, is she hot!

__________________
Speak less. Say more.

Hahaha, whayward - and just how old is your aunt, by the way? And yes, there actually are several examples of incest in the bible...

bible is manuscript of how a few thought would be a good idea to govern their people. unfortunately, with time comes change, but some in the deep roots of religion do not like this change, which is why we today have plenty of conflicts in the bible and our world.

today's world can not be governed by bible. what irritates me most: twisted idiots/ignorant fools that take the bible literally and apply it to today's world - how blasphamous!