Religion: pros & cons pt1 (Religion)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Thursday, October 30, 2014, 01:09 (3677 days ago) @ dhw

DHW:I don't take the Adam and Eve story literally, but I find its implications horrendous. Didn't God, in his infinite wisdom, know what would happen when he organized the temptation? And is it justice that we must all pay for their sin? -Consider God from the perspective of being a ruler. If he doesn't allow free will, he is a dictator. If he does allow free will, but allows for no possibility to choose something other than him, then free will is an illusion. So A) In order for free will to be possible, there had to be a choice. Breaking the law has a penalty.-
>DHW:I don't accept that we die because we're sinners. I don't believe human bodies would have survived intact for ever. -So you could believe that he could create the universe, or design intelligent cells from scratch that would make all of evolution possible, but you doubt his ability to sustain life?-
>DHW:Weren't Adam and Eve meant to have children? Wouldn't they all have grown older? -They would have matured, yes, but not aged in the terms that we think of today. They would have remained healthy and vibrant.->DHW: So why this constant harping on about how bad we are and undeserving of his love? Who spreads all this misery? If we enjoy life and do as we would be done by, why must we assume we need to be redeemed? -It is NOT just constant harping on the wrong things we do, at least not in the bible. Yes, it talks about the bad things to make them evident, much as you no doubt told your own children when they were doing wrong. It also praises the good things that are done and the people that remained faithful.--> 
> I don't believe that the zillions of humans will be resurrected (at what age and in what state?), or that we're to be killed off again afterwards.-No, most likely only about 10 Billion, realistically, not much more than what we have today. Bear in mind too that it only mentions the righteous and unrighteous, not the wicked. There is a difference. Wicked implies knowingly and willingly doing what is wrong. Unrighteous means making the honest mistakes and not knowing any better. Righteous would be those that, while making mistakes and knowing better, actively try to repent from those mistakes and knowingly follow God's law to the best of their ability. So there are likely to be a rather large number of people that will never get a second chance.-
DHW:And even if God did say to us all, “Love me or I'll kill you off again,” and in fear and trembling we replied, “I love you, God,” he'd know what's in our hearts, and he'd have known it even before resurrecting us, so what's the point?-Exactly so. Yes, he judges intent and motivation, not purely deeds. Hence the 1 Cor 13, " if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing." -
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>DHW: I have had a happy life. I don't think I'm a bad person, though that may sound arrogant. If I thought I might meet my darling wife again, I'd be delighted.-If she lived a life of love and truth to the best of her abilities, then yes, there is most certainly a strong chance that it would be possible. I do not think you a bad person. I don't think most people are "bad" people. I think they, like you, carry wounds, pain, suffering, doubt, and a great many other negative experiences that make it difficult for you to believe in the love and mercy of God.->DHW: If there is a God, I will gladly say a huge thank you for his marvellous invention (life), and I would also wish that others could be as lucky as me. -So thank him now, while you are still living the wonderful life. Is it so difficult to show appreciation for all the GOOD things, instead of merely condemning him for the bad things that he did not do?->DHW: why did he felt obliged to impose such bloodthirsty conditions in the first place? -Because no law, no world with intelligent creatures can exist with peace if wrongs are not righted with justice. Justice demands equal payment for damages. Even human justice, flawed as it is, recognizes that.-
>DHW: Grateful though I am for my life, I can think of far more terrible grounds for reproach than forgiving sinners without first demanding the blood of Christ. -That is because you and I are humans. His was are not our ways. -Isaiah 55-Search for Jehovah while he may be found.+
Call to him while he is near.+
 7 Let the wicked man leave his way+
And the evil man his thoughts;
Let him return to Jehovah, who will have mercy on him,+
To our God, for he will forgive in a large way.*+
 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,+
And your ways are not my ways,” declares Jehovah.
 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So my ways are higher than your ways
And my thoughts than your thoughts.+

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.