I think more HA members need to find God in their lives

[Halwick]

God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnibenevolent. So it says in the Bible.

Natural disasters, such as Typhoon Haiyan that devastated the Philippines are considered an "Act of God", are they not?

And yet this very Omnibenevolent and Omnipotent God, by the very instrument of a Typhoon, disrupted, destroyed, caused considerable suffering, including killing people who love and worship Him.

The Filipinos are considered among the most devoted and dedicated worshipper of God. And this is the way God loves His followers and rewards them?

So, how can any rational and intelligent person love and worship such a God who kills His followers (thereby violating His own Commandment) and causes much suffering and deprives their very livelihood?

Then there's the Catholic church. Wherever there is a prominent Catholic presence, i.e, Philippines and Latin America, the country is also the poorest and least developed. Yet the Catholic church and clergy members live in relative luxury. What is the Catholic church doing to help its Filipino supporters and how much have they given back?

There are many stories in the Old Testament that shows God to be vain, sadistic and vindictive. Also, throughout history, more wars have been fought in the name of God and Christianity.

At an early age, I was introduced to God and Christianity through the Southern Baptist sect. I've found these people to be the most prejudiced, narrow-minded, mean-spirited, sinful and hypocrite group of people I've ever met.

I can't worship this kind of God, nor can I follow and support these kind of "believers." I've found Buddhism to be a more hopeful and optimistic life philosophy that offers a more happier and meaningful way to live life.

Blaming God for natural disasters is like blaming God for gravity or blaming God for Black Holes. Cmon now....

Hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters are just part of nature. I don't think God had anything to do with it. Of course, there are times in the Bible when God intervened and took control of the forces of nature--such as when God killed the Egyptians chasing Moses through the Red Sea. In the case of the Philippines, I don't think God did it intentionally. ...

Zboy1, you conveniently ignored the fact that these natural disasters are attributed as "Acts of God".

Obviously you don't know your own Bible or God. God created the whole universe and the laws of nature (Genesis 1:1). Natural disasters are a part of these laws of nature at work. God influences the weather and nature at work (Deuteronomy 11:17 and James 5:17). The Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ holds all of nature together (Colossians 1:16-17).

Therefore, God is RESPONSIBLE and everything He does is intentional and deliberate, as recently demonstrated with Typhoon Haiyan. My point is, how can one accept and worship such a God that commits these "Acts" against the very people who believes and worships Him?

[theprimebait]

I was raised a islamic sunni.I left religion in my teens because I reconized it was bullshit.I was a anti-theist for a while,then interested in Buddhism.I can't take buddhism seriousely anymore because it claims humans are a different realm than animals.I respect Guatama buddha,but in general I think the teachings are a bit untrue.

we are bacteria,on a small speck of dust,out of literally trillions of specks of dust,in literally trillions of cosmos.

we are literally like a atom,out of all atoms that ever existed.we aren't relevant.our life isn't relevant.

we are also Robots.we are governed by biology first and foremost,and I'm afraid nature is totally amoral.

we can add specific characteristics to things in nature,but it all is practical,not abstract ,nature is a useless cycle of survival and reproduction,to no real end.

Evolution has no end goal.evolution doesn't make us gradually better.its simpely adaptation to our environment to survive and reproduce the genome,better.

life seen from this point is basically not worth living.life is mostly suffering,to survive and reproduce with no end goal in sight.

I am in that sence a strong nihilist and Relativist.

there is no higher purpose.we are not important.

make your only life the best,because its all you got.

[theprimebait]

[fschmidt]

theprimebait, you should consider Biblic Judaism. Please read this:

http://www.biblicjudaism.org/Skepticism-tp18.html

As for the purpose of life, we generally feel the most satisfaction when we do things that are in the long term interest of our genes.

[polya]

I wonder why HA attracts so many atheists and agnostics to the forum? I think besides me, ILoveBlackAmericanWomen, well-informed, fscmidt, Jester and a couple of others', everybody else seem to disparage religion and God all the time in the forum. I think that's why you have so many unhappy people on HappierAbroad. Having a spiritual life is very important in my opinion, and it is one important factor to fight against depression and unhappiness. Also, by believing in God, it gives a person meaning in their life and a moral template to live by. Do you agree or disagree with my opinion?

I agree. There more to life than marrying some b!tch and slaving away for her off-spring who aren't yours. With any religion there's a lot of ways to live and grow. It's important to grow and be a good person if your married or single.

[theprimebait]

theprimebait, you should consider Biblic Judaism. Please read this:

http://www.biblicjudaism.org/Skepticism-tp18.html

As for the purpose of life, we generally feel the most satisfaction when we do things that are in the long term interest of our genes.

I've studied Judaism as I speak fluent Hebrew.I like it.however,I also studied the origins of Elohim in canaanite myths.the unfulfilled prophecies of the Neviim.aswell as the change from hebrew script to Ashuri script.

my studies led me to the conclusion that Yahweh is a canaanite myth,the prophets were liars,and the torah was corrupted.

http://www.talkreason.org/articles/letter1.cfm

http://www.youtube.com/user/sapiensape?feature=watch

I'm also a strong atheist,meaning I beleive the god concept is a non-thing,rather than that god doesnt exist.

http://www.strongatheism.net/

[theprimebait]

[Mr_Truth]

Wow they really said that? I never would've imagined. But then, those quotes were pulled from a call girl, so there's something self-serving about them...

Well, here are some quotes from the New Testament:

http://www.biblestudytools.com/rhe/gala ... ns+5:19-21

http://www.biblestudytools.com/rhe/1-co ... ans+6:9-10

http://www.biblestudytools.com/rhe/1-co ... ans+6:9-10

Try googling on 'Thomas Aquinas on p4p' and "Saint Augustine on p4p" if you want to confirm. Your quotes are against general slutishness, which p4p was regarded as an antidote to.

I admit, I don't very much about St. Thomas Aquinas or Augustine or their views on prostitution. I will reserve judgment and look into this issue some more.

In the meantime, your interpretation on fornication is, shall we say, a bit one sided. Prostitution obviously implies fornication, and it does take 2 to tango.

[fschmidt]

Please read this:

http://www.biblicjudaism.org/Skepticism-tp18.html

I've studied Judaism as I speak fluent Hebrew.I like it.however,I also studied the origins of Elohim in canaanite myths.the unfulfilled prophecies of the Neviim.aswell as the change from hebrew script to Ashuri script.

my studies led me to the conclusion that Yahweh is a canaanite myth,the prophets were liars,and the torah was corrupted.

http://www.talkreason.org/articles/letter1.cfm

http://www.youtube.com/user/sapiensape?feature=watch

I'm also a strong atheist,meaning I beleive the god concept is a non-thing,rather than that god doesnt exist.

http://www.strongatheism.net/

The origin of Elohim is irrelevant. And how can an atheist say that the Torah has been corrupted since this implies that it was once perfect? I don't care about the history of the Torah, I just look at it as a written document and evaluate it on its merits. And I am not sure what you mean by the prophets being liars. Mostly they complained about the corrupt state of the world, much like posters to this forum.

You obviously didn't read my link since you didn't address anything I said there. My link is shorter than the things you linked to and offers a view you probably haven't heard before. I know all the atheist arguments, but you don't know my argument.

[MarkDY]

I need GoLd in my life.
I was raised in a nasty hateful cult, the Independent Fundamentalist Baptists, My childhood was like "Jesus Camp"

[Teal Lantern]

theprimebait, you should consider Biblic Judaism. Please read this:

http://www.biblicjudaism.org/Skepticism-tp18.html

As for the purpose of life, we generally feel the most satisfaction when we do things that are in the long term interest of our genes.

The demands of the Bible are all moral, not demands of belief. If you consider the time that the Bible was written, it was a time when fables were used to convey morality. In fact Aesop's Fables was written at about the same time as the Bible was compiled. So there is no requirement that the skeptic take the Bible stories literally.

First time I've seen anyone else mention Aesop & the Bible together.
It's surreal to come across some unconventional idea written in ones own style of writing.

[Cornfed]

So, how can any rational and intelligent person love and worship such a God who kills His followers (thereby violating His own Commandment) and causes much suffering and deprives their very livelihood?

If this world is a mere selection mechanism and training ground for eternal life in paradise, then natural disasters and suffering are not important. Maybe the people needed to suffer to improve their character in some way and make them acceptable in paradise, and they even have a good dinner table anecdote to tell when they get there.

The other explanation is the Gnostic one. The way the Universe works is that the Logos (mind of God) projects intention to the Demiurge (database constructor program) which then projects the information that manifests itself to us as physical reality. However, part of the Demiurge has become corrupted by negative energy forces causing it to create a corrupted universe that sustains itself by feeding off the negative energy of its victims, which is why life currently sucks. God will correct this glitch in His own good time, but in the mean time we must transcend corrupting influences through spiritual development and otherwise put up with the crap.

[George]

I was raised a islamic sunni.I left religion in my teens because I reconized it was bullshit..

Tell me: why do Muslims have such a disproportionate number of gays among the male population? Is it a Muslim thing, or a Semitic thing? Because I also notice a high incidence of faggotry among Jews, especially rabbis.