God exists.
It's not a scare tactic for religion. God and religion are two SEPARATE things. Your relationship with God is what's important. Hell is a place for people who know the truth and still chose disobedience to God's word. Everyone sins. The point is repentance...genuine turning away from past sin. Not just saying sorry. that's why there's a hell...for those who join with Satan in rebellion to God's will, for evil.
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"God exists."
Says you. Prove it.
"God and religion are two SEPARATE things."
No, that's not true.
"Your relationship with God is what's important."
My relationship to your imaginary friend is important?
"Hell is a place for people who know the truth and still chose disobedience to God's word."
Excuse me, but the truth is that your God doesn't exist. One cannot disobey the non-existent.
"Everyone sins."
No, that is not true. I do not sin. Sin is an affront to God. God is non-existent, therefore, there is no sin.
"that's why there's a hell...for those who join with Satan in rebellion to God's will, for evil."
As Satan is as much a fiction as God, he can't be joined for anything.
Now, shut up and go away.
I encountered a Christian proslytizing person today, despite the progressive and forward nature of my "hometown." I guess you get these cranks everywhere. Anyway, I like to think of it as "Evangelist vs. Hardcore Skeptic, Round 1."
It wasn't that exciting. I tried playing faux-naïve; "Jesus? Isn't that the guy who was dead for nearly 2,000 years?" After establishing that Jesus was "alive," I asked how this was possible. Upon being told "ressurection," I asked if he would share the technology with us. I also asked: "If Jesus is alive, will he be there at the Christian/Church meeting? Will I see him?" She repeated "If you have eyes, you can see," for some time. I remarked: "I have eyes, but I can't see something on the other side of the world. I can only see objects which reflect electromagnetic radiation of a certain set of wavelengths into my eyes. Will Jesus be in the room, reflecting electromagnetic radiation?" She repeated: "If you have eyes, you can see." The other oft-repeated remark was that I had to use my heart. She did not respond to remarks that the heart is merely a blood pump, and that emotion is handled by the brain. Like some people quoted here, she told me to turn off my rational mind, and blindly believe through emotion alone. Eventually, I gave up and left, resolving to make some atheist pamphlets for myself. I won't bother anyone by handing them out unwanted and stuff, but I want to keep a few on hand, so I can counter-pamphlet the next evangelist who tries shoving his/her beliefs down my throat. I think that handing an evangelist a counter-pamphlet is worth well over a thousand words.
AFTERTHOUGHT: Scarcely on-topic, if at all, AND a bit lengthy. Maybe I shouldn't post after midnight. In the future, I shall try to refrain from telling personal anecdotes to random people on the Internet.
AFTER-AFTERTHOUGHT: Based on the positive comments, maybe I won't refrain. (I still haven't made the pamphlets, though.)
God and religion are more than just two separate things, youthwalk. In fact, they have nothing to do with each other!! Religion and all the concepts of heaven and hell were created by people as a means of scaring others into believing what they were saying. Books professing to be the word of god are just myths, fantasies, and re-written history. Religion wants to control how you act, think, feel, etc. God, on the other hand, is just an observer.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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