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What you got is NOT enough for me. Clearly I have more then you do be cause it shows up on a brain scan that religious people have a brain that is better developed then atheists. Esp in social skills. But if your happy and content and figure your more productive then wonderful. If it ain't broke then don't fix it.
Why not indeed! This life is the only one we know we get, so why not live it to its fullest, leave the greatest impact, help the most people, give the most love?
Why shouldn't we? Only the Christian, by virtue of her religious beliefs, believes that there is a paradise lost, that there is a damnation from which we need salvation. To the non-believer, these things are simply untrue.
Actually of all places: that is a concept that I got from the Movie West Side Story when I was 12 years old. I did not become a Christian until I was 26 years old. The movie did not actually promote doing anything for others. Actually the movie just promoted not being mean to them. It may have worked, they say that NYC today is the most friendly Big Cities in the world. In fact as much as I love Hong Kong I was impressed with just how unfriendly the HK is. Esp with Taxi drivers and people that work in transportation.
Are you blind? You really do not see the advantage of attending church and living the christian life? Just for the opportunity to socialize with others would be enough benefit for anyone. Even as a evolutionist you should see we are a part of a community. This is true with all of nature and all the more true for us as Christians.
I don't believe such a scale exists, or that deeds can be quantified in that way. But if the afterlife does operate in this way, then yes, I absolutely do believe that my good deeds outweigh the bad.
No, I genuinely do not. That's why I keep asking.
The psychological benefit of being part of a community is not limited to just a Christian congregation. Muslims in a mosque, Jews in a synagogue, protesters at a sit-in, Republicans at a rally, students in a playground... we're social creatures, and being part of a society, big or small, is good for us.
What makes you think that's a lie?
Because Christianity isn't a single, coherent set of beliefs. Because Christian X and Christian Y are not necessarily in agreement about absolutely everything. Take yourself, for instance: you don't believe in eternal suffering for non-believers, but a lot of other Christians do. Does that mean you aren't a Christian? No.
The benefit may not be limited to being a christian. A mosque or a synagogue may offer the same benefits. To go to a rally just means to be a part of a crowd of people, that is not the same as there is no interaction between people. The main objective is to develop a degree of compassion or concern for others.
Right. None of which are benefits limited to Christianity. So, my question stands: why should someone become Christian?
How do we know this?
Isn't that a bit sloppy?
Beijing has been inhabited for hundreds of thousands of years, and it first became a walled settlement over 3000 years ago. How is that possible, if there were no Christians to "give a testimony for God"?
Actually we are all to be of one mind and one accord. The church has not yet been perfected. But we will all have the Mind of Christ and we will all think the Divine thoughts of God. I understand that you think a YEC is different from a GAP, but we are just not talking about the same thing. They both agree on the last 6,000 years. The GAP just talks about what happened between 6,000 and 12,000 years ago. So they are not talking about the same thing at all.
Do you mean Dante's book? It's not the Bible. Paul said the day will come when people will enter into a more perfect understanding. Sometimes we have to be patient and wait for people to mature and grow up. Like my son they offered him a accelerated program. But he is in no hurry to grow up. So instead he is just going to take college level classes in high school. Because he wants to stay with kids his age. People need to grow and mature at their own rate. I pushed my first son to grow up to fast and it really does not work out at all. If anything you should try to hold them back a bit. Like Goldie Hawn did with her daughter Kate. She refused to let her do any professional work until she was 18 and she looks to be happy and well adjusted to me.
Nonetheless, a large section of the US population genuinely believes the Earth has only gone round the Sun about 6000 times, while a large section of the Western world outside the US genuinely believes that the Earth has gone round the Sun billions of times. This is not a small difference, it's not splitting hairs, it has real-world implications (namely, it is the cause of the erosion of the intelligence of the people of the US, the corruption of children's minds, and the systematic failure of the US to remain a power to be taken seriously).
Unfortunately, we don't have that time. Kids are being shot dead in the US, kids are starving of famine in Africa, kids are being raped to death because of sex trafficking. The eternal question that must be answered by the theist is, why would God allow these things to happen?
What you got is NOT enough for me. Clearly I have more then you do be cause it shows up on a brain scan that religious people have a brain that is better developed then atheists. Esp in social skills. But if your happy and content and figure your more productive then wonderful. If it ain't broke then don't fix it.
Hmm, I think you're right. Data suggest that a large section believe humans were created by God less than 10,000 years ago (source), but I can't find anything on what people in the US believe about the actual age of the Earth...
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif]God in your brain: Scans show more activity when religious people meditate | Mail Online
What God looks like in your brain: Scans show more activity when religious people meditate
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Pew Forum: How Our Brains are Wired for Belief
of all the lies and misinterpretations of science that I hear here on a daily basis this has to be the worst one.
