It is good that you are not the type of person to make frivolous reports of rule violations. As @awitch mentioned, that can be somewhat like censorship.
Another way of looking at atheism is to imagine that the gods are already in our pockets (no need to dig up the kitchen floor), but we discover that they are not worth very much in our modern world due to inflation"Don,t be silly, there is no treasure."
There is,
it may well be where you are standing.
No need to dig up the kitchen floor though.
You're describing the "ancient astronauts" hypothesis, but a person can be fascinated by UFOs without believing that.
It would be interesting to know the religious demographics of UFO believers vs UFO skeptics. Some Christian fundamentalists believe that ET intelligent life would conflict with Christian theology. On the other hand, many Christians see no conflict. There is also the Christian belief that UFOs are demonic which sidesteps the ET question.
If seeking the Truth,
That sounds like you are being protective of your faith in Christianity, and that is probably a wise choice. This is the point I wanted to highlight in this thread. It is a shame to lose your religious faith. Often the foundation of religious faith is childhood indoctrination, so there is no way to replace it when it dies. As a cradle Christian, I can never have the same innate faith in Wicca or Islam or Judaism or Hinduism. I suspect there is some sort of God out there, but I have no confidence in any particular path, and that inhibits me from seeking. I must ask myself "seek what God?", "seek how?", "seek why?", etc. Maybe it is better to have answers to those questions so that a person actively seeks God even if the answers are myths and legends. Paganism has no objection to including myths and legends to aid in their practices. Many liberal Christians accept that some parts of the Bible are myths and legends rather than history, but they see value in Christianity. Judaism too does not object to the inclusion of myths and legends with a deeper meaning.
No, nothing related to me at all.
If you never walk in darkness then you will never get to see the countless stars in the sky.
But we know the ending already. For those in darkness, it is not good.The opera isn't over 'til the fat lady sings.
Below is John 3:16-21 RSV encompassing the quote you gave. To me this seems to be in line with the idea that some people are "the elect" (just waiting to hear and believe the good news) and some people are not. However, predestination doesn't necessarily mean that all of "the elect" will believe the good news immediately on the first hearing. The average born-again Christian hears the good news many times before it finally clicks. So you really cannot know for certain that I am not one of the elect until I am a dead ex-Christian.
Bible Gateway passage: John 3:16-21 - Revised Standard Version
True, sort of.
Just wanted to say that you should not worry so much. Of course we all worry about things, but if we lift our thoughts from the mundane to the spiritual then we should not be worried (IMO).
Most modern religions imagine an ultimately benevolent God or pantheon of gods that permeates everything. A person who believes in this general theology should not worry. Right?
They should, they should be very afraid! Terrified !
That's not true.
