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CF has always been a site that welcomes people from different backgrounds and beliefs to participate in discussion and even debate. That is the nature of its ministry. In view of recent events emotions are running very high. We need to remind people of some basic principles in debating on this site. We need to be civil when we express differences in opinion. No personal attacks. Avoid you, your statements. Don't characterize an entire political party with comparisons to Fascism or Communism or other extreme movements that committed atrocities. CF is not the place for broad brush or blanket statements about groups and political parties. Put the broad brushes and blankets away when you come to CF, better yet, put them in the incinerator. Debate had no place for them. We need to remember that people that commit acts of violence represent themselves or a small extreme faction.
Unable to Believe
- Thread starter MemeBuster
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Such is the life of a seeker. I spent my life from 19-21 in much the same boat as you. Perhaps slightly inverted though, because I could never shake the certainty that there was something beyond the purely physical that formed the basis for the universe. (This was while I was getting my physics and philosophy degrees)
At the time though, I had no specific beliefs, tenets, etc. I simply knew that I could not not believe that there was a "something" behind all this that's "breathing fire into the equations," to quote Stephen Hawking.
Keep thinking. Keep searching.
I'd agree. There's a yawning chasm between "spurned/denied/ignored god" and simply "do not believe in the Christian tenets." It was when I found out that the denomination I was researching/exploring realizes that:
a. There is no eternal hell. Such a thing would be anathema to the character of a loving, just God. The loving part is clear enough, I would think. On the justice side of the equation, an eternal punishment for a finite transgression is not just. Plus.. well.. there's simply no basis for believing in an eternal hell in the Bible. Them's the facts.
b. People don't go to said hell simply for not being Christians (and indeed, there will be people in heaven who never heard the name of Christ)
that I knew I'd struck gold.
I tried like real hard myself to believe in Christianity. I've been told by many Christians that I should "try Jesus" and invite him to come into my heart and every time I have tried that, I felt nothing. I've even read the bible and the more I do, the stronger I am in my atheism. The bible, Christianity just doesnt seem to make sense to me. I just can't bring myself to believe it. Just how do Christians do it? What am I doing wrong? Is there some magic formula to it? Therefore, I must remain in my non-belief unless there is some logical explanation to believe in the Christian God. His name is Jesus right?
Belief is a funny thing. I cannot simply say "I believe that the sky is green" and have my mind be so. Some of our beliefs are under our conscious control. Some aren't.
To speak specifically of Christianity, what it takes, is for that belief to reach the point where it is as your belief that the sky is blue.
An abstraction cannot have died for you. A minor historical figure from 2,000 years ago cannot have died for you. Green sky / blue sky. If your eyes see blue, no amount of saying "Nope, it's green" in your head will do it.Note before anyone hits reply to quibble with my analogy: Yes, the sky's hue is empirically verifiable, while God's existence is not, at least not directly. My analogy was speaking to the solidity of the belief, not the manner in which it was formed.
We believe what we believe. How "fine" it is depends on a lot of circumstances. Believing that cleaning a gun while it's loaded is a good idea has hurt lots of people. Some would argue that religious belief is just as dangerous, of course, citing the Crusades and any number of holy wars throughout history.
Take care everyone,
-Tom
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