[Closed] Atheists/Agnostics/Sceptics - Religious questions you want answered

Molgrips
I dunno. I think they probably would.

And you know that thing I mentioned about attributing traits to certain groups, even though those traits are universal?

And it being spectacularly unhelpful?

Atheists seem to have this singular idea of what 'religion' is as if all religious people are of one mind.

🙂

Bang to rights. Although I did say 'seem'. Meaning many of the ones I have been speaking to about this, largely on here, seem [i]frequently[/i] to display that trait.

A few questions around the subject of faith in a god:
What benefits does your faith give you?
Do you ever have doubts about your faith in god?
If your god made its'self visible and therefore proved its'existence once and for all would you then expect everyone to follow it?
If the god thing was proven to exist would it not defeat the concept of faith?
Is it just faith in [u]something[/u] that you need?

Don't have any religious questions.

That's not strictly true, Woppit. A year or so ago, you asked about religious experience, and how that affected a person's (my) notion of God.

That's a pretty good question IME.

As to those of you who are asking about answers, as I said a numbers of posts ago, I will be trying to answer. I just thought that, [b]through the years, so many questions/issues/objections/arguments have been raised regarding religion - and Christianity in particular - that it would be helpful to gather them into one place so that (a) common theme(s) can be discerned, and a realistic, coherent attempt made at responding.[/b]

Incidentally, I know that some of you know where I am coming from in religious terms, but I don't think I have ever explicitly stated it on here. Would it be fair to ask that people not assume? 🙂

At what age is a child free to decide for them-self?

Would it be fair to ask that people not assume?

Not really, no.
You might as well ask them not to breathe.
🙂

It's that human nature thing again.
People are going to make assumptions, it's what they do.

As a child i had many questions. Avid catholic, became an alter boy, raised by nuns in a convent school etc. No one could answer them. By the age of 11 i'd given up. For several years i was angry and would be a tit towards believers (like a few on here still seem to do) but for the last 20 years i'm happy to let people believe what they want.
I do still ahve a few questions that i'd like an answer to. THe deep ones will never be answered to my satisfaction but i'd like to know what the hell God was playing at when in created wasps. Also, if Jesus was indeed a carpenter (fashioned his own cross) and knew he was to die for our sins - why didn't he make his cross from balsa wood? Easier to transport and a doddle to bbreak when the Romans had gone to bed. Lastly, who put the bomp in the bomp bah bomp bah bomp?

why didn't he make his cross from balsa wood?

Balsa trees are South American.. doubt they'd have had access. Sorry 🙂

Would it be fair to ask that people not assume?

It'd be fair to ask.

Also, optimistic.

(-:

Incidentally, I know that some of you know where I am coming from in religious terms, but I don't think I have ever explicitly stated it on here. Would it be fair to ask that people not assume?

I have no idea personally and don't really care. I find theological debates interesting.

. For several years i was angry and would be a tit towards believers (like a few on here still seem to do)

dunno if thats aimed at me or not but I will answer. I am able to separate thought from deed so while I think religionists are a sandwich short of a picnic I do not treat them any different from anyone else. Indeed being aware of my own prejudices I probably in my professional life treat them better in some ways to ensure I am not being biased.

for example I will make certain that we know the religious beliefs of any dying person in my care so as to arrange the necessary spiritual care for them something many of my colleagues forget to do and I also am the only person on the ward as far as I know who knows the correct way to deal with the dead bodies of people of different faiths.

Its the separation of thought and deed or the setting aside of prejudices to ensure actions are fair.

I do the same for Tories 🙂

Balsa trees are South American.. doubt they'd have had access. Sorry

Trade routes across the globe had been established before Jesus surely - he could have put an order in 😀 Or cork, it's light too. Or turned water into balsa

Seems too late to post this now but I'd hate to waste it " Jesus is but a fable that has been agreed upon" or in Timothy's case deliberately twisted.

saxonrider lots of questions but no answers so far, not a taunt but an observation to justify me adding another that follows on from define god.

how do you monotheistic-ally (assumption i know) deal with the existence of EL, Yahweh and Asherah in the OT?

So, the whole walk on water thing, were Jesus and his crew the first surfers?

tjagain
dunno if thats aimed at me or not but I will answer.

I haven't read the thread so no, not aimed at you or anyone in particular. If you've been a tit to others for their beliefs on previous threads (which is what i was referring to) then yes, it was 😀 If people want to believe in this stuff then who am i (or anyone) to try and change their minds. It's one of those situations you have to learn for yourself, if so inclined imo.

What does your faith mean to you?
Are your life experiences affected by your belief, or does your belief affect your experiences?

Whilst a bigger question, I feel it's important that a person with faith is able to define their God/Gods/ Higher Power, so: How is do you define your 'God'

How do you feel about continually trying to answer questions of your faith to people who berate you for having a belief structure?
On a similar vein, why do so many people think they've read the Bible, yet not grasped its intent and still adhere to the face value of the metaphors it contains?

That'll do for starters, thanks OP, watching with interest to see how this goes. By default, im a glass half full kinda guy, but experience tells me...

SR ... I know you're a Theologian, where as, I'm just some fella who enjoys the odd service here or there.

I was asking to join your "Team" for answering questions.

🙂

why didn't he make his cross from balsa wood

Wait a minute, I didn't think the non believers were supposed to be answering the questions on this thread. That one wasn't too hard, so I might try a few more.

Balsa trees are South American.. doubt they'd have had access. Sorry

In the complete absence of any proof, what actually makes your god more real than other religions gods?

If Adam and eve are real and evolution is just a theory, why you can observe the flu virus mutating in real time in vitro, thus requiring a new flu jab each year.

Discuss, I'll fetch the cheese board.

And how come the son of God, born in the middle east, is white and has a Spanish name?

funkmasterp - Member
So, the whole walk on water thing, were Jesus and his crew the first surfers?

[s]Charlie[/s] Jesus don't surf.

Jesus died for our sins. Why did anyone have to die for our sins?

Why don't priests/rabbis/imams etc just start every sentence with 'allegedly' ?

Solves all disputes.

And if he was a carpenter of any calibre, what joint did he use for his cross?

If it wasn't a dove tail, I'd have to question his ability.

That's not strictly true, Woppit. A year or so ago, you asked about religious experience,

It's completely true. I don't have any religious questions.

Don't know why your confusing now with the past.

Perhaps you're suffering from fuzzy thinking.

My main question is about why do people believe in or want to believe in a god who is essentially punishing us. So Adam took a bite out of the apple so as a result we all born into sin and the rest of humanity have to pay for his minor indiscretion? Forever. And he expects us to love and worship him for it. Sort of bribing us to love and believe in his greatness. What sort of Sick twisted, egotistical and sadistic individual is this God?

Even if there is a god then by these terms he can stick it. He could fix the ills of mankind. He could irradiate cancer, child mortality, war, death, destruction, natural disasters taking hundreds of lives etc. He could do all that with a click of his fingers. But he doesn't. Instead he wants to punish us and watches upon high (supposedly) as events unfold like some sadistic kid experimenting by pulling legs off insects.

Another great one is the Bible in its current form, it could never be described as faithful to the original texts if you know anything about ancient texts that have been transcribed over centuries and across different cultures and languages.. Each adding thier own (consciously or not) slant in interpretation and translation.

The modern Bible could at best be described as an incredibly vague approximation of the original texts it's based on.

The Bible (other nonsense religious books are available), dare I say it, has evolved over time.

Oh the irony. 😆

And so the point scoring begins... 🙄

Predictable is predictable 🙁

Why did anyone have to die for our sins?

I had this explained properly to me once, and I got it, but now I've forgotten again - so this one too please. Not sure how Jesus dying helped me? But also, I still have original sin too..?

mattyfez, don’t feel too smug about the cleverness of your point. I [i]do[/i] work with ancient texts - and know exactly how they are transmitted. And your suggestion is supremely elementary.

By all means ask a question, but don’t act like an arse by trying to answer it with your own assumptions.

If you could talk to a religious (specifically Christian) know-it-all, and ask anything at all about faith generally, or Christianity in particular, what sorts of things would you ask?

I know that issues around how Christians read Scripture have come up here quite a bit, alongside the ubiquitous questions around whether or not God can be said to exist.... Those are the sorts of things - along with anything else that may be on your mind - I would be interested in knowing about.

The more I think about it SR was looking to see what questions we had. Not that he was going to answer them. I know he could have a stab at some but others are something theologians have been discussing for centuries without reaching an absolute agreement.
So come on OP whats the purpose of this thread ? If you don't step up it'll go the way of all the others that have a religious content 🙁

mattyfez - Member

The modern Bible could at best be described as an incredibly vague approximation of the original texts it's based on.

The Bible (other nonsense religious books are available), dare I say it, has evolved over time.

The Tanakh and the Koran are largely unchanged. Obviously there are schisms and disagreements in every religion but as I understand it the Koran isn't the Koran unless it's in the exact original language, dialect and format. Any deviation, translation or alternative interpretation is forbidden.

slackalice - Member

And so the point scoring begins...

I doubt God is worried.

Let’s leave this thread running, and I’ll open another in which I explain why I started it in the first place.

Sounds great. And then we'll each start a thread to reply to that thread shall we? Can you make your reply thread about Trump too? Please. Trump or Brexit.

nothing - it would be pointless.

OK, i'll ask a serious question...

Many religions have evolved, developed and been refined over thousands of years (christianity especially so). Do modern christians accept this? If not, why? If so, where do you (and they) see religion heading in the years to come? And does science (a religion of sorts) play a part?

Ok that's several questions but as i mentioned earlier - as a child i had many questions 😀

Thanks for the sarcasm, jimjam.

My hope had been to let this thread stay dedicated to people’s questions and issues.

I didn’t want to derail it by offering my explanation, especially seeing as I already offered a preliminary explanation in a previous post, and no one seems to have noticed.

In any case, as far as I understand, there is no quota for threads.

And does science (a religion of sorts) play a part?

I'd have to disagree with that, there's a fundamental difference between religion and science, that difference being that science is pursuit of truth, and so is constantly being updated as new facts are uncovered. It's based on repeatable observable tests.

Religion is the complete opposite, it's 'here's the rules, do as your told, don't ask questions'.

Religion is historically just a social tool to exert control over others, nothing more.

And if he was a carpenter of any calibre, what joint did he use for his cross?

I reckon he'd of used a cross halving joint, gets the job done and no more complex than it needs to be. If Jesus had been Japanese then he'd probably have opted for the slightly more intricate Interlocking cross half lap joint.

Religion is the complete opposite, it's 'here's the rules, do as your told, don't ask questions'.

Well no, religion has evolved hugely over the centuries. As evidenced in this very thread as people cite the mixed fibres and shellfish rules that are no longer observed etc.

SaxonRider - Member

Thanks for the sarcasm, jimjam.

In any case, as far as I understand, there is no quota for threads.

Well look, crack on with the threads. I'm obviously not a mod (unlike the many stealth mods) but if you start another thread to address this thread it could be at best mildly annoying for posters to track and respond to others across two threads.

Religion is the complete opposite, it's 'here's the rules, do as your told, don't ask questions'.

No, that is your belief of religion; with only churches obsessed with medieval dogma as a reference point.

Lookup Shelby Spong:

“Atonement theology assumes that we were created in some kind of original perfection. We now know that life has emerged from a single cell that evolved into self-conscious complexity over billions of years. There was no original perfection. If there was no original perfection, then there could never have been a fall from perfection. If there was no fall, then there is no such thing as “original sin” and thus no need for the waters of baptism to wash our sins away. If there was no fall into sin, then there is also no need to be rescued. How can one be rescued from a fall that never happened? How can one be restored to a status of perfection that he or she never possessed? So most of our Christology today is bankrupt. Many popular titles that we have applied to Jesus, such as “savior,” “redeemer,” and “rescuer,” no longer make sense, because they assume”
? John Shelby Spong,

@saxonrider Do you believe Christians such as Shelby Spong are Christians or heretics?

Well no, religion has evolved hugely over the centuries.

OK, then other than for a political /social agenda, what makes an old version of a text more or less valid than a newer version?