Posted on 12/23/2006 7:01:57 AM PST by Clive
A fifth is that, given the circumstances (the relatively recent destruction of the Maccabean kingdom and Roman conquest), for a Jew who believed that his religious scriptures actually meant what they said to expect the imminent arrival of a Messiah was not "lunatic" at all -- and if the Messiah is coming, why should it not be one's self, if the signs seem to point to that?
As I noted upthread, either some people will die for a lie, or a wide variety of religions (Wahabi Islam, Catholicism, Lutheranism, Judaism, etc) are all the truth (which would appear to be logically impossible on its face).
Robert Fulford
(former schoolmate of Glenn Gould)
is the best writer at the National Post.
Every article of his is a delight
and some of them are hilariously funny
Wellll, maybe not so difficult - look at the Muslims. If that religion isn't a hoax, I don't know what is.
Jesus' disciples on the other hand didn't have to take anything on faith - they knew - they were eye-witnesses - along with many others.
Yes, true believers will die for their cause. Not many though, will die for a known hoax.
Keep in mind that blowing yourself up doesn't take any more courage than holding a gun to your head and pulling the trigger - and the death is instantaneous.
Imagine, being the proponent of a hoax - as Jesus' followers must have been, and holding to the hoax for years - knowing it to be a hoax. No real reward - just suffering, torture, and gruesome death.
And you know, if there were only a few of them that hung on - living the lie - you could excuse them as fanatics. But for the whole group to hold on till the bitter end - eh, a hoax? I don't buy it...
Wrong...my circle of friends and students are well aware of Dawkins, and believe the Bible is inerrant, infallible, and God-breathed.
The author uses too many straw-man arguments, and misrepresents a lot of Christians.
All atheists see their God when they look in the mirror.
You need to read up on cult psychology. Even in modern times we have people committing mass suicide because they believed everything their leader said. And even when prophesies flat-out fail, their belief tends to get stronger.
"It must be a sad existence to believe in anything" people will tell you. I have enough meaning in my life. God is absolutely unnecessary. YMMV of course, as no two people are the same. The world would be better if you and the Muslim fanatics understood that.
You are denigrating meaning
You are narrowing the concept of meaning to only what you can understand. There's a lot more out there.
Ahh, but there is a difference.
Muslims are followers. They did not create the religion, they have faith that what they are told is the truth. They will die for their faith because they can believe it is the truth
The apostles were in a very different position. If they were lied, they let themselves be beaten, beheaded, crucified and inprisoned for something they knew was a lie. They are the only people in the history of the world who would not be able to believe if it were not true.
Belief in the Creator is a comfort. It provides a basis to answer metaphysical questions as well as an absolute morality.
How odd that you expect spiritual messages from a retail outlet.
Do you accept dental recommendations from your local gas station?
Been catching up on your C.S. Lewis this season, eh? :)
"It is as bad to take offense as to give it" -- old Chinese proverb.
But as far as schoolmates go Gould was the best. I wish I had known him, eccentric as he was.
I don't see why you believe "God did it" is an easy answer. "I don't know" is much easier. Evolution could very easily produce an "I don't know." How can evolution produced, "God did it." And if evolution did produce, "God did it." Then very likely he did.
Actually that's not true. Part of the beauty of the "God did it" answer is that it is recursively true. Once arrived at the "I don't know" answer is a thing of the past. Clearly you don't know what you're talking about.
Clearly that's not the sole leg of his argument. Doh!
That's actually so close to the truth as to be a devilish trick. :-)
How right you are. If everyone look at this from your prospective then there would be no disagreement or wrong interpretation of someone's meaning of wishing them a Merry Christmas.
Sadly though, that is not their goal. Some want to be offended by the celebration of our traditional holiday. Others just want Christ out of everything.
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