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not so crazy christians:Why We Must Reclaim The Bible From Fundamentalists
- Thread starter Free Thinker
- Start date
Christianity, premised and grounded upon specific concepts of fundamental inhuman wrongdoings, but professing to be nothing but good, is changing into what? Something better?Quote from Ricter:
There's your hangup, right there. Christianity is changing. You don't know this because you're less than interested in it.
Perhaps changing into things which have always been available in their own right anyway, without delusional beliefs systems trying to seize control of them.
Quote from stu:
Christianity, premised and grounded upon specific concepts of fundamental inhuman wrongdoings, but professing to be nothing but good, is changing into what? Something better?
Perhaps changing into things which have always been available in their own right anyway, without delusional beliefs systems trying to seize control of them.
With a genuine Christian, as in my scenario, you have a very good chance (100% imho) to get a "Christ imitator". With a genuine atheist, simply based on the math of that one trait divided by everything else an atheist could be, the odds are poor you're going to be with someone that good. Hence, my choice.
A Christian certainly does not need to be a Biblical literalist, and sensible ones recognize the reality of evolution and the fact that much of the Old Testament is a jumble of history and myths (with a highly ethnocentric moral system).
But the resurrection of Christ is the central claim of Christianity. If you don't believe that, you're not a Christian. Yes, that claim goes against all common sense and current scientific knowledge. That's why it's called a miracle.
I am not a Christian, and I don't think that other people who believe what I believe should call themselves Christians either. If you're a priest and you've come to the conclusion that Christ didn't really rise from the dead it's time to find another occupation.
But the resurrection of Christ is the central claim of Christianity. If you don't believe that, you're not a Christian. Yes, that claim goes against all common sense and current scientific knowledge. That's why it's called a miracle.
I am not a Christian, and I don't think that other people who believe what I believe should call themselves Christians either. If you're a priest and you've come to the conclusion that Christ didn't really rise from the dead it's time to find another occupation.
You are expecting the "Christ imitator" to imitate what? Christ or Goodness itself? Fundamentally those are two separate and distinct concepts anyway.Quote from Ricter:
With a genuine Christian, as in my scenario, you have a very good chance (100% imho) to get a "Christ imitator". With a genuine atheist, simply based on the math of that one trait divided by everything else an atheist could be, the odds are poor you're going to be with someone that good. Hence, my choice.
Simply based on the math then, why would you expect to feel ok with someone who tells you he is genuine in relying on an imaginary friend, which requires specifically that he believes in a zombie, to tell him what is good!?
That trait, in reality, has beliefs substantially grounded on quite a few main concepts which are not good, and the results of it are often seen to bring no bearing on what actually is good.
I suggest prejudicing your judgment in advance that way doesn't represent a particularly sensible method for selecting a good fellow castaway.
Quote from rew:
A Christian certainly does not need to be a Biblical literalist, and sensible ones recognize the reality of evolution and the fact that much of the Old Testament is a jumble of history and myths (with a highly ethnocentric moral system).
But the resurrection of Christ is the central claim of Christianity. If you don't believe that, you're not a Christian. Yes, that claim goes against all common sense and current scientific knowledge. That's why it's called a miracle.
I am not a Christian, and I don't think that other people who believe what I believe should call themselves Christians either. If you're a priest and you've come to the conclusion that Christ didn't really rise from the dead it's time to find another occupation.
does intellectual honesty ever enter into the equation? since most biblical scholars accept that the resurrection story is a myth does the church have any obligation to teach what is known to be true?
Quote from Ricter:
Does not matter to my scenario. The point is, with one choice you get a good chance at sharing the island with a good person, and with the other choice you have a much smaller chance.
good chance? since christians are about 80% of the prision population in america and less than 1% are atheists what are your odds of drawing a person as you describe?
The Federal Bureau of Prisons does have statistics on religious
affiliations of inmates. The following are total number of
inmates per religion category:
Response Number %
---------------------------- --------
Catholic 29267 39.164%
Protestant 26162 35.008%
Muslim 5435 7.273%
American Indian 2408 3.222%
Nation 1734 2.320%
Rasta 1485 1.987%
Jewish 1325 1.773%
Church of Christ 1303 1.744%
Pentecostal 1093 1.463%
Moorish 1066 1.426%
Buddhist 882 1.180%
Jehovah Witness 665 0.890%
Adventist 621 0.831%
Orthodox 375 0.502%
Mormon 298 0.399%
Scientology 190 0.254%
Atheist 156 0.209%
Hindu 119 0.159%
Santeria 117 0.157%
Sikh 14 0.019%
Bahai 9 0.012%
Krishna 7 0.009%
Quote from Ricter:
That's why I said "genuine". And lots of inmates find religion, I've worked there.
lol. you want to be stranded on a desert island with a murderer who found religion in prison?
if you get to pick a tiny subset of christians who may be genuine i want to pick and athiest who who is a boatbuilder.