You set your post up nicely Russ. Passion, logic, and memory, yes no disagreements there. I don't see much logic in creationist arguments though, mostly logical fallacies masquerading as scientific "proof." I'll be pointing them out as I see them come up.
Well, this is one of our key differences.
I don't see much logic in believing that complex things form themselves and science agrees with my position, but just as with the amalgam issue, there are those with their hands on the biggest bullhorn (mainstream media) and the grant money that keep promoting misinformation for their own gain. The corruption is truly mind boggling.
You see, when you put a successful court case together against a con artist (I have done this), you cannot simply look at one or two actions of the subject and make a deduction. You have to establish a "pattern of behavior". When you study conspiracies, this is exactly what you find.
All of the individual actions of the con artist will be justified by explanations, but when you see the big picture, you clearly see that this person has been doing the same thing over and over. This is what wins a court case in this type of situation.
Evolution, mercury, and the Kennedy assassination are no different.
I do not believe that a god has set out rules for this kind of thing; these rules come from the ancient peoples that wrote the Bible.
I can hardly blame you for believing this because you have not studied the Bible.
As always, I encourage you to check out gematria and prophecy in the Bible and then ask yourself if any person could have arranged such mathematical precision or have foretold the future with such accuracy. This is called evidence.
Still, I encourage you at some time in your life (but don't wait too long) to check it out. It's truly amazing.
You have mentioned the anti-Christ several times. I've said elsewhere what I think about prophecies. I do believe some people who would be called psychic can have glimpses of the future. I also believe that you can take any prophecy and retrospectively put together a fat dossier of "proof" that the prophecy has been fulfilled.
This could only be spoken by someone who knows nothing about the subject, honestly.
When you are asked to pass your hand under a device that "marks" you for the purpose of money exchange, then recall the prophecies I have posted. (This prophecy was written thousands of years ago.)
According to the Bible, those to receive the make have no chance for salvation. This is a very serious issue. This is why I continue posting it.
For those who have an ear.
It's ridiculous to reject everything the different scientific disciplines posit as facts
Well again, just as the mercury issue, there is money and power in the promotion of evolution and for those who care to look, real science does not support it.
Evolution is no different.
The powers-that-be are playing the same games with you.
But please get your history right and don't say they aren't Christian. Protestant religions stemmed from Catholocism.
No, a little too much faith in textbooks is going on here.
The "restoration" came through people who regained an understanding of the Bible; an understanding which had been changed, molded and removed by the catholic church.
The idea of it coming through the catholic church comes from the fact that some of the people who regained this understanding and returned to the Biblical truth were affiliated with the catholic church. This does not mean the belief came from the catholic church. Quite the opposite.
Of course, textbooks do this to lend credibility to the catholic church, and again, they do this for their profit.
You may say that you follow the Bible rather than an organised religion Russ, but your ideology is bang in line with that of most Christian fundamentalists
You could not possibly be more wrong or more confused about this.
(No offense but) You honestly have so many misunderstandings about these things that there is no mystery why you don't grasp the big picture here.
It would at least be more honest to see them as rotten parents you were glad to get away from, if that's what you prefer.
Just to be clear, these opinions have nothing to do with emotionalism or person agendas or what I prefer. They are simply facts that can be researched if one so desires.
What is dangerous is when people hold opinions that have no basis behind them. These people have only two conscious categories of knowledge:
(1) That which I know is true, and
(2) This which I know is not true.
We should all include a third category:
(3) This which I don't know.
Why are false beliefs so dangerous?
Because those things that happened in the Roman Empire are going to happen again.
(The "new world order" is the reappearance of the previously dormant Roman Empire according to Bible prophecy, which will be followed by the return of Christ.)
In this "kingdom", many people will be tortured and killed because they don't follow the beliefs of the ruling elite. Namely, the ones to be killed will be true Christians. The ones doing the killing are those who have bought into the massive packages of lies ranging from evolution to catholicism, and they buy into these because they don't have the humility or intellectual honesty to admit that most of what they think they know should be in category #3 above.
When it is all said and done, it will be clear which belief system was compassionate and which was cruel. Time will reveal.
Cruelty is borne from those who hold myths as truths.
You say that sin is imperfection, but it is more than this. It is the act of violating God's laws.
Not more or less. The two are the same.
I do not believe they came from any God, and it is up to us and our societies to judge what the best ways are to live.
Again, without research, you need to put many of your beliefs into category #3 before expressing executive passion in them. Not to do so is destructive.
History has already tried that.
On this path, it's only a matter of time before one class of people is oppressed by another and kills and imprisons them for their beliefs. Study your history.
"A democracy is a sheep and two wolves deciding on what to have for lunch. Freedom is a well armed sheep contesting the results of the decision."—Benjamin Franklin
"Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it."I am letting down when I break a law, whether it is myself, my family, or my community, than to a God who says "do this because it is my will."
You miss the point of His will.
It is to provide life and prosperity, and this is the purpose of His laws.
"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."—Joshua 1:8
History has shown that this is true and that the implementation of His law provides prosperity. The problem is that those who hate God now write the news, textbooks, and research grants.
Of course, the Bible foretold of this time.
"And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."—Matthew 24:3-31
I don't think I'll address the "effeminate" comments, I've said what I think about the attitude to homosexuality here and the hatred and bigotry spouting from people's keyboards in the name of God.
Homosexuality is like a bottle of medicine containing poison. It's looks helpful at first glance, but it is not benign in any measure.
You have not made the connection between the harm homosexuality does to a person (and a culture) and the act itself, as you have not made many connections in this respect. I have, and this must be understood:
To tell you the truth is an act of love, not an act of hate.
Just as you may punish a child for attempting to put their finger into an electrical socket, you know that the punishment is an act of love, but the child believes it is unfair and is an act of hate because the child has not made the connection between the electrical socket and the harm it brings.
"No people will tamely surrender their Liberties, nor can any be easily subdued, when knowledge is diffused and Virtue is preserved. On the Contrary, when People are universally ignorant, and debauched in their Manners, they will sink under their own weight without the Aid of foreign Invaders."—Samuel Adams
