Offering my two cents here. Even if Hitler did believe in God he put upon himself the mantle of a God. He acted contrary to the teachings of the Bible he claimed to believe in. And some the major forces That opposed his regime were in the Christian movement.
I see evolution as mostly irrelevant when it comes to faith. It doesn't interfere with any tenants of the faith (speaking from a Christian perspective). In fact, I find it mostly irrelevant to most of my life, because it is so ambiguous and so distant from anything that would have an impact on...
This just occurred to me as a good debate topic. People often have beef with all of the bad things in the world being the "will" of God. And I'm wondering if God willing something is the same as God wanting or intending something?
This is, of course, referring to the idea of the fall of...
You may want to try to not use "bold" and "caps" so much when you write. It makes your arguments more difficult to read and comes off more like yelling than the emphasis you're intending.
Also, I feel a general lack of respect from you for the opinions of the people you're talking to...
Wow, I can't believe this thread I created in 2008 is still going strong!
In response to Nix, I'm not sure I agree that having unprotected sex is unethical. It can, in certain contexts, be foolish, especially if you're not married and earning a living. I believe too strongly in giving weight...
Hi, Draka! I've been going through the OT myself lately, and I've found it to be very difficult to contemplate issues like this (although I'm pretty sure "raping babies" is a bit of an exaggeration ;)). The one thing that has stood out to me throughout the parts that I've studied that is...
Thanks for sharing, Draka! Yeah, even though I'm arguing harshly in defense of jealousy, I actually agree that it is by and large an excuse for us to jump to conclusions and lead us to hurt people. In general, I feel that we should always be wary of our emotions, because they are completely...
I think that we as a people have come to fear that which is normal. For example, we convince ourselves that anger is ALWAYS bad, or that fear is ALWAYS bad, likewise something like jealousy.
Well, fear is NOT bad. And anger is NOT bad. They are emotions. They are responses to circumstances...
Jealousy isn't a character quality, it's a state of being. Experiencing jealousy doesn't make you a "jealous person" (whatever that means). I would argue that it is impossible to not be jealous unless you eliminate desire from your life, and then I'd feel very sorry for you.
This is kind of a question about monogamy, but I suppose it's universal. If you are married to someone and they start to develop a closer relationship with someone else (regardless of whether or not it is romantic), is jealousy an inappropriate response? Is it an immoral response?
More...
If you don't have a relationship with someone, you neither love nor hate them. Does that mean that love and hate are similar? Not really, in my opinion. Having feelings is a product of getting to know someone. Aside from love and hate both being feelings, they are almost entirely different...
The problem is that bipartisanship doesn't work in the game of tug-of-war.
I DO, however, think that bipartisanship can work, in practice. Case in point: California (the state where I live). It took a 100% deficit to do it, but eventually both Republican (no new taxes) and Democrat (no...
I would say that I, personally, would never be able to torture someone in order to save the people I love (if that's the setup). So a good question would be, do you want the government to do something you yourself would not be able to do? I mean, we ask soldiers to fight for us, doctors to...
I haven't noticed no Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster void where a Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster should be, nor do I see the influence of a Giant Flying Spaghetti Monster in the lives of others, therefore I find no interest in pursuing any claim of its existence.
Religions claim to actually...
Anyone who implies that they "see things" "as they are" is automatically snobbish, among other things.
Just for the record, a three-year-old "sees things" "as they are", in that, that toy is mine, not yours, therefore I am right and you are wrong.