Do we have Absolutes?

religion is just a security blanket for those who are insecure with their gut feelings and dealing with mortality. it's truly a shame that millions spend their lives condemning others and striving for their personal view of what a fabricated god wants them to do. if more were willing to live for NOW in the PRESENT situation, we would be able to condemn violence, poverty, environmental destruction, and purposeless warring. a group of GOOD people not wasting their time on denouncing others for paltry self-aggrandizement would change the state of the world without much work. too bad the "christians" and "muslims" (etc.) spend lifetimes fighting for self-deception rather than the common good. wake up. get involved. quit nitpicking the details of a book and start living for the true betterment of all living things.

Can I ask you why you believe Christianity is a Security Blanket.

Also Christianity does live in the NOW, Christianity does condemn violence, poverty, environmental destruction, and purposeless warring, we spend millions of dollars trying to help those in need. Also in the Bible all people are commanded to take care of the earth, and other people.

Also I do not know why you compare Christians and Muslims, they are so entirely different almost completely opposite of Christianity, except for a belief in one God.

Can you tell how Christianity is even compared to other religions?

Different religions have different ways of trying to appease their angry God or attempting to rid their adherents of sin and its consequences, which all religions agree sin is alive and well.

Different religions fast, pray, deny themselves legitimate pleasures, or chasten themselves, often to a point of inflicting pain.

They do this because they have a concept of what they think God (or "the gods") is like, so they seek to establish 'their own' righteousness, being "ignorant of God’s righteousness." They you must do some ritual or good deed to get to eternal life, they think you have to earn your way to eternal life, that by some good deed you get into heaven.

Chritsianity is not like that, you don't have to do anything to be favored by God, wether its trying to keep the ten commandments or doing a good deed without the recipient finding out.

The Good News of the Christian faith is that no one need suffer the pains of religious works.

If God is anything but the Christian God. A god that excepts, adultery, or sex before marriage, stealing, lying, or homosexuality, drunkennes, etc...

I want no part of that god, I would rather die in a fiery pit and burn forever than to love a god who would let the creation to believe whatever it wants, when these beliefs contradict one another so much.

Also if God used evolution, "God", not mankind is responsible for death. I would really hate a god like that, to use death and suffering to improve his creation.

I believe that humans are responsible for all this death, and bloodshed, not God.

I believe death is the sole result of sin, the biblical definition if sin is lawbreaker.

So if someone has sex with four different people before marriage a boyfriend girlfriend type thing, but this person gets a disease, but does not find out until that person is married and the spouse gets it, and the doctor says they only have months to live. I do not feel sorry that these people got this disease, I am sorry they didn't obey God's law on sex within marriage, and his design for marriage.

The Christian does believe the payment for sin is death, do you disagree with any of the ten commandments.

I believe all death is a result of sin, I am also including a natural death that follows old age.

========== In Reply To ========== religion is just a security blanket for those who are insecure with their gut feelings and dealing with mortality. it's truly a shame that millions spend their lives condemning others and striving for their personal view of what a fabricated god wants them to do. if more were willing to live for NOW in the PRESENT situation, we would be able to condemn violence, poverty, environmental destruction, and purposeless warring. a group of GOOD people not wasting their time on denouncing others for paltry self-aggrandizement would change the state of the world without much work. too bad the "christians" and "muslims" (etc.) spend lifetimes fighting for self-deception rather than the common good. wake up. get involved. quit nitpicking the details of a book and start living for the true betterment of all living things.

OK, I got to the second paragraph and thought "This deserves a response". So here we go.

QUOTE: Also Christianity does live in the NOW, Christianity does condemn violence, poverty, environmental destruction, and purposeless warring, we spend millions of dollars trying to help those in need. Also in the Bible all people are commanded to take care of the earth, and other people.

It also condemns homosexuality, women in power in the church and using cells from embryos to save thousands of human lives and improve millions of others.

Don't forget that the same religion has been used (and something still is used) to justify witch burnings, the 'Holy Wars' of the crusades, discrimination against blacks and various killings of those thought of as 'heathens' and 'evil men'.

It's hard to imagine that Jesus ever had enough blood to wash all of this off.

QUOTE: Also I do not know why you compare Christians and Muslims, they are so entirely different almost completely opposite of Christianity, except for a belief in one God.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh man, you're killing me.

OK, you both believe Jesus was 'special' (Christians believe he was a part of God, Muslims believe he was a great prophet), both believe Jesus was born of a virgin, both believe in heaven and hell.

The general framework of Christianity and Islam definitely look similar to me. Religions like Buddhism, Shinto, Hinduism, Confucianism, Taoism, Vodun (aka Voodoo), Sikhism, Satanism and Wicca are more like opposites.

QUOTE: Can you tell how Christianity is even compared to other religions?

Decended from Zoroastrianism with close ties to Islam and (to a lesser extent) Judaism. Most others are pretty dissimilar, making this religious branch a strange odd-one-out. A limited amount of flexibility has allowed it to get this far, but it can only flex so much before it breaks.

QUORE: Different religions have different ways of trying to appease their angry God or attempting to rid their adherents of sin and its consequences, which all religions agree sin is alive and well.

Well, not every religion believes in one 'Angry God' or even one God. There are also several who have radically different concepts of sin.

QUOTE: Different religions fast, pray, deny themselves legitimate pleasures, or chasten themselves, often to a point of inflicting pain.

Others see inflicting pain on oneself as being foolish and prefer joyful celebrations as a way of praising their deity/deities. Still more prefer hallucenagenics or meditation.

QUOTE: They do this because they have a concept of what they think God (or "the gods") is like, so they seek to establish 'their own' righteousness, being "ignorant of God’s righteousness." They you must do some ritual or good deed to get to eternal life, they think you have to earn your way to eternal life, that by some good deed you get into heaven.

Unless they believe in reincarnation, or they believe 'Hell' is merely a temporary place where you are cleansed of your sins by punishment until you are clean and worthy of ascending to 'Heaven'. Some merge reincarnation be believing you are reincarnated until your soul has gained enough knowledge to be accepted into a higher plane of existance where your life will continue with new challenges and experiences beyond what this dimention holds. Sounds better than Heaven to me.

QUOTE: Chritsianity is not like that, you don't have to do anything to be favored by God, wether its trying to keep the ten commandments or doing a good deed without the recipient finding out.

OK, so we accept sincerely that Jesus died for our sins and that's it? Then we can go rape, murder and commit genocide all we like because Jesus forgave ALL sins? Excuse me, I think this religion has developed a fault in it. Can I get a refund?

QUOTE: The Good News of the Christian faith is that no one need suffer the pains of religious works.

Wow! What an idea! In the past only people who were already good would go to Christianity because it required doing hard work. Now, everyone will go because you can do it sitting on your $%!@! Pity it's all a transparent cover for gaining power. Try harder next time.

QUOTE: If God is anything but the Christian God. A god that excepts, adultery, or sex before marriage, stealing, lying, or homosexuality, drunkennes, etc...

As for the homosexuality bit, study of the 'original' (Greek, Hebrew, etc) versions of the Holy Bible have shown the God didn't really have anything against homosexuality. Guess we should let them get married now, huh?

QUOTE: I want no part of that god, I would rather die in a fiery pit and burn forever than to love a god who would let the creation to believe whatever it wants, when these beliefs contradict one another so much.

Suprisingly similar to me there. I'd rather burn in Hell than worship a God which commanded the deaths of thousands of men, women, children and animals in his name. Sometimes even getting in on it himself and throwing a fireball in there to smash the cities. Hell, the Bible states that God killed 50070 people simply for opening the Ark of the Covenant. Of course, this is the God you worship. I hate to think what happens when he gets in a bad mood and turn on you...

QUOTE: Also if God used evolution, "God", not mankind is responsible for death. I would really hate a god like that, to use death and suffering to improve his creation.

It seems worse from where I look. God used death and suffering, but not to improve his creation. He only used it because he got mad at us! The 'God of the Jews' seemed to kill anyone who looked at him the wrong way! If God was a man, he would've been executed long ago to protect the world.

QUOTE: I believe that humans are responsible for all this death, and bloodshed, not God.

Read your Bible. It says in black and white that God killed thousands of people.

QUOTE: I believe death is the sole result of sin, the biblical definition if sin is lawbreaker.

You believe what you want man. Don't let a silly thing like evidence get in your way.

QUOTE: So if someone has sex with four different people before marriage a boyfriend girlfriend type thing, but this person gets a disease, but does not find out until that person is married and the spouse gets it, and the doctor says they only have months to live. I do not feel sorry that these people got this disease, I am sorry they didn't obey God's law on sex within marriage, and his design for marriage.

What if two good Christian virgins in their early 20s (both accepted Jesus as their savior) get married, have sex, the woman gets pregant then both them and the child die less than a decade later from AIDS the husband got from a chance transfer of blood into a small wound that happened in a public toilet once. Did God want them to both die slowly and painfully? Did God have something against the child who died before his/her 10th birthday?

QUOTE: The Christian does believe the payment for sin is death, do you disagree with any of the ten commandments.

So you have a random and unavoidable thought of "Damn, I'd like that millionaires house." and you die? The assertation that the Ten Commandments 'set the foundation for our modern law system' is laughable.

QUOTE: I believe all death is a result of sin, I am also including a natural death that follows old age.

Even Jesus? I believe it's a combination of events including our imperfect genetics, but I guess it's just easier to say "God/Satan/Sin did it".