Homophobes, why do you care?

So explain what I quoted above and the following.

Jeffrey Dalmer confessed his sins, repented, and was baptized less than a year before he was murdered in prison.

I have never heard any reason to believe his conversion was not sincere.

"For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." Matthew 7:2

Better watch that bitter, stony heart, @Dayton3.

Even that one's not set in stone, regardless of what Matthew says. After all in John 1:7, it says "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."

So either Jesus will cleanse you of all your sins, or he will cleanse you of all but one.

What if you pre-meditatively plan to ask God for forgiveness for a lie you plan on telling?

Old Testament. Doesn't apply to Christians.

Yes, but that really doesn't answer my question.

That is not good.

Yeah, he says pretty early on in the book that he's jealous and self-centered.



Now I see why Dayton is so attracted to him. They've got a lot in common.

I'll freely admit that you might have a point. I've heard the issue of the "unforgivable sin" discussed in many churches and there are lots of different beliefs on the subject. Some contradictory.

Well, no it's not. I'm just wondering if you think it would work.

I think the premeditation itself would be a sin all its on and one you would have to sincerely ask forgiveness of separately.

So... what about Hebrews 10:26-30?

BTW, good thread @Diacanu .

He received a fax.

Which all of the atheists here have committed, so if you could stop with the lectures about how we're going to hell, etc., etc., etc. that would be great. Oh, and just so there's no questions about the subject: There is no Jehovah, Yahweh, Elohim, Jesus Christ never existed, and the so-called "Holy Spirit" is as fictional as the other figures in the Trinity (or, since you don't believe in the Trinity, as Jehovah/Yahweh/Elohim/Jesus). There. You have absolute proof that attempting to save my soul is a futile task.

If you go to heaven are you going to look hi up? Or do you think he's confined to a protective custody yard? I assume his victims are in heaven assuming they had time to ask for forgiveness for their sins before they were unexpectedly murdered.

Wait. Is it possible Dalmer is in heaven but his victims didn't make it because they were murdered by Dalmer?

Link?

The OT is taught in church. Are Christians just finding more ways to waste their time on Sunday's by being taught irrelevant stuff?

That does not explain how the idea of God and or religion came about, if it must be taught.

If you're curious how religions start there are a few that have started within recent history. Scientology for instance.

Aren't the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament?

How does that address the origin of the concept of God? Remember it isn't innate so it must be taught.

You're really strange.

As are many of the things that Christians are opposed to. After all, Jesus never said anything about homosexuality or abortion.....

God isn't a hard idea.
I mean, I know you're gob-smacked and amazed by it, but its pretty mundane.
Monkey-man learns to make tools, looks at nature, reasons it must have been built by a toolmaker.
As easy to arrive at as "the ground is flat, so the world is flat".

I think there are certainly aspects of religion that are hardwired in the human condition. But those aspects are shared by college football among other things.

Animism > Spiritual Belief > Organized Religion

Let's see how things progress in the following scenario.

(ANIMISM)

Posit:
What causes that booming sound when water falls from the sky?

Rationale:
The sound is loud. The sound comes from the sky. The sound is everywhere.
I cannot make this sound. None of the other animals I see can make this sound.
Therefore, whatever makes this sound cannot be seen.
Whatever makes this sound must be powerful to be heard everywhere.

Conclusion:
A powerful creature has made this sound. I fear this creature because it is so large it can eat me.

(SPIRITUAL BELIEF)

Posit:
What is the nature of this sky creature?

Rationale:
This sky creature speaks when there is water from the sky.
The water from the sky causes grass and trees to grow.
The grasses and trees bear fruit I can eat.

Conclusion:
The sky creature controls the waters for the land on which I hunt.


(ORGANIZED RELIGION)

Posit I:
What must I do to convince the sky creature to send more rain so that I may have more food?

Rationale I:
Give the sky creature some of my food as an offering.
Appease the sky creature by swearing loyalty.

Posit II:
What must I do to ensure the sky creature doesn't withhold rain from the land?

Rationale II:
Convince others to offer food to the sky creature.
Convince others that without the sky creature's favor, the rains will stop and they will starve.

Rationale III:
The sky creature becomes happy when I offer my best fruits, and the rains fall. The sky creature withholds the rains when I do not offer the right fruits.
There are times when certain members of my tribe displease the sky creature. To keep the sky creature happy, those tribe members are banished or killed to prevent their curse from affecting the land.

Conclusion:
Therefore, it is essential that laws be made to show what tribe members can and cannot do. Those laws will be taught to every tribe member, and to any outsider. If the outsider does not accept the ways of the sky creature, that outsider will be punished. Appeasing the sky creature will mean survival.



There you have it, organized religion is born! That's only one small example, but it can be seen in the millions of gods and religions that exist in humanity's history.

This book has some good answers on the subject. An interview with the author can be heard here.

In other words, the concept of God does not have to be taught. There is something in us that is aware of something that is greater than everything we can perceive.

If you're aware of something, you're perceiving it.
Unless it's in your imagination.

No, but earlier in the thread you said you still believed in it...