BootCamp

- Thanks for proving my point.
[sm=smiley20.gif]

BTW.... the "g" in "God" is capitalized.

Justinec101

I don't follow. You posted

"Yet when a tragedy (like terrorist attacks, earthquakes or hurricaines) occurs, the very people in America that asked God to leave our daily lives want to know why God let it happen and didn't prevent it. You invited him to leave - why do you ask where he is now?"

From what I understood you were stating that people ignore god for all their lives, and then as soon as tragedy strikes, they want to know why he didn't prevent it. For example, a "Christian" doesn't ever think about god or live his life as god would want. Then all of a sudden his mother dies, and he blames god, and wants to know why god didn't save her. This is what I thought you meant by your example. What I was saying was that I am not Christian and when these tragedies happen, I don't blame god, because I don't believe in a god. I simply assumed that you were referring to the average Americans, who were baptized, went to church every few sundays, but never really put any thought into their religion. . . who never think about god unless something bad happens, and then they use him as a scapegoat. If I'm not understanding what you're saying please correct me. Thanks.

lear4406

I will have to let Bootcamp answer that question, I don't want to put words in his mouth. But I understood it to mean that people who don't want Christian morals in their lives, might be the first to blame GOD for disaster that my befall them. I can't go out for one day without the knowledge that GODs will be done. I can't imagine walking this life without his presence in my life. I accept all that happen, good or bad. That is what has made me who I am. Without the deepest of dispare, I could not know the joy of a normal day. I hope that your days will be smooth, but in my heart I wonder how a person gets through a day with the thought of..... is this all, is this it. Scary stuff I must say. In GOD I have hope and everything to look forward to. I'm not putting anyone down at all and I hope it does not sound that way. Just thinking out loud. The joy that most days bring, I'm wishing that things will get better, but from what I know and what I see, they will only get worse. But I will pray for better times for all of the world and I know all true Christians do. Have a good night and GOD bless.

Jeremiah 29:11

So let me leave you with these thoughts.

1. God allows us free will to live they way we want to live. As a result, bad things happen.

2. When we live the life we want to live instead of the life he has planned for us that is when things can go wrong
because we are not living in his graces and blessings.

So this is what Jeremiah 29:11 is all about:

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

These are words of the undisputed truth of God to live by. There is peace in those scriptures because he has plans for each and every one of us. We
just have to allow him to work in our lives and be constantly looking for his direction in our lives. This is totally awesome!

By the way, I saw George Carlin do an interview on TV and he despises Christians. So I liked him before, but I pray for him now.

For all of the sins that people do and I myself am not perfect and do commit sins, I am to love my God with all my heart, mind, and spirit. I am also to love my neighbor as myself. These are the 2 greatest commendments.

[b]Mark 12:30-31
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' [a] 31 The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

So as a result I hate the sin but love the sinner.

Sure Christians are hypocrites because we do commit sins even though we know it is wrong. We we are forgiven for our sins. The bible tells us that. That does not mean we should keep on sinning, but should be asking God to help us with not committing those sins again. We are not perfect and that is why we are hypocrites.
People judge us harshly as hypocrites because we do bad things.......well all I can say is I am not perfect and all I can do is ask for forgiveness
and pray that God gives me the strength to not do it again.

I hope these words touch your heart and bless you in some way.

I wish I could share this with you in person.

Justinec101

I couldn't find a way to disagree with the 2 above posts if I wanted to. If those beliefs work in your life that's fine. I can't see why anyone would have a problem with that. So long as you apply those beliefs to your own life and not try to force them on anyone else. If you want to believe that your god has a plan for atheists as well, that's your prerogative. But this country was built on religious freedom, no matter what religion the founders had. How are gays hurting your life? How does someone getting an abortion effect you directly? You may not want these types of people influencing your children, but there will always be people with different beliefs. You can't just make everyone else change to coincide with your belief system. The world is about different types of people working together to make progress. How far have we come if the only solution we have is to make everyone the same? How will your kids become stronger people if they don't overcome these things? How can there be good without evil?

Justinec101

Wanted to add something.

"I can't imagine walking this life without his presence in my life. I accept all that happen, good or bad. That is what has made me who I am. Without the deepest of dispare, I could not know the joy of a normal day. I hope that your days will be smooth, but in my heart I wonder how a person gets through a day with the thought of..... is this all, is this it. Scary stuff I must say. In GOD I have hope and everything to look forward to. I'm not putting anyone down at all and I hope it does not sound that way. Just thinking out loud."

Of course you can't imagine it, you have probably lived your entire life with the comfort of god at your side. I live my life the same as yours. I don't go through a day worrying, I take things as they are. I accept that there is far more to the universe than I could possibly understand, and that somewhere out there, there may be a being that created it all. I don't need to comfort myself with the concept of a heaven. I simply accept that when I die I die, and I have one life to live through (again, as far as I know). The endless ideas that the human mind can come up with make me much happier than just accepting one way that everything came to be. Life with or without god, has good and bad. I feel that being open minded is a far better option than to falsely comfort myself with the idea of god when things go bad. Looking at everything in this world and being amazed at how it came to be, and how minute my presence is compared to it all, is more incredible to me than coming up with an explanation. It's like watching a magic trick and going "wow, that's incredible" and then finding out how they did it. You watch it and want to know so badly how it was done, but when you find out the magic is gone.

That's how I live my life.

lear4406

In every instance I have given a personal account for myself and I believe I have said this is my own opinion. I have not passed judgement on anyone. And again I tell you no good can come from a religous disscusion without the ground rules. And we are 2 worlds apart from that. I take comfort in knowing you are content in your walk of life. But Believe me when I say I am not falsely comforted in my belief in GOD. Remember live and let live. This is where the discussion goes south, it starts by little words that are designed to make anothers choices out to be uneducated. GOD is in my presence good or bad. Its very easy to let this fall into a case of ideals. So I will leave this at that. Don't take my words as an insult, is not meant to be that, but also don't take it as a sign of weakness. That is one trait I have never had. We should all enjoy the freedoms we have here in America. And remember, it says freedom of religion not from. I have tried hard to show I donot expect everyone to conform to my way of thinking. But in the same case I donot wish to have my choices called false. You are intitled to your opinion, but lets keep it on the up and up. I have not questioned your choices and never insulted your intelligence. I wish you an awsome day and be safe.

Erik M3

Jeez we are so polar opposite. Take off you Ned Flanders glasses already. I am proud to be a card carrying "FREEDOM FROM RELIGION MEMBER"

We need abortion, I have assissted in many when I did my OB-GYN training. I would do 5 of them then go to lunch w/out a second thought. The gov't and the church needs to stay out a females p***Y. Only one thing needs to go in womens fun parts ME.

As far as homo's my sister and good friend are both g@y. They were not given a choice , believe it is by birth. YOUR God or what ever you call it made them that way.

And for gods sake leave our porn alone. I have been married for 17 yrs I need that sh*t.

McDonald

How do gays hurt me they dont, they dont bother me.. The gays are the ones to be hurt in the end.. God's intentions were for people to be re-produced, not to be with others of the same race.. 10 out of 10 gays i have met or known of in my life have had some kind of bad parenting or bad childhood, or issues with drugs.. From what i have learned it is not a matter of a irrational person liking another irrational person of the same race, but two disturbed individuals with one another.. Only proof i have is what i have seen or heard.. Me im not gay by no means im totally against any right any gay should have, except rehab or counseling.

BootCamp

Excellent insight. That's exactly where I was going.

I'll try to keep this reply respectful. Discussions such as this decay into insults without a show of respect.

Let's seperate "needs" and "wants". "Needs" can't be lived without. You "need" sustinence, shelter, access to medical treatment, and companionship. All other things are "wants". You "want" abortion and pornography like you "want" a new Challenger. You "need" none of them. Since we're taking a "clinical" approach, I'll try to keep my reply in the same way.

The "want" to have access to abortions is a reaction to inaction (most of the time). This can be eliminated by responsible use of birth control devices, and the ability to decide to NOT have unprotected sex. The only way I can justify abortion (in MY mind) is as a result to a life-threatening situation for the mother-to-be, or to a pregnancy resulting from a rape. Other than that, there are thousands of couples who go to great lengths to have children they would love, nuture and cherish as the gift that they are, and I'm sure would thankfully take these terminated lives from those who look upon them as an inconvenience or annoyance that should be treated like fecal matter. There are too many other economical and practical (less invasive) options available to prevent unwanted pregnancies to claim that abortion is a viable alternative or a "need".

Your brain is the largest sex organ in your body. Pornography is a convenient and innocuous way to cheat on your partner, thereby creating diversity and excitement in a routine (albeit desired and necessary) behavior. You view it prior to coitus and your brain manipulates your level of intimacy based on that. You (in your own mind) maintain your vow of faithfulness to your partner since they're physically "there", but your brain has something entirely different going on. The "diversity" that we need emotionally can sometimes be found by changes in your routine - performing the act in different places, at different times of the day, initiated in different ways, dressing up for each other, etc. Pornography is a crutch for a lack of imagination, creativity and motivation. While reproduction is primordial and the basis to ALL life forms, we're the only species that creates and uses pornography.

Homosexuality is a touchy subject since it's been "fashionable" on and off throughout history, and the arguments tend to be stronger and weaker depending on the prevailing "trends". While some research has shown physiological/chemical differences between straight and gay people, the fact remains that the process of reproduction (again, which is the basis behind our sexuality) is IMPOSSIBLE between homosexual partners, therefore considered "deviant behavior". Whether or not being gay is psychological or physiological is still debatable. If nature is left to run it's course, the purporte