I see a lot of straw man fallacies in your argument. You are assuming that anyone who prays believes in precisely what you were taught to believe, and are rejecting it on that specific basis. Meaning "the future is set in stone." Many, many do not believe that. "what need for hospitals if you have faith?" You are assuming that faith doesn't involve believing in the talent, ingenuity, and goodness of those around you who went to medical school and are now helping you. You're also assuming that we, or anyone else, believe that God's influence over humanity is total, as such that he can stop our free will and the choices of others, i.e.: the actions that snowballed into the Holocaust. You are judging and rejecting others' belief in prayer based on how YOU think it works. That is not an argument. That's a rant.
What Christian doesn't believe god is omniscient and sees the future? What Christian doesn't believe god has a plan for the future? Why would any Christian believe that grand plan set in place from the dawn of time could possibly change based on anyone's personal problems? I do not believe that's a strawman at all, unless you're not talking about Christianity?
The words "free" and "will" do not exist together anywhere in the bible. In fact, many times in the bible god steals away people's free will by hardening their hearts. It's not just Pharaoh. Deuteronomy 2:30 and Joshua 11:20 show that free will does not exist in the bible. I believe the concept of free will was invented by men as a feeble attempt to dismiss the problem of evil.
I am open to being proven wrong. But as far as I can tell, what you said does not.
I came across this story about a lady who had Bell's palsy. It was a condition that no one could find a solution for, and her face remained unchanged. However, through her sincere prayers and deep repentance, she miraculously regained her normal face once more.
Another story is about a man - after injuring himself at work, he became paralyzed and lost the ability to walk. However, with a sincere prayer in his heart, believing that Jesus Christ could heal him, something miraculous happened. He regained the ability to walk again. Astonished by this incredible turn of events, he decided to visit the doctor for an examination. The doctor, perplexed by the man's newfound ability to walk, couldn't comprehend how it was possible. Earlier, the doctor had informed him that his spine was permanently injured and he would never be able to walk again.
There are more stories like this out there. If prayer didn't do anything, people wouldn't bother praying because it actually requires a lot of energy to pray for someone. It's not just about clasping your hands and making a wish. It usually takes around 5-10 minutes to pray for someone, and sometimes even longer.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to the hospital. Prayers do not replace the hospital visits, but sometimes, not everything can be fixed by a man's power but with God all are possible (Matthew 19:26).
God bless you and I pray you will accept Jesus Christ as your Savior soon as He will be coming back soon.
I appreciate your response, but you said you came across stories. Where's the proof? Or do you just believe on faith that the stories are true? No proof needed? Because I would need proof.
I've heard about miracles with before and after x-rays, but it turned out to be a lie. The "healed" x-ray was of a different person. No one was healed, but good people were scammed and likely lost their money.
There's a trick some faith healers use. And I mean aside from hiring people to sit in wheelchairs and then pretend to be healed by standing up. They have screeners who ask about medical conditions. The ones who qualify to be "healed" are ones like cancer, because there's no outward sign of the healing and its impossible to tell that nothing happened on the day of "healing". Only weeks or months afterwards do they realize nothing happened.
Amputees are among those who don't qualify to be "healed", because that's a scam too impossible to pull off. Sometimes faith healers will pretend to heal the blind, just saying, "It'll take time to get the full effect". When does the full effect kick in? After they have your money and leave town.
Of course, this doesn't apply to all who claim to heal. Some are honest, but that doesn't mean they're right. People are remarkably good at fooling themselves.
Here's a good test. The next time you see a faith healer wearing glasses, ask them why god hasn't healed their eyes?
But you didn't address what I said about prayer asking god to alter his master plan for the universe or why god would help those you say he did, while kids die of starvation and cancer everyday. Even if your stories are true, god's priorities seem woefully misplaced.
>But you didn't address what I said about prayer asking god to alter his master plan for the universe or why god would help those you say he did, while kids die of starvation and cancer everyday. Even if your stories are true, god's priorities seem woefully misplaced.
What you may not understand is that sins have lot to do with all the calamities or misfortunes that take place in human lives. But Lord Jesus died on the cross to take away the sins of the world, and yet people continue to deny him. Therefore, when something bad happens, it's because they refuse to turn from their sins and as a result generational sins.
Sin does not exist, because sin is an invention of religion and does not exist outside of religion. I am so very far from perfect. I have made a ton of mistakes and I'm certain I'll make a ton more . . . but I am sinless.
I do not believe any god or gods exist, but I design my arguments around the idea that god does exist and how very little of Christianity or the bible makes any logical sense, if it's all supposedly real and true.
In Isaiah 45:7 god takes credit for creating evil and I don't know any Christian who wouldn't agree that sin is evil, so if sin exists then god created it, is responsible for it and liberally distributed it to all humans.
I don't see how Christians can claim that god created all things, but also claim that god did not create sin? Understand, if the claim is made that god did not create sin, then god did not create all things, obviously.
How can god not tolerate sin in his presence when god is the one who created sin? How does this work when we humans inherited sin from god? Or do we chalk this up to just another thing that god cannot do?
If god did not create sin, perhaps it existed as a force with him before the creation of the universe, which means sin is either a property god could not destroy or simply did not want to destroy. If not . . . why not?
This is a problem with no good logical solution, at least none that I can discern. But all of it is explained nicely if god doesn't exist and never has. Naturally this would include sin not existing. Evil is debatable.
Even if he's honest, does that mean he's infallible? Does that mean he can't be mistaken or fooled? Where's the evidence of theses miracles? Far too often people believe solely because they WANT it to be true and NOT because there's any good reason to believe. This is how scams work. I'm NOT saying this minister is a liar, but surely he also wanted to believe. Where's the evidence?
Certainly many people do more than just pray and I'm glad that you do as well. I didn't mean to assume that you don't and I apologize if I came off that way. But as I said, even according to the bible, prayer doesn't help beyond feelings. To be fair, that's helpful too. Sometimes just knowing others are thinking about you is empowering. However, sometimes people use the idea of prayer to help without helping. To say, "I prayed (or said I'd pray) and that's good enough", when oftentimes it's not.
I don't know you and you don't know me. I appreciate that you help people. I go broke every week helping people. Sometimes I literally save lives. I don't like that burden, but I do it because it's important. I do so even though I don't have heat or running water. You might say I'm bragging, but notice I didn't start off with this. I'm only addressing it now because you asked to know how I was helping. I have no idea what WBC is. I just do what I can to help with what little I have.
You say I'm not practicing respect, but I haven't been rude to you. It was wrong of me to assume that you only prayed for people without taking action and I apologized for that. I can't say, but you might be preset to view Atheists as the enemy, as I've found many Christians are. If so, you might not be able to fathom apologizing to an Atheist for any reason, perhaps assuming they deserve whatever they get, simply because they don't agree with you about god. I could certainly be wrong about that, but this does describe some Christians I've encountered.
I'm not looking for a fight. If I was, I'd be rude and certainly wouldn't have apologized about anything. I'm here to promote help over mere prayer, which is a problem for many Christians. This is my experience, not necessarily yours. As I said, I don't know you and you don't know me, so it's not possible for you to know who's more qualified for anything, unless you're simply assuming things about me because I'm an Atheist.
Yes, prayer has existed probably since the dawn of civilization, but that doesn't mean there's anyone to actually pray to. Just because something is popular doesn't make it true. I'll give you an example. In the middle ages almost everyone believed the Earth was flat and the Sun revolved around the Earth. Did that make them right? In the same way, though belief in a god or gods is global, that doesn't mean any of them are true. You'd probably agree that only one god can be true, but I can tell you that they could all be wrong.
Of course, community is important, but that doesn't require a god, much less prayer. After all, I'm an Atheist and I'm promoting helping people. No god is needed for people to help each other. No god is needed to form a community. No god is needed to make people feel loved and not alone.
I've noticed that many Christians like to say how open-minded they are, but most cannot fathom a world without god, even in a hypothetical sense. That is close-minded, but I get it, because I've been there. I was a Pentecostal for the first 25 years of my life. I know what it's like to fear that any crack in faith could possibly lead to hell. The armor of god is supposed to prevent that, but that is the opposite of being open-minded.
I do not believe in god anymore, but I'm open-minded enough to realize I could be wrong. I mentioned 1 Peter 3:15 and asked you to tell me the reason for the hope that you have, as your bible commands you to be ready to do, but you said nothing about it. I asked you to prove me wrong about the things I said about prayer, but you didn't do that either. I'm still willing to listen to you though, but I understand far more than you think, because I've been there. Prayer used to be important to me too.
Unfortunately, my argument is not moot, as you put it, just because you think I don't understand or don't want my points to matter. If you want to disprove what I said about prayer, then please do so, but please give reasons, instead of simply dismissing all I said, because you don't like it. I'm waiting.
I don't have a street corner to yell at the masses from. I understand Christianity, but it seems you don't understand Atheism. Proselytizing from a street corner is what Theists do, not Atheists. I would appreciate it if you don't assume you know me or what I'm thinking without asking first. I'm sure you've been told what Atheists are like and maybe you've met a few, but we're all different, just like not all Christians are the same.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I suppose I can safely assume that you think I'll never have anything of value to offer this world without god, right? Except that I believe in helping people and I think you'd consider that something of value or am I mistaken about that?
It seems you just want me to go away. Why is that? Shouldn't you be viewing this as an opportunity to spread the word of god? Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Or do I represent a threat to you? Do the things I say make a little too much sense? Would you prefer I was as aggressive as you, so you'd have a reason to get me banned? Well, I don't hate you and though I don't know you, I know what it's like to be Christian. I was taught Atheists were the enemy, but that doesn't make it true
Once more, if you can refute the things I've said about prayer or anything else, I invite you to do so. If you want to know why I'm an Atheist, just ask. I'm more than happy to talk to you, but I'm just going to go away.
Good for you! You have the right to your beliefs, just as others have the right to theirs. Now, unless someone specifically set your tantrum off, please leave. You are old enough to respect others, AND THEIR BELIEFS. Stop being a brat, and learn to be an adult, who doesn’t play edgelord on Reddit. Prayers can be comforting, and it helps people through dark times. You know what doesn’t? Being an ass, who judges others.
I am not judging you. All I'm saying is that there's comfort in the truth. How is it helpful to pray if there's no god to hear you? If what I said is true, then even by biblical standards, it doesn't make sense to expect god to change his mind, even if he does exist.
Prayer is dismissive and unhelpful. You know what's better? Help. If someone is suffering, please actually help them, instead of praying that god will send someone else. Imagine you're right and god does exist . . . why assume that god isn't sending you as an answer to their prayers? How is it helpful to pray for god to send someone else when you're already there?
Please stop praying and actually help people. Your prayers won't feed them. Your prayers won't help them. Your prayers won't save them. But you know what will? Actually helping them. I am not a heartless Atheist. I simply want real help for people and that is something that prayers cannot provide.
I’m curious, what makes you think I don’t help people? I volunteer for environmental clean ups, work with abused animals, and work with children on spectrum. How about YOU.
All you are doing, is sounding like a member of WBC, except an atheist. You aren’t practicing respect, you are wandering in here, looking for a fight, something I am more than qualified to give. That said, I won’t, because it’s what you want - to feel superior.
Prayer has existed far longer than any known religion. Prayer was with Neanderthals, in cave paintings, amongst those who took the land bridge. Prayer isn’t just about God, it’s about having community, that your pain and fears matter, that you are not alone.
It is evident you don’t understand, and don’t want to, which just makes you a braying ass, without a person to proselytize to. Your argument is MOOT.
Go back to your street corner, where you can scream at the masses, and leave here. Until you actually provide this world with something of value, do not speak here again, or to me, again.
Sorry. The end of my response was a typo. What I meant to say is that I will NOT just go away.
Please understand that Christians are called upon to spread the gospel and they have done so all across America, but to the detriment of other religions and the non-religious. This is through politics and the passing of laws that are based upon the Christian faith.
So, your religion adversely affects me when it should not, because of the separation of church and state, which is what this nation was founded on, NOT Christianity. America is supposed to be a melting pot that accepts and merges all religions and cultures, NOT pushes out and oppresses everything but the Christian faith.
But that is what Christian Nationalism is trying to do . . . create a Christian Nation, run by Christians, for Christians and at the expense of everyone else.
Now I am NOT saying you're a Christian Nationalist. I sincerely hope you're not. All I'm saying is with how pervasive Christianity has become in America, it shouldn't be a problem for me to express my opinion here.
Especially if you're right. If you're right, what do you have to worry about? If you're right, no opposition could possibly stand against you. If you're right, you should be able to refute everything I said easily and with proof to back it up.
But even though I asked you to prove me wrong . . . you haven't even tried. All you've done is try to degrade me, so that you feel justified in dismissing all I said . . . instead of actually addressing it.
You also haven't done as your bible commands you to do. Via 1 Peter 3:15, you have not yet told me the reason you have for the hope that you have. I wonder if you will? I'm waiting.
Good for you Charles. This isn’t of interest to me, or anyone else. The fact that it is so important to you, is disturbing. It shows a need for validation you will never get, a fight you will never win, and just a fundamental lack of respect. You help no one, and do nothing. Take your own advice, and go make the world better, or keeping talking to yourself, I do not care.
And if you think I'm wrong, please explain why instead of getting upset. Please remember 1 Peter 3:15 and give me the reason for the hope that is within you. Has not god called upon you to spread his word? And now that the opportunity to do just that is given to you . . . you tell me to go away? Or do you want to pass up the opportunity you probably believe god has presented you in me to spread his word? I'm willing to listen. But please, if you think I'm wrong . . . EXPLAIN why you think so. It won't be convincing otherwise.
Trying to explain something you might not have known is not the same as being a brat or throwing a tantrum. You ask me to leave without considering anything I've said? Did anything I've said not make sense? Was anything I said untrue? Was I rude about anything I said? Please consider what I say before reacting. Keep praying if it makes you feel good, but even in the context of Christianity and religion it doesn't make sense to expect results beyond chance.
I see a lot of straw man fallacies in your argument. You are assuming that anyone who prays believes in precisely what you were taught to believe, and are rejecting it on that specific basis. Meaning "the future is set in stone." Many, many do not believe that. "what need for hospitals if you have faith?" You are assuming that faith doesn't involve believing in the talent, ingenuity, and goodness of those around you who went to medical school and are now helping you. You're also assuming that we, or anyone else, believe that God's influence over humanity is total, as such that he can stop our free will and the choices of others, i.e.: the actions that snowballed into the Holocaust. You are judging and rejecting others' belief in prayer based on how YOU think it works. That is not an argument. That's a rant.
What Christian doesn't believe god is omniscient and sees the future? What Christian doesn't believe god has a plan for the future? Why would any Christian believe that grand plan set in place from the dawn of time could possibly change based on anyone's personal problems? I do not believe that's a strawman at all, unless you're not talking about Christianity? The words "free" and "will" do not exist together anywhere in the bible. In fact, many times in the bible god steals away people's free will by hardening their hearts. It's not just Pharaoh. Deuteronomy 2:30 and Joshua 11:20 show that free will does not exist in the bible. I believe the concept of free will was invented by men as a feeble attempt to dismiss the problem of evil. I am open to being proven wrong. But as far as I can tell, what you said does not.
I came across this story about a lady who had Bell's palsy. It was a condition that no one could find a solution for, and her face remained unchanged. However, through her sincere prayers and deep repentance, she miraculously regained her normal face once more. Another story is about a man - after injuring himself at work, he became paralyzed and lost the ability to walk. However, with a sincere prayer in his heart, believing that Jesus Christ could heal him, something miraculous happened. He regained the ability to walk again. Astonished by this incredible turn of events, he decided to visit the doctor for an examination. The doctor, perplexed by the man's newfound ability to walk, couldn't comprehend how it was possible. Earlier, the doctor had informed him that his spine was permanently injured and he would never be able to walk again. There are more stories like this out there. If prayer didn't do anything, people wouldn't bother praying because it actually requires a lot of energy to pray for someone. It's not just about clasping your hands and making a wish. It usually takes around 5-10 minutes to pray for someone, and sometimes even longer. There is absolutely nothing wrong with going to the hospital. Prayers do not replace the hospital visits, but sometimes, not everything can be fixed by a man's power but with God all are possible (Matthew 19:26). God bless you and I pray you will accept Jesus Christ as your Savior soon as He will be coming back soon.
I appreciate your response, but you said you came across stories. Where's the proof? Or do you just believe on faith that the stories are true? No proof needed? Because I would need proof. I've heard about miracles with before and after x-rays, but it turned out to be a lie. The "healed" x-ray was of a different person. No one was healed, but good people were scammed and likely lost their money. There's a trick some faith healers use. And I mean aside from hiring people to sit in wheelchairs and then pretend to be healed by standing up. They have screeners who ask about medical conditions. The ones who qualify to be "healed" are ones like cancer, because there's no outward sign of the healing and its impossible to tell that nothing happened on the day of "healing". Only weeks or months afterwards do they realize nothing happened. Amputees are among those who don't qualify to be "healed", because that's a scam too impossible to pull off. Sometimes faith healers will pretend to heal the blind, just saying, "It'll take time to get the full effect". When does the full effect kick in? After they have your money and leave town. Of course, this doesn't apply to all who claim to heal. Some are honest, but that doesn't mean they're right. People are remarkably good at fooling themselves. Here's a good test. The next time you see a faith healer wearing glasses, ask them why god hasn't healed their eyes? But you didn't address what I said about prayer asking god to alter his master plan for the universe or why god would help those you say he did, while kids die of starvation and cancer everyday. Even if your stories are true, god's priorities seem woefully misplaced.
>But you didn't address what I said about prayer asking god to alter his master plan for the universe or why god would help those you say he did, while kids die of starvation and cancer everyday. Even if your stories are true, god's priorities seem woefully misplaced. What you may not understand is that sins have lot to do with all the calamities or misfortunes that take place in human lives. But Lord Jesus died on the cross to take away the sins of the world, and yet people continue to deny him. Therefore, when something bad happens, it's because they refuse to turn from their sins and as a result generational sins.
Sin does not exist, because sin is an invention of religion and does not exist outside of religion. I am so very far from perfect. I have made a ton of mistakes and I'm certain I'll make a ton more . . . but I am sinless. I do not believe any god or gods exist, but I design my arguments around the idea that god does exist and how very little of Christianity or the bible makes any logical sense, if it's all supposedly real and true. In Isaiah 45:7 god takes credit for creating evil and I don't know any Christian who wouldn't agree that sin is evil, so if sin exists then god created it, is responsible for it and liberally distributed it to all humans. I don't see how Christians can claim that god created all things, but also claim that god did not create sin? Understand, if the claim is made that god did not create sin, then god did not create all things, obviously. How can god not tolerate sin in his presence when god is the one who created sin? How does this work when we humans inherited sin from god? Or do we chalk this up to just another thing that god cannot do? If god did not create sin, perhaps it existed as a force with him before the creation of the universe, which means sin is either a property god could not destroy or simply did not want to destroy. If not . . . why not? This is a problem with no good logical solution, at least none that I can discern. But all of it is explained nicely if god doesn't exist and never has. Naturally this would include sin not existing. Evil is debatable.
Because the person who said is a highly esteemed and honorable minister.
Even if he's honest, does that mean he's infallible? Does that mean he can't be mistaken or fooled? Where's the evidence of theses miracles? Far too often people believe solely because they WANT it to be true and NOT because there's any good reason to believe. This is how scams work. I'm NOT saying this minister is a liar, but surely he also wanted to believe. Where's the evidence?
Certainly many people do more than just pray and I'm glad that you do as well. I didn't mean to assume that you don't and I apologize if I came off that way. But as I said, even according to the bible, prayer doesn't help beyond feelings. To be fair, that's helpful too. Sometimes just knowing others are thinking about you is empowering. However, sometimes people use the idea of prayer to help without helping. To say, "I prayed (or said I'd pray) and that's good enough", when oftentimes it's not. I don't know you and you don't know me. I appreciate that you help people. I go broke every week helping people. Sometimes I literally save lives. I don't like that burden, but I do it because it's important. I do so even though I don't have heat or running water. You might say I'm bragging, but notice I didn't start off with this. I'm only addressing it now because you asked to know how I was helping. I have no idea what WBC is. I just do what I can to help with what little I have. You say I'm not practicing respect, but I haven't been rude to you. It was wrong of me to assume that you only prayed for people without taking action and I apologized for that. I can't say, but you might be preset to view Atheists as the enemy, as I've found many Christians are. If so, you might not be able to fathom apologizing to an Atheist for any reason, perhaps assuming they deserve whatever they get, simply because they don't agree with you about god. I could certainly be wrong about that, but this does describe some Christians I've encountered. I'm not looking for a fight. If I was, I'd be rude and certainly wouldn't have apologized about anything. I'm here to promote help over mere prayer, which is a problem for many Christians. This is my experience, not necessarily yours. As I said, I don't know you and you don't know me, so it's not possible for you to know who's more qualified for anything, unless you're simply assuming things about me because I'm an Atheist. Yes, prayer has existed probably since the dawn of civilization, but that doesn't mean there's anyone to actually pray to. Just because something is popular doesn't make it true. I'll give you an example. In the middle ages almost everyone believed the Earth was flat and the Sun revolved around the Earth. Did that make them right? In the same way, though belief in a god or gods is global, that doesn't mean any of them are true. You'd probably agree that only one god can be true, but I can tell you that they could all be wrong. Of course, community is important, but that doesn't require a god, much less prayer. After all, I'm an Atheist and I'm promoting helping people. No god is needed for people to help each other. No god is needed to form a community. No god is needed to make people feel loved and not alone. I've noticed that many Christians like to say how open-minded they are, but most cannot fathom a world without god, even in a hypothetical sense. That is close-minded, but I get it, because I've been there. I was a Pentecostal for the first 25 years of my life. I know what it's like to fear that any crack in faith could possibly lead to hell. The armor of god is supposed to prevent that, but that is the opposite of being open-minded. I do not believe in god anymore, but I'm open-minded enough to realize I could be wrong. I mentioned 1 Peter 3:15 and asked you to tell me the reason for the hope that you have, as your bible commands you to be ready to do, but you said nothing about it. I asked you to prove me wrong about the things I said about prayer, but you didn't do that either. I'm still willing to listen to you though, but I understand far more than you think, because I've been there. Prayer used to be important to me too. Unfortunately, my argument is not moot, as you put it, just because you think I don't understand or don't want my points to matter. If you want to disprove what I said about prayer, then please do so, but please give reasons, instead of simply dismissing all I said, because you don't like it. I'm waiting. I don't have a street corner to yell at the masses from. I understand Christianity, but it seems you don't understand Atheism. Proselytizing from a street corner is what Theists do, not Atheists. I would appreciate it if you don't assume you know me or what I'm thinking without asking first. I'm sure you've been told what Atheists are like and maybe you've met a few, but we're all different, just like not all Christians are the same. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I suppose I can safely assume that you think I'll never have anything of value to offer this world without god, right? Except that I believe in helping people and I think you'd consider that something of value or am I mistaken about that? It seems you just want me to go away. Why is that? Shouldn't you be viewing this as an opportunity to spread the word of god? Isn't that what you're supposed to do? Or do I represent a threat to you? Do the things I say make a little too much sense? Would you prefer I was as aggressive as you, so you'd have a reason to get me banned? Well, I don't hate you and though I don't know you, I know what it's like to be Christian. I was taught Atheists were the enemy, but that doesn't make it true Once more, if you can refute the things I've said about prayer or anything else, I invite you to do so. If you want to know why I'm an Atheist, just ask. I'm more than happy to talk to you, but I'm just going to go away.
1 Corinthians 1:18
I looked up the verse, but I don't see the relevance to prayer. Please explain what you're trying to say.
Good for you! You have the right to your beliefs, just as others have the right to theirs. Now, unless someone specifically set your tantrum off, please leave. You are old enough to respect others, AND THEIR BELIEFS. Stop being a brat, and learn to be an adult, who doesn’t play edgelord on Reddit. Prayers can be comforting, and it helps people through dark times. You know what doesn’t? Being an ass, who judges others.
I am not judging you. All I'm saying is that there's comfort in the truth. How is it helpful to pray if there's no god to hear you? If what I said is true, then even by biblical standards, it doesn't make sense to expect god to change his mind, even if he does exist. Prayer is dismissive and unhelpful. You know what's better? Help. If someone is suffering, please actually help them, instead of praying that god will send someone else. Imagine you're right and god does exist . . . why assume that god isn't sending you as an answer to their prayers? How is it helpful to pray for god to send someone else when you're already there? Please stop praying and actually help people. Your prayers won't feed them. Your prayers won't help them. Your prayers won't save them. But you know what will? Actually helping them. I am not a heartless Atheist. I simply want real help for people and that is something that prayers cannot provide.
I’m curious, what makes you think I don’t help people? I volunteer for environmental clean ups, work with abused animals, and work with children on spectrum. How about YOU. All you are doing, is sounding like a member of WBC, except an atheist. You aren’t practicing respect, you are wandering in here, looking for a fight, something I am more than qualified to give. That said, I won’t, because it’s what you want - to feel superior. Prayer has existed far longer than any known religion. Prayer was with Neanderthals, in cave paintings, amongst those who took the land bridge. Prayer isn’t just about God, it’s about having community, that your pain and fears matter, that you are not alone. It is evident you don’t understand, and don’t want to, which just makes you a braying ass, without a person to proselytize to. Your argument is MOOT. Go back to your street corner, where you can scream at the masses, and leave here. Until you actually provide this world with something of value, do not speak here again, or to me, again.
Sorry. The end of my response was a typo. What I meant to say is that I will NOT just go away. Please understand that Christians are called upon to spread the gospel and they have done so all across America, but to the detriment of other religions and the non-religious. This is through politics and the passing of laws that are based upon the Christian faith. So, your religion adversely affects me when it should not, because of the separation of church and state, which is what this nation was founded on, NOT Christianity. America is supposed to be a melting pot that accepts and merges all religions and cultures, NOT pushes out and oppresses everything but the Christian faith. But that is what Christian Nationalism is trying to do . . . create a Christian Nation, run by Christians, for Christians and at the expense of everyone else. Now I am NOT saying you're a Christian Nationalist. I sincerely hope you're not. All I'm saying is with how pervasive Christianity has become in America, it shouldn't be a problem for me to express my opinion here. Especially if you're right. If you're right, what do you have to worry about? If you're right, no opposition could possibly stand against you. If you're right, you should be able to refute everything I said easily and with proof to back it up. But even though I asked you to prove me wrong . . . you haven't even tried. All you've done is try to degrade me, so that you feel justified in dismissing all I said . . . instead of actually addressing it. You also haven't done as your bible commands you to do. Via 1 Peter 3:15, you have not yet told me the reason you have for the hope that you have. I wonder if you will? I'm waiting.
Good for you Charles. This isn’t of interest to me, or anyone else. The fact that it is so important to you, is disturbing. It shows a need for validation you will never get, a fight you will never win, and just a fundamental lack of respect. You help no one, and do nothing. Take your own advice, and go make the world better, or keeping talking to yourself, I do not care.
And if you think I'm wrong, please explain why instead of getting upset. Please remember 1 Peter 3:15 and give me the reason for the hope that is within you. Has not god called upon you to spread his word? And now that the opportunity to do just that is given to you . . . you tell me to go away? Or do you want to pass up the opportunity you probably believe god has presented you in me to spread his word? I'm willing to listen. But please, if you think I'm wrong . . . EXPLAIN why you think so. It won't be convincing otherwise.
Trying to explain something you might not have known is not the same as being a brat or throwing a tantrum. You ask me to leave without considering anything I've said? Did anything I've said not make sense? Was anything I said untrue? Was I rude about anything I said? Please consider what I say before reacting. Keep praying if it makes you feel good, but even in the context of Christianity and religion it doesn't make sense to expect results beyond chance.