Now I Ask the Atheists...
Arthur
Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
this question, so please give it your best shot.
If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
what are your thoughts?
--
..........................
One God
One Lifetime
One Hope
remove "spammfilter" from my email address to reply to me.
.
Cynic
"Arthur" <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:LNP69.39068$Zl2.8531@sccrnsc02...
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
I would await a thorough scientific investigation.
dral...@farside.fr
<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
>- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
>what are your thoughts?
>
>
(drala)
if a real undeniable magical event was to happen, I would
reconsider my position on the various existing sects, but it would
take a lot for me to consider that some kind of magical pixies could
be peeping at us and waiting to judge us at our death...
since no magical event of any sort had never happened for all
known history, so I don't see any reason for anything to happen
know...
The Flying Frenchman
Never forgets Montsegur.
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Gregory Gadow
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
> what are your thoughts?
I would consider it sufficient proof of the fundamentalist pre-millenial
variant of Christianity and I would convert on the spot. But only AFTER the
fact. Lets see the Christians vanish, first.
--
Gregory Gadow
tech...@serv.net
http://www.serv.net/~techbear
"The accumulation of all power, legislative,
executive, and judicial in the same hands...
may justly be pronounced the very definition
of tyranny."
- James Madison, _The Federalist_, #47
Bill Thacker
Arthur <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
Yep.
Now here's one for you. If I were to show you today that Jesus was
clearly not the son of God, but was some kind of false prophet,
what would you do:
- re-consider your faith in him as your savior?
- re-consider your faith in the Bible?
- go on worshipping as before?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bill Thacker BAAWA Knight, Atheist #1363 bi...@woods-car.com
Bill's Rail Buggy Page: http://www.woods-car.com
Director of the EAC Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, Fast Cars,
and Pornography.
"Be nice to your neighbor. Be hell to his ideas."
Jim Versluys, editor, The Texas Mercury
socode
: Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
: Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
: If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
: hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
: (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
Assuming that a true "supernatural" event occurred, and not some
mass decision to "vanish"...
Would it be right to assume that any of them attended by the vanishers
would be adequate? If so, you'd consider me converted. Obviously it
isn't going to happen.
socode
Adam Goodman
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
I would think "how curious" and explore what had happened. Given a complete
disappearance with no explanations, I would rethink my world view.
Based on the bible, though, hundreds of millions is far too many if you were
thinking "ascended to heaven":
Mark 16:17-18 - believers will speak in tongues and drink poison without it
hurting them
haven't seen hundreds of millions doing that!
1 Timothy 2:9/1 Peter 3:3 - women shouldn't dress up or be happy
disqualifies most of the female half of those women
Leviticus 19:19: lets just pick out the "Mixed linen and woolen" part
massive disqualification's
Matthew 5:22: Calling someone a fool is a ticket to hell.
Galatians 5:21: Getting drunk disqualifies you for heaven
I guess you figure on hundreds of millions never having done those things
Perhaps you were just figuring on us waking up and hundreds of millions of
christians having been sucked into hell.
edvard_k
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
>- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
>what are your thoughts?
I would consider this as reasonable evidence that something like the
god as depicted in the Bible and as interpreted by certain Christian
sects exists. Being a moral person I would naturaly join Satans army
to defeat it.
--
e. kardelj a.a #177
mail: NotHotMail At GotMail Dot Com
Packman
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
Yay!
Arthur
"Bill Thacker" <w...@cbemi.cb.lucent.com> wrote in message
news:ajgk0a$s...@nntpb.cb.lucent.com...
> In article <LNP69.39068$Zl2.8531@sccrnsc02>,
> Arthur <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> >Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
> >
> >I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> >this question, so please give it your best shot.
> >
> >
> >If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> >hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> >(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
> >
> >- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>
> Yep.
>
> Now here's one for you. If I were to show you today that Jesus was
> clearly not the son of God, but was some kind of false prophet,
> what would you do:
>
> - re-consider your faith in him as your savior?
> - re-consider your faith in the Bible?
> - go on worshipping as before?
>
i would stop being a christian (probably still be a theist though) Paul
himself addressed this in 1 Cor
15:17
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in
your sins.
15:18
Then those also who have died in Christ have perished
15:32 "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE
DIE. "
Arthur
"edvard_k" <add...@sig.com> wrote in message
news:3d5bd393...@news.ntlworld.com...
this response, actually is probably very accurate regarding how many would
regard such an event. They would consider god immoral and attempt to seize
power. However, any finite attempt to overthrow infinite will certainly be
futile.
Elf Sternberg
"Arthur" <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> writes:
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
Let's see it happen first.
Elf
--
Elf M. Sternberg
Thoughtful science fiction and fantasy:
http://www.drizzle.com/~elf/
Craig Pennington
> Arthur wrote:
>> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
>> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>> what are your thoughts?
> I would consider it sufficient proof of the fundamentalist pre-millenial
> variant of Christianity and I would convert on the spot. But only AFTER the
> fact. Lets see the Christians vanish, first.
To the degree that the event was consistent with fundamentalist pre-millenial
expectations, I agree that I would probably swing to the side of belief in
a god that inspired the beliefs of that branch of Christianity. Would I
convert to the now post-millenial variant of Christianity? I don't know. I'm
not sure I consider the god that they follow worthy of worship. But I'd take
what the pre-millenialists had to say a lot more seriously.
Cheers,
Craig
--
Corollary to Clarke's Third Law:
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently
advanced.
Wayne Aiken
: Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
: Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
:
: I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
: this question, so please give it your best shot.
:
:
: If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
: hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
: (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
:
: - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
: -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
: - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
- assume that mischievious aliens had beamed them up?
There's a problem with supernatural claims. The only things we can
experience or know about are purely natural. There isn't anything
in the natural realm that necessarily points to anything supernatural,
as opposed to something simply unknown but natural.
If there is a god, then surely he/she/it would know what non-believers
would find convincing.
---
Wayne Aiken (#304) / NC Director \ Getting AANEWS? Send msg to:
PO Box 30904 / American Atheists \ <AANE...@atheists.org> to
Raleigh, NC 27622 / wai...@atheists.org \ start your Free subscription
(919) 954-5956 / http://www.atheists.org /nc/ AIM: slackx42
dral...@farside.fr
(drala)
you are perfectly right: any attempt to overthrow an imaginary
invisible pixy is bound to fail for obvious reasons...
but not necessarily: the christians managed to overthrow
various pagans deities and transform them into christians deities.
they even stole quite a number of babylonnians legends and even the
concept of monotheism: they lacked a bit of imagination perhaps???
Fatman
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
> what are your thoughts?
>
Lets see here, people vanish without trace. All denominations of
Christianity are gone.
Does that mean all are correct?
The in-fighting between Catholics, Methodist, Lutherans, Baptists, ect. is
for nothing?
Why would all the bodies vanish?
If the Christians were taken to heaven, why take the bodies with them?
Maybe Muhammad is right, and God destroyed all the Christians?
Maybe Jews were right, and God destroyed all the Christians?
Maybe God(s) "X" was right, and it/they destroyed all the Christians?
Maybe those patterns in fields mean something?
Who is next?
Why did they disappear?
The world is still as it was otherwise, so this isn't the "Apocalypse."
Who is left to thank God for allowing them to score the winning points in a
sporting event?
A mass disappearance leaves more questions that need to be answered before a
rational decision can be made.
Fatman
LP
<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
Seize power?
That makes no sense.
There is not now, nor has there ever been any evidence that any
supernatural powers even exist.
The myth that you hold in such high regard has as its central icon,
an entity that has every characteristic of something that does not
exist. Not just some of the characteristics. It is EXACTLY like
something that does not exist. Could this just be a coincidence? Or
maybe your desire to believe has overwhelmed your ability to follow
this fact through to its logical conclusion.
Whirl_pool
#1439
edvard_k
Unless we have iron chariots:
"...The LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of
the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley,
because they had chariots of iron." -- Judges 1:19
L. Raymond
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
>- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
If millions of Christians literally disappeared off the face of the
Earth, it could not be their rapture since only 144,000 virgin males
are supposed to be included in that (Rev 7:4, 14:4). Since it could
not be the Christian god manifesting itself, one would have to examine
other possibilities equally likely:
- The Alpha Centurians returned to claim their own.
- Satan decided hell was too empty and claimed his people.
- The entire population of the world hallucinated millions of extra
people, and we suddenly came to our senses.
- Carl Sagan was really channeling Son!thry when he wrote _Contact_
and the missing folks have gone to tour Vega.
--
L. Raymond
Adam Marczyk
Oh, I dunno. Granted that, if God exists and is omnipotent as the Bible
describes him, attempting to actually overthrow him would be doomed to fail. But
consider - according to the millennialist view of the Bible, after Judgment Day
comes, only a relatively small handful of people will have made it to Heaven,
while the vast, overwhelming majority of all humans who have ever lived will be
in Hell, eternally separated from their creator, burning forever in the flame
without purpose or hope.
I think, by any rational standard, that means that Satan won after all.
--
a.a. #2001
"Blasphemy is a victimless crime."
Director, EAC Black Monolith Division - "My God, it's full of stars"
Operative: EAC Electronic Warfare Division
EAC Subversive Fiction Division
http://www.ebonmusings.org ICQ: 8777843 PGP Key ID: 0x5C66F737
Fatman
"Adam Marczyk" <ebon...@hotmailNOTexcite.com> wrote in message
news:ulnq5o6...@corp.supernews.com...snip>
> while the vast, overwhelming majority of all humans who have ever lived
will be
> in Hell, eternally separated from their creator, burning forever in the
flame
> without purpose or hope.
Just a comment on a different tangent.
I have yet to figure out how a "soul" can burn, since it is not of physical
substance, let alone, how can it burn forever without exhausting its "fuel".
Pain is a physical manifestation via. nerve receptors that not all humans
possess (i.e. nerve damage), so how could a "soul" even show discomfort if
it was burning?
Fatman
Bill Thacker
Arthur <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>"Bill Thacker" <w...@cbemi.cb.lucent.com> wrote in message
>news:ajgk0a$s...@nntpb.cb.lucent.com...
>>
>> clearly not the son of God, but was some kind of false prophet,
>> what would you do:
>>
>himself addressed this in 1 Cor
Mark 9
1 And he [Jesus]said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are
standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of
God come with power."
That was 2000 years ago, and the kingdom of God has not come with
power. Your choice would seem to be between accepting that Jesus'
prophecy failed to come true, or claiming that somewhere in the world
there still lives one of the people who were standing there that day,
twice as old as Methuselah.
Do you have another explanation for Jesus' apparent false prophesy?
John Hattan
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
>- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
>what are your thoughts?
Dunno. I'll wait until it happens and worry about it then. It's coming
within 24 years according to Georgann, so there's not long to wait.
---
John Hattan Grand High UberPope - First Church of Shatnerology
jo...@thecodezone.com http://www.shatnerology.com
Scott
"Wayne Aiken" <ai...@unity.ncsu.edu> wrote in message
news:ajgmfe$4dn$1...@uni00nw.unity.ncsu.edu...
> Arthur (sirarthur1...@earthlink.net) wrote:
> : Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> : Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
> :
> : I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers
to
> : this question, so please give it your best shot.
> :
> :
> : If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> : hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> : (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
> :
> : - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> : -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> : - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
> - assume that mischievious aliens had beamed them up?
>
What would aliens want from millions of Christians?
Scott
Michael Painter
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
I doubt that hundreds of millions believe in the rapture.
It is questionable that hundreds of millions believe in the concept of
being "saved" to obtain heaven.
If the concept is valid then the means are "clearly" laid out in the bible.
I doubt that any two sects agree on what this "clearly" is.
If hundreds of millions were gone tomorrow I'd probably call the pope. He's
the only one with a crowd that large.
I'd also try to find a car with a rapture sticker on it...
Apostate
alt.atheism:
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
That there is a gawd after all, and she's so generous that she's
granted our wish, without our having to pray for it.
--
/Apostate
atheist #1931 I've found it!
BAAWA Knife AND SMASHer
EAC Supernumerary Deputy Director, Department of Redundancy Department
plonked by vernon; NEW! IMPROVED! plonked by Lani_girl
I doubt, therefore I might be.
Beowulf
ejaculated:
>Arthur wrote:
>
>> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>>
>> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>>
>> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>>
>> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
>> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>>
>> what are your thoughts?
>
>I would consider it sufficient proof of the fundamentalist pre-millenial
>variant of Christianity and I would convert on the spot. But only AFTER the
>fact. Lets see the Christians vanish, first.
Pre-millenial fundies (I used to be one) say that if you have heard
the Gospel don't convert pre-Rapture then you are going to be sent
deluding spirits post-Rapture that will prevent you from converting.
There's a bible passage that hints at this vaguely. I can hunt it
down, if you want.
---
EAC Eater of Meatpies
Atheist #1942, Zymurgist #9
"It is the dice, in fact, that play God with the universe."
tos...@aol.com ab...@aol.com ab...@yahoo.com ab...@hotmail.com
ab...@msn.com ab...@sprint.com ab...@earthlink.com u...@ftc.gov
postm...@attglobal.net ab...@pacbell.net live...@icrmedia.org
Inpri
>From: "Arthur" sirarthur1...@earthlink.net
>Date: 8/15/02 10:29 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: <LNP69.39068$Zl2.8531@sccrnsc02>
>
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
Good riddance.
Gregory Gadow
> In article <cMQ69.39460$Zl2.8705@sccrnsc02>,
> Arthur <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> >"Bill Thacker" <w...@cbemi.cb.lucent.com> wrote in message
> >news:ajgk0a$s...@nntpb.cb.lucent.com...
> >>
> >> Now here's one for you. If I were to show you today that Jesus was
> >> clearly not the son of God, but was some kind of false prophet,
> >> what would you do:
> >>
> >i would stop being a christian (probably still be a theist though) Paul
> >himself addressed this in 1 Cor
>
> Mark 9
>
> 1 And he [Jesus]said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are
> standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of
> God come with power."
>
> That was 2000 years ago, and the kingdom of God has not come with
> power.
<mode='satire'>
He has. The Book of Revelations was not a prophesy, it was a first hand
account. We and our world are the remnant of those who were left behind. You
weren't expecting a *literal* Lake of Fire, were you?
</mode>
Bill Thacker
Good point.
On today's "What If?", we examine the hypothetical scenario, "What
if the the USA sends a tank division to the Apocalypse?"
(James Earl Jones voiceover to artistic renderings of the Apocalypse)
When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for
about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before
God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who had
a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much
incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden
altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with
the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's
hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the
altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder,
rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Then the seven
angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
But before they made a sound, the angels were beset by all manner
of fires and winds and arrows. For the thunder was not thunder, but
siege engines fully a third of a cubit in caliber, and their shells
did fall like the rains of spring. And the flashes were not of
lightning, but were the Hellfires, sallied forth from the
four-winged Apache beasts. And the earthquake was no earthquake,
for the dusts of the air did part and the iron chariots of the King
of the West appeared; from his command chariot their captain
cried, "Gunner, HEAT! Angel of God, fifteen hundred!" For his
legions were Abrams and they knew no fear. Like demons didst they
come on, spitting fire and shrieking, and inscribed upon them in cruel
runes were the words, "Second Armored Division - Hell on Wheels".
And the angels did pause but briefly, then they raised a finger
in curse and began to blow their trumpets. And as the first note
rent the air, then did the captain of the chariots cry, "All units,
commence firing, kick ass and take names!" Then as one did the
chariots fire their mighty bows, and flaming arrows screamed
across the land. And each arrow struck an angel, and every angel was
struck seven times seven times, and they did cry out, "O Holy Father,
what the fuck were you thinking of? Jesus Christ!"
And the angels did drop their trumpets with a mighty thud, and took
wing, trailing blood and their own waters as they sped hastily to
the heavens. As they ascended were they again beset by the Falcons
and Eagles and Hornets, and mightily they did suffer from missiles
up the kiester. At last they found refuge in God's bosom, and His
voice rang from the heavens like thunder. God spake, saying, "Son
of a bitch."
Then did the chariots turn upon the Four Riders, and Death, their
leader, spake saying, "My momma didn't raise no fools. We hashed out
this whole horses-versus-tanks thing back in 1939, so we'll just be
moseying along now. Have a nice eternity."
Jim Cowling
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
I wouldn't trust the news alone; I'd have to have personal experience (my
sister and her family are gone? And most of the rest of her church? And eight
people didn't show up for work and there's no sign of them? Uh-oh.)
A few weeks of panicky news reports plus the above would do it for me. Yes,
I'd reconsider. However, I don't think the scenario is likely. :)
--
Spamblock: There is no 'p' in my address.
Beowulf
>"edvard_k" <add...@sig.com> wrote in message
>news:3d5bd393...@news.ntlworld.com...
>> On Thu, 15 Aug 2002 15:29:47 GMT, "Arthur"
><sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>> >Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>> >Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>> >
>> >I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>> >this question, so please give it your best shot.
>> >
>> >
>> >If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>> >hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
>earth
>> >(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>> >
>> >- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>> >-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
>> >- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >what are your thoughts?
>>
>> I would consider this as reasonable evidence that something like the
>> god as depicted in the Bible and as interpreted by certain Christian
>> sects exists. Being a moral person I would naturaly join Satans army
>> to defeat it.
>>
>this response, actually is probably very accurate regarding how many would
>regard such an event. They would consider god immoral and attempt to seize
>power.
There's nothing to consider it is blatantly obvious to anyone with a
modicum of moral sense that the Christian god as it's depicted in the
Bible is immoral.
<URL:http://www20.brinkster.com/beowulf9/Gottod/Jesus%20Hates%20The%20Little%20Children.html>
>However, any finite attempt to overthrow infinite will certainly be
>futile.
So we should just go along with a murdering thug because he can hurt
us and we can't hurt him. Were you this "moral" before you became a
Christian?
-
"Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no
more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifiying to man, more repugnant
to reason, and more contradictory to itself than this thing called
Christianity."
--Thomas Paine (The Age of Reason)
hypa...@comcast.net
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
> what are your thoughts?
That they figured out some secret way to leave on their
own or that they were carried off by aliens. Not knowing
how or why they vanished wouldn't present proof of their
religious beliefs - especially if religious fanatics from
other religions also vanished at the same time.
What kind of conspiracy?
I don't know if I'd want to celebrate completely,
considering that some of my friends would be
included in the vanished. I'd miss them. But,
yes, I would celebrate the vanishing of people
like Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Buchanan and that
scuzzball who invades the funerals of murdered
gay men. Besides, it probably wouldn't be
hundreds of millions of Christians who disappeared
- only the fanatics who really believe in such a thing.
>
I kind of like the idea of some aliens skimming off
the most fanatical 10% of all the religions on Earth
and dumping them all on one continent of another
world. Then, the aliens wait fifty to a hundred years
and go back to see who is still alive, who wiped out
whom, what new religions have been created by
the survivors and how many people, figuring out
what had happened, became atheists.
--
Michelle Malkin (Mickey) aa list #1
aa atheist list # ordainer and brander
EAC Bible thumper thumper
BAAWA Knight Who Says SPONG!
http://questioner.www2.50megs.com
http://www.geocities.com/hypatiab7/
--
> ..........................
>
> One God
> One Lifetime
> One Hope
>
> remove "spammfilter" from my email address to reply to me.
>
> .
>
>
>
Reverend Lovejoy
news:LNP69.39068$Zl2.8531@sccrnsc02...
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
> what are your thoughts?
If they all disappeared? I'd probably assume a mass suicide. Or maybe mass
alien abductions. Or maybe whatever decomposed their brains finally
decomposed the rest of their bodies. Spontaneous human combustion maybe?
In any case, even a crazy event like that would not *automatically* validate
god, although it would provide strong evidence.
--
"This so called new religion is nothing
but a pack of weird rituals and chants
designed to take away the money of
fools. Let us say the Lord's prayer 40
times, but first let's pass the collection
plate."
Reverend Lovejoy, The Simpsons
Ghostman
> >
> i would stop being a christian (probably still be a theist though) Paul
> himself addressed this in 1 Cor
>
>
> 15:17
> If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in
> your sins.
>
>
> 15:18
> Then those also who have died in Christ have perished
>
>
> 15:32 "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW WE
> DIE. "
>
What is this fixation you guys have on death? Paul (above) should have
said,
15:17
If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in
your sins. But since your faith is futile, now you have no sins. Let us
rejoice!
15:18
Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. Nothing we can do
about that now, though.
15:32 "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW IS
THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES."
Ghostman
aa # 2011
Arthur
"Beowulf" <beowulf_i...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3d5bf77c...@news.alterdial.uu.net...
immoral only to your subjective morality. but i believe morality is
objective. i see no immorality in your accusation
>
>
<URL:http://www20.brinkster.com/beowulf9/Gottod/Jesus%20Hates%20The%20Little
Brian L
If the lions were missing too I could hazard a guess...
Arthur
"Ghostman" <ghos...@ghost.com> wrote in message
news:fgT69.1610$ab.180...@news.inreach.com...
>
> Arthur <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:cMQ69.39460$Zl2.8705@sccrnsc02...
>
> > >
> > i would stop being a christian (probably still be a theist though) Paul
> > himself addressed this in 1 Cor
> >
> >
> > 15:17
> > If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in
> > your sins.
> >
> >
> > 15:18
> > Then those also who have died in Christ have perished
> >
> >
> > 15:32 "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW
WE
> > DIE. "
> >
>
> What is this fixation you guys have on death? Paul (above) should have
> said,
lol. well that should be obvious:
Unless you are 100% certain and know for a FACT there is no aferlife (which
no atheist I've ever seen would dare say), then there exist the *potential
possibility* that an afterlife exists.
but since you will die like everyone else, therefore wisdom dictates that
all people give a considerable amount of thought to this concept. Those
who go through life completely ignoring it do not sound wise to me, but
thats my opinion.
- life is extremely short, you barely even have enough time to fully pursue
more than a couple hobbies. 70 years if you're lucky compared to billions
of years is 99.99999~ (repetan) % of all existence is existence during which
you are dead.
>
> 15:32 "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW IS
> THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES."
Which have absolutely no meaning, since now your just a bag of biological
goo, mostly water, metabolizing nutrients, expelling waste, ejecting sperm
or ovulating eggs. A random pile of chance subatomic particles behaving
according to universal laws, every thought, desire, dream, and hope just a
function of chaotic chemicals stimulating the carbon-based spongy material
mounted inside a hardened caranial cavity that maneuvers the host organism
which in no time at all will once again return to the dirt where other
biological life forms will consume your rotting flesh and feast off your
once "happy" existence and then expell you out of their systems as unneeded
excrement, giving no care nor concern to any delusions of grandeur or
personal accomplishments you may have made, except, perhaps to wish you ate
a bit more to give them more decomposing flesh to metabolize.
dang. if i was an atheist, i'd nominate that quote for AQOTM. I wonder
if its possible for a theist to get such an "honor"?
>
> Ghostman
> aa # 2011
>
>
>
Ghostman
Maybe we could revise this verse to include Hummers.
Ghostman
aa # 2011
Adam Goodman
>
> 1 And he [Jesus]said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are
> standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of
> God come with power."
>
> That was 2000 years ago, and the kingdom of God has not come with
> power. Your choice would seem to be between accepting that Jesus'
> prophecy failed to come true, or claiming that somewhere in the world
> there still lives one of the people who were standing there that day,
> twice as old as Methuselah.
>
> Do you have another explanation for Jesus' apparent false prophesy?
<comic relief>
It is the TASTING part that is the key. Jesus was just saying that some of
his followers would be vegetarians. He didn't say they wouldn't die, just
that they wouldn't TASTE death, served rare with ketsup. Yummy yummy death.
</comic relief>
Raptor514
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
If hundreds of millions of Christians disappeared overnight--I would be
convinced that the pre-Trib flavor of Christian millenialism must be
correct. Then I would start stocking up on canned goods. . .
Of course, that would also prove that there is a God and He's an insane
nutter. . .so the canned goods would probably be a waste of time.
Raptor514
>
>
>
> what are your thoughts?
Ghostman
>
>
>
> "Ghostman" <ghos...@ghost.com> wrote in message
> news:fgT69.1610$ab.180...@news.inreach.com...
> >
> > >
> >
> > said,
>
> lol. well that should be obvious:
>
>
>
>
> Unless you are 100% certain and know for a FACT there is no aferlife
(which
> no atheist I've ever seen would dare say), then there exist the *potential
> possibility* that an afterlife exists.
> but since you will die like everyone else, therefore wisdom dictates that
> all people give a considerable amount of thought to this concept. Those
> who go through life completely ignoring it do not sound wise to me, but
> thats my opinion.
Death is but the end of life. Why waste time worrying over it?
>
> - life is extremely short, you barely even have enough time to fully
pursue
> more than a couple hobbies. 70 years if you're lucky compared to billions
> of years is 99.99999~ (repetan) % of all existence is existence during
which
> you are dead.
>
Does eternity not include the time before we were born? (figure revised to
49.999~%) If dead = some kind of existence, please explain what the time was
before we were born.
If man is eternal, we have existed all along, therefore there is no need for
a creator, is there?
>
>
> >
> > 15:32 "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW
IS
> > THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES."
>
> Which have absolutely no meaning, <snip>
Why? Was Paul talking to a cemetery?
Ghostman
aa # 2011
Raptor514
<snip>
Oh my god, that is the funniest freaking thing I have read in a long time!
This should be archived or something. . .
Raptor514
Raptor514
In what way does his assertion rely on the belief in moral subjectivism?
Test Time!! (choose one)
Your response was:
a) A red herring.
b) A spineless evasion.
c) Usual fundy horsecrap.
d) All of the above.
Raptor514
Raptor514
"Scott" <sc...@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:GxS69.834$fN2.34...@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com...
Where do you think Spam comes from?
Raptor514
>
> Scott
>
>
GlennGlenn
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
Heard on the news? How would the news get out? Most of the world's
news agencies, including the technical aspects, are run by Christians.
Who'd flip the switches?
Are you saying there'd be some Christians left? Would bob, Lani-girl,
Boatwright et al. be, er, Left Behind?
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
No.
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
No.
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
No.
> what are your thoughts?
My thoughts? That's one motherfucker of a lame-assed question.
> One God
Or many gods... or none.
> One Lifetime
Whatever.
> One Hope
Yeah, 'cuz the world needs a brutal ruler with absolute power.
--
GlennGlenn--Lost somewhere in Hollywood, CA--aa # 825
"The Earth is degenerating today. Bribery and corruption abound. Children no
longer obey their parents, every man wants to write a book, and it is evident
that the end of the world is fast approaching."
ã Assyrian tablet, c. 2800 BC
Gregory Gadow
> "Ghostman" <ghos...@ghost.com> wrote in message
> news:fgT69.1610$ab.180...@news.inreach.com...
> >
> > Arthur <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> > news:cMQ69.39460$Zl2.8705@sccrnsc02...
> >
> > > >
> > > i would stop being a christian (probably still be a theist though) Paul
> > > himself addressed this in 1 Cor
> > >
> > >
> > > 15:17
> > > If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in
> > > your sins.
> > >
> > >
> > > 15:18
> > > Then those also who have died in Christ have perished
> > >
> > >
> > > 15:32 "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW
> WE
> > > DIE. "
> > >
> >
> > What is this fixation you guys have on death? Paul (above) should have
> > said,
>
> lol. well that should be obvious:
>
> Unless you are 100% certain and know for a FACT there is no aferlife (which
> no atheist I've ever seen would dare say), then there exist the *potential
> possibility* that an afterlife exists.
But no facts. Your assertion that there is an afterlife carries exactly the same
evidence as my assertion that there is not an afterlife.
Daniel Kolle
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
They went off to be with Jeeeeeeeeeeeesuz!
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
>- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
>what are your thoughts?
>
>
>
>
>--
>..........................
>
>One God
>One Lifetime
>One Hope
>
> remove "spammfilter" from my email address to reply to me.
>
>.
>
>
>
--
-Kolle (kohl-lee); 14. A.A.#2035.
Koji Kondo is my god.
EAC Fundie Roaster.
dral...@farside.fr
wrote:
>Arthur wrote:
>
>> "Ghostman" <ghos...@ghost.com> wrote in message
>> news:fgT69.1610$ab.180...@news.inreach.com...
>> >
>> > Arthur <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>> > news:cMQ69.39460$Zl2.8705@sccrnsc02...
>> >
>> > > >
>> > > i would stop being a christian (probably still be a theist though) Paul
>> > > himself addressed this in 1 Cor
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > 15:17
>> > > If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in
>> > > your sins.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > 15:18
>> > > Then those also who have died in Christ have perished
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > 15:32 "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW
>> WE
>> > > DIE. "
>> > >
>> >
>> > What is this fixation you guys have on death? Paul (above) should have
>> > said,
>>
>> lol. well that should be obvious:
>>
>> Unless you are 100% certain and know for a FACT there is no aferlife (which
>> no atheist I've ever seen would dare say), then there exist the *potential
>> possibility* that an afterlife exists.
>
>But no facts. Your assertion that there is an afterlife carries exactly the same
>evidence as my assertion that there is not an afterlife.
>--
(drala)
so far we haven't seen anyone coming back from afterlife, or
any change in a human body before and after death, any kind of
fundamental differences between humans and mere animals (apart from
the obvious usual ones), or any kind of special "soul" organ and not
even any kind of evidence for an alternate universe where the "souls"
can go after death...
so the evidence is a bit more toward "no afterlife" :)
The Flying Frenchman
Never forgets Montsegur.
-----------== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Uncensored Usenet News ==----------
http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----= Over 100,000 Newsgroups - Unlimited Fast Downloads - 19 Servers =-----
Gregory Gadow
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Nonetheless, I am inclined to agree
with you :-P
Don Kresch
<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> let us all know that:
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
That someone slipped me some LSD and I am pissed.
Don
---
aa #51, Knight of BAAWA, DNRC o-, EAC Decryption squad
Atheist Minister for St. Dogbert.
"No being is so important that he can usurp the rights of another"
Picard to Data/Graves "The Schizoid Man"
Apostate
>
>"Wayne Aiken" <ai...@unity.ncsu.edu> wrote in message
>news:ajgmfe$4dn$1...@uni00nw.unity.ncsu.edu...
>> Arthur (sirarthur1...@earthlink.net) wrote:
>> : Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>> : Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>> :
>> : I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers
>to
>> : this question, so please give it your best shot.
>> :
>> :
>> : If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>> : hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
>earth
>> : (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>> :
>> : - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>> : -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
>> : - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>>
>> - assume that mischievious aliens had beamed them up?
>>
>
>What would aliens want from millions of Christians?
>
Ghoulash?
>Scott
>
--
/Apostate
atheist #1931 I've found it!
BAAWA Knife AND SMASHer
EAC Supernumerary Deputy Director, Department of Redundancy Department
plonked by vernon; NEW! IMPROVED! plonked by Lani_girl
I doubt, therefore I might be.
Alex
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
Wait for an investigation and if they actually *disappeared* (and
didn't kill themselves simultaneously because of some kind of
religious stupidity) then I'd be an instant believer in the Lord Jesus
the Christ.
>
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
Already answered.
>-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
Nope.
>- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>what are your thoughts?
I think you're a bigot. What do Pakistanis have to do with 9/11? I
guess they all look alike to you and it's difficult to tell the
difference...
Alex
atheist #2007
Arthur
"Gregory Gadow" <tech...@serv.net> wrote in message
news:3D5C1787...@serv.net...
oh, yes I realize this. But because the possibility is there, all I am
saying is that the CONCEPT is worth spending some thought over. i.e. it is
not a subject that is futile to think about since death is universal and
personal to us all
Melchizedek
"Ghostman" <ghos...@ghost.com> wrote in message news:BWT69.1613$4h.180...@news.inreach.com...
|
| Arthur <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
| news:aIT69.113051$UU1.20483@sccrnsc03...
| >
| >
| >
| > "Ghostman" <ghos...@ghost.com> wrote in message
| > news:fgT69.1610$ab.180...@news.inreach.com...
| > >
| > > >
| > >
| > > What is this fixation you guys have on death? Paul (above) should have
| > > said,
| >
| > lol. well that should be obvious:
| >
| >
| >
| >
| > Unless you are 100% certain and know for a FACT there is no aferlife
| (which
| > no atheist I've ever seen would dare say), then there exist the *potential
| > possibility* that an afterlife exists.
| > but since you will die like everyone else, therefore wisdom dictates that
| > all people give a considerable amount of thought to this concept. Those
| > who go through life completely ignoring it do not sound wise to me, but
| > thats my opinion.
|
| Death is but the end of life. Why waste time worrying over it?
dying), and look forward to our real lives! (-;
(Oh but u atheists are done then, right! I don't think so, and that's the REAL fear.)
Alex
wrote:
> At last they found refuge in God's bosom, and His
>voice rang from the heavens like thunder. God spake, saying, "Son
>of a bitch."
>
Fucking brilliant!
Alex
atheist #2007
Arthur
<dral...@farside.fr> wrote in message
news:3d5c2f3d...@binarykiller.newsfeeds.com...
if there exists an after life, then there exist a supernature.
so far we haven't seen in nature anyone coming back from supernature
any natural obersvation of change in a human body before and after death,
any kind of
natural fundamental differences between humans and mere animals (apart from
the obvious usual ones), or any kind of natural observation of special
"soul" that would be a supernatural organ and not
even any kind of nautural evidence using instruments that measure natural
law for an alternate existence where natural law does not apply
well, I'm not surprised.
Melchizedek
<hypa...@comcast.net> wrote in message news:AbT69.13922$Fw3.7...@bin2.nnrp.aus1.giganews.com...
|
| "Arthur" <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
| news:LNP69.39068$Zl2.8531@sccrnsc02...
| > Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
| > Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
| >
| > I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
| > this question, so please give it your best shot.
| >
| >
| > If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
| > hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
| earth
| > (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
| >
| > - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
| > -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
| > - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
| >
| >
| >
| > what are your thoughts?
|
| That they figured out some secret way to leave on their
| own or that they were carried off by aliens. Not knowing
| how or why they vanished wouldn't present proof of their
| religious beliefs - especially if religious fanatics from
| other religions also vanished at the same time.
|
| What kind of conspiracy?
|
| I don't know if I'd want to celebrate completely,
| considering that some of my friends would be
| included in the vanished. I'd miss them. But,
| yes, I would celebrate the vanishing of people
Here is an ET believer!
Don't worry, You'll have another 3 1/2 years afterward
to make up your mind, oh but wait, maybe not! (-;
Apostate
alt.atheism:
Thanks for the heads-up.
First time, I abandoned it after the first para.
Not a big fan of buybullical literary style.
>Raptor514
>
>>
>> Bill Thacker BAAWA Knight, Atheist #1363 bi...@woods-car.com
Ghostman
Melchizedek <Melch...@as-if.com> wrote in message
news:3d5c2...@corp-news.newsgroups.com...
So you're looking forward to standing around God's throne praising him for
all eternity? What a shallow existence. Personally I think I'd start
puking after the 4,000th chorus of A Mighty Fortress. Or whatever a soul
substitutes for puking.
Ghostman
aa # 2011
dral...@farside.fr
wrote:
(drala)
yes, of course: the absence of evidence toward the existence
of a pink unicorn is not real evidence in the strict sense of the term
that such being does not exist, but common sense tells us that if no
single trace or hints of any pink unicorns can be found in the whole
world, then there is much chance that it doesn't exist at all... :)
MarkA
<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers
> to this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
> earth (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God? -assume a giant
> worldwide conspiracy? - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11
> style?
>
>
>
> what are your thoughts?
>
>
I would think: "They've moved their hive."
MarkA
dral...@farside.fr
(drala)
BTW, can you prove that you don't owe me one million
dollars???
if not please pay...
Adam Goodman
> | Death is but the end of life. Why waste time worrying over it?
> Death is but a doorway to life everlasting. I do not fear death, just the
booking of passage, (the
> dying), and look forward to our real lives! (-;
Oh PLEASE start your trip! I would hate to deprive you of your everlasting
life so GO. Your passage is booked, your ticket is waiting on the other
side. GO. All your fantasies are there along with your magic super ghost.
GO and leave us alone! I say again PLEASE GO.
Etherman
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers
to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
> what are your thoughts?
I'd think it would be a good start :-) I'll grant that logically it could
also be space aliens doing mass abductions, however I'll say that I'd find
the God theory more believable. In essence it's a prediction of the
Christian Theory of Eschatology, whereas the Alien Abduction Theory
wouldn't explain why it was only Christians who disappeared. Of course I
still wouldn't convert to Christianity simply because I could never
worship the God of the Bible.
--
Etherman
AA # pi
EAC Director of Ritual Satanic Abuse Operations
AMTCode(v2): [Poster][TÆ][A5][Lx][Sx][Bx][FD][P-][CC]
Etherman
> On Thu, 15 Aug 2002 16:40:25 GMT, "Arthur"
<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >
> >"edvard_k" <add...@sig.com> wrote in message
> >news:3d5bd393...@news.ntlworld.com...
> >> >Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
> >> >
> >> >I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest
answers to
> >> >this question, so please give it your best shot.
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news
that
> >> >hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of
the
> >earth
> >> >(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
> >> >
> >> >- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> >> >-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> >> >- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >what are your thoughts?
> >>
> >> god as depicted in the Bible and as interpreted by certain Christian
> >> sects exists. Being a moral person I would naturaly join Satans army
> >> to defeat it.
> >>
> >this response, actually is probably very accurate regarding how many
would
> >regard such an event. They would consider god immoral and attempt to
seize
certainly be
> >futile.
>
> Unless we have iron chariots:
> "...The LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of
> the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley,
> because they had chariots of iron." -- Judges 1:19
Bastard! I was going to say that.
Meteorite Debris
Arthur<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> sent a radio signal across
the vast expanse of deep space -._.--._.--._.--._.--._.--._.
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
No xians? Heaven on earth :-)
I would know they had not been the "chosen ones" since that is
apparently reserved for only 144,000 virgin males.
--
apatriot #1, atheist #1417, rot-13 on email reply
Chief EAC prophet -
Evil Atheist Conspiracy
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~pk1956/
"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever
conceived." - Isaac Asimov
Fingerprint for PGP Keys at key server or go to
http://members.optusnet.com.au/~pk1956/
RSA - 71 BA 7C 45 B5 4A 5F EA 72 DB EC 7F 7F A8 70 99
DSS (revoked) - 196D 0C35 95C9 BFD2 0677 C238 8FDE 0133 86E9 7B89
Etherman
>
>
>
> "Beowulf" <beowulf_i...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:3d5bf77c...@news.alterdial.uu.net...
> > ><sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> >Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take
a
> > >> >Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to
atheists.
> > >> >
> > >> >I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest
answers
> to
> > >> >this question, so please give it your best shot.
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> >If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news
that
> > >> >hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of
the
> > >earth
> > >> >(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
> > >> >
> > >> >-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> > >> >- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> >what are your thoughts?
> > >>
> > >> I would consider this as reasonable evidence that something like
the
> > >> god as depicted in the Bible and as interpreted by certain
Christian
> > >> sects exists. Being a moral person I would naturaly join Satans
army
> > >> to defeat it.
> > >>
> > >this response, actually is probably very accurate regarding how many
> would
> > >regard such an event. They would consider god immoral and attempt
to
> seize
> > >power.
> >
> > modicum of moral sense that the Christian god as it's depicted in the
> > Bible is immoral.
>
> immoral only to your subjective morality. but i believe morality is
> objective. i see no immorality in your accusation
Is murdering babies immoral? If yes, then consider how many babies must
have died because of the Flood and the last Egyptian plague. If it's okay
for God to murder babies then morality isn't absolute.
--
Etherman
AA # pi
EAC Director of Ritual Satanic Abuse Operations
AMTCode(v2): [Poster][TĘ][A5][Lx][Sx][Bx][FD][P-][CC]
Meteorite Debris
the vast expanse of deep space -._.--._.--._.--._.--._.--._.
> Unless you are 100% certain and know for a FACT there is no aferlife (which
> no atheist I've ever seen would dare say), then there exist the *potential
> possibility* that an afterlife exists.
On balance I would not expect there to be. Does the noise of a motor
bike continue when the engine is switched off? Does it go off to motor
bike heaven?
> but since you will die like everyone else, therefore wisdom dictates that
> all people give a considerable amount of thought to this concept. Those
> who go through life completely ignoring it do not sound wise to me, but
> thats my opinion.
>
> - life is extremely short, you barely even have enough time to fully pursue
> more than a couple hobbies. 70 years if you're lucky compared to billions
> of years is 99.99999~ (repetan) % of all existence is existence during which
> you are dead.
True.
> Which have absolutely no meaning, since now your just a bag of biological
> goo, mostly water, metabolizing nutrients, expelling waste, ejecting sperm
> or ovulating eggs. A random pile of chance subatomic particles behaving
> according to universal laws, every thought, desire, dream, and hope just a
> function of chaotic chemicals stimulating the carbon-based spongy material
> mounted inside a hardened caranial cavity that maneuvers the host organism
> which in no time at all will once again return to the dirt where other
> biological life forms will consume your rotting flesh and feast off your
> once "happy" existence and then expell you out of their systems as unneeded
> excrement, giving no care nor concern to any delusions of grandeur or
> personal accomplishments you may have made, except, perhaps to wish you ate
> a bit more to give them more decomposing flesh to metabolize.
Just because the consequences of an idea may not flatter the ego does
not mean the idea is invalid.
> dang. if i was an atheist, i'd nominate that quote for AQOTM. I wonder
> if its possible for a theist to get such an "honor"?
>
>
> >
> > Ghostman
> > aa # 2011
Graham Kennedy
>
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
> what are your thoughts?
Probably the second, with maybe a bit of the third.
First off, I'd think it was a conspiracy. I'd want to
see it investigated like any other strange happening.
With that many missing, statistically some should have
gone whilst being recorded, or whilst in front of
witnesses. What was seen in those cases? Did the people
simply vanish, go out in a blaze of light, fly up into
the air, or something else?
Presuming that everything 'spectacular but normal' like
a conspiracy could be ruled out, I'd probably be happy
to leave it open-ended. A bunch of people were removed
from the face of the Earth by means unknown and have not
been seen since.
I can't imagine it would make me believe in any particular
God more or less. I don't see how people vanishing has
anything to do with who or what created the universe.
--
Graham Kennedy
Author, Daystrom Institute Technical Library
raven1
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
I'll certainly do so, and I congratulate you on your apparent change
of heart from acting like a total jerk. I hope it lasts. :-)
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
I'd look and see if the date was April 1.
I'd wonder how the news media determined so quickly that all the
disappeared people were Christians, and what criteria they used to
determine it. Christians themselves have a hard time agreeing on such.
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
If, after careful examination, some sort of "rapture" did seem to take
place, I might re-consider whether such a being existed. Two caveats,
however:
1) Even if it were convincingly demonstrated that the Judeo-Christian
God existed, I wouldn't worship it. From the description in the Bible,
I do not consider such a being worthy of worship, or even of being
considered "good".
2) Most mainstream Christian theology tends to imply that when the
Apocalypse happens, everyone who isn't Raptured is royally screwed and
destined for Hell anyway, so what would my reaction matter?
Graham Kennedy
>
<snip>
>
> Then did the chariots turn upon the Four Riders, and Death, their
> leader, spake saying, "My momma didn't raise no fools. We hashed out
> this whole horses-versus-tanks thing back in 1939, so we'll just be
> moseying along now. Have a nice eternity."
Truly brilliant! A comic masterpiece!
Graham Kennedy
>
>
> What would aliens want from millions of Christians?
Opening up a local branch of that galactic franchise, McFundy?
Apostate
alt.atheism:
>Your assertion that there is an afterlife carries exactly
>the same
>> evidence as my assertion that there is not an afterlife.
>
>oh, yes I realize this. But because the possibility is there, all I am
>saying is that the CONCEPT is worth spending some thought over. i.e. it is
>not a subject that is futile to think about since death is universal and
>personal to us all
>
How can you be so arrogant as to suppose that, before you came to
enlighten us, no one among the hundreds of current posters to a.a., the
theists excluded, ever considered the possibility of afterlife? How could you
contemplate the much more humble notion that there are even several of us
who never have entertained the afterlife idea? Can you rally a non-arrogant
defense why such a position isn't pure spam here, in an atheist ng, where a
large number of the posting atheists were previously xians, or members of
another religious tradition?
hypa...@comcast.net
"MarkA" <manthon...@starband.net> wrote in message
news:plW69.3034$Tf1.3...@newsfeed.slurp.net...
> In article <LNP69.39068$Zl2.8531@sccrnsc02>, "Arthur"
> <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> > Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> > Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
> >
> > I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers
> > to this question, so please give it your best shot.
> >
> >
> > If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> > hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
> > earth (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
> >
> > - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God? -assume a giant
> > worldwide conspiracy? - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11
> > style?
> >
> >
> >
> > what are your thoughts?
> >
> >
>
> I would think: "They've moved their hive."
>
> MarkA
Good one! :-)
Mickey
Mark K. Bilbo
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers
> to this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
> earth (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God? -assume a giant
> worldwide conspiracy? - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11
> style?
>
>
>
> what are your thoughts?
>
(Started to answer this then the dogs got into a fight, the freezer
turned out to be not working, and... and... <g>)
Yes. If *that happened, there's no question I'd reverse course. That
would be hard evidence to my mind.
It would be too big for a hoax. I mean, let's look at it this way. I've
seen surveys that say that only about 20% of the people of the US
actually attend church weekly (even thoug 44% say they do). Let's assume
(for the halibut) that, oh, 5% of the population is actually "saved."
280 million population, that's 14 million people. Add in (depending on
your theology) the kids under the "age of accountability" (as my sect put
it) and you've got... okay, the Census bureau puts the under 5 category
*alone as roughly 20 million.
So throwing hapzard, round figures, let's say everybody under five years
old plus 5% of the entire population, 30-40 million people.
No. That's too big to hoax.
If you up the age when children are still considered innocent and don't
have to make "the decision," you'd have major, noticeable disruptions in
schools. Like whole first and second grades disappearing.
There are about 6,000 flights in the air at any one time. Say 300 pilots
and 300 co-pilots disappearing. I'd have to sit down and think about the
probabilities for both disappearing on the same flight (don't ask me to
right now, it's been a PITA kinda day <g>). But there'd be enough to
cause some REAL problems. I think the number would be in a range around
15. But we're talking probabilities here.
Every 20th driver on the freeway? Traffic tie ups in a lot of places.
Most of my own family would disappear.
Whole churches would more or less be abandoned (heh, depending on which
denominations got what right <wry-g>).
Our current workforce is in the range of 130 million (just checked the
DOL site). That's 6.5 million (roughly) that'd disappear. Almost equal to
the number of unemployed nationally. That would be noticeable.
It would be too big to hoax and independently verifiable. So I'd consider
it serious evidence.
--
Mark K. Bilbo #1423 EAC Department of Linguistic Subversion
________________________________________________________________
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language
is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't
just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other
languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their
pockets for new vocabulary."
[James D. Nicoll]
Mark K. Bilbo
> 15:32 "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW
> WE DIE. "
Which, honestly, I consider to be a silly comment (I always had issues
with Paul even back when I was christian <g>).
I do not think nihlism is the alternative to christian belief. It's not
where I went. It's not where any atheist I know went. I would call it a
false bifurcation (IIRC).
lmg
> > 15:32 "If the dead are not raised, LET US EAT AND DRINK, FOR TOMORROW
> > THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES."
>
> Which have absolutely no meaning, since now your just a bag of biological
> goo, mostly water, metabolizing nutrients, expelling waste, ejecting sperm
> or ovulating eggs. A random pile of chance subatomic particles behaving
> according to universal laws, every thought, desire, dream, and hope just a
> function of chaotic chemicals stimulating the carbon-based spongy material
> mounted inside a hardened caranial cavity that maneuvers the host organism
> which in no time at all will once again return to the dirt where other
> biological life forms will consume your rotting flesh and feast off your
> once "happy" existence and then expell you out of their systems as
unneeded
> excrement, giving no care nor concern to any delusions of grandeur or
> personal accomplishments you may have made, except, perhaps to wish you
ate
> a bit more to give them more decomposing flesh to metabolize.
Right. Tea, anyone?
--
lmg AA#2063
Arthur
.
"Alex" <sup...@microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:es9olugigc74af2tf...@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 15 Aug 2002 15:29:47 GMT, "Arthur"
> <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
> >If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> >hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> >(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> Wait for an investigation and if they actually *disappeared* (and
> didn't kill themselves simultaneously because of some kind of
> religious stupidity) then I'd be an instant believer in the Lord Jesus
> the Christ.
>
> >
> >- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>
> Already answered.
>
> >-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
>
> Nope.
>
> >- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
> >what are your thoughts?
>
> I think you're a bigot. What do Pakistanis have to do with 9/11? I
> guess they all look alike to you and it's difficult to tell the
> difference...
>
Unless you were in a closet after 911, the pakistani's were the ones
broadcast all over the world on CNN celebrating, dancing, rejoicing with
jubilant joy in the streets immediately upon hearing the news. Of course,
I'm sure there were many others who celebrated, but the pakistani's received
the most media attention.
>
> Alex
> atheist #2007
Chani
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
I would probably wonder what happened to all the people because I am sure
that I wouldn't immediately make the connection that they are all christian
or any other religion, and when I found out that christians and only
christians were taken, I might re-consider my stance on a belief in a
christian god. I am willing to consider real evidence, and should I ever
get any real evidence, I will belief in a god, but I would never worship
said god. Belief and worship are to different ideas. I would probably write
to my congressman to have such an incompetent being removed from office!
(the last was a joke, btw).
--
Chani
atheist #1118
Head of the EAC! Why? Because I still say so!!
overli...@sbcglobal.net
lmg
news:LNP69.39068$Zl2.8531@sccrnsc02...
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
"Census Bureau Admits Massive Overcount in Latest Population Figures. Arthur
Andersen Denies Involvement."
I would turn on NPR - presumably their reporters would be among those left
behind - and listen to the news. I would want to find out more. The story
would develop over time.
Just because some event superficially resembles something in the Bible, I
wouldn't suddenly accept the Bible stories as true with the implication that
"God" as described therein is real. The Big Bang bears some resemblance to
"Let there be Light" but the theory didn't cause astronomers and physicists
to suddenly become religious believers. "The Rapture" is one of the more
unlikely explanations of such an event. I would look for other explanations.
--
lmg AA#2063
Martin Crisp
(in message <LNP69.39068$Zl2.8531@sccrnsc02>):
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
That I'd forgotten to turn off the alarm, no need to get out of bed
until the first fight between the children on a Saturday. I don't
watch, read, or listen to news reports - enough of my friends,
relatives etc do that anything of passing interest comes up in
conversation.
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
'[T]he'? ROFL.
I'd, perhaps (depending on details), reconsider a particular (and,
here, particularly minor) version of Christianity, and my position
with regard to that version's god's existence [rather than my
entire position - e.g. the apparent immorality of such a being].
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
No, if there were evidence of such...
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
The only footage I've seen of this was later reported to be file
footage from 10 years earlier.
> what are your thoughts?
Mere chemistry.
Have Fun
Martin
--
aa #(2^8)*(2^3-2^0)
[...]Et sepultus resurrexit; certum est, quia impossibile.
-- Tertullian
Almost always SMASHed
PGP Key (ID 0xED55A6D0) Fingerprint:
A7C7 F865 B317 ABBB B10E D8AC F4AD 347D ED55 A6D0
Dave Holloway
<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
I would think three things to be likely true:
1) God exists,
2) God exists more or less as described by the fundamentalists, and
3) God does, in fact, appreciate piss-poor fiction.
Dave
Lady Lorelei
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
>
>
>
Okay... I'll play along...
....but you really need to define this a little further before getting a
complete answer.
I know quite a few people who have redefined the christian god. They
believe in him and some parts of the bible but reject hell, satan, and an
unforgiving god. Is this acceptable for a christian? If these people were
included, a lot of people would disappear, IMO.
Now, if you are looking at only true "christian;" one who believes every bit
of the bible and live their lives according to this book, very few people
would disappear, IMO. And to be honest, only two people I know really well
would be gone; take that back... only one person. I'd probably think they'd
been abducted by a UFO with a few other people around the world. ;)
So to give you a better answer, I'll go with the first scenario.
First of all, I highly doubt I'd be hearing about it on the news; well,
maybe. It would have to come on an Emerg. Broadcast Channel and one of my
kids would have to tell me about because I rarely watch TV..... and this is
assuming the power is still on.
To be honest, I'd probably think I'd lost my mind. At least I wouldn't be
grieving because my son is a definite atheist and my girls believe in god
like they do Santi Claws; in a passing manner and only when they feel it's
necessary to fit in.
Okay, I'd reconsider that there may be a god, but as many others in this
group have said, I would not bow down and worship the god of the bible.
--
Lady Lorelei
aa# 1049
Head of EAC Royalty Division
BAAWA Knight!
Mike Ruskai
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
I'd be even more suspicious of news reporting than I am now.
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
That issue is settled. Considering the possibility of some very advanced
entity (or group thereof) that for some reason decided to play god to the
Christians would be more realistic, as absurd as that sounds (it's
actually kind of like the premise of Stargate).
>-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
Well, if the disappearance were a reality, it would by definition be a
conspiracy.
>- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
I'd celebrate if Christianity up and disappeared. I don't feel the same
way about Christians in general.
>what are your thoughts?
Thems above.
--
- Mike
Remove 'spambegone.net' and reverse to send e-mail.
Liberal Avenger
> > There's nothing to consider it is blatantly obvious to anyone with a
> > modicum of moral sense that the Christian god as it's depicted in the
> > Bible is immoral.
>
> immoral only to your subjective morality. but i believe morality is
> objective. i see no immorality in your accusation
Here's the problem, though, Arthur.
I have a particular concept of morality, and so do most other people. All of
our collective moralities (more or less) agree that torturing people is an
evil thing. You are arguing that according to my morality, torture is
immoral, but according to god's morality it is not.
The problem is that the word "moral" only applies to what humans consider
moral. When you talk about godly "morality", *you aren't talking about
morality at all*, you are talking about *some other concept altogether*.
Since you haven't given any kind of context or definition for godly
morality, it is simply "whatever god says is good becomes good".
The word "moral" ONLY applies to human morality. You can't say that god is
moral, but not by human standards. Morality *is* human standards. Nothing
else makes any sense. Otherwise, you could say that Jeffrey Dahmer was
moral, but not by human standards, with the same result.
Liberal Avenger
news:ajgtt9$i...@nntpb.cb.lucent.com...
> Good point.
>
> On today's "What If?", we examine the hypothetical scenario, "What
> if the the USA sends a tank division to the Apocalypse?"
>
> (James Earl Jones voiceover to artistic renderings of the Apocalypse)
Damn... my keyboard has Mountain Dew all over it. Nice one :)
Adam Marczyk
news:wdS69.3081$an3.100...@twister1.starband.net...
>
> "Adam Marczyk" <ebon...@hotmailNOTexcite.com> wrote in message
> news:ulnq5o6...@corp.supernews.com...> > news:ZPQ69.43851$me6.6247@sccrnsc01...
> > >
> snip>
>
> > while the vast, overwhelming majority of all humans who have ever lived
> will be
> > in Hell, eternally separated from their creator, burning forever in the
> flame
> > without purpose or hope.
>
> Just a comment on a different tangent.
>
> I have yet to figure out how a "soul" can burn, since it is not of physical
> substance, let alone, how can it burn forever without exhausting its "fuel".
> Pain is a physical manifestation via. nerve receptors that not all humans
> possess (i.e. nerve damage), so how could a "soul" even show discomfort if
> it was burning?
According to Terry Pratchett, souls *can't* feel pain, and so the ones in Hell
find considerable amusement in their tortures.
--
a.a. #2001
"Blasphemy is a victimless crime."
Director, EAC Black Monolith Division - "My God, it's full of stars"
Operative: EAC Electronic Warfare Division
EAC Subversive Fiction Division
http://www.ebonmusings.org ICQ: 8777843 PGP Key ID: 0x5C66F737
Mark Richardson
<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
>Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
I would probably reconsider *everything* - I dont know what the result
of my reconsideration would be.
I would probably deduce that "nothing makes sense"
8-)
>-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
I would consider it.
>- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
Definitely not.
>what are your thoughts?
I think there is an implicit criticism in your asking this question -
You think atheists are all "closed minded" - and you will be right
about some atheists.
You should be open minded up to apoint - if you are too open minded
your brains fall out.
8-)
Mark.
--
Mark Richardson mDOTrichardsonATutasDOTeduDOTau
Member of S.M.A.S.H.
(Sarcastic Middle aged Atheists with a Sense of Humour)
-----------------------------------------------------
Internet addict
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> ..........................
>
> One God
> One Lifetime
> One Hope
>
> remove "spammfilter" from my email address to reply to me.
>
> .
Become a christian, thats solid prophesy fulfilment, thats some hard evidence.
Woden
"Arthur" <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:LNP69.39068$Zl2.8531@sccrnsc02...
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers
to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
> what are your thoughts?
>
Damn alien abductions are really getting out of hand.
--
Woden
"religion is a socio-political institution for the control of
people's thoughts, lives, and actions; based on
ancient myths and superstitions perpetrated through
generations of subtle yet pervasive brainwashing."
raven1
<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>Unless you were in a closet after 911, the pakistani's
You mean "the Palestinians".
>were the ones
>broadcast all over the world on CNN celebrating, dancing, rejoicing with
>jubilant joy in the streets immediately upon hearing the news. Of course,
>I'm sure there were many others who celebrated, but the pakistani's received
>the most media attention.
You're completely wrong. See above.
Woden
> edvard_k <add...@sig.com> wrote:
> >On Thu, 15 Aug 2002 16:40:25 GMT, "Arthur"
<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> >>this response, actually is probably very accurate regarding how many
would
> >>regard such an event. They would consider god immoral and attempt
to seize
certainly be
> >>futile.
> >
> >Unless we have iron chariots:
> >"...The LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of
> >the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley,
> >because they had chariots of iron." -- Judges 1:19
>
>
> Good point.
>
> On today's "What If?", we examine the hypothetical scenario, "What
> if the the USA sends a tank division to the Apocalypse?"
>
> (James Earl Jones voiceover to artistic renderings of the Apocalypse)
>
> about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before
> God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who had
> a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much
> incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden
> altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with
> the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's
> hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the
> altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder,
> rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Then the seven
> angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.
>
> But before they made a sound, the angels were beset by all manner
> of fires and winds and arrows. For the thunder was not thunder, but
> siege engines fully a third of a cubit in caliber, and their shells
> did fall like the rains of spring. And the flashes were not of
> lightning, but were the Hellfires, sallied forth from the
> four-winged Apache beasts. And the earthquake was no earthquake,
> for the dusts of the air did part and the iron chariots of the King
> of the West appeared; from his command chariot their captain
> cried, "Gunner, HEAT! Angel of God, fifteen hundred!" For his
> legions were Abrams and they knew no fear. Like demons didst they
> come on, spitting fire and shrieking, and inscribed upon them in cruel
> runes were the words, "Second Armored Division - Hell on Wheels".
>
> And the angels did pause but briefly, then they raised a finger
> in curse and began to blow their trumpets. And as the first note
> rent the air, then did the captain of the chariots cry, "All units,
> commence firing, kick ass and take names!" Then as one did the
> chariots fire their mighty bows, and flaming arrows screamed
> across the land. And each arrow struck an angel, and every angel was
> struck seven times seven times, and they did cry out, "O Holy Father,
> what the fuck were you thinking of? Jesus Christ!"
>
> And the angels did drop their trumpets with a mighty thud, and took
> wing, trailing blood and their own waters as they sped hastily to
> the heavens. As they ascended were they again beset by the Falcons
> and Eagles and Hornets, and mightily they did suffer from missiles
> up the kiester. At last they found refuge in God's bosom, and His
> voice rang from the heavens like thunder. God spake, saying, "Son
> of a bitch."
>
> Then did the chariots turn upon the Four Riders, and Death, their
> leader, spake saying, "My momma didn't raise no fools. We hashed out
> this whole horses-versus-tanks thing back in 1939, so we'll just be
> moseying along now. Have a nice eternity."
>
> Bill Thacker BAAWA Knight, Atheist #1363 bi...@woods-car.com
> Bill's Rail Buggy Page: http://www.woods-car.com
>
ROTFL. Good one Bill.
Jos Flachs
<sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
>this question, so please give it your best shot.
I will but the question is rather weird.
>If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
>hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
>(or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
"Shit! Another economic crisis!"
>- re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
No, any reason for that? Maybe Shiva made them disappear...
>-assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
Could be.
>- hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
Pakistani??? What have *they* got to do with it?
--
Jos Flachs
Bangkok, Thailand.
Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?
Olrik
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
Man, that Copperfield guy has outdone himself!
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
> what are your thoughts?
>
>
>
>
> --
> ..........................
>
> One God
> One Lifetime
> One Hope
>
> remove "spammfilter" from my email address to reply to me.
>
> .
>
>
>
--
Olrik
aa #1981
Qualified SMASH member
EAC Chief Food Inspector, Bacon Division
Scott
"Graham Kennedy" <gra...@adeadend.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3D5C3E54...@adeadend.demon.co.uk...
> Scott wrote:
> >
> >
> > What would aliens want from millions of Christians?
>
> Opening up a local branch of that galactic franchise, McFundy?
No. I'm guessing they're still pissed at Jerry Falwell for his preemptive
attack against Teletubbies.
Scott
fnord
"Arthur" <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Having answered a question in a thread below: "what would it take a
> Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
>
> I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers to
> this question, so please give it your best shot.
>
>
> If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the earth
> (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
>
> - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
> -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
>
>
>
> what are your thoughts?
I think I'll wait until it happens. As long as it's only hypothetical, I
can only have hypothetical reactions. I can assure you I won't fit one
of your three pre-selected answers, though.
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Scott
"Scott" <sc...@nospam.net> wrote in message
news:cw%69.1710$yW5.40...@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com...
now I'm sure of it!!!
http://www.angstrom.net/~bobcarp/commentary.htm
fnord
w...@cbemi.cb.lucent.com (Bill Thacker) wrote:
> In article <cMQ69.39460$Zl2.8705@sccrnsc02>,
> Arthur <sirarthur1...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> >
> >"Bill Thacker" <w...@cbemi.cb.lucent.com> wrote in message
> >news:ajgk0a$s...@nntpb.cb.lucent.com...
> >>
> >> Now here's one for you. If I were to show you today that Jesus was
> >> clearly not the son of God, but was some kind of false prophet,
> >> what would you do:
> >>
> >i would stop being a christian (probably still be a theist though) Paul
> >himself addressed this in 1 Cor
>
> Mark 9
>
> 1 And he [Jesus]said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are
> standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of
> God come with power."
>
> That was 2000 years ago, and the kingdom of God has not come with
> power. Your choice would seem to be between accepting that Jesus'
> prophecy failed to come true, or claiming that somewhere in the world
> there still lives one of the people who were standing there that day,
> twice as old as Methuselah.
>
> Do you have another explanation for Jesus' apparent false prophesy?
A favorite among many xians is that when jeeezus said "this generation"
or "those standing here" he meant *us*, now.
Denis Loubet
"Cynic" <ks...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ulnji2b...@corp.supernews.com...
> > Christian not to believe" I now pose a similar question to atheists.
> >
> > I was honest in my answer to this, and I am looking for honest answers
to
> > this question, so please give it your best shot.
> >
> >
> > If you were to wake up tomorrow morning and you hear on the news that
> > hundreds of millions of Christians have vanished from the face of the
> earth
> > (or at least they seem to be), what would you think?
Suddenly faced with overwhelming objective physical evidence of the god's
existence, of course I would believe in it. Just like I believe in the chair
I'm currently sitting in. What is the point of this question?
> > - re-consider your position on the Judeo-Christian God?
Yes.
However, lacking an adequate explanation for its behavior as described in
the bible, I would be forced to try to destroy the thing by whatever means
possible.
> > -assume a giant worldwide conspiracy?
> > - hit the streets and celebrate Pakistani 9/11 style?
> >
>
> I would await a thorough scientific investigation.
That would be a good step as well.
> > what are your thoughts?
To wonder, in the answer-rich environment of aa, why you don't understand
about lack of belief due to lack of supporting evidence. It's not rocket
science, yet your question displays utter incomprehension of this position.
--
Denis Loubet
dlo...@io.com
http://www.io.com/~dloubet