[PLUG-TALK] Religion is not bad...
Michael Robinson
plug_1 at robinson-west.com
Fri Oct 30 08:11:04 UTC 2009
Anti religious rhetoric is as much telling me what to believe as
religious rhetoric could be construed as me telling you what to
believe.
> ... What makes you "the problem" is that you feel that you have the
> right to tell us, or more specifically, me, what to believe. And
> further, you feel that it would be desirable for government to
> prescribe these beliefs as well. This is a very scary idea, to which I
> am strongly opposed.
This is a blanket statement with no basis in reality. I have
not advocated for a state religion at any time in my postings.
I have hinted at what I think you should believe, that is all.
You fear God and anyone who believes in Him. The answer isn't I
don't know all the time, sometimes it is faith. I don't claim
to have all the answers because I have faith. Without faith
Man is limited to what he can absolutely prove scientifically
which is not very much if you really think hard for a while.
We think we know everything or are capable of knowing a lot,
but our knowledge is like a little hole on the beach filled
with sea water next to the whole ocean which represents how
much there is to know. Refusing to accept that belief
in God is neither ridiculous nor a sign of weakness, that
saddens me.
Any Man without faith is a Man who cannot see beyond his human
limitations. One must look with the eyes of the soul, not the
eyes in one's head.
Scientifically speaking, it is highly controversial with the available
information to claim that there was no divine hand at work for the
Earth to reach the level of order that it has. Life is not common
in our solar system, look at any other planet that we know of and
at most you might find some bacteria which probably came from Earth.
Only a literal interpretation of the bible, which is not necessarily
valid, would have everything created in a 1000 years or less. The
Catholic church has never taught that the seven day creation story
is to be taken literally with regard to the time scale. Furthermore,
the Catholic church does NOT teach that evolution and creation are
incompatible. Why can't God use evolution? What gives anyone the
right let alone the ability to tie His hands and say sorry God you
have to create in such a way that there's no doubt you did it?
Parts of the bible can be taken literally while other parts should
not be. There are many legends outside of the bible that have value
which should not be taken literally. The creation story in Genesis
sets things up and teaches that there was a beginning, not so much
how the beginning really happened. When reading the bible, you have
to know what type of literature it is you are looking at. There is
history in the bible and there are the actual words of Jesus and
the Father. One doesn't expect psalms for example to be a history
text though. One must use proper scholarship when reading the bible
and one should consider using other sources of material.
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