Evolution Video

Simple.....the Bible says God created the heavens and the earth first, then some amount of time passed and then God created the beasts of the field and birds of the air and some time passed.....you get the picture. How much time passed and what transpired during that time is certainly debatable.

 

How do we know that every single word in the Bible is not a metaphor? Mark already admitted his does not believe in the literacy of Genesis, why not the rest of it?

 

Mark may not, but others do.

 

I overspoke a little earlier. I dont believe that Gen 1 is a metaphor, I just don't believe it happened in 144 hours. God literally created the universe, I just don't believe it was in 6 literal days.

I'm sorry for the confusion.

To that end, I'm curious if anyone's read Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. He's makes a great point about dogma being like springs on a trampouline vs. bricks in a wall. He says dogma should be bendable, that you should be able to chew on it and beat it up and it return to it's core value. If for some reason one of those springs should break, the trampouline doesn't fail - the entirely of the faith remains. On the other hand, if dogma is like a brick, if it's pushed or pulled to hard it will crumble, and the whole wall will fall.

This is why I don't have a lot of patience for a lot of the bickering and "gotcha" games that go on around here... because I simply don't care. My core faith is that God created and rules the universe, that he sent his Son to earth to show us how to live and to die for our sins, and that through His sacrifice I will have eternal life. The rest is just (relatively) minor details.

 

So true Mark!

 

So you only draw the line when it becomes blindingly, patently, overwhelmingly idiotic? Did Moses part the Red Sea?

The attempt at metaphor does nothing when there is utterly no evidence of anything supernatural to compare to...except what is written about by men. Trampolines and bricks are good metaphors because they are things we actually see everyday. Natural objects and supernatural objects are apples and oranges.

This is the arrogance that pisses me off with you guys in this forum. I honestly don't give a shit either whether you in particular believe in this or that story of creation. But why is your journey so much more relevant than mine? Why can't I debate my religious point of view without each of you screaming to have me banned?

It is like I am walking on eggshells because you are not truly secure in your beliefs. God forbid, I crack a joke...

Your God never forbade humor. Why so serious?

 

Why don't you.....your sole purpose here, so far (and ANYONE correct me if I am wrong) has been to ridicule and attempt to bait anyone here who is a believer into a FSM argument. Feel free to debate wjhatever you choose.....but learn how to debate, first.

 

What is the purpose of ANY forum if not debate and discussion? And if you just replace the FSM with any other religion, how is that somehow not qualified? How is FSM itself not qualified if that is what I truly believe?

And tangentially, why are you guys so sensitive to ridicule? Please answer the question. I challenge you to ridicule me in the same way and watch the lack of effect. Is it because I am more secure in my belief system?

 

We aren't sensitive to ridicule...say whatever you choose, as far as I'm concerned, I could care less, but the moderators of this forum believe it is a place for respectful debate and discussion not stuff like:

And, for the record....I'm not aware of anyone here who has ever asked to have you banned....I'm pretty sure you did that yourself.

 

Why "respectful debate?" Why not just "debate?" How could I have rephrased my thought so that it would have been more "respectful?"

The truth is that my belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster is not respected. I think I can safely say that we all agree on that. So is it better for you to tell that to me politely? What is the function of these superficial manners when the core is the same?

I think you may be wrong on that, historically speaking. Recent history included. Vito can chime in if he wants.

You are probably the most enjoyable to discuss these matters with and I rarely get mean with you. I think that is a direct function of you being secure in your beliefs. Security allows for actual discussion.

I still want the question answered though. Why is the religion forum such a sensitive area for so many people? Either people believe what they believe or they are wavering and unsure, thus the sensitivity? Am I correct?