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Quote by: Foxfyre  Since you have been rather vigorously adament that other members support their opinions re Christianity/faith/religion, perhaps you would care to support this statement with some credible evidence from a reputable scholar on comparative religions rather than from some posted fuzzy 'facts' made by somebody who wants to believe this? You might start with actually looking up how many of the various Chrisitan traditions believe Jesus was born on December 25. Hint: there will be darn few if any. |
Not a problem..
horus - Google Search mithra - Google Search dionysus - Google Search krishna - Google Search
That should get you started. This isn't a "conspiracy theory".. any material on any of those gods say what I've been saying.
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Quote by: Foxfyre Here's another one I suggest you support with a authoritative source as I'm not sure, but I think I can come up with a dozen or nearly a dozen non-Christian sources who clearly or almost certainly mentioned Jesus of Nazareth. |
You apparently didn't read correctly. No historian of the time period or soon after mentioned a Jesus figure. All accounts come decades after.
Jo Ann H. Moran Cruz and Richard Gerberding, Medieval Worlds: An Introduction to European History Houghton Mifflin Company 2004, pp. 44-45
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Quote by: Foxfyre Support for the opinion please? I suggest you also report the differences in opinions of "Christian justice" as demonstrated and practiced among the many different traditions within Christianity. |
My opinion is that forgiving horrible deeds by simply accepting Jesus as your savior is insane. What support do you want for that?
Supporting facts that accepting Jesus as your savior seems to do very little.
IHS :: HNN :: God would be an atheist: Why can't we all be Japanese? Quote:
Drawing on a wide range of studies to cross-match faith – measured by belief in God and acceptance of evolution – with homicide and sexual behavior, Paul found that secular societies have lower rates of violence and teenage pregnancy than societies where many people profess belief in God.
Top of the class, in both atheism and good behavior, come the Japanese. Over eighty percent accept evolution and fewer than ten percent are certain that God exists. Despite its size – over a hundred million people – Japan is one of the least crime-prone countries in the world. It also has the lowest rates of teenage pregnancy of any developed nation.
(Teenage pregnancy has less tragic consequences than violence but it is usually unwanted, and it is frequently associated with deprivation among both mothers and children. In general, it is a Bad Thing.)
Next in line are the Norwegians, British, Germans and Dutch. At least sixty percent accept evolution as a fact and fewer than one in three are convinced that there is a deity. There is little teenage pregnancy , although the Brits, with over 40 pregnancies per 1,000 girls a year, do twice as badly as the others. Homicide rates are also low -- around 1-2 victims per 100,000 people a year.
At the other end of the scale comes America. Over 50 percent of Americans believe in God, and only 40 percent accept some form of evolution (many believe it had a helping hand from the Deity). The U.S. has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy and homicide rates are at least five times greater than in Europe and ten times higher than in Japan.
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More here.
Journal of Religion and Society
Countries with high levels of atheism also are the most charitable in terms of giving foreign aid to the developing world.
US and Foreign Aid Assistance - Global Issues
Atheists, being a moderate proportion of the USA population (about 8-16%) are disproportionately less numerous in the prison population (0.21%).
The results of the Christians vs atheists in prison investigation. Quote:
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Quote by: Foxfyre Are you presuming that all Christians are teaching this particular doctrine? Would you care to back that up with some evidence? |
Sure..
* LUKE 12:10, "And everyone that says a word against the Son of Man, that will be forgiven; But he that blasphemes against The Holy Spirit will not be forgiven
* . MARK 3:29, "Whoever blasphemes against The Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of everlasting sin."
* MATTHEW 12: 31-32 "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come".
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Quote by: Foxfyre The same Bible that talks of hell also talks of peace, love, justice, compassion, forgiveness, atonement, and a God who would take on human form to demonstrate these very attributes as well as eternal life offered to all. Seems to me intellectual honesty would require acknowledgment of this. |
That doesn't excuse the cruelty in the Bible. All it shows is that the Bible is confused and contradicting.