Squirrel said:
Also, I would like to invite Mughi to explain as to how and why she thinks the bible is all bulls* or how God is at best evil (isn't that a contradiction to our own existence, couldn't he simply cast us straight to hell and get it over with then?)
Some examples of jehovahs behaviour ....
1) God wrestles with Jacob all night (for no apparent reason). When he doesnt win, he cheats and puts out Jacobs hip. Genesis 32:22 - 32
2) Some kids call Elijah names, so god sends a bear to rip them apart 2 Kings 2:23-24
3) If a man *is caught* while raping a woman who is not engaged, he pays 50 sliver to her father and then must marry her and not be allowed to divorce her. Deuteronomy 22:28-29
4) If a woman is raped, or has cheats on her fiance, both her and the man are to be stoned *because she didnt shout loud enough* Deuteronomy 22:23-24
5) Jephthah did well in war, and so said he would burn the first thing that came out of his house to greet him as a sacrifice to god. This turned out to be his daughter. He burned his daughter alive. (Ok, not god himself, but he happily saved Isaac, why not this mans daughter) Judges 11:29-40
6) If the Isrealites heard that a town was worshipping a god that wasnt theirs, they were to kill them all, including the livestock, and burn them all as a sacrifice to god. The Isrealites would only get mercy from god if they did this. Deuteronomy 13:13-19
7) The list of people who god says should be put to death include :
* Anyone who rejects the verdict of a preist Deuteronomy 17:12
* Homosexuals Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:24-32
* Witches Exodus 22:17
* Fortune Tellers Leviticus 20:27
* Anyone who hits or curses their parents Exodus 21:15, Proverbs 20:20, Leviticus 20:9
* Anyone who cheats on their partner Leviticus 20:10
* Non beleivers 2 Chronicles 15:12-13, Deuteronomy 13:7-12
* Women who arent virgins on their wedding night Deuteronomy 22:20-21
* Anyone who blasphemes Leviticus 24:10-16
* Anyone who works on a Sunday Exodus 31:12-15
8) If you have a slave, and you beat them with a rod so hard that they die, then you should be punished. If the slave lives for 48 hours before dying, it doesnt matter, as its your property you are roughing up. Exodus 21:20-21
9)
Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst. (Matthew 18:19-20).
Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours. (Mark 11:24-25)
And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything of me in my name, I will do it. (John 14:13-14 )
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. (John 15:16 NAB)
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. (John 15:7 NAB)
Have you tried having 3 people ask god for a cancer sufferer to be healed. I know a group that have and they were all real, honest to goodness beleivers. They decided that when he died that Jesus had "healed" him by killing him. That wasnt what they asked for.
10) bat is a bird (Leviticus 11:13 & 19)
hares chew the cud (Leviticus 11:5-6),
some fowl and insects have four legs (Leviticus 11:20-21, Leviticus 11:22-23) .
11)
http://bibledev.azaz.com/bibleresou...1=Numbers+31&book_id=4&version1=31&tp=36&c=31
Read that, only one chapter out of one book.
This is the "loving" and "peaceful" god that tells them to slaughter man, woman and child apart from the virgins,
those they can keep for themselves.
I have came across many christians who beleive god answered their prayers, like the person who won a teddy bear at a raffle, or someone whos car had broken down, and on the third attempt it started again. Or, those that are "cured" of cancer after prayer, but seem to ignore the surgery and repeated treatments of radio and/or chemo therapy that they went through. Or those that think they (or some else) got a job because they prayed for it.
Why did god not answer the prayers of those on the planes, or in the twin towers on Sept 11th, why did he not answer the prayers of those killed in the asian tsunami, or the Pakistan earthquake. There were many thousands killed there, I doubt that none of them were real believers.
Push a little further and those that find god answers prayers are doing nothing more than finding reason in coincidence.
As for god putting everyone in hell ...
In a nutshell, God had to kill Himself to appease Himself so that He would not have to roast us, His beloved creations, in HELL forever. He loves us more than we can ever comprehend, but if we don't return His affections, He will make us regret it for eternity. Now that is AMAZING GRACE!
What is loving, caring or nice about creating hell in the first place?
Run through this little thought experiment ...
You live your life as a good christian, a true believer, you have faith, you do good works, you die.
You get to heaven.
You are happy, its a wonderful place, it is everything you hoped it would be.
You spend your days before the throne of god singing and worshipping him.
You can see hell. You can see the misery, the pain, the torture. You see friends and family and complete strangers being burned and tormented. Yet, you are happy! Good friends, being tortured, and yet you are happy day after day, year after year, and this isnt for a couple of years, this is *for ever*. Forever is a long time. But, you are really happy knowing that your friends are in pain because they chose it. They had the option of being a follower of god, but they chose not to, and so you are thankful to god and praise and worship him all the more. This loving and peaceful god lets all these people burn *forever* because all he gave them was a book full of violence and inconsistencies as a guide. It wouldnt take much to convince people that he was real, stopping the tsunami, preventing those planes hitting the buildings, but he didnt.
Some accident happens and a child is set on fire (or trapped in a car accident, or in a burning house) most people would try to help, yet god has the capability to do so with ease, yet choses to allow pain, suffering and death without lifting a finger to help.
I cannot see much in the way of peace and love from this character. All I see is pain and suffering that he could fix but wont. For me, the conclusion is that either he cant fix it (in which case he is not really all powerful), or he wont fix it (in which case, people have higher morals than he does) and that eventually leads to the fact that he doesnt actually exist.
A bit rambling and darting off in all directions I know, but I have cold ...
Seriously, all I everask any christian is that you read, from start to finish, this one book that you have been led to believe contains everything we know about god. It is not the book you think it is. But you are unlikely to believe this unless you actually read it.