Yesterday I watched a good spoof of superhero movies, called Squid Man. It's not an award winner, but it was fun to watch, so I enjoyed it.

Quote from: Ecbarrowes on May 02, 2024, 09:26:18 AMMy definition of "religion" is more enlightened than some.

He who must claim to be enlightened isn't.

I never liked cole slaw even back when I could chew it.

Nothing but anything else.

I think most, if not all, religious are afraid they'll get what's coming to them after they die.

Humans are frequently full of perfect bullshit.

Is God both perfectly good and perfectly evil? Is God both perfectly beautiful and perfectly ugly? Is God both perfectly powerful and perfectly weak?
That word "perfect" doesn't really mean much of anything at all.

Breaking news: Russia uses chemical weapons in Ukraine, says US government

So let's take a look at the timeline:

In March 2022, Biden warned Russia that it would pay a severe price if it used chemical weapons in Ukraine (kind of vague, but good message)

In April 2002, Ukraine accused Russia of using chemical weapons in Mariupol.  US "deeply concerned".  UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said officials were working to "urgently" investigate, and you know her, she never leaves anything unfinished.

In December 2022, Ukraine again accused Russia of using chemical weapons

In December 2023, Ukraine says that it has 465 documented cases of Russia using chemical weapons

In May 2024, the US finally officially accuses Russia of using chemical weapons.  Don't get me wrong, it's a good development, but it's just a tiny bit late to the party.

Quote from: Ecbarrowes on May 02, 2024, 09:26:18 AM... God is not that way. He expects and requires your constant attention and is there to answer your every concern as the best kind of doting father, giving attention to the minutest of details and concerns. If you have a question, he wants you to have an answer to it, if you will allow it. You need to open your mind to the possibility of a God that can and wants to have a two way relationship.

So your god is not perfect. You just call it perfect despite the lacks it must fulfill. A perfect being requires nothing by definition. A perfect being would have no wants.

Quote from: Ecbarrowes on May 02, 2024, 09:26:18 AMYou were tired of praying all your life as if to a stone wall, concluding that the God you were praying to was no more an intelligent, benevolent being than a rock with writing on it. It seems to me that you cast God in the image of parents who expected your obedience without discussion. God is not that way. He expects and requires your constant attention and is there to answer your every concern as the best kind of doting father, giving attention to the minutest of details and concerns. If you have a question, he wants you to have an answer to it, if you will allow it. You need to open your mind to the possibility of a God that can and wants to have a two way relationship.

No. I expected two-way communication. I just didn't get it. I prayed alone before bed, basically doing what's known as "mindfulness meditation," but with the expectation that God would send me his thoughts as I quieted my own. I also prayed in the car before class in college, and throughout the day, but without the bowing my head and all that. Basically, I could be walking and praying, and no one could tell from just looking at me. I imagined it as if Jesus was standing right beside me. I was also reading the Bible in my own time; something most Christians never do. Even when my parents forced me to change churches, while I hated it, I figured God had something to teach me.

But after years and years of doing this, the delusion was starting to break. I would think God was telling me one thing, then it would turn out to be false. I'd pray for others' well-being, just to find out things got worse. There was literally nothing to suggest that God was communicating with me at all, much less listening. I don't have to convince myself that you are real, because that is self-evident. Why should God be held to different standards?

Quote from: Ecbarrowes on May 02, 2024, 09:26:18 AMMy definition of "religion" is more enlightened than some. Mine defines it as the sum of what you do and are. If you call yourself a Christian and hate your neighbor, then you are clearly not following Christ. In the parable of the two sons, Jesus condemned lip service, praising those who actually do right after having said "no," a bit like your benevolent athiests.  They are more Christian than posers. Your parents seem to be suffering from the lie that God ceased two way communication after the new testament was written.

While Biblically inaccurate, this is a more palatable take. I prefer this to the more Biblically accurate, but more ridiculous belief that faith in the correct version of Christianity is required to be saved.

I also find it funny that people use "neighbor" as a synonym for "stranger," when Jesus made it clear that he only cared about the Jews. The story of the good Samaritan? Samaritans were Jews. He was telling Jews to look out for each other. When gentiles asked Jesus for help, he would ignore them. Like with the woman who had the "issue of blood." She was following Jesus around long enough for the disciples to get sick of her pleas and ask Jesus to shoo her off. Jesus compares her to a dog, telling her that he wouldn't waste his miracles on her, and he only changed his mind when she said that even dogs get the crumbs that fall off the table.

"He was just testing her."

For what? A lack of self-respect? Well, I guess she passed. Congratulations, lady, you need therapy!

Christianity was a Jewish sect until Paul decided to open it up to gentiles. It should be called Paulism, because he's the one who founded the religion people follow today. Jesus said anyone would be cursed if they removed a single letter from the law of the prophets, then Paul came along as was like, "Shellfish is cool. Pork? Eat it if you want. Circumcision? Optional. Don't worry about it."