The Goat Pen

Bluecat wrote:I simply believe in a God who loves us all enough to sacrifice his Son (Himself) for our salvation and hope in some small way, every day, to follow that example and extend that Love to others however I can.

Cletus wrote:

eCat wrote:if we believe in creation of all things, then who created the universe, when did time begin?

a higher power is perhaps the easiest answer to wrap your head around as answers.

but if a higher power does exist, he/she/it doesn't give two shits about what happens to planet earth, much less individuals on it.

Deism baby - it works on multiple levels

Why believe in the creation of all things? That sounds like a human construct to me. But, if there is a higher power, who created that? At some point, you have to say that something just is and, to me, it's a lot easier to accept that the universe is eternal and has always existed in some form or another than it is to believe that there is some intelligent higher power that is behind all of this but also exists in a place and form that is completely undetectable. Deism is a nice place to punt the problem of how and why but it still is a completely unsatisfying answer that tells us nothing. Obviously, the stories about a god that is currently undetectable but at a point in the not so distant past routinely interacted with people and cares a lot about our sex lives and the skin on the tip of our dicks are completely absurd. I find it very frustrating how many people will just accept these insane stories just because they have become part of our culture. Really, how does anyone believe the jesus tale? Aside from all the impossible things in the story, how does the base of the story even make sense? Why would a god that is behind this whole universe decide that the best way to "save" a tiny subset of people is to send his son (who is also himself) down to a shitty slice of the world and have him executed? And why did he do this? To redeem people from the sins of two other people who never existed. Come on, this is nuts. And yet, there are millions of very smart people who look at this and go along with it. I don't get it at all.

hedge wrote:"and hope in some small way, every day, to follow that example and extend that Love to others however I can."

Is that what you were doing with my girlfriend when we visited you guys in Ohio?

Cletus wrote:

Bluecat wrote:I simply believe in a God who loves us all enough to sacrifice his Son (Himself) for our salvation and hope in some small way, every day, to follow that example and extend that Love to others however I can.

What do I need to be saved from? And, how does this human sacrifice that allegedly happened 2000 years ago save me?

Jungle Rat wrote:Who the hell is Bluecat?

Bluecat wrote:

hedge wrote:"and hope in some small way, every day, to follow that example and extend that Love to others however I can."

Is that what you were doing with my girlfriend when we visited you guys in Ohio?

Well, Hedge, when you visited I was most definitely more self-absorbed in my approach to life, but truth be told (and at risk of ruining the myth) I was never actually hitting on your girl. I did appreciate the enlightened conversation and probably gave her more attention than I should have, but when you run across an oasis in the desert, you drink.