those are artist's renderings. the real santa is rarely photographed. he hates you. true, but not so much if the "fact" is about fictional characters. plus, it is pretty hard to prove that something does not exist. you can pretty much claim anything exists. the guy proving you wrong is gonna have to investigate every corner of the universe with a magic detector to prove you are wrong.
Meaning you can't prove that God doesn't exist. Meaning you have no factual reason for bashing organized religion.
true, so dont bash the spaghetti monster please. yes it takes alot of faith to not have faith. just like it takes alot of cheerios to make an empty bowl of cereal.
What does it 'buy' you? The idea of my statement was that you should not be a good person because of how it can benefit you, but simply for it's own sake. What are you insinuating about all the people that lived before Jesus? Were all of them completely incapable of being 'good people?' What about people who don't believe in religion, or were raised with no knowledge of such? Can they not be good people? Can no act be intrinsically good if it lacks the instruction of Jesus? You could also even ask 'What IS being a good person' with Jesus? If someone that doesn't worship Jesus commits the same acts as someone who does, are their acts any less 'good?' Are they any less of a 'good person?' If people need some sort of holy inspiration to drive them to be a good person (i.e. being honest, treating others nicely, etc.), fine. But I do not, and I think it is somewhat weak-minded to need that crutch. Being scared into acting a certain way because you think you will go to hell if not is not a way that I want to live my life..
Santa hates me? Prove it. Ahh, but the fact could only be about "artist's renderings" , as you pointed out, since Santa is a fictional character, as you also point out. Nobody has to "prove you wrong" to disbelieve you, fortunately. The world is full of preposterous claims. The burden of proof is always on the proclaimer.
I understood your idea. I need you to explain to me why anyone should be 'good'...nay, what does 'good' even mean in the absence of Jesus. I didn't say that. What I meant to imply is that there is no definition of good and evil apart from God. Certain acts can of course be good apart from God, but God provides the definition. No. Not to use misleading terms for someone who isn't born-again, but we believe that is possible for believers to "walk after the flesh" rather than "after the spirit" and continue to commit acts which seem contrary to that person's status as a Christian. You have reached the crux of Christianity. Going to hell is not based upon doing 'good' things... or not doing them. We do not need to be scared into doing good, but we need the means after which to do good. It's all about Jesus. He provides both the entrance into heaven as well as the means through which to live life. If that seems weak-minded to you, then I admit weak-mindedness.
