Yea... because, obviously, I meant to say that christians don't pay bills or work. And obviously, those dirty athiests are jobless & and don't pay bills. Christians have often said, "It's in God's hands". As an example, when my own mother couldn't decide what to do in her marriage, she "left it to God to give her a sign". She was driving one day & saw an apartment on Heavens Dr - she took it as a sign to move out & we got an apartment there. We jobless yet rational atheists would have had to put actual thought into it & make a real decision.
i mean in terms of having to deal with reality. for instance if people die they are gone and you don't get to relax, knowing that they are in better place. in reality they are just dead and its terrible. it really puts me in my place when i am mr "i'm smarter than everyone" atheist.
no one EVER listens to me... now someones feelings are going to get hurt on a message board.. I hope everyone feels better about continuing this thread.
I will first say, this is none of my business, but you brought it up, so I do feel somewhat obligated to respond. Christianity does not teach we are to remove rationality from our decision making process and act on "signs" only. I ask God for guidance all the time, yet I never stop rationalizing and weighing all my options before I take action. I have never acted solely from a "sign from God", although I believe I have had a handful of them given to me. Some have pointed me in the direction I wanted, others have been contrary to what I wanted to do. I don't know anything about your mother's decision, and like I said, it's none of my business. But, I do know many people do indeed use Christianity as a crutch. Maybe it was a sign from God, or maybe it was her looking for anything to confirm a decision she had already made or really wanted to make, with or without the guidance of God. You shouldn't let a decision she made dictate your views on God, but that's between you, her, and God, and that's as far as I'll pry into that. The ability to think, rationalize, and make our own choices is a confirmation of creationism in my eyes. It is this that separates us from the animal world and I believe it is an ability given to us by God. Whether we use this ability or not is left entirely up to us, and if we don't, we have no one to blame but ourselves. God does not force us to remove rationality from our decision making process, and if you believe He does, you have a serious misunderstanding of what the Bible teaches.
This is right on. Everyone does things differently. Never in my life have I said, "I'm driving this car and I'm putting things in God's hands.....drive God." I ask for strength and guidance to live life and to do the right things for my family. And I never said a thing about athesists. People can believe in a rock if they want to. I don't care how you pay your bills so don't try that crap and act like I turned it against your beliefs cause I didn't. You're the one talking about Christians.....not the other way around.
Yeah, when my Granny dies I'll be dancing around happily and playing with rattlesnakes. That's what we do. We mourn and cry and I miss my Granny. You guys act like Christians are some detached group who lets the deficit and Granny be left to God so we relax and go on about our business. Like the other guy said, you two need to read a couple books and talk to people to put yourself in other's places to learn about how humans live.
LSUCraig & marc, I did not say God forces people to stop using rationality, nor did I say that the bible teaches it. But the belief in a higher power allows people to put faith in that and not use rational thought if those so chose. Also, that was just one example that stuck out to me. martin's example about death is very true. No $hit you guys still greive when someone dies, but during your grieving process - you are better able to accept the death of a loved one because you believe you will see them again & they are in a better place. Atheists don't have that comfort. Imagine feeling that if you die, there's nothing afterwards; when your friends die, there's nothing waiting for them. In that sense, it certainly is easier on the christian psyche than for an atheist.
