We are arguing semantics here. Let me be clear. The Anglican Communion does teach doctrines not explicitly or imlicitly stated in the Bible but it does not require individuals to hold all teachings of the church to be true. Also remember there are 18 particular rites in the Anglican communion. Some are more hierarchichal than others. The Episcopalian church tends to be among the most liberal. And I hate to break it to you, your creed is the exact same as the Creed of the Catholic Church. One, catholic, holy and apostolic. The term catholic here is not referring to a particular church, but to universality.
being selfish is differnt than beinbg self-important or self-worship. i am insignificant in the grand scheme of things. christians believe that they are loved by god and are precious. my life has no value except the value that i (and the few people who care if i live or die) give it. and just because i value my life more than i value yours doesnt mean mine is so great. you are trying to draw a connection between atheists and people who believe they are grandest thing on earth and no god could be better than them, but the connection isnt there. also, iam very selfish, but no more more selfish than anyone else. the only difference is i am not a liar like everyone else. it doesnt bother me that honesty opens me up for cheap shots from peeps like you. again, you shouldnt need god to force you to be moral. you could use rational thinking to understand the chaos it would cause if we all went off stealing and such. nope, i am right and when we argue i am always correct, but i never claimed to be a genius. you are the genius, remember? i am not right because i am a genius, i am right because i am awesome. and i told you not to explain it! i cant understand it. effect/affect, it is all jibberish to me.
which would matter if we spoke latin. thats true, i probably did say something like that. the dictionary has no value if you want to use your own definitions, which is fine, unless you want to communicate with others who arent playing your game. if you intend on having a dialogue with others, the smart thing might be to just go with the current definitions, even if you dont like them. i feel your pain though. i used to love to say things were gay in the sense that they were happy and stuff, but now i cant say that anymore.
again, you shouldnt need god to force you to be moral. you could use rational thinking to understand the chaos it would cause if we all went off stealing and such. I promised myself that I would stay out of this. So I will make this post and try to refrain from another. I wrote a thesis in college about this. What it all boiled down to was that I would rather live my life as though there was a God and die and find out that I was mistaken than live my life as though there was no God and die and find out there was. If it were a proven fact that there was no God, the strongest of the land would rule. If I wanted your wife or daughter, I would take her unless you possessed more power than I. I think bands of the strong would form and rule. Just like the lion kingdom. Eventually the ole leader gets old and weak enough that some youngster takes over. The weak old leader just dies. Martin, I pray for you some of the others who jest about this. I'm not about to do a Boubon Street preacher on you but sometimes you remind me of this. Years ago, I lived in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla. and worked at Eglin Air Force Base. I did sheet metal repairs on the aircraft on the flight line. There was one gentleman there who worked inspecting the aircraft doing preventitive maintainence. As I got to know him, I found out that he was in the Ku Klux Klan and served as a pilot for (guess who?) David Duke. Of course, he tried to enlist me in the wonderful world of the Ku Klux Klan. It seems that he believes that anyone who is not one hundred percent white has NO SOUL and thus has no chance for Heaven. As I pushed for more information on his beliefs, I found out that he believed that anyone not "pure" white was simply like the "cloven-footed" animals. He really believed that blacks and Jewish people had no souls. They were like dogs, cats, and cattle. Once they died, that was it. Of course, I immediately pissed him off. I asked him why didn't he just put the next black dude they killed in the freezer and have a bar-b-que? I pushed him on. (I know it's hard to believe sweet little ole me would do that) I asked him if he was one hundred percent white. "No. I have a little Indian blood in me." "Then how do you expect to enter Heaven?" "Well, I'm hoping my good/hard work will get me in." I asked him if he realized that Jesus was a Jew.....No answer. He wanted me to let him and some "friends" pick me up one night and go to one of their meetings. OK--- "Of course, you know that we will have to blindfold you when we get fairly close to the meeting area." "Bull..Ain't no bunch of klansmen gonna blindfold me." "Well...You can't go and we figure you are either with us or against us." "OK..but if any of you show up wearing you white sheets one night at my house, you will wear some red spots home. Remember that blood is HARD to wash out." We never seemed to become close friends. If you don't believe there is a God or an afterlife, to me, you are saying the same thing this guy said only without the unadulterated hatred. I choose to believe all of us have a soul and we choose what we will do. I believe that it is through His Grace and our faith.....total blind faith and obedience. But I understand where you are coming from. It reminds me of my brothers who HAVE to receive the gift of tongues to be saved...that gift IS BIBLICAL --- But usually, uncalled for. To me, they are saying, I believe--if you show me some proof. If you can't see or hear or touch, you will not accept. Even that is Biblical. Many will not believe. I think its time for me to shut up.......wishing you the best [/SIZE][/SIZE]
I can't speak for others, but even if we disagree it doesn't mean I don't respect your opinion. Feel free to post on the matter, even if you feel like you're preaching. And what kind of life is that? I imagine it is one quite similar to martin's, except you attend church. Personally, the way I live my life is no different whether I believe in god or not (I know because I've pretty much tried them all them out). And of course martin will say that it isn't a choice, logic won't allow him to believe in god. I fail to see why. We had plenty of steady civilizations through time before christ and under a lot of different beliefs that didn't require moral rightness. I see why you think so - because you think that if it weren't for god you could do whatever you want and not worry about it. Fortunately, we live in a society that won't allow that, and it's not dependent on the existence of god. Years ago, I lived in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla. and worked at Eglin Air Force Base. I did sheet metal repairs on the aircraft on the flight line. There was one gentleman there who worked inspecting the aircraft doing preventitive maintainence. As I got to know him, I found out that he was in the Ku Klux Klan and served as a pilot for (guess who?) David Duke. Of course, he tried to enlist me in the wonderful world of the Ku Klux Klan. Reminds me of a story with one of the guys you mentioned earlier, the ones with the signs telling others they are going to hell. A friend of mine was talking with the guy asking him why he felt the need to do this & what brought him to this point... at any rate, it turns out the picket sign guy was gay. And he was trying to get forgiveness for his "sins" through his good works. Not only is it without hatred, but it is without predjudice. Everyone dies, there is no heaven. Doesn't sound like such a horrible thing to me.
living your life is one thing. believing is another. i just cant believe in crazy stoies. you could torture me night and day for the rest of history, i cant convince myself that things are true if i dont believe it, even if the reward is eternal bliss in heaven. for you it may be easy to believe that a magic man upstairs is calling the shots. to me is isnt. to me it seems pretty clearly an urban legend which varies a bit depending on what culture you are born into. for me to be christian or jew or muslim is an impossibility. reality is reality and fantasy is fantasy, that is beyond my control. so i accept reality, i have no other choice, being mostly sane.
This is called Pascal's wager. It only applies to those who haven't had real experiences with God. (yes martin, I hallucinated them. :dis
