hahaha. If you had started with that, and didn't explain that you were religious, I would have taken 100-to-1 odds on that bet. A very hollier-than-thou attitude. If you look at that sentence, it is very conducive of a shepard-sheep dichotomy.
Actually, it's one of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, a wonderful method of sharpening yourself, opening yourself up, and begin to make sense of the endless flow of communication around us. If you seek first to be understood, you try to make your point known before stopping to think what the other person may be saying. You might think it's "shepard-sheep" but to listen to what other people have to say and stepping into their shoes. What is wrong about listening to someone else, questioning them, and trying to understand what they are about before speaking? Why is it so much easier to talk than it is to listen?
I am seeking to understand here. I want to see things from someone else's paradigm to truly understand where they come from, and then share my paradigm (and it would be truly wonderful for that person to step into my paradigm for the moment). It's not the best idea to always measure up what someone says to your own life experience without thinking of their life experience first.
Seeking first to understand, and then to be understood is really the most effective form of communication possible.
Rich said:
No, he demands our absolute love and condems those that don't reciprocate to eternal hell, the God of peace and love, I don't think so
This is a classic example of a strawman. Prop up the opposing side's argument in a completely false way which makes it easy to knock down. Nice. Do you even know what hell is? Do you know how many times it is mentioned in the Bible? Do you know what hell actually is? (If you think that word refers to an underworld with lakes of fire and a horned man, you are wrong!) How do you presume to know what Christianity is all about, and reject it, when it appears that you have interpreted it all to fit your beliefs instead of being open and diplomatic to those who think something different?
Rich said:
and please don't bring fairystories to this thread, try sticking to the fact
What fairy stories are you talking about? Are you refering to "fairy stories" that occurred thousands of years ago which can't be verified? Yes, what I believe is a leap of faith. Just because I can't prove miracles that occured a long time ago doesn't mean that they didn't happen. I can't prove they happened, but
you can't prove they didn't happen. And even then, the point of the stories in the Bible isn't even whether they happened or not, it's that they
happen on a daily basis. Just as Jesus spoke in parables to teach lessons, we tell stories and give hypothetical examples to help people understand a certain point. And that's a fact!
Why are you getting so bent out-of-shape? I'm trying to understand the logical thought process behind atheism and share my logical thought process behind the existence of a Greater Being.