Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

There has to be something otherwise we wouldn't be here

This man would never make a double glazing salesman.

Two days ago I was walking through my local town when I was approached by a man wearing a 'T' shirt printed with 'God Loves You'.
He was handing out leaflets.

First he asked me if I had found God.
I was tempted to reply, 'That I did not know he had been lost', but instead I replied, " No and I am not interested".
He replied, " God still loves you, even if you are a none believer".
This time, I couldn't resist, so I replied, "Well if he does, whats the point in joining".
He obviously thought that I was a lost cause, and withdrew his leaflet.

I have never believed although I did bible study for 4 years purely out of interest. The more I studied the more of a none believer I became.

During my life, I have known many believers both good and bad. Likewise I have known many none believers, equally good an bad.

Give me a good honest none believer over an evil believer any day.

I agree with Haystack re his aliens, fairies and the like similarities.

I do believe there was a man called Jesus, who was a great orator and leader of men, but nothing more. Stories have grown around this person, but that is all they are stories. Many of these stories advocate, murder, torture and many more evils.

Many religious people believe all he good sections of the bible stories, but when faced with the bad, violent section, used the excuse that over time facts have become twisted.

If I had to take a religion, I would be a Sun worshiper.
After all we know as fact that without the sun, and many other things in this world, we would not exit. No one can prove to me that without God the same would apply.

Aldwick - even if you are right that "there has to be something" that created life it doesn't mean that something should set the moral standards for our daily behaviour or indeed that it wants to.

My wife's grandfather was the leader of a small religious sect and was very good at it - manage some impressive "healing" and served as good moral advisor. He made a lot of money out of it (for his religious group of course) but I have it on good authority that is was all bollocks. If he had been alive a couple of thousand years ago he could have been Jesus Christ :)

Although a none believer, I have nothing against any religion as long as it does good and not harm. Problem is most religions are used by many people as an excuse to do great harm, you only have to look at the past and present day Islam believers and of course the past day Cristian's.
I also believe that the belief in a religion, even when as I believe such beliefs are misguided can and do, achieve good.
Many believers are helped in their daily lives because they believe, and I am sure that if I was a believer, such beliefs would have helped me to cope with those tragedies of life we all go through.
I have been in a few life/death situations where I have offered up a quick prayer. Does that make me a believer. No, I don't think so, as if a witchdoctor had been passing by, with a couple of bags of chicken entrails, no doubt I would have begged him for help as well.
And that to me is what it is all about. Religion itself does exist as we can all believe in anything. The crux of the matter is, believing in something does not make it true.

Greek.

Isaacs,

When I read your missives, I think of you as the Second Coming, and the present market conditions are a penance inflicted by you on us.

I am reminded of one of the "Dad, Dad,..." monologues of Al Read, the Radio comic who was predominant in the 50's and 60's.

Dad, Dad. Where is God, Dad?

God is everywhere, son.

Dad, Dad. Is he there, here, in that bus, sat on that seat, etc, etc, Dad?

Yes. God is everywhere.

Dad, Dad. Is he on your shoulder, Dad? Dad, Dad. Watch me knock him off, Dad!

The whole god thing is just really bizzare. Here you have this god character sitting around somewhere maybe bored. He invents a universe and people. He gives them free will, but being god he also knows the outcome of everything and all the bad decisions they are going to make. He watches as people kill each other in large numbers and in terrible ways. He watches as people torture and kill children. He gives these people a moral code and watches as they ignore it and many people have awful and miserable lives starving to deatrh.

The question is why would he do this?

The standard reply from god freaks is "it is not for the pot to question the potter". What a good let out for the religious leaders!

Definition of God
When you pray and beg for something to make your life better, God is the one who ignores you.

Isaacs

I agree that it does not have to mean a God in the religious sense , but moral standards would be a good way to help the human race imploding on itself but then you will end up with book's like the Bible that over time have been distorted and misinterpreted , which makes you wonder if he is so clever why did he allow the Bible to be so badly written that even today they can't decide what it all mean's .

I thing I read that the human race have a inbuilt need to have a religion.

When I was a little boy about 6-8 years old, I had developed fairly concrete thinking.

I had friend, whose parents were Hot Gospellers, or Jehovah Witnesses.

One day, when with Peter in front of the fire, I swore.

Peter, said that "god would here me swearing" and "punish" me.

I replied, "how would he know I swore?"

He said that "God is everywhere."

Immediately, I asked "is God in the fire?"

He replied yes.

I then asked him to pass me the poker and said, "I would hit him on "his" head".

Peter went home to tell his parents about me, and we weren't allow to play together for a week, or so.

My atheism had started at a very early age.
(Trueish story.)

Back to Earth.

Nice to know Osborne is on holiday in USA.

Perhaps. he might buy a holiday home there.

Cameron, nowhere to be seen.

They say he made all things.
Who made him/her/it ?

Mr Bean has crashed his car... AGAIN!

More at http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2011/aug/05/rowan-atkinson-mclaren-f1-crash

Is it any wonder?

Tyk.

Me and My Dad.

How many of you didn't believe in Father Christmas?

I didn't.

The important bit is that when the believers grew up they stopped believing in FC.

The bible is just a hotch potch of various texts all written quite a while after JC was dead. Before Paul, the Christians believed in quite a harsh god involving mainly punishment. Paul softened it all up. Before Paul's revelation on the road to Damascus, he was a sort of enterpreneur and general conman. He was known locally as 'Paul the liar' and was dedicated to the persecution of the early disciples of Jesus in the area of Jerusalem.

My guess is that he found some way to make some money out of Christianity. Before he came along Christianity was going nowhere and he gave it a direction and developed most of its beliefs. A lot of what Christians now regard as the teachings of JC were invented by Paul. It was Paul that defined Christianity as separate from Judaeism. Up to that point Christians were a sub sect of Judaeism.

Christianity has always changed to suits itself with little regard to anything fundamental. There were originally married priests, even the some of the popes had wives and children.

The best excuse for anything that goes wrong in this world, is 'Its gods will'.

Those 3 words must be the best get out ever and are always used by believers when they are either stuck for a decent answer or just can't explain why bad things happen.

Another point.......The church is one of the richest organisations in the world and that alone makes them hypocrites when they preach all that bumf of better to give than to receive.

Life begins when you die - but only if you belong to OUR church.

Q. Who says this?

A. All religious leaders.

And it's all mixed up with a dose of 'good morality' to make it look and sound good.

My advice?

Strip out as much mysticism and any other false casues from your thinking processes and try to deal as much as you can with the reality of situations.

ie.

Don't rely on 'God' or 'Luck' or any other mystic crap.

In only 8 words:

There cannot be a God because existence exists.

Bear in mind that Good/Bad Luck is what people seem to have had when they look back. The best way to get good fortune is to work hard and thoroughly and try to create it for yourself by the avoidance of potential mishap.

Try to treat others as you would like to be treated yourself. That way, you get to sleep better at night. And there's more.....

I do like how it's put in this 'message from the grave'.

Hays.

Beginning to realise what you substituted for God.

Ps,

There are still married priests in the Christian Church and even Monks can have children "openly".

Although, having been on the other side of the grave more than once, I never received any useful information from the experience!

H/S, Paul? Paul who?