I’m not going to re-hash something that has been hashed enough so recently on another thread simply for your convenience.
Then you will have to drop the argument. And so you still owe me an example of Christianity being the cause of evil.
Are you saying Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot were “good men?” I’m certainly not.
They certainly committed horrendous acts. Were they evil when they were 10? When they were 20? At some point they must have been men who others considered to be "good men" otherwise, who would follow them? Do you know what made these "good men" turn to such evil ways? It wasn't religion - they were atheists much like the "new atheists" - not allowing any expression of religion in the nations they built on the blood of their citizens.
For good people to do evil things requires religion.
Just keep on asserting. Maybe it'll ring somebody's bell.
You haven’t “refuted” anything. You are relying on a faulty premise to justify a faulty conclusion given you have no idea of the theological beliefs of Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot. What if I told you Stalin was a Catholic or that there are more people in US jails who believe in a “supreme being” who have murdered than don't? What about the Taliban, Muslims and the various Catholic genocides? Wouldn’t that substantially skew your “numbers?”
I wasn't the one making an unfounded assertion about "most" of the evil being done in the name of religion. I brought three atheists who committed heinous acts - millions of murders, torture, starvation - as evidence that it is not something that's a foregone conclusion - that you will have to run the numbers to find out. It's way too close a race to call it on a show of hands. So either concede the point, or bring out the full accounting of evil deeds.
As an example of religion causing someone to do evil, you bring:
David, the King of Israel.
Now, I've read those stories many times, and I've gotta tell ya, David never did anything wicked
because of religion. For instance:
He committed adultery with another man’s wife and had the man murdered.
Which evil deed was done when he strayed from his religion, and was severely punished. It was because of his deep remorse over that act that he wrote some very beautiful songs about the wretchedness of a man who has wandered from God, about the pain in his soul over his own wickedness. It was his religion that brought David to that point of despairing regret over the sins he'd committed.
I never said Christianity specifically; I said religion.
Of which Christianity is one.
I suppose the genocides of the Bible were/are acceptable because “god” ordered it. If so you have an odd standard of what does and does not constitute genocide.
They were not acceptable, they were absolutely necessary, otherwise God would not have ordered them. Failure to complete this task by Saul cost Israel in very deep, spiritual ways.
The important questions concerning these genocides are:
1) What purpose did they serve? and so
2) Will such a thing be repeated?
The answers are found in the reading of that history.
1) God was preparing the way for Christ, and this was a part of that long and complex process.
2) No, since Christ has come.
I like TH and enjoy his insights so you be nice when discussing such a noble fellow around me.
Be careful, TH is quite fond of me. He will unvelvet those claws if he has to.
Ahem, reading a book is not the same as someone “speaking” to you.
The Bible is the written Word of God. So you are quite wrong. God speaks through His Word. He isn't limited to that - we read of Moses talking to God "face to face" though he never actually
saw God's face; we read of Abram hearing God speak from the burning bush, and Saul of Tarsus hearing Christ speak, though those with him only heard thundering noises. We know that all of Scriptures is inspired of God in a way that makes God the co-author of every book. God speaks to me through His word not only when I read it, but when I meditate on it, and when He calls it to mind in times of need. It isn't really something that can be described to someone who does not have a regenerated heart, and even then, it is an individual experience - very intimate, so take care not to belittle it or to tread upon it since I have shown a piece of myself in sharing even this much with you.
"These people's God has shown them by a million acts that he respects none of the Bible's statues. He breaks every one of them himself, adultery and all." - Mark Twain
I don't know this quote taken out of context from a man who showed himself to be completely confused about the Christian faith - and no wonder since so many wicked men used Christianity as a shield in doing their wicked deeds in that time of slavery.
From all that I have read of your posts, SH, I can see that you have a very twisted, confused, rhetorical, and incomplete picture of what the Bible has to say about being a Christian. I would recommend that you read the letters of Paul concerning what it is to be a Christian. Maybe you'll get a better picture. Then maybe read the Gospels to get a view of who it is we worship. Once you have a clearer picture of Christ and Christianity, the history leading up to Christ - all of it pointing to Him and the need for Him - will make more sense to you, perhaps.
For TH's sake, I am trying to be kind to you and patient with you. He says that you are young, but a "good kid" and I'll just have to take his word on that.
