Wow... lots to respond to here... thanks for post. As much as I will disagree with you, I must still say I enjoy the chance to talk with you here. That said...here we go...
First off, lots of the stuff in the beginning of my post was copied from someone else's post that said, 'If mankind is to survive, then religion must end.' I was making a point by coping what he said and changing it around a bit. So that 'end of story' stuff was what he said with me turning it around to my view... I hope that makes sense. Read his post and you'll understand why I wrote this one.
Yes, some wars are caused by religion. However, you make it sound as if ALL wars are caused by religion...that is not true. Look at the revolutionary war, the world wars, vietnam, whatever... I think it is a narrow view to say that religion caused it all. I might believe you if you said GREED was the underlying cause... but not religion.
Lots of the wars in the Middle East have been religious based. Yes, the Inquistions and even the Crusades were religious based.. but not all. No matter what Bush says about God, I don't believe our current wars are religious in nature. That's greed, my friend... pure and simple. Bush is a bully and a war monger. If he was doing it for God I would think he would go into Somalia or Africa and help those poor people...but guess what? No oil there!
Can't learn love with so many religions? Hmmm.. well I certainly have! In fact I live in an area right now that has the majority of people against my religion... guess what? That just causes me to pour out more love. So I have to disagree there.
What is heaven? Metaphysics now, huh? If you don't want to believe in heaven brother, that is your view. Many do believe in heaven and heaven is something different for everyone else. For me heaven is a place where I will meet my Father and be with him. Is it going to be a galactic pizza party? I don't know. Is there gonna be clouds and harps? I don't know. Honestly I don't care much either... all I wish is to be with the Father and that is what I strive for. Your heaven or hell, for lack of a better term, is whatever you wish it to be. You wish to not believe? That is fine my friend. Personally, I think I am better off believing... at least I have hope of a better place. I feel sorry for you because you have nothing to look forward to but non-existence. That makes me sad... but that is your right to believe what you will.
You say that if there was a God he wouldn't let bad things happen. I disagree. God allows it for many reasons... many His own that I can't possibly comprehend. But I do know two of the reasons are because we have 'free will' and the other is so we learn from our mistakes. My belief in God allows me to trust Him and so I do.
No hard evidence in the Bible you say. You kinda lost me there. Every year more things are confirmed in the Bible. Ancient cities that were thought to be mere fables are found buried... ancient people who are were thought to not exist are found named on artifacts that are found. So I have to disagree with you there.
Those are my feelings anyways. Thanks for reply.
