Can you defend your faith?

This is a second part to a recent thread I posted - "What type of relationship do you have with God?"

Though we disagree with doctrines and religion, there seems to be one thing we can all agree with:

There is a God.

To me....... this is a great first step in one direction. Though scientific fact is not in the equation..... we believe there is a God.....some say gods......BUT we agree there is a creator even though we have not seen him/her and there is no scientific proof of his/her existence. By looking around the planet and the known universe we agree there must be a creator.

Should we stop here or try to get closer to this creator?

Can we do this without letting our emotions "going into the red" due to false teachings and to bad up bringing by parents who knew less than we do about God?

Can we put aside the fanatical zealous religious wannabes without letting them destroy an entire religion and without judging an entire religion solely based on these idiots? Can we do this without judging God?

If you believe in God then you have faith in a spiritual being that you have never seen. I am a Christian who teaches what God wants from us and how you can get close to him, to be able to call him Abba! How to do what is pleasing and acceptable to God.

No one on this planet knows why God has allowed everything to happen as it did and to get stuck on religious stories of destruction and punishment meanwhile overlooking the main topic is unfair. Is it more important to see the ten plagues that befell Egypt or the fact that the Jews were released after 400 years of slavery, to be set free, to become their own volk - to go to a new place that they will call home - considered to be "milk and honey"? To be singled out as God's chosen people. The entire story is great but what if there were only 9 plagues instead of ten? Is that the importance of this story ten plagues? Of course not. It is nothing more than a small part of that story - showing the Jews getting their freedom back and being reminded they are God's chosen people. Of course there is more to the story.

Should I base my entire belief on a worldwide flood? Is that the main topic of a book that has 66 books combined into one book? OR should I read through the 66 books and then see where is the connection between the 66 books? What is the overall teachings of the 66 books that when combined into one has the same overall message? Or should I make a decision because God says he detest homosexuals - is this a reason to discard all 66 books? Because I personally disagree with a sentence or a story ..... is this a reason to discard an entire religion?

Why is it people judge one another based on their bad decisions and not on their good deeds? Most who do this don't even really know the person they judge but by what other people say.

Taking a few versus out of the bible, torah, Hebrew teachings, etc.... does not give an accurate picture of what is in the entire book and its meaning.

What facts do you have that proves your faith is right while another man's faith is wrong?

Before I tell you how I can defend my faith let me ask you:

So can you defend your faith?

I have faith that our alien creators will return & demand we worship them as the Gods they are. I will let ancient aliens series defend my faith.

I have faith that human nature will eventually cripple itself, & I will let history defend that faith.

originally posted by: DeathSlayer
What facts do you have that proves your faith is right while another man's faith is wrong?

I dig the idea of the threads, but based on this premise I am not sure how to participate. I don't see that our perspectives are innately mutually exclusive, we just act like they are.

I think it is an incredible thing that so many varied perspectives can simultaneously exist. We each experience things according to our own 'looking glass,' but we are all existing in the same place. We all have the same data, just with different interpretations. Some that fractal heavily into the human experience only, but it's all part of the same system.

Why would I spend my time defending against attack when I could use the same time to cooperatively explore creation? The more disparate the views, the larger the scope.

a reply to: DeathSlayer

Though we disagree with doctrines and religion, there seems to be one thing we can all agree with:

There is a God.

Who's "We"? Is this thread just for the people who agreed with a version of "God" in your last thread? Because, there were posters in that thread who didn't agree that there was a "God", at all.

Also, there were members, like myself, who chose not to participate in that thread, because I can't relate to your version of "God".

So, who are talking to when you say "there seems to be one thing we can all agree with: There is a God.", in your OP? Are you excluding "non-believers" from your discussion here?

a reply to: DeathSlayer

Of course most all of us can defend our faith as in you asking us if we can.... Perhaps its better expressed in question form as in "Would you defend your faith? Or HOW would you?"

Using "CAN" purports to ask if we COULD....while it may be better served to ask "HOW" we might do so....

Perhaps its just my interpretation of the title?*

*(Example: "CAN you jump off a bridge?".)

Mine doesn't require Me to defend "it". Mine is so cool it pays taxes. Mine hasn't a Temple nor Shrine or offices world-wide to better service TheFlock... We don't even knock on any doors and there isn't even a Rule Book. The connection is right to Hunab Ku who resides in the Octave.. Each a 'Creator' working their way back from whence they came, The One Infinite Creator.

Enjoy Yours and 'defending' it.. Though wouldn't having to feel the 'need/want' to defend the Religion™ isn't that "Little" or "no Faith"??? The Ones finding the need/desire to defend are High/Low on Faith? I guess that would depend on the definition or on how One compares...

namaste

Actually. There is no exclusion. Science is a god. It is NOT God. But is worshiped like one. People of religious faith, as it is known throughout the world, be it Christian, Muslim, Judaism, or any of the non-Abraham belief systems, adhere to guides of spiritual growth and morality, while Non-religious people of non-faith adhere to governmental guides of behavior and morality. But they trust in what is unseen as much as any believer.
Now the unbeliever may not believe in a creator or a spiritual set of guidelines but it has not stopped them from trying to BECOME the gods that they abhor. Every day we see advances in technology that are expanding exponentially year to year. Just over 6000 years ago, man was developing the written word. Since then many discoveries have been made and man has advanced in technology and industry. BUT we have NEVER throughout history seen the advancement in science and technology as we have in the past century. Why is that? At the rate humanity is advancing, we will be uploading our consciousnesses into computers allowing us to virtually be immortal. Taking away the need for reproduction. If we are to live forever why procreate?

I understand that a lot of people have major issues with religion and the establishment set in place by those who believe they are superior over everyone. But the simple fact is this. Religion didn't cause humanity to fight. Religion gave a cause to the fight. Without the belief in something to kill for, humanity will kill for nothing. Why is this?

As a Christian, I believe, this question is answered in the very first book of the Bible in Genesis regarding the story of Adam and Eve. If you don't believe fine. This is for discussion purposes and I won't respond to calls for testable evidence. Having said that, Eve was tempted by Satan with three promises. 1. You will have knowledge 2. You will be immortal. 3. You will be like God. The problem was this. Sounds tempting right? "YES, I WANT THOSE THINGS."
They had them all ready.
They had direct access to God, who would gladly answer any question.
They were immortal, there was no death. Death came after the original sin. "for the wages of sin are death"
They were like God. Crafted in his own image. With the very breath of God coursing through their bodies.
The great deception of Satan was not a lie. The deception was promising them something that they already possessed as reward for disobeying the only rule given by God the Creator. I'm sure that Satan was quite proud of his cleverness.
Ever since then MAN has been trying to regain what was lost to us. Believers and Non-believers alike.
Christianity is the only way that tells us these two things. 1. There is nothing we can do to fix it.
2. Our price has been paid should we wish to collect our prize.
We do not have to be good. We just have to be us. Once we accept Jesus into our lives then HE himself will work on the rest.

a reply to: Kusinjo

Actually. There is no exclusion. Science is a god.

Science isn't my God.

while Non-religious people of non-faith adhere to governmental guides of behavior and morality.

I disagree with my government all the time, in fact, have been known to commit acts of civil disobedience! I don't need a government, a holy book or a self appointed pious individual to give me moral guidelines to adhere to, to maintain a good, meaningful and moral life.

But they trust in what is unseen as much as any believer.

Really? "Unseen" as in gravity and the reason for seasonal changes? Or, unseen as in God is watching and judging us?

Now the unbeliever may not believe in a creator or a spiritual set of guidelines but it has not stopped them from trying to BECOME the gods that they abhor. Every day we see advances in technology that are expanding exponentially year to year.

That's just human nature, natural evolution to want to thrive by conquering the things that kill us and make life burdensome. It's human nature to want to explore new lands and try new ideas and inventions.

Religion didn't cause humanity to fight. Religion gave a cause to the fight. Without the belief in something to kill for, humanity will kill for nothing. Why is this?

Really? Burning witches and heretics for Christ is worthy? Beheading cartoonists for Mohammed is noble? I'm sorry but religion has never been a good reason for war! It has, however, been the most common.

a reply to: windword

Actually the cause IS just! But the fools who do foolish things are not just. People do the things they do because they can't help doing them. Whether it be for good or ill. Why don't you bring up all the good that has been done in the name of Christ? I think it is because it doesn't support your argument. That is fair enough. I don't know about you but I have kids. Would it be OK to never praise them for the good things they have done or should we chastise them always and never let them forget the evil things they have done?

Discipline is not about destroying someone for making mistakes and doing foolish things. It is not about allowing them to keep making mistakes and doing foolish things while we sit back and watch and hate them. Discipline is about correcting the wrongs no matter how many times it occurs, with love and firm hand (and I don't mean smacking).
It is about praising them when they do it right. MORE SO, when they do it right AFTER getting it wrong so many times.

I wouldn't choose one single person out and label them. But as humans, we make mistakes. We do foolish things without thinking them through. We do foolish things even after thinking them through. Human nature is what it is.
We don't want to die but when we are told and given the easiest way to achieve that AND live our lives with Joy and Happiness, we disregard it because it condemns or for things that are out of our control. THAT is the point. I am a Christian. I wasn't alive during the Crusades or Inquisition. So why am I being blamed? I am white. I wasn't alive during the times of black slavery. So why am I blamed? I buy my groceries from the grocery store. I didn't create the industrial revolution. So why am I blamed? Do you see the pattern. According to religion I am going to HELL if I don't believe and do good things. But according to my belief I will never die because I believe. Everything that is not in my control is not my concern. What is my concern is making sure that I believe the reason I was put here is to 1. Love the Lord my GOD. 2. Love my fellow man and do for him what I would like and hope for him to do for me. That is my purpose. If that is not your purpose than so be it. I will love you just the same.

a reply to: Kusinjo

Why don't you bring up all the good that has been done in the name of Christ? I think it is because it doesn't support your argument.

How does it support your argument that Religion is a just cause to kill? How does the fact that some Christians do charitible things prove that non-believers don't do charitable things?

I wasn't alive during the Crusades or Inquisition. So why am I being blamed?

I wasn't around when Adam and Eve ate the apple. So why am I being condemned?

I'm a non-believer. I live a full, meaningful and moral life. And yes, I am a parent.

originally posted by: Kusinjo
We do not have to be good. We just have to be us. Once we accept Jesus into our lives then HE himself will work on the rest.

wow.

a reply to: Eunuchorn

Here you take the reigns for a little while. I'm tired.

Does your faith need to be defended?
Is it worth it, then?

a reply to: DeathSlayer

i dont agree that :

" there is a god "

as it is an unevidenced claim

originally posted by: Kusinjo
a reply to: windword
But according to my belief I will never die because I believe. Everything that is not in my control is not my concern.

Well now, isn't that convenient.

I will never defend my faith.

I believe that there is a higher intelligence above us all. I do not know if they are the suPREME intelligence. I choose to call this God. I am not sure if "God" is a single being. I only feel strongly that this being or collection of beings is far advanced above us lowly humans.

I pray to them sometimes. I don't know if they hear or care. I have never been answered to my knowledge. My faith says that 'they' do hear. My faith says that my prayers have power..... fractions of amps. Low voltage. Cumulative prayers have more power.

People who thrust their fingers and souls into the Earth have a stronger connection to the whole of things.

These are my beliefs.