Nah. Just a feeling of superiority.

Thanks.

Isn't a real Christian. I could've said isn't a true Christian to make the obvious joke more obvious-er, I suppose.

This isn't answering my question about why religion engenders mockery and why atheism allows arrogance. You said that you knew why that was. What's your theory?


Acknowledging WLC as the better philosopher and not wishing to be 'out philosphised' is not dishonest, he simply might not be as philosophically capable but that doesn't make him wrong. You can be right and still lose a debate and that would only damage your cause. WLC would be equally advised not to try and meet Dawkins on his own 'turf' of Evolutionary biology.

This is Dawkins' public stance wrt WLC: Why I refuse to debate with William Lane Craig

Also, there are people that WLC refuses to debate such as Jeffery Jay Lowder and John Loftus. We could speculate about WLC's cowardice and dishonesty too?

It is truly amusing to see how the Devil makes a fool out of most of you.

Logic should tell you that man needs help. Look around you. Look at the mess we have down here. It is getting worse every flipping year!

Men marrying men? Really? Women marrying women? Really? Now, how is the human race going to continue with this? Be logical people.

You people are living in a delusion and I hope you at least make an effort to find answers in this dying, corrupt, demon infested world.

Time to hit the Bellagio, and find a drunk. See ya.

I'm not sure if I care if the human race continues

Regardless there are still tons of unwanted babies even with all the gays so I don't think there is anything to worry about

Here is one thing you can be sure of: most people are going to hell.

I would guess that 99.3% of the current population is lost for eternity. 99.4 is practically 100. so I will go with 99.3. The path is narrow.

To give yourself a chance, learn from the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Learn what they did and why God had to clean it all up.

MB,

I think it depends what circles you run in. I don't hear much mockery for religion except in RGT, the average person on the street is fairly respectful even if they disagree.

OTOH I hear lots of mockery of atheism and evolution from within the Christian camp. Therefore my conclusion is that it is simply easier to mock others than actually take "the opposition" seriously. Same old us v. them mentality which causes breakdown in communication.

So you think that both camps can engender mockery and contempt, or be guilty of arrogance and smugness?

Maybe, I often see facebook virals that are something like 'Too stupid for Science? Try religion' or that are similarly mocking in their tone. But I also see 'crocoduck' type images too.

Yes.

Being arrogant and smug are character traits anyone can exhibit.

do you actually care if most people go to hell as long as you and your loved ones will be saved?

By following Jesus' example of celibacy?

mary magdolyn tho

That was just his platonic friend who was not a disciple because doh, women.

exactly first thing that came to my mind

Today, I care. There was a time where I lack compassion and looked at my salvation in a wrong, prideful way. Stupid, miserable man that I was.

Its a mind game, my friend. Life is the biggest poker game going. You have to call the Devil's bluff by throwing the Word at him. Look at what Jesus did. He called the bluff, and focused on the task at hand. He was not distracted by the things of this world. Jesus had the abstract mind. 99.3% don't have abstract minds, because they are distracted by jobs, money, health, playing games, watching sports, getting married, low cholesterol, finding good prices on W NBA spreads, pleasing people, things that mean absolutely nothing in eternity. Its a deception that is set up from the public school system to the corporations that we serve. It sucks. Its not relevant in God's system.

What a game the Devil set up, down here. Truly amazing piece of work. He as so many deceived billions into eternal darkness. Crafty magic man, slight of hand, using tools that the Wizard of Oz wouldn't understand.

Here is a hint: if you are not a broken man in this life, you are never going to get there. God will not deal with a prideful man. He gives grace the the humble.

Good luck with your search.

If you can break away from it all, you will find true freedom. You will find true joy. God has set eternity in our hearts, don't forget that.

Thats sucks for humans. An entity which is crazy powerful and can trick us in a way even OZ would be deceived by yet being punished for being deceived.

Ye, even though hes crazy powerful, apparently its still a choice, we were given free will etc ....

So, the devil can confuse, trick and manipulate us so that we dont even know thats happening, but we still get to burn in hell because we chose it?

Hell is a dump outside Jerusalem. No one burns in hell anymore.

Our souls will just get exterminated for being deceived by the greatest deceiver in the universe. Seems legit.

And now you're not miserable?

Yeah. I'm not sure you are using that verse correctly.

Narrow is the way, Christ said, and few there be that find it. But Christ said that before he walked that narrow path for us.

About a week ago I was driving home on the parkway late at night and was just too tired, and was nodding off, so I pulled over to rest for a few minutes at the rest area. It was really, really cold. I didn't want to take the chance of falling asleep with the car running and waking up out of gas, so I blasted the heat for 5 minutes and then shut the car off, wrapped myself up in my coat and put on a spare thermal shirt. There were others there doing the same, turning their cars on and off.

I slept for like 45 minutes, and was pretty uncomfortable, to say the least. The seat does go all the way back, but it is not level. I woke up shivering and restarted the car and put in another hour of sleep after turning it off. Something very unexpected happened.

I've for years had nightmares, bad dreams in which I am shot, killed, I overdose or I'm being chased. Tidal waves are a common theme. Nuclear explosions over NYC are another. I can't ever remember having a dream that wasn't sick or beat in some way.

Anyway, I always prayed for a spiritual experience in a dream, a vision of Christ or heaven. Kinda gave up on it.

So, I'm in my car like a homeless guy, wrapped up in a coat and suffering. My back is twisted and my feet are cold. I dream that I am in an idyllic field, some trees, mainly high grasses. I'm on one knee. And I knew that I was dead. I knew that I had passed on. I knew that I was not conscious and awake. I felt that strongly. This is heaven, I thought.

I saw a pack of dogs running toward me and recognized the lead dog as Gizmo, a mixed Palmaranian we had in my youth who has long passed on. I also realized that somebody was standing next to me, though I didn't look at them. "Here comes all of my old friends!" I said to the presence that was beside me, and Gizmo greeted me with the happy tail and all of that and I started to play with him. The other dogs I couldn't yet see, though they were all around me. I knew that they were all of my old friends, all of the dogs I had lost over the years.

I woke up out of that dream in that freezing car and started it. I couldn't believe it. Not just a happy dream, but a blissful one, and an afterlife/dream experience to boot! I swear I almost cried. I was choked up for a good while.

Driving home, I couldn't help but think that if I'm not cold, wrenched up and suffering, I don't have that experience. I start to think about Christ talking about how you should store up treasures in heaven, and not be so earth-minded, as it were. I thought of Kerouac hopping trains and sleeping in dried streambeds and his seemingly abundant supply of eureka revelations. Blessed are the poor in spirit, I thought. Blessed are the poor!

I made up my mind right there to give more and keep less, to get closer to the ground, and not allow myself to be gluttonous and fat and full.

I thought of how someone might feel sorry for me, sleeping in the cold car like that, and think that I am miserable, alone, beat. But they would have no idea that the morning brought a spiritual refreshment that I needed!

I don't think the question should be about one's misery index. I don't believe that life should be graded on a scale of happiness/misery. I'd trade a whole lot of comfortable moments to have that experience again. And it was just a dream, let's be frank. Just a few minutes of blessedness can make up for all of the beatness life can hand you, sometimes.

Dogg: a comforting dream, surely given to you from the Comforter = Ruach Hakodesh to wake you up! This world is nothing like the 'olam haba ~ "the world to come" where "treasures" include what really gives true happiness, not material wealth, but rather relationships, even with pets.

Blessed are the poor!

The "snake handling" comes from the controversial appendix at the end of Mark's account; the vast majority of New Testament scholars have concluded that this appendix was not originally part of Mark's account. Interestingly, there was a known incident recorded in Acts of Shaul = "Paul" being bitten by a snake that was thought to be poisonous.

Yes, that was probably a silly example on my part.

I just look around and see so many lost people. Listen to what they say. Listen to their opinions of God.

Also, if you are so dumb to still watch TV, it takes less than 30 secs of the spirit of antichrist to come through that television.

The TV Set has easily been the second most effective weapon used by the Devil to send more people to hell than anything.

Music is number one. Pull up the lyrics on these songs. Bruno Mars (Locked Out Heaven), AC/DC (Highway to Hell), Grateful Dead (A Friend of the Devil), Rolling Stone (Sympathy for the Devil), Van Halen (Running With the Devil).

There are thousands of more songs I can refer to. If you have to listen to worldly music, Bob Marley is worth a few cents, but I don't even recommend him, as he was into mind altering states, which is not good.

Either way, keep searching for truth my friends...

and play good poker.