Astralinre

Gehjl, please, just stop arguing about grammar. If you haven't noticed, DaN is just trying to get on your nerves, and he seems to be doing a pretty good job of it. Besides, even if translators have made some grammatical errors in translating the Bible, it's totally irrelevant to the validity of the Bible and to this discussion. And to NorthernHero, about your earlier question: If it were perfect on earth, we would have no need for heaven. We could simply live forever on earth. According to the Bible, that's the way things were before Adam sinned. However, that sin brought the whole world under a curse, and it also brought death into the world. Because he didn't want us to live forver in sin, God gave us death, so that if we followed Him, we could one day escape a ruined earth and go to heaven with him. Of course it would be much simpler if earth was perfect, but humans ruined our chances of living on a perfect earth a long time ago, according to the Bible. (Granted, it also says that one day god will create a new earth, and that it will be good, as it was before the Fall of man.)

I'll be praying. We went through something similar with my dad a few years ago. It turned out that it was just a horrible case of vertigo. He's perfectly fine now. I hope your brother turns out fine too. God bless.

If you were an 11 year old girl watching your home, planet, and the whole human race being wiped out by ugly aliens in giant, seemingly indestructable machines, I think you'd be screaming a good bit too. Personally, I loved the movie. I was a little disappointed that they didn't try to nuke the aliens like they did in the original movie. My main complaint is that Robby survived, though the entire military was wiped out. It just doesn't make sense. I loved the special effects, Tom Cruise and Dakota Fannie both did well in their parts, and, on top of it all, it's a remake of one of my favorite old movies. *thumbs up*

Sorry, but not necessarily. If someone believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, it doesn't matter how much he accepts and loves other people, he would still believe * marriage is wrong. Loving sinners (which I believe all people are) and condoning their sins are two different things entirely.

I was on SB for a good five months, but I still had less than 200 posts. I too was somewhat of a lurker back then. :P

That's a pretty broad topic, which isn't really interesting enough to type a lot about. The short version of it is that using eternal torment as a punnishment for a different opinion isn't my idea of divine wisdom. Then there's the whole free will concept, which doesn't explain why God felt he had the right to kill everything that lives on Earth (excluding the visitors of a certain boat we all know of) because they were of another opinion (The opinion of refusing to worship and/or believe at all). The reason it's not a very interesting topic is fairly simple. There's no way I can ever convince you that the God you believe in is evil, and there's no way you can convince me that he isn't. Odds are you've heard just as many anti-Christian arguments as I've heard pro-Christian arguments, and I think that's enough. In the end it is simply a matter of interpretation, belief, and opinion. Mine is that God does not have the rights the Christian faith believes he has. Ok, thanks for explaining that. I disagree with it, but I respect it. However, there is one issue you brought up that I'd like to comment on, that of eternal punishment. According to the Bible, God is the source of all good things, which includes pleasure. Hell is simply eternity separated from God, and, in my opinion, the whole "fire and brimstone" thing is a metaphor for something much worse - choosing to deny yourself Pleasure Himself. So it's not that God punishes people eternally for a different opinion, it's just that when you refuse to submit to and worship God, you deprive yourself of the source of all joy, which leaves you with only misery. Maybe it seems a little more fair when you think about it that way. Sorry for going so off topic.

Sir, might I ask how you think the Christian faith describes God and what your problems with that God are? If the God I worship is as horrible as you say, then perhaps I should reconsider my religion. As for the actual topic, I'm not an atheist, so I really don't have any comment on the matter.

Erm that means that people are born with it right? Well if thats what you mean, its correct. People are born with a sexual prefrence. I dotn have any hard proof but thats what the public health nurse (im assuming she has more experience in this kind of stuff then any other person on these forums) at my school said. Most kids in my class were shocked, cause they thought people just dicided to be like that, but it wasnt so. I answered my question though, How homosexuals are. Or perhaps... i should ask an expert. MK, have you alwasy had these kind of feelings? http://www.whyprophets.com/prophets/gay_gene.htm I haven't done much research into the trustworthiness of this site, but the author seems to know what he's talking about, and he makes some good points. I reckon I might as well throw this out there, just so people have a little more information to think about.

Id rather die a fool and not suffer the consequences 8) aloha to that What consequences eh? What consequences would the merciful lord do to a person that respects and cares for his friends, family and colleagues. Someone that abides by the laws and does good things. Someone that does a lot fo work and money raising for charities helping others. And I do all this because I am a good person, not in blackmail to get into heaven. If God exists and is just, why would he pesecute me. I'm far more "christian" than most christians I just don't belive. One of the key doctrines in Christianity is the sinfulness of all men. According to the Bible, anything short of perfection is unacceptable in God's sight. In Romans, it's written that "All of sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" and that "The wages of sin is death". It doesn't matter how you compare to other people; what matters is how you compare to God. And no one can live up to God's standard. The only way to get into heaven is to repent of your sins and let Christ be your substitute. It's hardly unfair. Anyway, I'm afraid this is starting to seem like I'm "recruiting", which the mods disapprove of, so please PM me if I didn't explain the Christian view of the situation well enough, or if you'd just like to discuss your problems with Christian theology more.

In my book helping a community to feel more accepted isn't useless. But what if it's helping them to accept something that's harmful? hrm. u can see homosexuality as useless in a purey procreative perspective. but if you choose to do so, where does runescape, drinking, nightclubs, dope, hobbies, art, music etc etc fit in? if you made all useless but fun persuits illegal, life would be 'purposful' but extremely boring *yawns widely* [after thought: posting that message didnt help further the spead of my genes, should forums be delegallised as useless?] After thinking a bit, I don't agree with GSW that it's harmless. If someone is practicing only homosexuality, then that behaviour prevents him from engaging in normal sexual activity that could produce offspring. If it's preventing something that's beneficial (propagating that species), then it's harmful. Those examples you listed don't prevent beneficial behavious unless taken to the extreme, and some are beneficial in and of themselves. If you play Runescape all the time, it keeps you from engaging in physically and socially healthy behaviour. Night clubs help people meet each other, and the dancing is healthy. Alchohol, in reasonable amounts, can also be healthy. Dope? Well, I'd have to say that's harmful too. As for art and music, they tend to enrich the mind. I guess this paragraph was a bit irrelevant though.

Well, at least our perception of time stands still, as it relies on motion. But who's to say that time is limited by our perception of it? And if there was no time or motion in this void, how could our universe come into being in it and function in it?

If the entire species becomes homosexual, sure, but just because * marriage is allowed doesn't mean every human being is going to become homosexual. No but it certainly isn't benefitting the species which violates evolutionary Laws (or theories). No, but it's not hurting us, so, why prohibiting it? If it's not hurting us or helping us, then it should neither be prohibited or encouraged. It doesn't do any good to outlaw something that's harmless or to promote something that's useless. So, if people want to practice homosexuality, let them, but don't encourage it by changing the law to make them feel more accepted.

If the entire species becomes homosexual, sure, but just because * marriage is allowed doesn't mean every human being is going to become homosexual. In evolution, aren't the strongest animals those which are best suited to their enviroment and best able to reproduce? If so, then I don't see why homosexuality should be encouraged by changing laws to suit it. Since homosexual behaviour cannot yield offspring, it would make since that, because of natural selection, individuals with homosexual tendancies would die off sooner or later. If it doesn't help the species advance, why encourage it?

Anything by Chris Rice. I love his music, but it always leaves me feeling sleepy.

I don't see how they don't have the same rights as us... they have the right to marry a consenting adult of the opposite sex just like everyone else. It's not my fault if they don't want to exercise that right.

I'm 15, so I've only recently started learning to drive. Right now I'm still at the stage where it freaks me out to be too close to another car. :oops:

where did you come up with that :P France has 60.7 million people. The U.S. has 295 million. (Source: BBC) Considering that we've got alot more people in America, it makes sense to assume that we also have more snobs. :P

I don't like her show much either, but I wouldn't be so rude as to refuse her entrance to my store. :P There's racism no matter where you go. Whether you're in France, Mississippi, or your own hometown, you're going to find people who discriminate against people simply because of their lineage or looks. It's sad, but true. In my opinion, the best thing to do about it is to lead by example - show people that it's better not to treat people as inferior because of something as unimportant as race. We're all human, after all. And if people continue to turn Oprah away from stores because she's black, she can just go home and take comfort in her billion dollars. xD

What do I want to be when I grow up? A father. :) As far as jobs go though, my dream job is writing. I would love to have well-written and published novels, short stories, poetry, and articles. I can't think of many jobs I'd enjoy more than making writing my profession.

The longest I've stayed awake is probally around 36 hours or so, but I really don't care. I like to sleep too much to see how long I can go without it. :P

Country western music. Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, Lonestar, Toby Keith, Rascal Flats, I love 'em all.

Actually, it's quite the opposite in my area. All the schools around here - city, county, and private - are switching to uniforms if they didn't have them already. As for the whole evening out the rich-poor thingy, uniforms are *expensive*, or at least the ones we're getting are, so I don't see how they do much good. There's one main reason I support uniforms - modesty. It'll be nice not to be distracted from school work by girls in revealing clothing, lol.

Yoda, of course. The Force is stronger than any cheap magic tricks. Besides, even if it isn't, I don't think Dumbledore could stand against a lightsaber. ;)

What is your motivation? What is it that makes your life worth living? What is it that you are totally dedicated to? Are you living for Jesus? Allah? A philosophy? A person? Fun? Pleasure? Your self? I've never met a person who wasn't living for something. Whether they are living for a Higher Power, romance, or alchohol, they all have motivations. My question is simple - what is yours? Do you think there may be something better than what you're living for? Feel free to discuss different people's views, and feel free to explain your own view. Who knows, maybe we could even start a Socratic dialogue about what the best lifestyle is, but then again, maybe that's too lofty a goal. I don't have time to type mine up at the moment, as dinner is almost ready, but I'll post it a little later.

In a Christian worldview, evil is simply a perversion of good, not a substance in and of itself. So it would be more like "God creates good things, man uses good things for his own glory instead of God's, thereby sinning. Because God is omnipotent and omni-benevolent, he allows man free will when it comes to the way he uses good things. If man makes the wrong choice, God is good enough to offer a way out of the punishment man brings on himself." @rick, one of dictionary.com's definitions of "make" includes "to bring about." It wouldn't make sense if the writer meant "to force" in this case, because the Bible teaches that becoming a Christian is a personal decision, so it can't be forced. However, a Christian could cause people to become disciples through witnessing, teaching, correcting, or simply loving people. In other words, salvation can't be forced, but Christians can influence people to repent in non-violent ways. As for the whole "hell" topic, C. S. Lewis summed up the purpose of Hell nicely when he wrote "There are only two types of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done.'" People choose to go to Hell, they aren't sent there. They go because they refuse to follow God's will and go to heaven. Point and case. Now, there is also a reason why hell is a place of torment. The Bible teaches that God is the only source of happiness. As Augustine wrote in his Confessions, "Our soul is restless until it rests in You." Since Hell is a place where no one submits to God's will or seeks the joy that comes from Him, it is a place of eternal restlessness, which I don't imagine would be fun.