warri0r45

Yes, well It's about time he got a taste of his own medicine. And yes warrior it does speak to me. And is something you'd have to experience to understand. It doesn't speak to me like a human would by voice...but yeah hard to explain. And yes I understand if you think I'm crazy, weird etc. :wink: I don't think your crazy. I just think if you experience something, anything, you should be able to explain it. Perhaps I don't understand it, but you do and could explain it to me which would be the only way to judge whether I understand or not. I'm curious to know what the experience would be like. Sorry if you feel I'm pushing you here, but I think if you experience something, you should at least be able to explain it without just saying, 'you have to experience it yourself' or 'you wouldn't understand because you haven't experienced it.' The only way I can learn and should learn about the religion and the experiences involved is from the horses mouth so to speak. If you still don't want to/can't explain it, no worries; I'll just ask someone else. If it makes you feel any better, this is the last time I will press the issue to you. Ever. :P

I'd have to say sorry, I think that's wrong. Being different isn't normal. If it were, it wouldn't be called being different or being non-conformist; it would be called being normal. Being normal is conforming to societal norms or the mainstream which is definatey not being different.

Don't take this the wrong way, but does the holy spirit talk to you? What does it say? Seriously, I'm curious. I'll give Acts a glance too. Trust me, my intentions are pure. haha sorry but I just gotta write this. * warrior says the word Pure" *glances at sig..* *warrior says the word Pure" *glances at sig..* LOL! :D And I do agree with Eelspremier. People who dis the bible only run on what they seen on TV, or academic knowledge. Probably why they keep asking for proof so much.. I must commend Eelspremier =D> He got it right. Cept for the insulting parts.. but Tiagra is always insulting the Bible and christians. ~Defender~ Haha, first mention of my sig. :thumbsup: But seriously, If you can't learn from TV or acdemic knowlege, than the best place to learn is from a Christian, right? Which is what I'm kinda trying to do.

Don't take this the wrong way, but does the holy spirit talk to you? What does it say? Seriously, I'm curious. I'll give Acts a glance too. Trust me, my intentions are pure.

Speaks for itself. Bloody brilliant. :cry:

The bible is very hard to understand due to its metaphors. If it was really that simple, everyone would know excatly God was talking about on every scripture. Yet there is many different intepretations (sp?). Seriously, The bible is made for everyone, but not just for "the dumb". Its not a book on knowledge, its a book on life. ~Defender~ Wow, can't believe I'm saying this, but... *gulp*, I agree with Defender (*bleh*, bad taste in my mouth). The Bible is extremely complex, saying it's "only for the dumb" is simply ignorance. I agree with defender as well. It's a book of life and morals etc, not knowlege. Don't have a heart attck now defender. :P

I agree, personality should be a choice, not a requirement of society. Normal? There's no such thing some people would say. I think I have mild mental issues. No, I'm not normal. But I'm no where near a social recluse or phantom of the opera type figure. I appear normal-ish. But on the inside, I'm far from it. I have society anxiety, I hate people yelling and sometimes can't stand my family. All of these issues contribute to creativity, in my opinion (well in my case, at least).

Just out of concern, would you say I'm forcing opinions down others throats? Or were you refering to someone else/some other people?

Chapter 1: The beginning. (it gets a little hairy towards the end. Any feedback is welcomed i.e. do you think I rushed it a bit?) The night air was dry and musky, as if the room had never been opened to the world in decades. Cobwebs had gathered in the corners and odd looking machinery lined the walls. This was a colony on a distant world, long forgotten to the human race, until tonight. The call had gone out to a lone marine who was told of disturbances in energy patterns throughout the facility. He was told to investigate and knew he was a pawn; a tool used by the government for any operation they saw fit. He didn't mind. He enjoyed the solitude from his own race, like a lone ranger riding off into the sunset. But there was nothing sunny about this place and nothing inviting either. He walked from corridor to corridor, with pistol in hand as he was ever the pessimist, expecting the worst. Of course this wasn't a combat mission, but this marines insecurities led him to carry a weapon almost everywhere these days. He came closer to the suspected source of the energy fluctuations expecting one of the high tech gizmos to be broken down or severely damaged from the cold due to heating equipment being shut down years ago. He had made it to the room adjacent to the source when he stopped to listen. He thought he heard somethingÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâæ Nothing. There goes that pessimistic nature again, always assuming an axe murderer to be lurking around every corner, possibly due to years in civil urban combat in problematic countries peeking around every corner with no team mates to watch his back; only the enemy surrounding him. He was a hardened combat warrior, this particular marine, and had only taken one bullet in his lifetime, against all odds, due to his quick thinking and espionage training. He opened the door to the suspected source with caution and peeked in. Nothing; it was completely empty and by far the darkest of all the rooms he had traversed thus far. Except for one dimly lit corner of the room which seemed odd in comparison to what he had seen throughout the facility and come to expect. He cautiously walked over towards the dim light to quickly realise it was a computer monitor, left on a particular screen which read ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¹Ãâuploading project beta: 96%.ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ Curiously, he began to stare into the screen which, oddly, started glowing brighter. It was as if it craved his attention and sensed a strong biological presence in front of it. Weird. He didnÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t feel to good abut this at all and gradually began to feel physically ill. He had to leave the room temporarily to regain a clear head. He then attempted to make contact with earth and state he had found the source of the disturbance, but oddly, his communications system had shut down and wouldnÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢t work or cooperate. ItÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s as if being in that room had shut it down somehow. Compelled to find out more, he decided to do a radiation test on the monitor in the other room. Again, he moved cautiously into the room and walked towards the glowing screen with radiometer in hand. As he got closer and closer, his suspicions were materialising into truth as the needle began to jump up and down erratically. This particular radiometer could also detect what isotopes were present in a sample, yet, oddly, it could not detect what radioactive materials were in this sample. He put the radiometer away. He looked into the screen and too his shock, it now read ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¹Ãâuploading project beta: 98%.ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ It seems it had been triggered by his very presence in front of it. But how on earth could that happen? The marine was now more insecure than ever and decided he should turn on some lights and look around for clues. He walked over to where he suspected the light switch would be, cautious as ever. He flicked it on and there was light. ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¹ÃâAAAAARRGHHHHHH!!ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ He let out a screeching scream as he looked up at a wall in the now fully lit room. There, mutilated and preserved in a grotesque mounted position, was a carcass of what he could only assume used to be a human being. The crimson blood shined like hot toffee that had dried in drip lines beneath the corpse. The skull broken and void of anything but the stale air that filled the room. The flesh free of most of its skin and maggots pulsating as if it was something from a horror movie. Looking around the room, he saw another mutilated corpse, in an odd symmetry with the other, it's ribcage craked open as if some creature had performed some crude open heart surgury. How could this happen? What on earth could have done this?! Disgusted by the very presence of the mutilated bodies, he tried desperately to draw his mind away from them. His glazed eyes peered back to the monitor which now read ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¹Ãâlaunching project betaÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢ as the screen faded into what seemed like a picture. This was all far too weird; far too paranormal to be natural. He feared the worst as the picture became clearer on the screen.

Cool topic to write about. What were there an estimated 2 million casualties in the battle of Stalingrad? Largest battle in recorded history from memory. :shock: Good luck with writing it. :thumbsup:

This topic isn't meeting the expectations I had, which comes as a bit of a suprise to be honest seeing as I have met a few fundamentalists (or what I suspect to be) on these boards. If you want to show us that your beliefs have integrity, the challenge still stands, if you want to take it. Of course some people won't like me for having made this topic, but the challenege is designed so you can prove me wrong, which I invite you to do. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. :uhh: :-#

Cya Issy, make sure you two keep writing some cool poetry and other writings and post em' when you get back. 8-) :P

Haha, nice story. /\ :P Sedation of the masses. It's kinda sad considering if it is true, they would be sedating potentially the greatest scientific discover ever. :-#

That's basically spot on as you can't pray for god to give you material possessions. I've spoken to some Christians and they say it dosent work that way and if you think about it logically, god wouldn't want to give you a fun ride through to the other side as this is not heavan. Life is meant to be cruel and [bleep] you over whether that was god's intention or not.

Yeah, except you're assuming that all homosexual cases are the same, which you can't do. It's not a choice for you, obviously, but for others it is. Some people do it for attention, some people do it because they are made fun of for being flamboyant their whole life; they come to the conclusion that they might as well be gay. And Vickie, you can't argue that 'there is no gay gene', just because it hasn't been found yet does not mean it doesn't exist. ...Shh, you're going to unveil the flaw in the Anti-Evolution, Pro-Creation theory! There are gaps!! You don't know everything!! It MUST be wrong!! Yes, quite flawed. :lol: :P

I rememer hearing something vaguely of that number (as in people who go to heavan) in a Jahovas Witness belief.

Be careful Tigra, they'll come back with the argument that you wouldn't understand. :-# :P

So it gives you certainty in life. Now that wasn't hard to understand at all. Amidst an insult of 'retart,' being basically labeled a moron because I'm not a believer and 'wouldn't understand' and being called lazy, I actually understand that clearly. You see you could have cut through all of that crap and just quoted hebrews 11:1 like I did. Simple. Forgive me if I misquoted or misinterpreted the verse though.

And you would know because...? You wouldn't know what faith was if it bumped into you on the street. :roll: Christians aren't stupid people (contrary to what you atheist believe). We belief because we see our faith work in our lives and the things it does to our lives, and how much it enhances it. And its not something I'd expect or presume you to understand, neither should I expect it. Why don't you try and explain it instead of acting like we are stupid and wouldn't understand. Seriosly, explain it to me to see if I get it or not. Refer to the sentence I wrote before the words you made bold and there's your answer. As said your not a believer or someone who has any faith, so its not something I could explain to you, neither would you understand if I tried. Just try. Give it a go. I don't mind if you get it wrong or flat out can't do it, just give it a go, seriously. You ought to be ale to explain how the faith works in your life and enhances it, otherwise your asserting you arent really sure. Things you are sure of you can explain, so just try and see if you can, if you want. Thats retarted of you. Have you not seen churchs and people on TV being healed through their faith? I'm pretty sure you got a kick out of it and said "thats fake".. I know I did, and i'm christian. As he said above, non-believers wouldn't understand, because they are spiritually dead and have no discernment in the spirit realm, as its in the Bible. Infact, once their was a unbeliever in God who had a disease all over his body and he was hospitalized. He prayed to God and ask him to heal him and what do you know, God did. But the preacher asked God "he didn't use his faith.. why did you heal him?" and God said "I hear the crys of the unbeliever because they have no faith." You cannot understand something you do not even accept. The first step of faith is accepting God exists. If you can't reach that step, explantion will never reach you. However if you still want to persist, stop being lazy and go read Hebrews 11:1. ~Defender~ Why do people continually assume that I would have to be an atheist and am therefore 'spiritually dead'? I am an open minded person, trust me and I don't outright not accept it at all. I'm an agnostic. So you can either just say 'sorry, I can't explain it to you becuase I don't know how' or actually give it a go and stop assuming I'm a 'retart' whose only motivation is to prove all christians wrong. I'll give that passage a read too. Seriously, stop assuming I wouldn't understand and try me. I want to hear it.

And you would know because...? You wouldn't know what faith was if it bumped into you on the street. :roll: Christians aren't stupid people (contrary to what you atheist believe). We belief because we see our faith work in our lives and the things it does to our lives, and how much it enhances it. And its not something I'd expect or presume you to understand, neither should I expect it. Why don't you try and explain it instead of acting like we are stupid and wouldn't understand. Seriosly, explain it to me to see if I get it or not. Refer to the sentence I wrote before the words you made bold and there's your answer. As said your not a believer or someone who has any faith, so its not something I could explain to you, neither would you understand if I tried. Just try. Give it a go. I don't mind if you get it wrong or flat out can't do it, just give it a go, seriously. You ought to be ale to explain how the faith works in your life and enhances it, otherwise your asserting you arent really sure. Things you are sure of you can explain, so just try and see if you can, if you want.

In actuality, seeing as you nor I have never seen or percieved him/her/it then he/she/it is completely formed by our perception i.e. our mind. You can't reliably go by descriptions in the bible either for reasons I have already stated in another topic:

Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is mearly energy condensed through a slow vibration, we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, life is only a dream and we are the imaginations of ourselves. Here's Tom with the weather. - Bill Hicks. The world is like a ride in an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round. It has thrills and chills and it's very brightly coloured and it's very loud and it's fun, for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is this real, or is this just a ride? And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, they say, "Hey - don't worry, don't be afraid, ever, because, this is just a ride... And we... kill those people. - Bill Hicks Just thought I'd post a few quotes of Bill Hicks. I think it ties in with what someone else said. :? Nevermind, I just rekon he was the best comedian ever and had a lot of interesting thoughts on a lot of topics.

So would you say that Japanese culture during WWII was pretty messed up and barbaric? Like you said... it's documented... \ Correct... because their culture changed. That is my point. So all those thousands and thousands of Japanese soldiers that performed atrocities are not at fault for their actions? They aren't a reflection of the culture they were raised in? What about the reflection on their culture how these atrocities were cheered on the homefront? If their culture wasn't ok with these things they wouldn't have put up with it and cheered it. Aren't the actions of a culture and the condoning of these actions by the rest of the culture a good way to determine what that culture is and what it values at it's core? This is straying completely from the example I gave, but yes, the actions of a culture are a good way to determine what values are at it's core. With my example, the muslim population here, say 10 years ago, were never in the news, never out of line and seen as just another culture really (correct me if I'm wrong someone). Yet today, due to an event completely seperate from thier culture, (in the sense that thier culture is, on the whole, no where near as extreme as an extremists would be) they are seen as different and watched, documented and scrutinised with a fine toothed comb. I argued these kind of actions by society can make the muslim population start to question 'perhaps these are the values of Islam we need to espouse' (referring to hardcore jihad, suicide bombing and having no tolerance for people outside the sphere of Islam) which is damaging to the society as a whole. The Japanese example is no where near like this really as it was the whole society at the time that espoused 'evil' values through thier government's propoganda etc, etc. They weren't being scruitinised as being a culture within a culture (as muslims are a culture within a multicultural country), they were the one and only culture of the time (arguably, my WW2 knowlege isn't perfect).

So you don't look down on the culture the Japanese had in WWII(I am not talking race for this example... just culture)? The culture that thought it was ok to slaughter hundreds of thousands of helpless Chinese in Nanking and raped just about every woman in that city down to infants. The culture that published exploits of their widespread murder of civilians to the jubilation of their public. You don't think it is right to view a culture like that differently? What about cultures that think it is ok to beat their women and keep them in submission? I can come up with any number of examples of brutal cultures from present or from history. Would you not call the acts of the Japanese culture in WWII brutal? Well, here's the thing. The people you gave as an example actually, as a group, were bad people and weren't stereotyped, rather thier actions were documented and that's how they were portrayed. The people I gave as an example are (by majority) god fearing, life loving people who instantly gained the tagline extremist after 9/11. They are very different examples. Would you look through 1940's eyes at the japanese the same way you look at them today? Of course not. These people weren't stereotyped or portayed unjustly; they were a horrific militaristic regime becuase of what they did, not because of the association of thier culture with something bad.

And you would know because...? You wouldn't know what faith was if it bumped into you on the street. :roll: Christians aren't stupid people (contrary to what you atheist believe). We belief because we see our faith work in our lives and the things it does to our lives, and how much it enhances it. And its not something I'd expect or presume you to understand, neither should I expect it. Why don't you try and explain it instead of acting like we are stupid and wouldn't understand. Seriosly, explain it to me to see if I get it or not.