grr
posted by rick on February 21st, 2004 at 7:12PM

to   catholics (at least), god is an active participant in our real lives!!? "He" is omniscient, omnipresent, etc.. He is the explanation to everything inexplicable.

God is who you believe He is. Different people believe in God for different reasons. There are also varying degrees of belief. This reminds me of one particular religion class (I think the teacher was Mr. Sheehan). He said that the core of the religion is God's teachings. On top of that are man's interpretations. This layer is also where most people have trouble believing. So people find contradictions in this layer, and use that to say the religion is wrong. But the core teachings, which is really what the religion is all about, is still there and still relevant.

So why do I believe in God? Partly because I want to believe in the existence of a higher being, and that there is a purpose to my life. I think living life without a purpose is a sad way of living. If it turns out I'm wrong, then whatever, at least I'm content with the fact that I lived my life to the fullest.

what kind of "god" do you actually believe in (if any), or what kind of "heaven" do you believe in (if any)

What do you want me to do? Draw you a face? Give you a location? These things are up to our interpretations. I'm not going to delve into this because you are an atheist, and by definition you will disagree with me. The bottom line is that I believe, and you don't. I'm not going to waste my energy trying to convince you otherwise.

i'm not forcing you to talk to me. if you don't want to talk to me, that's fine

Finally, something that makes sense. You're absolutely right ... I don't have to talk to you. I've already wasted too much time on this, because arguing with you is like arguing with a block of concrete. Believe me, I won't make that mistake again.

i enjoy picking fights like these - and i assume you like them too

I enjoy discussions that are meaningful. Arguments with you, which almost always revert to the freedom of thought and the oppression of the masses, are not meaningful. Quite frankly, I have better things to do, like working on midterms and assignments. So don't expect me to reply to this thread anymore.

Link