Doubting Like Thomas

Since there are over 450 different ENGLISH translations of the Bible, how about having the elected officials place their hand on a copy of the CONSTITUTION, and swear to uphold it?

Swearing on a Bible seems to be favouring one religion over another, and swearing on any particular VERSION of the Bible appears to be favouring one denomination over several others.

It's only a matter of time.

Since it's Catholic dogma is that she NEVER SINNED,  logic would dictate that she never needed purification from ANYTHING.

Yes, I know it's just a rumour, but still, it's THEIR rumour, and they should be consistent about who's Immaculate and Pure, and whose soul needs a bit of a scrub up.

From what I see on the American cop shows, if ANYBODY dies during the commission of a felony, EVEN IF IT'S ONE OF THE BAD GUYS!), everybody involved, including just the getaway driver, gets charged with felony murder.

A policeman died, as did some other people. So, felony murder for every intruder?

  AND, fun fact: The law MAKING it a felony to damage federal property was signed by their Dear Leader, just this summer.

Paul write that if the Christ be not truly risen, then your faith is is vain.

So, rising from the grave is the ULTIMATE Christ-like behaviour

And yet, movies and TV shows NEVER show zombies, who ALSO rose from their graves, as the GOOD Guys!

How does it differ from the methods of other Christian denominations, and how does it provide testable, repeatable, consistent evidence for the existence of Risen Jesus as an active agent?

Some people quote passages in the Bible about the ROUNDNESS of the Earth, as proof that it was "inspired" by a God who MADE it round, while some OTHERS quote passages as PROOF that the Earth is FLAT.

BOTH sides quote, among others,  Isaiah 40:22 "It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,...."

IMAGINE a big jar of gumballs. Two possibilities. Either there is an ODD number of pieces, or an EVEN number. Since nobody has counted them, IF IF IF we do not  AGREE with the people who have FAITH that it is an even number, that does NOT mean that we DO agree with those who have FAITH that it is an odd number.

All we have to say is that we have not seen convincing evidence, either way.

In the same manner,  IF IF IF we do not agree that THESE Gods and Goddesses exist, we are not obligated to believe that those OTHER Gods and Goddesses must therefore be REAL.

Just trot out some testable, repeatable, consistent evidence, and let us examine it.

It would SEEM that a thing which is not changed, has not been harmed.

And rumours have it that GOD is Infinitely Perfect, and cannot change to LESS perfect. Which includes being PERFECTLY happy, no matter HOW few people actually believe in Him. So, why would He punish anyone for NOT believing in Him??

Should we rather PRAY to whichever  Divine Beings may exist, to bestow health and happiness upon others? (Unless, of course, ill health and/or unhappiness is part of His/Her/Its/Their perfect Plan.)

Rumours abound that some GOD loves EACH of us, INFINITELY. And yet, those who claim this GOD to be ALL-WISE, also dare to imply that it is TOO F[intercourse]ING STUPID to think up more than ONE valid Pathway to the Happy Place.

How is it even POSSIBLE that mere mortals could think up dozens of Religions, and YOUR God could only think up ONE?

I have learned that in SOME religions. Confirmation is SO important, that they have a specific ritual CELEBRATING it.

   Seeing the tides move is not ( TO ME) evidence for the existence of the GOD known as POSEIDON. And having some old lady recover from surgery AFTER her children and grandchildren chant the Rosary is NOT (to me) convincing evidence of the existence of the Goddess known as The Blessed Virgin Mary.  And the complex beauty of the universe is no more convincing proof of the God of the Bible, than the complex beauty of snowflakes is convincing proof that they were each Intelligently Designed by the God known as Jack Frost.

She got famous because she  delivered what is considered, by some, to be God's GREATEST GIFT: The baby Jesus.

But, consider this:

If the postman delivers to YOU a gift from your grandparents, the largest monetary gift you've ever received, and LATER, down the street, delivers some kid a card from his aunt & uncle with a bit of money in it, in what way does the second DELIVERY reduce the value of the first delivery?

In like manner, the birth of Joe Carpenter Jr., a year or more after the birth of Jesus, shouldn't make Jesus any less important, should it??

And yet, some people CLAIM that Mary HAD to remain a virgin, and DID, for her entire life. NEVER had plain old sex with her lawfully wedded husband.

Why would people have that deep psychological need to BELIEVE that?

I just got notified that I have violated a Rule by posting here, but no link to the specific post.  When the nice policeman told me to turn off the engine, and keep my hands in plain sight, I knew what was expected of me.    But to tell someone who asks and answers about the complexities of multiple Belief Systems that ONE of my several dozen  recent  postings somehow caused distress in a person whose faith cannot survive  reasonable questions, without any clue as to WHICH ONE, offers me to clue as to which behavior to modify.

Sophie says she "LIGHTLY" kicked one.

/question/index?qid=20201...

She MIGHT be lucky that he didn't take a truncheon to her skull.

So, spiritually speaking, how much pressure per square centimeter constitutes "lightly"?

(Sophie has me blocked, so I can't ask her directly)