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Okay, since young, I've heard of several stories of people getting possessed, and needing exorcism.

Now, being an Atheist, I am downright skeptical, and think that these 'possessed' are nothing more than a combination of either epilepsy, schizophrenia, and/or other neurological issues.

But, many people insist that these people are possessed by demons or ghosts, and are not crazy.

So I have only 2 questions:

1. What is the reason for a demon to possess someone?

Seriously, why would demons want to possess someone in the first place? Is it really just to torture people?

2. Why don't they possess political leaders?

Seriously, think about it. If demons were going to possess people to torture others, many influence the masses (or whatever). Why don't they possess political leaders? If they control a president of a country, then they could wreak massive havoc!

But most possession only involve small town people, who are not so famous.

Come to think of it, I've never heard of famous influential people getting possessed.

Why so?

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So, tell me what you think? If there are demons, and they're possessing people left, right, and center. Why not the famous influential people?

The famous influential people aren't screaming, seeing dead everywhere, and eating insects. Nor are they speaking in tongues...

If God knew the future, then He must have knew what each individual would do.

Say that He knew that a man would murder, as accordance to free will, so He knew that the man would murder others in the future (and does not even try to stop, so much more all-righteous). So he is all-knowing and can see the future.

But if the man suddenly changes his mind (maybe it's not worth the effort, maybe he's afraid of getting caught while almost killing someone), then the future changes, and God's knowledge will change. But, being all-knowing, He shouldn't have need to change his knowledge, His knowledge is perfect.

So, what do you think? God cannot be all-Knowing If there is Free Will. Do you agree? Please state why. Do you disagree? Please state why...

The Pope is very rich, the priests in your local churches are very rich. But the Bible says that disciples and voices of God shouldn't sell all their belongings and give the money to the poor. They should only live in the barest of conditions, and should not have anything valuable.

Yet... I've been to a priest's house before.... The house looked like it was made of gold...

So... why are they rich when the Bible says that it's wrong?

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I'm waiting for a sensible answer. Though I doubt I'll get one.

But boxing him up, I meant leaving him no room for arguments for him to exist.

If we were to take all the arguments for the existence of God, then He'd have no way of existing.

People said that God cannot give proof that He exist, for that would make people lose faith, to give evidence would mean that He cannot exist.

But according the religion, We are proof of His existence, does that mean that He cannot exist?

Besides that, according to religion, God can do everything, even impossible ones (something from nothing). But when asked if He could create something so heavy that even He cannot lift, religion cannot answer...

Here's another one, God knows all and has a plan, yet then He gives us free will, by then, how can He have a plan?

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So what do you think? If we were to take all arguments FOR God and put them all together, would that prove once and for all that God cannot exist?

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Arguments AGAINST God collaborate, they do not contradict each other, and have solid fact backing them up.

I'm curious, how many of you have actually heard God? Not felt him inside you, not through the Bible, but seriously have heard His voice?

How does he sound? Is it deep and powerful? Or is it soft, gentle, but wise? Does it echo around you?

And if He has spoken to you, what did he tell you? What did He say? Did He tell you what you should use to remove the stain of your clothes? Did He tell you that you'll be healed of your disease?

Or have you never heard Him speak to you before?

Have you prayed for him to speak to you, for you to listen to Him?

Has He ever spoken to you and answered your prayers for something incredible?

You pray for trivial and common things, those that you could accomplish yourself, like for you to pass tomorrow's test, for your inner strength, for you and your family to be safe, for it not to rain.

Yet, you do not pray for a cure for cancer, you do not pray for the starving people in Africa, or for people to regrow lost body parts, why so?

And when you do pray for truly extraordinary things, God does not heed your prayer, why so?

Did He not say: "Ask, and you WILL receive."?

Did He not give you His word that He shall give you what you prayed for?

I've heard many believers tell me that they will pray for me, yet I still go through life with the same problems and obstacles. Does that mean that they did not pray for me? Or does that mean that God did not answer them?

And if God had a plan for each one of us, why do you need to pray for trivial things? Why do you need to pray at all besides to worship Him?

My questions are:

1. Have you seriously, truthfully, heard the Voice of God? When you pray, meditate or whatever. Do you actually hear his voice?

2. If you did, what did He sound like? Deep and powerful? Or Gentle and Wise?

3. What did He tell you? Is it incredible knowledge that could alter human perception? Or is it trivial? Like how to remove the stains on you clothes?

4. Does He answer any of your prayers for incredible things at all?

5. If not, Why?

6. if your answer to 5) is "God's Plan", why do you need to pray for trivial things? God has already planned for you to do what you will do, why the need to pray? How can prayer change what God decided?

Do you take offense of the fact that religious sightings and visions are medically considered to be a neurological symptom/problem?

... that if God existed, why did God have the ability to reproduce by the age of 12?

Note that I'm only saying ABILITY, means you are CAPABLE of reproducing at the age of 12, but CHOSE NOT to.

But my question is: According to your religion, God created man, so why did He give us the ability to reproduce at the age of 12? Even though we normally only reproduce at the age of 20-40?

Just curious.

I'd give the best answer to any answerer who can answer this without any angry remarks.

Please don't take offense in this. This is solely an academic question.

Isn't it ironic that we Atheists understand religion better than some (I was going for most, but meh...) believers?

Seriously, some people I know don't even understand what the word 'religion' really means...

My family are mostly Buddhist, but I got three uncles who converted into Christianity after marrying my aunts.

Now, one of my aunts has a serious onset of Arthritis (She quite old, around 64 already), she had to take lots of pills and use those supports to walk.

Now, the thing is, a year ago, a Faith Healer came to our city, more specifically, my aunt and uncle's church. The Faith Healer called my aunt to step up, and he placed his hand on her head.

After a few second, he slowly took away her crutch, and she could walk! You should see the joy on her face. She never felt so light-hearted, so happy in years.

Unfortunately, as my uncle brought my aunt home, she began to feel more pain, by the third day, she was admitted back into hospital, and discovered that her intensive walking had worsened her legs. Now, she uses wheelchairs.

After being discharged, she tried to see the Faith Healer again, but he was gone.

My aunt got really depressed, and that was what made my uncle really start to hate Faith Healers, saying that they're all fakes.

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So, my question is this: Is it considered hypocritical for a believer to call Faith Healers fake? To think that Faith Healers are scammers?

... that why did God have the ability to reproduce by the age of 12?

Note that I'm only saying ABILITY, means you are capable of reproducing at the age of 12, but chose not to.

But my question is: According to your religion, God created man, so why did He give us the ability to reproduce at the age of 12? Even though we normally only reproduce at the age of 20-40?

Just curious.

I'd give the best answer to any answerer who can answer this without any angry remarks.

How many Yahoo! Answerers in here do you think are Christians pretending to be Atheists as a smear campaign to ruin our image, name and dignity?

Example: 15-yrs-old Atheist (or whatever his name is)

I, for one, think Religion came from Morals.

Because all religions share the common lessons, do not kill, do not steal, etc. etc. etc. Therefore, they must have come from a comment set of rules: Morals.

secondly, I think Morals originated from instnicts, that would explain why animals care for their young, save their masters, etc. etc. etc.

But my Christian 'friends' disagree, and argue that Morals come from religion, because Religion is all-good, and it came first. They argue that without religion, morals would not have existed.

They also argued that Atheists like me are moral because we adopt the teachings of religions, but not the religion's belief in God.

To me, it makes sense, even though I don't agree. What made me seriously listen to them is because they didn't use any verse from the Bible.

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But share your thoughts with me, which do you think is true? Please back it up with reasons, and if possible, links to studies and proof.

The Bible does not count as proof.

I, for one, agree that the Earth is getting hotter.

But, here's a hypothetical situation: Say that one day, about a few decades from now. A few scientists actually prove that Global Warming is in fact false, and that the majority of the world has fallen for the lie.

This is similar to the past, when people believed that the Earth was flat, and was the center of the universe. There were people then who came up with several 'evidence', but in the end, thanks to only a few scientists, we know for sure that the Earth is round, and is the third planet of the solar system.

So, my question is: If one day, say a few decades later, scientists prove that Global Warming is indeed false, what would be your reaction?

A Mary Sue/Gary-Stu is a a fictional character given over exaggerated abilities. It is the sign of a very badly-written character, and bad writers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue

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Think about it,

1. He knows everything and is always right.

2. He dies, but revives in the most glamorous way imaginable.

3. He can't be questioned because we can't comprehend his ways or his plan.

4. Each time someone criticizes or insults Him, something (supposedly bad) happens to him.

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So, What do you think?

I know that there are already many questions similar to this.

I don't believe in them, because they do not fill in the criteria of life to be capable to independent and creative thought.

They don't eat, take up space, breathe, excrete, grow, or are even visible!

Computers do not count and are bad arguments, because they are not capable of complete independent and creative thought.

Besides that, say that ghosts are real, say that for every 3000 people who die all over the world, 500 would become ghosts, that means they'll have to haunt almost everywhere on Earth!

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But, I may have overlooked something, maybe there's something I haven't taken into consideration.

So, now I ask, in what way can you prove that ghosts exist (if you believe that they do exist, that is)?

An atheist scientist, a friend of Sir Isaac Newton, visited Newton after he had just finished making his solar system machine.

The man saw the machine and said 'how wonderful' and went over to it and started cranking the handle and the planets went round. As he was doing this he asked, 'Who made this?'

Sir Isaac stopped writing and said 'nobody did'. Then he carried on writing.

He stopped cranking and turned to Isaac 'Now listen Isaac, this marvelous machine must have been made by somebody - don't keep saying that nobody made it.'

At which point Isaac Newton stopped writing and got up. He looked at him and said 'Now isn't it amazing. I tell you that nobody made a simple toy like that and you don't believe me. Yet you gaze out into the solar system - the intricate marvelous machine that is around you - and you dare say to me that no one made that. I don't believe it."

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A brilliant rebuttal by Newton, yet I feel that there was something that didn't make sense in what he had said.

First, I hear pollution would definitely destroy the world, then God will destroy it in 1998 (didn't happen), then 2000 (Didn't happen again), and then it's gotta be 2003 (We're still here, aren't we?)

Why don't people appreciate how tough Mother Earth really is?

Note that this doesn't mean I litter and don't recycle. On the contrary, I am the student in charge of my school cleanliness and environment.

I just want to ask why so many people think Earth is so easy to destroy...

who think Atheists are evil should not use any Atheist inventions?

Do you think they should throw away their computers, lightbulbs, cars, microwave oven, television, internet modems... Many of these which are either Atheist inventions, or would not have come to exist without Atheist discoveries?

I know that Atheists did not invent everything, and there's no need to twist or reinterpret this, my question is simple: "People who think Atheists are evil, should they not use Atheist inventions or not?"

Don't bother using the printing press invention. The printing press was invented by the Chinese in the form of tablet rubbing, Christians only came in later to refine and perfect it, but it is still not a religious invention.

Also forget about the hospitals excuse, religious people may have founded the hospital, but it would have been useless without medicine, which most are Atheist inventions.

Reading was passed down from Greeks, not Christians.

Discussion is very much appreciated.

Keep on harping about how "we can't see air and electricity, but they exist, so why do we not think God exists?"

This is not a rant or an attempt to troll. I seriously want to know.

In actuality, we can see air and electricity. In cold environments, the air we breathe out is water vapor, vapor being a gas. We see electricity in the form of lightning.

So why do you people who do keep harping about the invisible arguments?

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Another question: Why do religious people also keep on harping about evolution without reading up on it. Do you people who do study the subject find it insulting?

In the Bible, God was depicted as an all-knowing deity, who is also all-powerful. That means he knows what, when, where, and how you will do something, since he can see the future. If so, he must have predicted that Adam and Eve would partake the apple of knowledge, but did not do anything to stop them. He also knew that Lucifer would revolt against him, yet still went and created him.

Also, if God is all-knowing and all-powerful, and can see the future. How can he still feel anger and surprise? We become angry, surprised, or curious when we are given new information. We are surprised when our friends throw us a surprise party, we are angry when we found out that our girlfriend/boyfriend was cheating on us, we are curious when we learn about something new...

Yet God, being all-knowing, was still able to be surprised and angered. Why is that?

Please explain, I'm getting confused. >.<