why i believe
When I was 12 years old I was exposed to pornography (oh how sad that its common at that age now) and I started then having sexual thoughts about both men and women. At the young age of 15 I had my first sexual encounter with a boy a few years older than myself. For the next few years we met up a number of times. When I graduated High School I joined the U.S. Navy. Upon completion of bootcamp I was sent to Pensacola to train in Avionics. While in Pensacola I had another sexual encounter with a guy in Aircrew training. A shipmate in my barracks, one day, invited me to come with him to a baptist church out in town. I did. I had grown up Catholic, not really being "religious". I learned things I never knew about Jesus, and what the bible says about "certain things" through that church. Though someone had me say the "sinners prayer" and la de da, I still continued on my current path. After Pensacola I stopped by home for a couple weeks, having my first encounter with a female. I arrived at the first duty station in KBAY Hawaii. While in KBAY someone brought me to the United Pentecostal Church, where I worshiped for 8 years. Through those 8 years, 3 of which were there in Hawaii, I met and slept with numerous men. When I moved to Norfolk I had a "regular partner". I ended up getting engaged to a girl in my church in Norfolk, but that shortly ended once she found out that I had sexual interest in men.
I moved to Chicago. I met a young lady by the name of Emily. We are now married. Through the time I was dating her, she witnessed to me, I got into the Bible, and understood that I have to secure my identity in Christ. To this day I am happily married, and have not had any sort of thought towards any male, because Christ took it out of me.
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Then Bob is most likely a sociopath and to expect him to behave "ethically" is a massive FAIL. As such, he possesses no "moral system" only likes and dislikes.
No, rather you become a new creature in the sense you put all your older desires in the closet.
Rather, sounds like your church-hopped to find the most crazy and the most oppressive, feeding some sort of self-delusion that you are corrupted.
The very same thing can be said with Krishna, but the one thing that he has with jesus is that they both never existed.
EPIC FAIL LEVEL REACHED
You think atheism is why we have all these problems? I ask you this: what planet do you live on?
Apparently, that thing between your ears is out of exercise, so I did something that may seen as an anathema to you: I did a little research.
1) Who has the highest levels of teenage pregnancy? Theists. Coincidently, all the states that have the higher levels of teen pregnancy are Red States, and red States are well known conservative and very religious states. What do they do to prevent teenage pregnancies? They use a 2,000 fiction book and abstinence only programs (programs that are well known failures and don't do squat). Compared to atheists and nonreligious people, theists seem to be the number one enhancer of teen pregnancies. Young Americans are also far more likely to be infected by HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The rate of gonorrhea among American teens is seventy times higher than it is among their peers in France and in the Netherlands 9which are both VERY secular countries).
2) Who has the highest rates of rape? Theists, especially the pastors who bugger little altar boys and Jesus Camp staff members who abuse little girls.
3) Mothers killing daughters for wanting to party is a very very small problem - and often times it is because of zealous religious parents. Some parents, however, do not need to parties as an excuse to kill their kids. Rather, there are hundreds upon hundreds of cases of mothers killing their kids because: God told them (sometimes God will tell them to be sure to kill the mother to); tried to perform exorcisms of their kids; kill them because their gay and gays offend jesus; refuse to give them health treatment because it goes against God's will; kill them because their are witches or just chain them up in a closet for 9 years); and so on -- the point is, if you want to blame mothers killing their kids on atheism, take a good look at your own brothers in christ. Honestly, it is like Big Oil trying to argue that they do not pollute the earth on a grand scale, but rather trying to convincing everybody that bicycles are a thousand times more destructive.
4) Evangelicals have the highest rates of adultery and divorce (http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_dira.htm)
This is possibly the top reason why religion completely sucks and doe not work for myself and for many rationalists, is because it offers absolutely nothing and often makes us much worse.
Jesus never came. There are plenty of forums on this site alone to demonstrate that.
It also sounds like you are sick and tired of just being alive. Life creates suffering, GET OVER IT
You are dropping IQ points faster than a evangelical pastor dropping Benjamins in exchange for male prostitutes and meth.
in summer of 06 I was swimming out in Hawaii Kai, a suburb of Honolulu. I jumped off a small cliff, and landed in the water. I could not fight the current. Not easily, i made my way back over to the cliff wall, praying for the Lord to save my life the entire time. I grabbed on to the wall, and the next thing I knew I was being pulled onto a floating stretcher on the back of a Jet Ski. I had been slammed into the rocks and knocked unconscious. Miraculously there had apparently been rescue swimmers training in the water somewhere, and they got to me fast.
Through this event I found out that I have agensis of the corpus callosum. Basically the hemispheres of my brain are, for the lack of better words, isolated. I have issues with attention to detail, concentrating, public speech, conversation in general (socializing). The Lord has made it possible for me to successfully screen to be a Recruit Division Commander (Navy Drill Instructor), which I have been for the past 12 months, and train hundreds of kids to become sailors, all successfully.
The Lord has helped me find a beautiful wife that loves Him just as much as I do.
Creation in itself speaks loudly of Him. What a lovely God we serve!
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
hehe, yes, that's 100% correct.
"Don't seek these laws to understand. Only the mad can comprehend..." -- George Cosbuc
lol... wtf? This comment is straight out of a Family Guy episode... that's hilarious. I actually am laughing out loud.
"Don't seek these laws to understand. Only the mad can comprehend..." -- George Cosbuc
Emily if you are reading any of this. All of us have gotten to see is the one you settled on is happily married. This is whhhaaaatttt ?
Forums are not for you obviously. Emily please pick up. Your husband makes no sense. I wanted to directly ask him: I am wondering if you have read any part of any thread you've introduced ? When you have a problem in understanding then Emily I would have read over somethings. If so, Have you [also] considered the cause of the difficulty
isin comprehension has less to due with Pronouns , unusually 'enigmatic' or puzzling speech choices, etc ?. Example is as simple-as someone has linked to a sports page and is wearing a sports jersey. Makes a enigmatic statement like, 'I sure like my Team'. You can draw meaning from other cues. A reason to have Emily check over things. The MORE we even talk about this, your past, your brain wiring, the more lack of focus is towards why you believe what you believe. Focus (grasshopper). There is a focus issue more than you realize at work. Details, not just where the devil is to be found. They are life.Goodbye
:
Christianity teaches that there is no such thing as immorality - read Romans 4. Not relying on a God allows one to take responsibility for ones own actions and accept those consequences instead of being "forgiven" by magic.
A good portion of those teenagers you cite likely came from Christian schools where they teach abstinence only education. I'm not going to deal with your abortion and divorce straw men except to identify them.
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
Oh Jesus, don't let Nony read that. He doesn't believe such a category of atheism exists...and he'll lecture the hell out of you !
Hey OP,
That's great the the Lord pulled you out of your darkness.
With pinheads like these who aggressively try to shade there sin in the mask of agnosticism and irrationalism you need to try a more specific approach.
You see for most, their lifestyle of sin occured before there absurd irrationality.
You need to study logic, Cohen's introduction is a good college text book.
However, if you beging using/learning logic and refuting these pinheads like I have done on countless occasions, they will then change your badge based on the ad hominem of their lives.
Respectfully,
Jean Chauvin (Jude 3).
A Rational Christian of Intelligence (rare)with a valid and sound justification for my epistemology and a logical refutation for those with logical fallacies and false worldviews upon their normative of thinking in retrospect to objective normative(s). This is only understood via the imago dei in which we all are.
Respectfully,
Jean Chauvin (Jude 3).
Now if only the Lord had actually done something instead of leaving poor JLY to live in self denial and self-loathing.
Kind of like you, Jean.
"I do this real moron thing, and it's called thinking. And apparently I'm not a very good American because I like to form my own opinions."
— George Carlin
May Your hand be a ready ..to me; I long for Thy Salvation .. Be aware it is 'wheels within wheels' (Wodehouse), Jean's Jesus I mean.
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Fork Lady,
Do you remember the very first question I ever asked you?
Gotta change your avatar, realy thought you practiced Witchcraft, you know that look you have.
Respectfully,
Jean Chauvin (Jude 3).
A Rational Christian of Intelligence (rare)with a valid and sound justification for my epistemology and a logical refutation for those with logical fallacies and false worldviews upon their normative of thinking in retrospect to objective normative(s). This is only understood via the imago dei in which we all are.
Respectfully,
Jean Chauvin (Jude 3).
Jean you are a hard one to understand. But I am glad to have you on the boards so maybe someday I will better understand you. There's your problem, keep people talking long enough and look at the result. Point of serious clarification about the image, you may have placed notice-on Achiemade was a mathematician, the quote contained in the image 'was just before he died'. No fault to you or anyone it is a very obscure reference to what came out of his month. So, No harm and no foul on not getting the 'circles' reference confused with all those occult studies under your belt. My fault for not explaining the phrase. Jean you are fun dont go anywhere
I have a pic of a giant he goat surrounded by women, but I might be over doing the images this time so I will leave it with the man's dying phrase. Nice of you to try to assist JLY, I thought it was nice.
I like the sound of that image, but not as an avatar.
Norman Lindsay coming out in you, Aussie boy.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
Miraculously?
It was an excellent coincidence. It would have been a miracle if a pelican had scooped you up in its bill pouch and deposited you on a stool at Duke's Canoe Club. Those surf lifesavers are always showing off. They were probably following you the whole time.
In any case, you are convinced your life is great and you are beloved of god and all the rest of it. My advice is to just lie back and enjoy it. You won't convince any of us, however.
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
I'd forgotten about his nymphs and satyrs.
Lol, yeah. Drowning in a public area is kinda hard when there are almost always life guards trained and experienced in saving idiots who jump in water they should stay away from. Life guards whose job depends on saving said idiots.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
I ask, out of respect, that this topic get deleted, or myself told how to delete it. My wife and I are having a difficult time right now because this was found. She said to delete this, but I do not know how. I wish not to further argue and debate with anybody on this forum. I wish to leave, get this erased, and save my marriage before it gets ruined, so please out of respect for another human being, help me get rid of this for the sake of my marriage.....
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
To be perfectly honest I dont know if they even do that here. I would seriously consider making that plea to individual moderators instead of publicly. I think your wife may need some space by the sound of it. If your request is flatly denied or if that doesnt work you might seriously consider asking the moderators to "re-locate" it to another area of the board.
It might not seem like it now but there is no reason to go entirely, if you would change a little. You have not had to interact in the way you choose to on the forum. Many people on the board make short comments and almost never start threads, so to give up on the forum entirely is not even a good idea. It wasnt necessary to be obligated to interact as you have, you could have interacted in a different way on the board (in the first place). I do wish your wife had spent a moment to log in. It deeply pains me to read any of this and I find it perplexing her response unless she is feeling embarrassment. Couldn't know where it goes from there? My personal apologies for anything that might have made matters worse, not wanting Emily to feel wronged. In this forum, You need to know it is a topical board first and foremost. Emily Please know your husband seems to spend a lot of time mentioning you
________________
Line from kid's tele : "Boring is safe, boring is good" ¬Ron-Stoppable
...a nagging wife. Looks like you should have stuck with the lads after all...far more tolerant and forgiving and christian...
"Experiments are the only means of knowledge at our disposal. The rest is poetry, imagination." Max Planck
@ Jesuslovesyou:
Sorry, but there is no methodology for deleting the profile and posts of a contributing member. We only do it with spam accounts, because noone else will lose content that they took their time to write.
Deleting your account would remove hundreds of posts from dozens of users.
The best thing I can suggest is that you simply stop coming here. Whatever drama has been inspired by your contributions here will fade if you stop coming here.
That said, we don't want you to leave, and we hope your relationship with your wife settles down. If there's anything else we can do to help, within reason, I'm sure many of us would be willing to try.
Best of luck to you.
I will close this topic for now, as you request. But it is subject to being reopened at any time by the administration. I've sent him a PM to look into this topic. It's the best I can offer.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.