The Stone Age

dianetavegia

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Same here Babs!
We had two precious older ladies (60's??) join our church this past Sunday. They are longterm partners and have been attending our church for several years. They dress in (men's) suits but with ladies jewelry and very short men's haircuts. They are greatly loved and are a wonderful asset to our church!! Southern Baptist Church in a tiny town in Georgia.

I've taught Sunday School and worked with the youth for about 40 years now. Same here!

dianetavegia

Marcia527 said:

You said it was ok
to say what I think...I don't believe that dinosaurs lived at the same time as people did on earth so any mention of them in the bible must be interpreted that way by some human. Or added to. Anybody quoting scripture doesn't prove anything to me. I've heard it before and seen how some people twist it to say what they want. I've seen where a pastor said it's sinful to watch tv, wear jewelry (even wedding bands), listen to other churches doctrine or wear short hair for women and long for men. I could go on. They got all this from scripture. I don't believe in it. I'd rather skip the middle man and go directly to the source.

Marcia
Those 'preachers' were not very well educated and taking things out of context. The mention of short hair on women was because of the custom of temple prostitutes cutting their hair very short and the long haired male prostitutes (yep) appearing 'female' for the homosexual temple priests. Jesus was a Nazarene and didn't cut his hair.

PhillieG

dianetavegia said:

Same here Babs!
We had two precious older ladies (60's??) join our church this past Sunday. They are longterm partners and have been attending our church for several years. They dress in (men's) suits but with ladies jewelry and very short men's haircuts. They are greatly loved and are a wonderful asset to our church!! Southern Baptist Church in a tiny town in Georgia.

I've taught Sunday School and worked with the youth for about 40 years now. Same here!

The Bible says...
If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus 20:13).

It's nice to see that people can accept people for who they are but since people like to quote the bible, that is a passage from it. Maybe we can pick and choose what we want to follow?

PhillieG

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Mysteries
That is what many things are Babs, I agree with you. Mankind does not know everything by any stretch of the imagination.

Now try to imagine what it must have been like living 2000-4000 years ago. Did mankind know anything about the stars and even our own sun? The lunar eclipses or meteor showers? Do you think that they took them as signs from above that someone was pleased or angry with them? Many cultures had sacrifices, both human and animal, to try to bring rain, stop rain, stop a volcano from erupting. Pretty much to satisfy anything they do not understand. Many things that occur in nature were not explainable at all back then. I think most of us know that these are common natural occurrences and have nothing to do with one's behavior (except Pat Robertson, and others I'm sure, who believe Haiti was hit with an earthquake because of the deal it made with the Devil years ago).

So ask yourself this, do you think it was easier then to explain mysteries of mature with science which didn't even exist or with saying that something called God caused it?

To get back to the dinosaurs in the bible website, they mention how scientists were not around to see dinosaurs and that bones don't come with labels. They discount science and carbon dating which is rather accurate. But who has seen God? With the exception of people hearing voices I think he's been rather scarce. So to use that websites logic (and I use the word logic VERY loosely) how do we know God exists? There's no label on him, no one has seen him? Some people claim to hear or see him after fasting for 40 days. I think you'd see a lot of things after not eating for 40 days. I've never seen France so again, using that "logic" does France exist??? To even think that the earth is 6000 years old is absurd at best.

We are just babes in the woods Babs, there is so much we do not know. But there is also so much we do know and to get back to the topic of the thread, we know dinosaurs walked the earth tens to hundreds of millions of years ago.

Blind faith must be great, it takes knowledge and common sense and just throws them out the window.

Did a series of events happen billion of years ago that started this thing we call the universe? Yes. Who did it? Don't know but I doubt it was some Old man who looks like us (or we like him) and that it was 6 thousand years ago.

CanadaSue

dianetavegia said:

Marcia
Those 'preachers' were not very well educated and taking things out of context. The mention of short hair on women was because of the custom of temple prostitutes cutting their hair very short and the long haired male prostitutes (yep) appearing 'female' for the homosexual temple priests. Jesus was a Nazarene and didn't cut his hair.

I guess.....
I guess those that do not believe what your church preaches, must also believe that your paster is not well educated or they that he also takes things out of context.I also prefer to go to the source, and cut out the middleman!

Unknown

PhillieG said:

Mysteries
That is what many things are Babs, I agree with you. Mankind does not know everything by any stretch of the imagination.

Now try to imagine what it must have been like living 2000-4000 years ago. Did mankind know anything about the stars and even our own sun? The lunar eclipses or meteor showers? Do you think that they took them as signs from above that someone was pleased or angry with them? Many cultures had sacrifices, both human and animal, to try to bring rain, stop rain, stop a volcano from erupting. Pretty much to satisfy anything they do not understand. Many things that occur in nature were not explainable at all back then. I think most of us know that these are common natural occurrences and have nothing to do with one's behavior (except Pat Robertson, and others I'm sure, who believe Haiti was hit with an earthquake because of the deal it made with the Devil years ago).

So ask yourself this, do you think it was easier then to explain mysteries of mature with science which didn't even exist or with saying that something called God caused it?

To get back to the dinosaurs in the bible website, they mention how scientists were not around to see dinosaurs and that bones don't come with labels. They discount science and carbon dating which is rather accurate. But who has seen God? With the exception of people hearing voices I think he's been rather scarce. So to use that websites logic (and I use the word logic VERY loosely) how do we know God exists? There's no label on him, no one has seen him? Some people claim to hear or see him after fasting for 40 days. I think you'd see a lot of things after not eating for 40 days. I've never seen France so again, using that "logic" does France exist??? To even think that the earth is 6000 years old is absurd at best.

We are just babes in the woods Babs, there is so much we do not know. But there is also so much we do know and to get back to the topic of the thread, we know dinosaurs walked the earth tens to hundreds of millions of years ago.

Blind faith must be great, it takes knowledge and common sense and just throws them out the window.

Did a series of events happen billion of years ago that started this thing we call the universe? Yes. Who did it? Don't know but I doubt it was some Old man who looks like us (or we like him) and that it was 6 thousand years ago.

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Unknown

dianetavegia said:

Same here Babs!
We had two precious older ladies (60's??) join our church this past Sunday. They are longterm partners and have been attending our church for several years. They dress in (men's) suits but with ladies jewelry and very short men's haircuts. They are greatly loved and are a wonderful asset to our church!! Southern Baptist Church in a tiny town in Georgia.

I've taught Sunday School and worked with the youth for about 40 years now. Same here!

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Marcia527

PhillieG said:

Mysteries
That is what many things are Babs, I agree with you. Mankind does not know everything by any stretch of the imagination.

Now try to imagine what it must have been like living 2000-4000 years ago. Did mankind know anything about the stars and even our own sun? The lunar eclipses or meteor showers? Do you think that they took them as signs from above that someone was pleased or angry with them? Many cultures had sacrifices, both human and animal, to try to bring rain, stop rain, stop a volcano from erupting. Pretty much to satisfy anything they do not understand. Many things that occur in nature were not explainable at all back then. I think most of us know that these are common natural occurrences and have nothing to do with one's behavior (except Pat Robertson, and others I'm sure, who believe Haiti was hit with an earthquake because of the deal it made with the Devil years ago).

So ask yourself this, do you think it was easier then to explain mysteries of mature with science which didn't even exist or with saying that something called God caused it?

To get back to the dinosaurs in the bible website, they mention how scientists were not around to see dinosaurs and that bones don't come with labels. They discount science and carbon dating which is rather accurate. But who has seen God? With the exception of people hearing voices I think he's been rather scarce. So to use that websites logic (and I use the word logic VERY loosely) how do we know God exists? There's no label on him, no one has seen him? Some people claim to hear or see him after fasting for 40 days. I think you'd see a lot of things after not eating for 40 days. I've never seen France so again, using that "logic" does France exist??? To even think that the earth is 6000 years old is absurd at best.

We are just babes in the woods Babs, there is so much we do not know. But there is also so much we do know and to get back to the topic of the thread, we know dinosaurs walked the earth tens to hundreds of millions of years ago.

Blind faith must be great, it takes knowledge and common sense and just throws them out the window.

Did a series of events happen billion of years ago that started this thing we call the universe? Yes. Who did it? Don't know but I doubt it was some Old man who looks like us (or we like him) and that it was 6 thousand years ago.

Phil
I really think everybody has to find the answer themselves. If someone said they saw God no one would believe it except that person.

Unknown

CanadaSue said:

I guess.....
I guess those that do not believe what your church preaches, must also believe that your paster is not well educated or they that he also takes things out of context.I also prefer to go to the source, and cut out the middleman!

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

PhillieG

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

You are right Babs
I think of the movie the DaVinci Code when Tom Hank's character says near the end of the movie that faith is a gift he has not yet received. I've always liked Joseph Campbell and how he views God. One quote of his that I like and makes sense to me is this "God is a metaphor for that which trancends all levels of intellectual thought. It's as simple as that."

The "issues" I have are not with how everything was created so much, it's with religion(s). I believe, like others do on this site, that you don't need the church and it's middle men to get by. I think there are many people who believe in God and go to church yet believe in evolution. I suppose that technically that may not be kosher.

To me, it's much more important HOW you lead your life than the label you apply to yourself. There are many out there who say that they are one thing yet do not act like what they claim to be at all. It is doubtful they even see it.

Obviously we all got here somehow. The universe is an incredible place. Whenever I see photos taken by the Hubble telescope of galaxies giving "birth" to stars it blows me away.

I don't feel like you are trying to convince me of believing in anything. I do think I am asking people to look at certain things we were taught as metaphors and not to take things that were written or described thousands of years ago as fact.

Life's a mystery, I guess in the end we all find out what happens.
be well

geraldo1

PhillieG said:

Mysteries
That is what many things are Babs, I agree with you. Mankind does not know everything by any stretch of the imagination.

Now try to imagine what it must have been like living 2000-4000 years ago. Did mankind know anything about the stars and even our own sun? The lunar eclipses or meteor showers? Do you think that they took them as signs from above that someone was pleased or angry with them? Many cultures had sacrifices, both human and animal, to try to bring rain, stop rain, stop a volcano from erupting. Pretty much to satisfy anything they do not understand. Many things that occur in nature were not explainable at all back then. I think most of us know that these are common natural occurrences and have nothing to do with one's behavior (except Pat Robertson, and others I'm sure, who believe Haiti was hit with an earthquake because of the deal it made with the Devil years ago).

So ask yourself this, do you think it was easier then to explain mysteries of mature with science which didn't even exist or with saying that something called God caused it?

To get back to the dinosaurs in the bible website, they mention how scientists were not around to see dinosaurs and that bones don't come with labels. They discount science and carbon dating which is rather accurate. But who has seen God? With the exception of people hearing voices I think he's been rather scarce. So to use that websites logic (and I use the word logic VERY loosely) how do we know God exists? There's no label on him, no one has seen him? Some people claim to hear or see him after fasting for 40 days. I think you'd see a lot of things after not eating for 40 days. I've never seen France so again, using that "logic" does France exist??? To even think that the earth is 6000 years old is absurd at best.

We are just babes in the woods Babs, there is so much we do not know. But there is also so much we do know and to get back to the topic of the thread, we know dinosaurs walked the earth tens to hundreds of millions of years ago.

Blind faith must be great, it takes knowledge and common sense and just throws them out the window.

Did a series of events happen billion of years ago that started this thing we call the universe? Yes. Who did it? Don't know but I doubt it was some Old man who looks like us (or we like him) and that it was 6 thousand years ago.

CANCER CELLS-- ONE BASIS OF LIFE ORIGTN
From your posting I would assume you are an Aetheist. I admit I am, for that is the only way to approach the problems this site is discussing. I became agnostic at about 13 and after military and college, majoring in Biology, at 25 became a confirmed Aetheist. Now at 76, watching the atrocities in the World (MOST caused by RELIGIOUS zealots)I am glad I did. I would hate to have an after life with someone I must adore or He,She,It, will smite me or worse yet send me to Hell,

I have incurable Esophageal cancer. I have had it for close to 3 years. I am at a normal dying age. I have had a very good life more, unique than most and fortunate to have good genes. I know what(not exactly when)I will die from. I don't have to concern myself about what I can eat or drink or smoke because I may get "CANCER".

I would not have advertised my lack of religious belief earlier in life for fear of joblessness or worse yet having one of the religious nuts injuring or killing me and/or my family.

I have briefly discussed a theory with4 of my doctors, which I don't believe is original, that basically says the cancer cell was one of first true surviving cells at the period when life began. They didn't say it wasn't quite possible.

PhillieG

geraldo1 said:

CANCER CELLS-- ONE BASIS OF LIFE ORIGTN
From your posting I would assume you are an Aetheist. I admit I am, for that is the only way to approach the problems this site is discussing. I became agnostic at about 13 and after military and college, majoring in Biology, at 25 became a confirmed Aetheist. Now at 76, watching the atrocities in the World (MOST caused by RELIGIOUS zealots)I am glad I did. I would hate to have an after life with someone I must adore or He,She,It, will smite me or worse yet send me to Hell,

I have incurable Esophageal cancer. I have had it for close to 3 years. I am at a normal dying age. I have had a very good life more, unique than most and fortunate to have good genes. I know what(not exactly when)I will die from. I don't have to concern myself about what I can eat or drink or smoke because I may get "CANCER".

I would not have advertised my lack of religious belief earlier in life for fear of joblessness or worse yet having one of the religious nuts injuring or killing me and/or my family.

I have briefly discussed a theory with4 of my doctors, which I don't believe is original, that basically says the cancer cell was one of first true surviving cells at the period when life began. They didn't say it wasn't quite possible.

Are you Talkin to Me???
Judging from how the thread progressed it looks like you are. I consider myself an agnostic but I lean more toward being an atheist. Sort of like how I'm registered as an independent but I highly doubt if I would ever vote for a republican. It would have to be one who is nothing like most of the ones who get involved in public service. I too dislike religious zealots as much as you do it seems. Belief is an interesting thing. Once you believe in something (even if it's not believing in a Him, Her, or It) it seems so natural to a person that this is how things are and hard to see how others who do believe in all of the religious stuff don't get it. They must feel the same way about people like me.

I think it depends more now where you live that can give you the freedom to be who you are. If one lives in the bible belt for example, being an atheist would tend to stand out more and I think one could run into "problems". I live 50 miles outside of NYC so people tend to care less about who or what you are. Thank/praise _____ for that! Honestly, the rare times that the topic of what a person's belief seems to come up is when it's been posted on here in areas that are public and should be dealing with a person's illness, not their faith. I even saw where someone was posting what religion their doctor was! I'm more concerned with how knowledgeable my doctors are, not what their faith (if any) is. But again, it's me and it's the area I live in. I think around here at least people would say get a Jewish doctor...or is that a Jewish lawyer and a Hindu doctor?

Now that I cleared that up

That's an interesting theory. Cancer cells are rather hearty MF-ers so I would not be shocked if they were some of the first cells/life forms that evolved and survived. That is of course dependent on whether you believe in evolution or not. A web page that was linked to from this thread proved that the earth is only 6000 years old and that dinosaurs and man walked the earth at the same time. I guess it shoots that theory to hell...

dianetavegia

PhillieG said:

The Bible says...
If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus 20:13).

It's nice to see that people can accept people for who they are but since people like to quote the bible, that is a passage from it. Maybe we can pick and choose what we want to follow?

O.T. law
Phil, that was an old testament law and those laws also included stoning to death of a son who wouldn't behave or a woman caught having sex outside of marriage. No one could touch a dead person (Jesus broke that law several times) or be around a woman having her period (the woman with the issue of blood for 12 years touched Jesus and he healed her).

Sin is sin... and God sees all sins the same. There is no big sin/ white lie. God sees the heart.

PhillieG

Marcia527 said:

Phil
I really think everybody has to find the answer themselves. If someone said they saw God no one would believe it except that person.

Hi Marcia
You are right, we all have to decide or find out for ourselves. It seems to me that there is less free thinking with regard to this though. But of course that is everyone's free choice. I sometimes have discussions similar to some of the ones I've had on here but it is more often with people who are either like-minded or ones who feel there COULD be other possibilities. Other than on here, I do not think I know anyone who proclaims to know the answers.

I did have a 3rd grade lay teacher in catholic school who said she saw God in her garden. We did think she was nuts. She also told us that some nasty kid once took a host and didn't swallow it at communion and instead stuck a knife in it and it started to bleed. One last thing I remember about her was that she had a talking dog too.
Was she nuts?

Marcia527

PhillieG said:

Hi Marcia
You are right, we all have to decide or find out for ourselves. It seems to me that there is less free thinking with regard to this though. But of course that is everyone's free choice. I sometimes have discussions similar to some of the ones I've had on here but it is more often with people who are either like-minded or ones who feel there COULD be other possibilities. Other than on here, I do not think I know anyone who proclaims to know the answers.

I did have a 3rd grade lay teacher in catholic school who said she saw God in her garden. We did think she was nuts. She also told us that some nasty kid once took a host and didn't swallow it at communion and instead stuck a knife in it and it started to bleed. One last thing I remember about her was that she had a talking dog too.
Was she nuts?

well, depends.
"Was she nuts?"

1. Was she normal other times? (I had a couple friends in high school who said they were from Mars-they were not nuts but stuck to their story)
2. Did she say things to make a point or promote not doing what she considered sinful? (Some people wrote fables to teach morals)
3. Did she have a humongous sense of humor? (sometimes we say things because it's funny)
4. Did you try talking to her dog? (I did see on Funniest Videos once a dog who could say 'I love you')
5. Was this wafer that was stuck with a knife in the child's hand at the time?

Who determines if we are nuts? Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Or I like the cake quote better. Ever see What About Bob? I love that movie.

I forgot to add that maybe she really did see God. Strange things have been known to happen.

Unknown

PhillieG said:

Are you Talkin to Me???
Judging from how the thread progressed it looks like you are. I consider myself an agnostic but I lean more toward being an atheist. Sort of like how I'm registered as an independent but I highly doubt if I would ever vote for a republican. It would have to be one who is nothing like most of the ones who get involved in public service. I too dislike religious zealots as much as you do it seems. Belief is an interesting thing. Once you believe in something (even if it's not believing in a Him, Her, or It) it seems so natural to a person that this is how things are and hard to see how others who do believe in all of the religious stuff don't get it. They must feel the same way about people like me.

I think it depends more now where you live that can give you the freedom to be who you are. If one lives in the bible belt for example, being an atheist would tend to stand out more and I think one could run into "problems". I live 50 miles outside of NYC so people tend to care less about who or what you are. Thank/praise _____ for that! Honestly, the rare times that the topic of what a person's belief seems to come up is when it's been posted on here in areas that are public and should be dealing with a person's illness, not their faith. I even saw where someone was posting what religion their doctor was! I'm more concerned with how knowledgeable my doctors are, not what their faith (if any) is. But again, it's me and it's the area I live in. I think around here at least people would say get a Jewish doctor...or is that a Jewish lawyer and a Hindu doctor?

Now that I cleared that up

That's an interesting theory. Cancer cells are rather hearty MF-ers so I would not be shocked if they were some of the first cells/life forms that evolved and survived. That is of course dependent on whether you believe in evolution or not. A web page that was linked to from this thread proved that the earth is only 6000 years old and that dinosaurs and man walked the earth at the same time. I guess it shoots that theory to hell...

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

PhillieG

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Amen
Actions speak louder than words. It's great that you were able to help him out when he needed the help. That's a very democratic trait (I'm pulling your leg!). It's a very KIND trait that belongs to no party or religion.
We all come into this world the same way and leave the same way and we all do different things in between.
Religion and politics, the 2 taboos of conversation.

Marcia527

PhillieG said:

Amen
Actions speak louder than words. It's great that you were able to help him out when he needed the help. That's a very democratic trait (I'm pulling your leg!). It's a very KIND trait that belongs to no party or religion.
We all come into this world the same way and leave the same way and we all do different things in between.
Religion and politics, the 2 taboos of conversation.

never mind
shhhhh.

PhillieG

Marcia527 said:

I believe you can't
I believe you can't stereotype people. We are individuals and not everyone in the same group will think exactly alike. They might have common goals or believe mostly the same (talking about people attending churches) or they wouldn't continue to attend. There is also some churches that split into two because groups disagree. I've seen this happen.

WHAT?
if you can't stereotype people then how are you supposed to make blanket statements about groups of people????
Of course I am (mostly) kidding
;-)
You have to admit, while it can not be said for everyone at all times, stereotypes don't just come out of thin air.

Balentine

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

God has no beginning or ending
This is my belief and all of my hope and salvation. (I know some may not agree...these are my opinions and beliefs). I have no doubts about my God and Savior. He has always been and always will be. It comes down to one thing and one thing alone....either you believe the bible or you don't. No one can force it on you....only the Holy Spirit can draw you and reveal to you what is unseen in the natural realm. God is all knowing...that is why He is God and we are not....that is why we cannot figure everything out...we are not supposed to be able to. We are imperfect...but God is perfect. This is why he created us the way he did...to have a soul that cries out for a spirtual connection that can only be satisfied by a relationship with Jesus Christ and one by our own will because we want to and hunger and thirst for that relationship with Him....to have a dependence on Him for everything that we need and know that everything we have comes from Him. All things were created by Him and by His grace and Mercy, He sustains us each and every day with all things that we need. He did not make us gods....he made us dependent on Him...the one true God who created all things through Christ Jesus. Without a relationship with Him, we are lost and will continue to wonder, wander and ask questions that we will never know until we finally see Him face to face. This is what I believe....I know everyone does not agree so please don't be offended. So again, the conclusion is....either you believe what the bible says, or you don't. Jesus states in John 14:6...I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life...no one comes to the Father except through Me. Be blessed.
Lorrie