There's lots. But.......
Is there any actual archeological proof that Jesus actually existed?
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Hard to keep the mention or stories about gods out of ICMAG indabongo - if some members believe in that stuff - since they are here, and want to chat about it - Even those who don't believe in any gods want to talk about it - Religions and belief systems are very interesting to study - particularly the history of them in my mind.
Is there any actual archeological proof that Jesus actually existed?
- a while ago I was reading some pages about some top archeologist/scientist/historian who did a study to find any real proof from Judean/Roman manuscripts around the time he was supposed to be around - which aparently do exist - and there was no mention of this Christ the Saviour fella. Maybe he was erased from the history of that time - or never actually existed?
How long after the supposed death of Christ did the first bible go into production?
The Qu'ran was written around 200 years after Mo was slaughtering jewish people and taking slaves - makes ya wonder though if this holy book was written 200 years after this prophet was supposed to be on this earth, then it was written by those that never knew him - so how can it be accurate? -
I've figured the KJ Bible offers LOTS of useful parables; lessons that might be used to make us better beings.
It also offers violence and knee-jerk destruction that rivals any Jihadist's views.
The thousands of years it has been used by governments and despots to justify abuses toward the disempowered, and the 'hell-fire and brimstone' message left in my memories by zealots, both recent and not, has me leery of whole-heartedly accepting the validity of the God the KJ Bible-thumpers often profess to be The One.
There's been enough carnage that COULD HAVE BEEN STOPPED by a truly Omnipotent Being, that I've joked half-seriously with friends and acquaintances, as a devout Agnostic, with a liberal Christian background (who lived in a Jesus Commune at age 13, when I hit the road initially), that -IF- there's a Judgment Day, I'll go where ever I'm sent, obviously. But I first want a chance to poke the Big Man/Woman/Gaseous Entity -squarely- in the eye, for all the BS S/He let go down, that they supposedly COULD'VE stopped.
In that light, if what I was taught is true, then the Almighty has been complicit in heinous crimes against decent persons, and there's no forgiveness in my heart for that.
That's aside from the claims that God made us in His/Her image, and the human race, being as fucked up as it is (the poster child for an 'invasive species'), would then, theoretically, be evidence that what ever Supreme Being we were modeled after, is at least as equally fucked up as we are..
My favorite verse? "There is not one good. Nay, not one."
But even more favorite is:
"Father forgive us for what we must do. You forgive us, we'll forgive you. We'll forgive each other 'til we both turn blue, then we'll whistle and go fishin' in Heaven...." (John Prine)
It can be hard not knowing for sure. But I think it's more honest.
And yes, at 40,000 ft. at 550 miles/hour, in severe turbulence, I can pray with the best of them....
They basically starting a beginner Yoda class with the kneeling...I have travelled far and wide in this old world - and have never seen, nor never needed any god for anything - I've been quite happy spending all 59 years of my life without having to be the servant or part of 'the flock' of some invisible wizard that is supposed to be our salvation from ourselves - or something.
The thought of getting on my knees and praying to some abstract psychological construct thru some sort of spiritual channel I am supposed to find by praying continuously is almost comical in my mind - since I did actually try this a couple of times - but to no avail.
If its all about faith - then the only faith you really need is in yourself - to have faith in yourself - a confident and conscientious person with an analytical mind can usually see past what has mainly been used to control the majority of people for the benefit of a few - for thousands of years.
If I am religious at all - then its all wrapped up in a one-liner from Jiminy Cricket in 'Pinnochio' - 'Let your conscience be your guide'....
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God is always alive in christians lives who obey Him. ...
Was reading about Solzhenitsyn earlier, interesting guy.
' As a survivor of the Communist Holocaust I am horrified to witness how my beloved America, my adopted country, is gradually being transformed into a secularist and atheistic utopia, where communist ideals are glorified and promoted, while Judeo-Christian values and morality are ridiculed and increasingly eradicated from the public and social consciousness of our nation. Under the decades-long assault and militant radicalism of many so-called “liberal” and “progressive” elites, God has been progressively erased from our public and educational institutions, to be replaced with all manner of delusion, perversion, corruption, violence, decadence, and insanity.
It is no coincidence that as Marxist ideologies and secularist principles engulf the culture and pervert mainstream thinking, individual freedoms and liberties are rapidly disappearing. As a consequence, Americans feel increasingly more powerless and subjugated by some of the most radical and hypocritical, least democratic, and characterless individuals our society has ever produced.
Those of us who have experienced and witnesses first-hand the atrocities and terror of communism understand fully why such evil takes root, how it grows and deceives, and the kind of hell it will ultimately unleash on the innocent and the faithful. Godlessness is always the first step towards tyranny and oppression!
Nobel laureate, Orthodox Christian author, and Russian dissident, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in his “Godlessness: the First Step to the Gulag” address, given when he received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion on May of 1983, explained how the Russian revolution and the communist takeover were facilitated by an atheistic mentality an a long process of secularization which alienated the people from God and traditional Christian morality and beliefs. He rightly concluded: “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.”
I agree he's an interesting fellow. But...Was reading about Solzhenitsyn earlier, interesting guy.
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My elders had to hide and whisper that our people were handed down to earth in a basket......because Christian's decided it was best our oral traditions and way of life be supplanted by thier beliefs .....forcing native children in christain schools were they were mercilessly berated,abused and sexually exploited.......that's the proof I've seen to in real life to stay the fuk away from christians