General Chat

Personally I do believe that evil exists, I dont believe In the devil as a bieng but as something that is inside us all,its our choice if we allow it to surface,in some its dormant in others its fully awake,if you can understand my woffel!lol

I see nobody has answered you re the Devil. I wonder if that is because nobody believes in him/it, or because folk don't like to think about him/it. I wonder if people like Hitler, Bin Laden etc, are forms of the Devil, they seem pretty evil to me. Lynda

Another question to those who believe in God.... ...do you also believe in the Devil ?? (or what ever he is called) and has the Devil got anything to do with God or is it a separate being. Is there really a Devil or is this something from horror movies?? Sue xx

It has featured in the news this week that Catholic stem-cell researchers could be banned from taking Holy Communion, relieved of church duties and even denied a church burial. That's if the Head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council, the most senior official, gets his way. 'Destroying human embryos is equivalent to an abortion' he says. 'Excommunication will be applied to the woman, doctors and researchers and politicians who apply the law'. It remains unclear whether the Pope supports his chief officer or whether it also applies to workers who later work on the derived cells. 'This amounts to religious persecution of scientists' (many of whom are not Catholics therefore are not bothered) says an ethicist at the University of Oxford. On another tack, it is also in the news that the body of Farinelli, the castrato whose voice thrilled thousands of opera lovers, is to be exhumed. This will be in an attempt to discover more about the man and thousands of other castrated singers whose soprano voices were wildly popular in the 18th century. Historians are still unable to explain why there was such an outbreak of Catholic church-sanctioned castration of young boys. Some have suggested that the RC church banned women singers because of the eroticism of the female voice whilst others believe it was St Paul's command 'Let the women learn in silence' (1 Timothy 2:11) , invoked to keep them out of choirs. Double standards? Len

Hey! My fave thread has popped back up! Thanks Lynda. What is the difference between a legitimate, genuine group of believers and a cult? To the non-believer, probably very little! Because a cult is essentially a group bound together by beliefs and practices which differ from the accepted norm, and seem extreme or erroneous. So, if you believe there is no God, or that all beliefs are wrong, then all groups/churches will seem like cults. But if you have a belief it is different. Using Christianity as an example, a bible believing church would view certain groups as cults, even though they appear to be based on Christianity. For instance, if a group denied that Jesus is the son of God, altered or misrepresented the basic gospel of salvation by faith as a free gift for all..... There are many real life examples. So I feel the answer to your question. Lynda, depends on your starting point. Hope that helps. Denise

This is a very complex subject and one needs to be able to understand the laws of physics to comprehend it. I believe we all instinctively know that consciousness is separate from the physical body and can exist independently. Humans invented 'religion' to come to terms with it. However, 'religion' has been misused by man (and I do mean man, as distinct from woman) for purposes of power and manipulation and, subsequently, it is no longer trusted or believed in to any great degree except by those unable to think things out for themselves. Len.

Just thought I'd start another debate, seeing as this has been such an interesting thread.................. Aren't all religions cults?

I would like to believe that we will see our loved ones again.So I am holding on to that to help me losing my parent's and sister.

Hi Lynda, Thanks for your input about it, Its always the way with films that are taken from books,the book is worth reading! I can recommend it! Roxanne x

Hiya Roxanne, I thought the film was rubbish, in fact I didn't even see the end, thought the acting was appaling, couldn't take it seriously. Haven't read the book. though. Lynda x

Hi Lynda,Was the film any good? Ive read the book which was fantastic, Im looking forward to seeing the film but sometimes its a let down after the book, whats your opinion? Its extreme isent it,beating yourself until you bleed, I find it hard to believe that some people actually think its what God would want,WEIRD!! Roxanne x

Sternozzzz I think that you will find that Darwins Theory about us evolving as apes was just that, a theory brought about by the death of his eight year old daughter Annie........ *During Annie's long illness Darwin had read books by Francis Newman, a Unitarian evolutionist who called for a new post-Christian synthesis and wrote that 'the fretfulness of a child is an infinite evil'. With Annie's death Darwin lost all faith in a beneficent God and saw Christianity as futile. For three years he had deliberated about the Christian meaning of mortality* Faith being the operative word here,as it cannot be logically proven, but can mean believing unconditionally. Julia

Hi Lynda, it's so good to see your thread back again. I've just been catching up, enjoying a good read of everyone's views and wishing I could express my gratitude to Christ as well as others have done on here. I saw the Da Vinci Code and was sickened by those flagellation scenes - so offensive and repugnant - far removed from the Bible's teaching that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. So why would an (educated) monk tear his own flesh to pieces? The practice strikes me as evil. Not that those who do it are evil, but why would anyone, however devout, think it necessary or pleasing to God? Christ himself, according to scripture, subjected himself, in our place, to all the punishment that was necessary to satisfy divine justice. Those poor misguided souls in the documentary about the village in Italy, shedding blood until it ran in the gutters - what appalling unnecessary suffering! As for the monk in the film, this was sinister and pretty horrible.

I see this was nudged on 08/07/2006 at 21:36:37, must be a good thread then:)) While I'm here, I saw the film The DaVinci code last night, there was a bit about Opus Dei, and about how followers, flagellate, I also saw being done , on a documentary on Italy, where a Town do this every year, where so many folk do it, blood runs along the Streets from the wounds, whats that all about? Lynda

Hi William, Thanks for answering. I have to say I agree with what you have said, I am sure most people can say,If honest, that we all have nasty thoughts even if we dont act on them. So none of us are 'good' in that respect. Regards Roxanne

Why we should worship - here's God's explanation: Psalm 100 1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. William

Just caught up again.... Like Linda, I have problems with exactly WHY we have to worship God. If he is so absolutely perfect, he certainly would not demand our worship, or indeed anything else from us. The other thing which bothers me a lot - we are told that if we truly repent of all our sins (even if that isnt till we are dying) then God will forgive us and take us in. Bit unfair on those who have lived good lives. And, does this also mean that if I go to heaven, I will have to rub shoulders with the likes of Myra Hindley and Fred West? I'd really rather not, if its all the same to you. OC

Hi Roxanne, I'm not a good person because I have bad thoughts, say bad things and do bad things. Maybe not very much, maybe not very often (though that's a matter for debate!) - but they're there. God, who made me, is entirely perfect. He defines what 'goodness' is. He cannot abide the presence of anything tainted by sin. Even my goodness - cutting the garden for an elderly neighbour, helping a colleague who's having a rough time, whatever it may be - is tainted. I become proud that I'm helping my neighbour - maybe I don't voice the pride...but it's there. Maybe I get a quiet sense of superiority and ability from helping my colleague. I can even manage to get proud about being 'humble' enough to write all of the above. This is why I say that I am not a good person. God defines goodness and I don't measure up. Kind regards, William

william, I must ask you a question, why do you say you are not a good person? I think of myself as human being with human traits, Im not perfect,I make mistakes, but Im most certainly not a bad person, Im just curious as to why you say it. Regards Roxanne

Hello Dorothy, thanks for your thoughts on my question. You asked me.... 'How would you feel if someone gave you something or did something quite fantastic for you? You would shower them with praise and thanks' I have thought about this, and yes I would thank them for there kind deed, but once I'd done that I don't think I'd feel the need to keep thanking them, nor would I think they would want me to keep on doing it. You say that God paid the price for your sins, I don't think I have ever done anything, that someone else needed to pay for my sins, pretty sure I've not done anything that awful, not suggesting you have, but if God created us, where does it say that he wanted us to constantly praise him? If you take the debate further. My husband and I created our children, they don't constantly praise us for doing so, in fact having children is probably a selfish act, you create for yourself, not for the child, after all they didn't ask to be born, which is why I believe we should care for our children, they never asked to be here, although of course most of us are quite happy to be here. I really struggle to think if there is a God, he'd want us to praise him, I think he'd rather us get on with each other, while on this earth, then if thre is a next life and we meet him, we can say thanks for that life, it was great. That's what i'll do if I met him. Lynda (p.s if i say it myself this is a bloomin good thread:))) Thanks everyone for the debate)