NationStates Jolt Archive

Back when I was a Christian, I remember my Pastor talking about the end of times. About how there's supposed to be a whole bunch of BAD natural disasters.
Enter in the Tsunami.
The hurricanes.
The upcoming snowstorm that's supposed to hit the U.S. It'll be the first time this has happened in several, several years.
I've prayed that if God is out there, and if God wants me to believe a certain way that I should. And I genuinelly believe that. But I also genuinelly believe that it's wrong to brainwash oneself.
I'm confused, and scared, and want help.
And then I feel really retarded for even thinking like that, cause part of me thinks borderline athiestic.
Man, I miss the comfort from conforming and from religion.

Back when I was a Christian,


What are you know? Just wondering.

Your an observant one aren't you.

Its been 2000 years already. I think Jesus better put up or shut up pretty soon. Are christians still going to be talking about the the second coming of the lord in 2782 A.D.?

THere are reports of the end of the world coming.

In one of the bibles, it had evidence of the whole 9/11 fiasco. And this was written like, 2000 years ago.

It had all of it. With details.

It also says in 2012 we might die by a comet. But in the same book, it says that wont happen.

Well have to see.

Anyway, I was listening to radio, some crazy woman said the Philadelphia area was supposed to get 3 days of darkness, and than after that 6 days where the sun just barely peaks up.

She has an excellant track record, knew about the tsunamis, and almost every hurricane, but I think shes just crazy.

Lets hope.

And if there are three days of darkess. Just get to the mountains... ASAP!!!!

Back when I was a Christian, I remember my Pastor talking about the end of times. About how there's supposed to be a whole bunch of BAD natural disasters.
Enter in the Tsunami.
The hurricanes.
The upcoming snowstorm that's supposed to hit the U.S. It'll be the first time this has happened in several, several years.
I've prayed that if God is out there, and if God wants me to believe a certain way that I should. And I genuinelly believe that. But I also genuinelly believe that it's wrong to brainwash oneself.
I'm confused, and scared, and want help.
And then I feel really retarded for even thinking like that, cause part of me thinks borderline athiestic.
Man, I miss the comfort from conforming and from religion.

Christianity can be good, even if you dont believe in god and or Jesus.

I believe in them, and im Christian, but once I didnt believe, but I was still Christian, church, and religion, and knowing I had something, was comforting.

I saw atheism as a cold metal chair in an interigation room with some books.

and Christianity (and other religion) as a lazy boy, with a fire in a log cabin with your friends during the holidays.

THere are reports of the end of the world coming.

In one of the bibles, it had evidence of the whole 9/11 fiasco. And this was written like, 2000 years ago.

It had all of it. With details.

It also says in 2012 we might die by a comet. But in the same book, it says that wont happen.

Well have to see.

Anyway, I was listening to radio, some crazy woman said the Philadelphia area was supposed to get 3 days of darkness, and than after that 6 days where the sun just barely peaks up.

She has an excellant track record, knew about the tsunamis, and almost every hurricane, but I think shes just crazy.

Lets hope.

And if there are three days of darkess. Just get to the mountains... ASAP!!!!

Plus, the Mayans predicted that the world was going to end on December 12, 2012, or something. That's not the exact date, but it was definitely 2012.

it had evidence ...

Ok, believe as you wish, but please use the term "evidence" with some thing to actually back it up.. because that's what "evidence" means.

why does having spirituality, being christian, or believing in god equte to conforming or comfort? religion sometimes isnlt comfortable, guilt can be pretty uncomfortable, for example, which is a symptom of the overreligious. comform? oh, so you have to be atheist/secular to be really cool non comformists?!? that makes laugh, actually, i know a lot of conforming close minded atheists/seculars, sheep to their worship of ideo.logical worship, consumerism, bureaucracy worship, self worship, whatever. god just is easier to define the worship by.....i just have never noted, and i have known many and had an atheist stage for abuot a decade, any particular intellectual advancement of non-religious people. ever. sort of wondering.

and yes, these are the end times,. approximately the 11,215th end times in the past 200 years. there was a tsunami in japan in the late 1800's that killed more people, that ws one of them. the blizzard of '77 in the US dumped 3 feet of snow in 4 days. alaska goes several days a year with very little sun!

sorry to be sarcastic, but these weather patterns aren;t that unusual, it;s just global warming.....lolol

If you really wanna see someone get scared, wait until they have the flu, then give em a copy of "The Stand" to read.

If phily ends up with three days of darkness won't they just keep the lights on?

:rolleyes:

Back when I was a Christian, I remember my Pastor talking about the end of times. About how there's supposed to be a whole bunch of BAD natural disasters.
Enter in the Tsunami.
The hurricanes.
The upcoming snowstorm that's supposed to hit the U.S. It'll be the first time this has happened in several, several years.
I've prayed that if God is out there, and if God wants me to believe a certain way that I should. And I genuinelly believe that. But I also genuinelly believe that it's wrong to brainwash oneself.
I'm confused, and scared, and want help.
And then I feel really retarded for even thinking like that, cause part of me thinks borderline athiestic.
Man, I miss the comfort from conforming and from religion.

Well, maybe this will help: http://www.openheaven.com/ubb/Forum6/HTML/000514.html

Enter paranoia.

enter:

catastrophe: Bubonic Plague
deaths: 25+ million
time: 1347-1350
world ends: no.

catastrophe: world war 1
deaths: 15+ million
time: 1914-1918
world ends: no.

catastrophe: spanish flu pandemic
deaths: 25-40 million
time: 1918-1919
world ends: no.

catastrophe: world war 2
deaths: 55+ million
time: 1939-1945
world ends: no.

Ok, believe as you wish, but please use the term "evidence" with some thing to actually back it up.. because that's what "evidence" means.

Its hard to explain I saw it on the history channel (and Im not the religious nut type either) it had it going down and across, the letters. Written in hebrew. For ex. It said going down in a column

S
e
p
t
e
m
b
e
r
e
l
e Muslim nations
v
e
n
t
h

World Trade Centers fall down s
e
c
o
n
d
a
t
t
a
c
k
The Pentagon









And so on like that.



All the writings I did moved to the side, piucture those words/columns in the middle of the page.

why does having spirituality, being christian, or believing in god equte to conforming or comfort? religion sometimes isnlt comfortable, guilt can be pretty uncomfortable, for example, which is a symptom of the overreligious. comform? oh, so you have to be atheist/secular to be really cool non comformists?!? that makes laugh, actually, i know a lot of conforming close minded atheists/seculars, sheep to their worship of ideo.logical worship, consumerism, bureaucracy worship, self worship, whatever. god just is easier to define the worship by.....i just have never noted, and i have known many and had an atheist stage for abuot a decade, any particular intellectual advancement of non-religious people. ever. sort of wondering.

and yes, these are the end times,. approximately the 11,215th end times in the past 200 years. there was a tsunami in japan in the late 1800's that killed more people, that ws one of them. the blizzard of '77 in the US dumped 3 feet of snow in 4 days. alaska goes several days a year with very little sun!

sorry to be sarcastic, but these weather patterns aren;t that unusual, it;s just global warming.....lolol

You know, I wrote this thread really opening up to people for help. You could have worded that differently to not be so rude.

Ok, believe as you wish, but please use the term "evidence" with some thing to actually back it up.. because that's what "evidence" means.

I'm not religious, but I watched a documentary on "Bible Code", and it seems fairly concrete to me. Search for it on google; even if it's all just phony bullshit, it's still tremendously interesting.

If phily ends up with three days of darkness won't they just keep the lights on?

:rolleyes:

Funny guy huh?

Back when I was a Christian, I remember my Pastor talking about the end of times. About how there's supposed to be a whole bunch of BAD natural disasters.
Enter in the Tsunami.
The hurricanes.
The upcoming snowstorm that's supposed to hit the U.S. It'll be the first time this has happened in several, several years.
Goodness, you call those "natural disasters" in reference to the apocalypse? Humanity has survived through a fecking ice age, this is small fry compared to what has happened in the past million years, and microscopic on a geological scale.

I've prayed that if God is out there, and if God wants me to believe a certain way that I should. And I genuinelly believe that. But I also genuinelly believe that it's wrong to brainwash oneself.
I'm confused, and scared, and want help.
And then I feel really retarded for even thinking like that, cause part of me thinks borderline athiestic.
Man, I miss the comfort from conforming and from religion.
You are superstitious. That's it. You are worried about higher powers or some such nonsense. I am completely agnostic and a physiolatrist. Whatever Nature wills is law, and we have no choice but to obey. If it is being destroyed by us, then it will react accordingly. Not out of spite, but out of the very nature of Nature herself. You obviously are not strong in your convictions regarding theology, and that is why are are scared. I suggest you find a religion you're willing to embrace--I can think of no way that people like you, whom I have met many of, can resolve your theological uncertainty. You intellectually know that religion is not what you should want, but emotionally you need something to put faith in.

If you really wanna see someone get scared, wait until they have the flu, then give em a copy of "The Stand" to read.

never heard of that book, whats it about?

Yup, this is it. Looks like me and Jesus are going to have it out soon. Whoever wins gets to rule you guys...like thats a prize. Look if the world ends and people become extinct it is no big deal. Life will go on, the sun will still rise and the birds will be singing a merrier tune.

never heard of that book, whats it about?
Amongst other things a flu virus wiping out 99.99% of humanity ;)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0451169530/102-0197504-1699312?v=glance

Amongst other things a flu virus wiping out 99.99% of humanity ;)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0451169530/102-0197504-1699312?v=glance
Just wait until the avian flu mutates into a human-to-human transmissible form. Then 3/4 of humanity is realisticly going to be screwed real bad.

3/4's? More like 99.4%.

We are going to be fine.

Personally, im a Christian, but I'll admit I'm not really devout (at least not to an extreme).

Now i gotta say that i have no faith in these "prophesies". I think that fate does not exist, that we all have choice. I dont think the end of time is coming very soon, and even when they do , i dont think that its gonna happen like it says in the Bible.

My reason for disbelieving fate is simple: it would, i think, make God a liar. You see, if really there is no choice, then all of this stuff about the Ten Commandments and stuff would be null and void. I mean, why should we follow rules of God if in the end, it doesnt matter,if really, you never made the decison, some ominpotent being did. That would made God some sadistic sicko giving us false hope, creating a few to heaven and damning an entire remainer to hell from the beginning of their lives.

So basically, the world's not gonna end soon, we've been through much worse, and we've perservered.

But really, i cant prove this, because its one of those things you put faith in... so thats just MY opinion.

3/4's? More like 99.4%.
The avian flu has a mortality rate among humans of about 75%. If there was, say a new strain of Ebola or HIV transmissible through aerosol, then perhaps there would be at least 90% of humans wiped out.

:eek: You either are a Christian, or you weren't. If you are, you have nothing to be scared of and should actually be looking forward to the second coming of Jesus.

As for guilt being a symptom of the over religious - absolutely not! Christianity teaches that sins are forgiven, so there is no need for constant guilt. I would consider constant guilt to be more likely a symptom of a NON Christian who is painfully aware of their mistakes, crimes, bad choices etc. :headbang:

Consider "Pascal's Gambit" - if the end of the world does come and it turns out that Christians were always right, then they have gained everything while non Christians have lost everything. If the end of the world comes and Christians were always wrong, they didn't lose anything because they tried to live a life that they felt was right and honest, and didn't deprive themselves.

Pascal's Wager is foolish because it assumes Christianity to be the only religion on the planet. According to Islam, Judgement Day will come on a Friday - and that's all we know.

But, then again, the Christian apocolyptic fantasies come from Revelations and Islam does not recognize Revelations ... only the Gospel.

Don't be afraid. Love God and do good things. You'll be fine.

Nobody has even mentioned that the tsunami occured the day after Christmas. . . exactly one year after that huge earthquake in Bam, Iran. Is God getting pissed or just coincidence? Any predictions on December 26, 2005's natural disaster?

Nobody has even mentioned that the tsunami occured the day after Christmas. . . exactly one year after that huge earthquake in Bam, Iran. Is God getting pissed or just coincidence? Any predictions on December 26, 2005's natural disaster?

maybe saturn is getting pissed since dec. 25 was the day of saturnalia. christmas was set to dec 25 to discourage people from celebrating this pagan holiday.

Buddhist believe that everyone will suddenly acheived simultaneous enlightenment , at least thats their version of a doom's day. Buddhist are wierd....that can't even have a doom's day with fire and brimstoone and Godly judgement

First, Christians don't consider it to be a religion but faith. Second, how is Pascal's Gambit foolish? Every faith or religion consider's theirs to be correct and others to be misled. If Pascal made a statement based on his beliefs, it is not foolish at all, and as he stated - if the end comes and Christians are wrong, they have lost nothign at all. There is no error in that.

First, Christians don't consider it to be a religion but faith. Second, how is Pascal's Gambit foolish? Every faith or religion consider's theirs to be correct and others to be misled. If Pascal made a statement based on his beliefs, it is not foolish at all, and as he stated - if the end comes and Christians are wrong, they have lost nothign at all. There is no error in that.
Well then, how come the other religions lose if they were wrong then?

Buddhist believe that everyone will suddenly acheived simultaneous enlightenment , at least thats their version of a doom's day.
Not of any Buddhist sect I'd heard of...where are you getting your facts?

Not of any Buddhist sect I'd heard of...where are you getting your facts?

Zen Center in Los Angeles

If Pascal made a statement based on his beliefs, it is not foolish at all, and as he stated - if the end comes and Christians are wrong, they have lost nothign at all. There is no error in that.

Wrong. If the end comes and the Muslims are right, Christians have lost quite a bit. If the end comes and Judaism is right, Christians have lost quite a bit.

That's why Pascal's Wager is foolish. It assumes Christianity is the only religion capable of being right.

Zen Center in Los Angeles
Any place called the "Zen Center", especially one in LA, probably shouldn't be trusted as representative of overall Buddhist beliefs. Especially seeing as Zen Buddhism is a Japanese sect, and Buddhism actually originated in India. Not to mention the fact that what you said is certainly not a fundamental Zen belief.

The avian flu has a mortality rate among humans of about 75%. If there was, say a new strain of Ebola or HIV transmissible through aerosol, then perhaps there would be at least 90% of humans wiped out.
I was talking about the superflu in 'The Stand'.

Any place called the "Zen Center", especially one in LA, probably shouldn't be trusted as representative of overall Buddhist beliefs. Especially seeing as Zen Buddhism is a Japanese sect, and Buddhism actually originated in India. Not to mention the fact that what you said is certainly not a fundamental Zen belief.

I can assure you that some of the best teachers representing both the Chan and Zen traditions instruct there. Basically, its a theory, it is theorized that has more and more people experience enlightenment it will have a contagious effect on those around them, and the whole process will start to speed up and snow ball ---sort of like what the Bible says in the Book of Joel or Tielhard de Chardin's Omega Point when the Universe suddenly transforms into the Divine.

Originally Posted by Baptist Nabhis:
Consider "Pascal's Gambit" - if the end of the world does come and it turns out that Christians were always right, then they have gained everything while non Christians have lost everything. If the end of the world comes and Christians were always wrong, they didn't lose anything because they tried to live a life that they felt was right and honest, and didn't deprive themselves.

Or conversely, consider Charles Fahringer's (my) gambit. Humans were created in labs by Alien Monsters from the planet Xob. We don't realize this because the Alien Monsters from the planet Xob are all-powerful masters of time and space and they designed the earth to seem as if it is "natural" (that is, resulting from causes other than Aliens) and designed our minds not to be able to comprehend this completely. Thus we can't actually tell for certain that we come from Aliens; but that is exactly the type of thing that aliens would do to us. So anyways, three years into the earth's existence the Alien Monsters sent an alien prophet to tell us all of this, and tell us that there would be a human named Jesus many years later who would try to convince us that he is god. The point of our existence, according to this alien prophet, is to disbelieve Jesus. The Aliens will be returning at some unspecified time in the future (maybe today!) and if anyone doesn't disbelieve Jesus (just one person) all of humanity will suffer absolute, infinite pain. But if no one believes in Jesus, we will all enjoy pure, infinite hapiness.

There are some parallels and differences between the Christian Pascal's wager and this argument. The major parallel is that the earth was created by some all-powerful being in each argument. That makes both of these arguments totally non-falsifiable (you can't disprove them) because all-powerful beings could do anything. For instance, they could create the earth and make it seem natural. They could also warp our perception to make us not necessarily be capable of realizing their existence. In fact some Christians do claim that God designed the earth 6000 years ago to seem as if it is billions of years old, by planting fake fossils in rock beds and making the rocks on the earth artificially aged from their beginning. Also, all Christians believe in "Mysteries" of the faith: things like the Trinity or the two-fold nature of Christ that humans supposedly can't understand (just like the aliens designing our minds to be unable to comprehend completely how they exist). Then there is the threat that these all-powerful beings will come back and make us suffer if we believed in a way they didn't like. But within this threat, no specific date is mentioned, so that we will never have a specific time when we know that the return will never happen. Thus the threat will always have its power. Finally, seeming proof is offered that each philosophy is correct (Christianity and Xobism). For Christianity, supposedly a man rose from the dead 2000 years ago, but the only people who definitely witnessed him being alive after his death were his followers. Also this man supposedly performed many miracles during his lifetime (although no historical data indicates this other than books written by his followers), and he perfectly fulfilled many prophecies (although, again only according to his followers). Followers of Xobism similarly "know" that the alien prophet came to earth three years after it was created. And that this prophet successfully predicted the coming of Jesus, and warned us to not follow him. Of course, the only way you can come to know about this is to accept my testimony that this alien prophet did exist without historical proof (multiple written sources by non-biased writers).
The differences, however, mean that you must choose to believe Xobism over Christianity. First of all, Christianity requires belief, which requires making a commitment of faith to continue to believe. Xobism only requires non-belief (you don't have to believe in the whole aliens thing -- just don't believe that Jesus is god), and non-belief is a lot easier than belief. Furthermore, Xobism supposedly pre-dates and predicts Christianity, so that if both the alien prophet and Jesus Christ exist, Xobism must be correct. But the biggest difference is that the punishment/reward system in Xobism is as extreme as possible. Christianity doesn't necessarily say that its heaven gives believers infinite hapiness and hell gives non-believers infinite pain, only that heaven makes believers happier than they could comprehend and that hell is extraordinarily painful because it is an absence of god, which Christians can't comprehend as being enjoyable, which is why they aren't atheists.
Even when I was a Christian, I didn't like Pascal's wager. I don't like being threatened. And such an argument could (as I've shown) just as easily be used for many other religions, including ones that tell people specifically not to believe in Christianity.

Note: As far as I know, Xobism is not a real religion (although it is slightly like Raelianism). I do not believe in Xobism at all. I merely wanted to offer a counter example to Pascal's Wager, to show that such an argument is merely a threat that could force people to believe something that is ridiculous. (Not to say that Christianity is ridiculous, it actually has well developed philosophy, unlike Xobism. But a threat like this shouldn't be the reason why anyone should believe anything, because it could be used just as easily to get people to believe the opposite.)

I was talking about the superflu in 'The Stand'.
Then you didn't realise what I was saying. Here, let me show you.

Amongst other things a flu virus wiping out 99.99% of humanity ;)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0451169530/102-0197504-1699312?v=glanceJust wait until the avian flu mutates into a human-to-human transmissible form. Then 3/4 of humanity is realisticly going to be screwed real bad.3/4's? More like 99.4%.The avian flu has a mortality rate among humans of about 75%. If there was, say a new strain of Ebola or HIV transmissible through aerosol, then perhaps there would be at least 90% of humans wiped out.

Natural disasters are...well, natural. Jesus could have popped his head in to check on things at any point in the past two millenia. In just the past 500 years we have had:

1976 Earthquake in Tangshan, China, kills 242,000
1970 Cyclone in Bangladesh kills 500,000
1959/61 Famine in north China kills 30 million
1923 Tokyo earthquake kills 140,000
1919 Influenza epidemic kills 21 million worldwide
1896 Tsunami kills 27,000 in Japan
1892/96 Epidemic in China and India kills 10+ million
1887 China's Yellow River breaks its banks in Huayan Kou killing 900,000
1815 Volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora on Indonesia's Sumbawa Island kills 90,000
1556 Earthquake in China's Shaanxi, Shanxi and Henan provinces kills an estimated 830,000

And don't forget the grand-daddy of all disasters - the Black Plague. Estimates of 75 million Europeans dead--one-third of Europe's people--in five years. Approximately 60 million Chinese also died.

Even the 25 million dead from AIDS hasn't reached the level of some of the world's worst disasters (yet), and is but a small fraction of humanity's greatest killer - smallpox. Bad stuff for sure, but not the end of the world.

Man you people need to grow a spine and face up to reality and stop waiting for some sign from beyond to ease your fears about whats going on in the world. The weathers messed up, because we messed it up and as far as the end of the worlds concerned. Mankind has been around a long time and survived an Ice Age and many other huge disaster and tragedies, but we always come back and out on top thats our nature. The only way the earth is going to come to an end is by our own hand weather it be disease, war, etc... or by a meteor from space. But until that day approaches you need to quite wasting your time reading to much into to some strange weather phenomenon and just live your life, because if you spend to much time worry about that crap or your life will just pass you by...

Back when I was a Christian, I remember my Pastor talking about the end of times. About how there's supposed to be a whole bunch of BAD natural disasters...

The upcoming snowstorm that's supposed to hit the U.S. It'll be the first time this has happened in several, several years.

Um....
We've had quite bad snowstorms pretty much every other year -- in 2002 we had 25 inches of snow dumped on the East Coast...

The planet has cycles. People thought the appearance of Haley's Comet presaged the end times, and committed suicide...

...and yet we're still all here.

If we're all going to die, it will be because mankind wrecked everything -- not because of natural disasters. Geologically speaking, the Earth's still rather a young planet... we've a long way to go before it rips itself apart.




--Kat-"Day After Tomorrow"-Ganistan

Its been 2000 years already. I think Jesus better put up or shut up pretty soon. Are christians still going to be talking about the the second coming of the lord in 2782 A.D.?

No they won't!

Back when I was a Christian, I remember my Pastor talking about the end of times. About how there's supposed to be a whole bunch of BAD natural disasters.
Enter in the Tsunami.
The hurricanes.
The upcoming snowstorm that's supposed to hit the U.S. It'll be the first time this has happened in several, several years.
I've prayed that if God is out there, and if God wants me to believe a certain way that I should. And I genuinelly believe that. But I also genuinelly believe that it's wrong to brainwash oneself.
I'm confused, and scared, and want help.
And then I feel really retarded for even thinking like that, cause part of me thinks borderline athiestic.
Man, I miss the comfort from conforming and from religion.

The End Times does not have to mean the physical end, but the spiritual battle that takes place within each person.

Create in me a pure heart, O my God, and renew a tranquil conscience within me, O my Hope! Through the spirit of power confirm Thou me in Thy Cause, O my Best-Beloved, and by the light of Thy glory reveal unto me Thy path, O Thou the Goal of my desire! Through the power of Thy transcendent might lift me up unto the heaven of Thy holiness, O Source of my being, and by the breezes of Thine eternity gladden me, O Thou Who art my God! Let Thine everlasting melodies breathe tranquillity on me, O my Companion, and let the riches of Thine ancient countenance deliver me from all except Thee, O my Master, and let the tidings of the revelation of Thine incorruptible Essence bring me joy, O Thou Who art the most manifest of the manifest and the most hidden of the hidden! *2

(Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 248)

I'm a pretty devout Christian, and thinking about the end times still scares me. I know that, assuming my beliefs about Christianity are true, the end of the world is nothing to be afraid of. In fact, it's something I should look forward to. However, the concept of eternity is beyond my grasp and thinking about it blows my mind. Since it's something totally unknown and something I can't understand, it scares me. I do know that it's completely out of my hands. I think only God knows when the world is going to end and maybe the prophecies are true but I can't let myself worry about it. Maybe my religion is all just a hoax but I'm not going to adopt another religion so I have to just have faith that I'm going to be ok in the end. For others of you out there that are worried about the end times, if you're a Christian, I feel that there is nothing to worry about. If you're not, what you believe is up to you. I personally wouldn't even try to go through this life without my faith. Some may ridicule me for having my faith to fall back on and give me strength, but I say that through my weakness God makes me strong. My life is in God's hands. Call me crazy if you want. It won't change who I am.

My life is in God's hands. Call me crazy if you want. It won't change who I am.
That is one reason I have distaste for some religionists, saying that they are int he hands of God. You are in your own hands, and that of Nature. Do not just rely on God, he hates those who do so. And if he doesn't, then he really should hate those weaklings who just say "God will save me!" and just leave it at that.

Nobody has even mentioned that the tsunami occured the day after Christmas. . . exactly one year after that huge earthquake in Bam, Iran. Is God getting pissed or just coincidence? Any predictions on December 26, 2005's natural disaster?
An earthquake?... seems like a safe bet after the last two

Then that is the difference between your beliefs and mine. However I do agree that Christians should not just rely on God to take care of them. That does not mean that I don't think God plays a very central role in my life. After all, it is He who created me and everything else. I trust that God has a plan, but it is up to me to live my life in such a way as to follow that plan. I still have choice.

Then that is the difference between your beliefs and mine. However I do agree that Christians should not just rely on God to take care of them. That does not mean that I don't think God plays a very central role in my life. After all, it is He who created me and everything else. I trust that God has a plan, but it is up to me to live my life in such a way as to follow that plan. I still have choice.
In other words, I think:

"Pray as if everything depended upon God and work as if everything depended upon man."

~Francis Cardinal Spellman

An earthquake?... seems like a safe bet after the last two
Hope Seattle's not next... :eek:

Back when I was a Christian, I remember my Pastor talking about the end of times. About how there's supposed to be a whole bunch of BAD natural disasters.
Enter in the Tsunami.
The hurricanes.
The upcoming snowstorm that's supposed to hit the U.S. It'll be the first time this has happened in several, several years.
I've prayed that if God is out there, and if God wants me to believe a certain way that I should. And I genuinelly believe that. But I also genuinelly believe that it's wrong to brainwash oneself.
I'm confused, and scared, and want help.
And then I feel really retarded for even thinking like that, cause part of me thinks borderline athiestic.
Man, I miss the comfort from conforming and from religion.
That's one of the main reasons people will cling to their beliefs even when it's been conclusively shown that some or even all of what they believe is wrong.

There have always been natural disasters; there will always be natural disasters. We live in a violent, dangerous universe and are just small, weak mammals struggling to survive. That's why there are so many of us ... the more there are, the more likely some will survive. It's also one of the main reasons we need each other so much. We're at our strongest when we're cooperating with each other.

Take comfort in the love and compassion of your brothers and sisters here on planet earth. We all need you just as much as you need us.

If you still believe in God, you can also take comfort in the thought that nothing will touch you which he does not allow to touch you, and that whatever happens to you includes his great love for you. :)

No need to be afraid. The world has already ended. This is the afterlife.

I'm not religious, but I watched a documentary on "Bible Code", and it seems fairly concrete to me. Search for it on google; even if it's all just phony bullshit, it's still tremendously interesting.
It is most definately phony bullshit. One of the main proponents once stated that if someone could pull of the same thing (prophecy) with Moby Dick he would admit he was wrong. Someone did. He still hasn't admitted it. You can take any long book and pull the same trick.

Back when I was a Christian, I remember my Pastor talking about the end of times. About how there's supposed to be a whole bunch of BAD natural disasters.
Enter in the Tsunami.
The hurricanes.
The upcoming snowstorm that's supposed to hit the U.S. It'll be the first time this has happened in several, several years.
I've prayed that if God is out there, and if God wants me to believe a certain way that I should. And I genuinelly believe that. But I also genuinelly believe that it's wrong to brainwash oneself.
I'm confused, and scared, and want help.
And then I feel really retarded for even thinking like that, cause part of me thinks borderline athiestic.
Man, I miss the comfort from conforming and from religion.


there have always been natural disasters.

consider that the Bible also says that nobody will know when He is coming... that He will come like a thief in the night.

so it's really pointless to try and time it. simply remain resolute in your faith so that if He comes while you live on earth, you will be ready.