Religion reduces science literacy in America

i haven't seen dolphins put their own kind into space yet.

 

Book of Thomas: (probably in one of the conventional Gospels as well - I'll have to check when the Steelers game is over)

If heaven (the kingdom of the father) is spread out upon the earth (in Jesus' own words}, where does that place Hell? Maybe on the earth as well?

Hades was an acknowledged fable in Greek mythology, used for the sole purpose of frightening people (who may have had no idea it was a fable) into good behavior.

Sheol is a place for the "unseen", the dead, where no punishment or reward distinction is made.

Hell is an English translation of "Gehanna" in the Old Testament - an actual valley where a ruler named Hinnon and his tribe worshipped and sacrificed to an idol named Molech. Other Jews were cautioned to stay away by calling it Topeth ( a place of burning). After the Molech worshippers were slaughtered and sacrifices were abolished the place was pretty much used as a large incinerator for the dead bodies of animals and executed criminals, A fire was kept burning to eliminate the smell and putrefaction.

Where ever the English text would have Jesus speaking of Hell in the new testament, it is actually translated from his use of the Greek work Gehanna. To say it was a vile place no God fearing Jew would dare go, would be understating it and it's obvious that Jesus used it metaphorically to make a point, but it was most definitely an earthly place and no one then considered it otherwise.
http://www.tentmaker.org/articles/jesusteachingonhell.html

 

source?

 

Evolution has an app for that. Rather than special, we are the beneficiaries of fortunate occurrences.

 

what if those evolutions/occurrences were engineered to happen that way? maybe God didn't create man out of nothing, but what's to say that God didn't cause all the occurrences that caused man to develop?

 

Nothing. But without evidence it's pretty pointless to even discuss except on a "what if" basis.

 

exactly. "i'll believe what i believe and you'll believe what you will" is about as far as the argument can go and eventually where it ends up every time. i don't get why people feel the need to look down on other people's beliefs or lack thereof

 

so if you are aesthetically predisposed to look around for a magic creator being, then fine. but outside that aesthetic, everything about the predisposition---which produces the results---is absurd. all this faith stuff obviously change nothing. it's basically the implications of that aesthetic predisposition made manifest. it's a circular relation, just as the opposite is. as to the question in the op--it's entirely possible that being a christian makes one less literate in general, just as it's possible that being a christian can prompt one to hyper-literacy. it's a matter of what christianity, which one, and what it means to you. if you subscribe to one of those backwater protestant evangelical groups that believes that literal interpretation of the bible stuff, chances are that scientific illiteracy is the least of your problems. but even there, it's not all one thing. think string theory. on the other hand, is there anything about string theory that appeals if you take away the theological gloss on unified theory? probably not. but i digress. sometimes i almost pine for more complex forms of xtianity being what comes to mind or gets polled when one asks the sort of question in the op. not all xtians subscribe to a form of xtianity that amounts to an intellectual lobotomy. just as there are lots of varieties of muslims. but maybe that's why it's so simple to frame xtianity as one thing. a symmetry that is in the end good for business. but i digress.

 

Which is why any discussion about scientific principles cannot rationally include God or a Creator as a counter argument. Which is not to say that philosophical and metaphysical discussions cannot be had on the subject.

 

Event Horizon, as promised, the correlating passage from the more recognized Gospel of Luke pertaining to where Jesus considered the location of the kingdom of the father to be. A few minor differences - one being the identity of those doing the questioning.

Luke 17:20-21
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

vs

The Book of Thomas
Jesus' disciples said to him. "When will the kingdom come?"
Jesus said "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'here it is' or 'there it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."

 

There is no book of Thomas in the bible. Before Jesus ascended to Heaven, He told his disciples "I go to prepare a place for you..." Further, in the book of Revelation it is made abundantly clear that Jesus will return to this earth and destroy it with fire.

 

The author of Revelations (John of Patmos- not the apostle John) was a known nut case in his time. Comparable to Ted Kaskinsky. Drug addled, I'd read somewhere.

As you can see in my most recent post, Luke said the same thing as Thomas? Luke is in your abridged and specially selected version of the bible. Is he wrong too?

"I go to prepare a place for you" Maybe Jesus just loves contradicting himself.

Don't fast, fast. don't pray, pray, heaven's here on earth, oh no wait, it's somewhere else, I just don't have it tidied up yet. I must remember to bring in some good domestic help.

Then again, you don't need the Bible. You need only accept Jesus as your savior in the utterly meaningless way you do.

 

i couldn't care less as to where paradise is. it's a good motivator for me to be a good person and even if it is just a comfort blankey, what's wrong with deluding oneself as long as your delusion compels you to be a benefit to society? i'm happy believing in heaven, i don't get why people want to fuck with my happiness.

THANK YOU! too bad it's all the psychos that have been framed as to what a normal christian looks like

 

Umm, you asked me to source my post. Why did I waste my time? (I ask myself)

Delusion is a personal choice. As long as it stays within the realm of personal choice and doesn't leak into areas it doesn't belong - no harm, no foul. Happiness is a personal choice as well. I'm glad to hear that you are.

My ending comment on the last post was directed at an individual who feels that salvation is as simple as saying "Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I accept him as my Savior and now believe I'm good to go - I will be rewarded with a afterlife of conservative right wing values that include my 2nd amendment right to arm myself to the hilt."

If this is what you mean by psycho, I'm in agreement. I have many friends that are Christians and I know the difference between someone trying to live by the decent principles Jesus espoused and those who are merely paying it lip service.

 

!!! i did! my apologies...

 

Will Jesus be riding a dragon that shoots lasers out of its eyes when he burns the Earth down?

 

I'm pretty sure that if jesus had come around today, as opposed to 2000 years ago, the folks who currently bang the jesus drum the loudest would be first in line to lock him up for his radical opposition to the status quo.

 

If I thought that you knew anything about the bible outside of what you quickly Google in order to carry on a dialogue with me, I might give a little more weight to your arguments. By the way it's Revelation not Revelations.