G
Do you feel the same way about the muslims? They believe you should be beheaded if you don't convert.

Oh sure, I feel the same way about Muslims.

I feel the same way about all oppressive religions.

"G"

I'm not taking the bait

There is no bait. It should be obvious by now that I think Christianity is an oppressive religion.

"G"

Many things exist that are outside of our limited understanding. Many things do exist that cannot be readily explained away or proven. Because human intellectual capacity limits our ability to "prove" existence that does not wholly mean that certain things do not exist and it would be arrogant to think so.

I personally have had experiences with the paranormal since I was a child. My parents always told me "it's your imagination, ghosts don't exist, etc." but I can assure you those things existed and were not part of a fantastic hallucination in my brain. Can I prove it? Nope. But I assure you it existed event though I wished at the time it had not!

You stated: "I personally get angered by the idea that a major influence on our society dictates that certain "sinful" actions are going to mean that people get tortured for eternity, and that because of this mentality, certain segments of the population can be treated as lower, poisonous, or damaging."

I understand what you mean by this statement but I'm confused how it relates to you. If you don't believe in God and don't believe that you will be tortured for eternity...blow it off. If you aren't afraid and don't take stock in it why should it bother you? I am unsure what you mean by certain segments of the population are treated in the manner you described unless they are....child molesters, murderers, rapists, etc.

And for that...they are most definitely poisonous and damaging and should be removed from the general population so they do not inflict more harm on the innocent.

I know that there are those who are judgmental and intolerant of people with alternative lifestyles (gay, etc.) who are not criminals or mentally deficient and my response to that is that they have created their own agenda...not God's agenda. Those people will meet their maker one day too and will have to answer for their intolerance and harshness to others which the Lord rates as just as bad as the criminals I listed above.

Not having full understanding of existence is not a basis for asserting knowledge of the supernatural. This is an easy non-answer. If you have had actual encounters with the paranormal, you should be able to explain them. If you can't explain them, then you were probably hallucinating in one form or another. It's not like it's 50/50 that supernatural things exist or they don't. We have the ability to define existence to a good certainty. Why is supernatural phenomena random? Why is it not testable? Why is it only present due to experiential claims that cannot be reproduced or verified? More than likely, because it doesn't really exist and is the product of imagination, whether willful or involuntary.

Because human intellectual capacity limits our ability to "prove" existence that does not wholly mean that certain things do not exist and it would be arrogant to think so.

It's not arrogant to think these things don't exist. It's invalidly assertive to live as though they do, without good proof.

I understand what you mean by this statement but I'm confused how it relates to you. If you don't believe in God and don't believe that you will be tortured for eternity...blow it off. If you aren't afraid and don't take stock in it why should it bother you?

It matters to me because I am part of this society. It's not the content of the ideas that I am afraid of, it is the promotion of these perverse ideas that I am afraid will damage society and otherwise healthy mindsets.

I am unsure what you mean by certain segments of the population are treated in the manner you described unless they are....child molesters, murderers, rapists, etc.

No, I mean people like atheists, homosexuals, and people of other faiths besides those of Christianity.

Those people will meet their maker one day too and will have to answer for their intolerance and harshness to others which the Lord rates as just as bad as the criminals I listed above.

That doesn't really do anything for those of us who are oppressed by their mindsets in the real world.

"G"