Reply #37: But in a way your position proves god had nothing to do with the bible.

[AnArmyVeteran]

If god 'always was' and 'always will be', and is all knowing then why the celestial flip flop between the Old and New Testaments? It's like god changed from a vengeance-filled god to a loving god overnight. 

In the Old Testament god condoned incest, murder and a lot of other hideous acts, but then seemed to 'wake up' one day and say "hey folks I didn't mean all of that ugly, inhumane stuff I've been teaching you all that time, here's what I want you to believe now". 

While you may have only been exposed to constructive New Testament sermons I have been to many brands of churches where they spewed fire & brimstone hate attacks from the pulpit. 

A friend invited me to a Baptist church one night and the preacher kept telling everyone how worthless they were to the point I became so disgusted at the verbal assaults and abuse that I had to get up and leave. What I saw on display was pure evil and I felt sorry for all of those victims who stayed to be further abused. 

The friend I went to the Baptist church with later tried to commit suicide because every good thought she had she though was 'god', and every negative thought was from Satan. She had no self identity. Her parents were religious fanatics who taught her to always have shame and guilt, two common ways the Christian faith controls and manipulates people. My friend nearly died but after two years of hospitalization she finally was able to shake the demons of Christianity. While she was in different hospitals none of her Christian family members even visited her. When she was in local hospitals I visited her everytime she was allowed to have visitors. And when she went to the state hospital two hundred miles away I traveled to see her every weekend for a year. Not one of her family members or her church ever visited her. But according to them I'm going to hell because I don't share their mutant beliefs, but they will go to heaven just because they call themselves 'Christians'. 

It's my belief from the many experiences I've had at a lot of different brands of churches that they cause more harm overall than good. Religion is a man-made creation. If the Bible was truly inspired by or written by god why aren't there two Christians on the face of the earth who can agree on everything in it? Why are there tens of thousands of different Christian denominations? Einstein said 'simplicity is 'genius' so if that were true then the 'god' who directed the writing of the Bible must be a blooming idiot. I'm not saying that to be ugly or mean. If god is all knowing don't you think he could have written a better book, one that everyone could understand equally? 

If religion hadn't been invented man would be no less bad or good. In fact, I have seen countless examples of how religion divides people so much they kill each other in the name of 'god'. I believe the overall influence religion has had in the world has been negative. Of course some churches try to do good things for others, but humans would have done those things for others regardless of religion. In areas of the world where tribes never heard of religion they generally lived peaceful lives with each helping the other and their communities. They certainly didn't need religion to tell them to love and care for their fellow man. 

Before Christian missionaries invaded Hawaii the people there used to play together naked but the missionaries taught them shame and guilt. The Hawaiian language didn't even have a name for the word 'steal'. I wish Christians would read the part of their Bibles that says "take the plank out of your own eye before trying to take the splinter out of another's". 

I'm glad your experience has been a good one, but look at the hate generated by 'Christians' opposed to the building of the Muslim center in New York and the dozens of attacks against Muslim centers around the country.

Sorry if this came across as a rant, but I have a lot of history with Christian abuses and I've seen how Christianity has destroyed a lot of people in my life.

Have a great day...