BillyBob's POTD 1-5-04

[BillyBob]

For all my Bible Thumpers:

"The bible is supposedly God's perfect word (as taught by traditional christian doctrines). It contains instructions to humankind for avoiding the eternal fires of hell. The all-powerful God could have, by a mere act of will, eliminated all of the problems we humans must endure, but instead, in His infinite wisdom, He has opted to offer this indecipherable amalgam of books which is the bible, as a means for avoiding the hell which He has prepared for us. The perfect God has decided to reveal His wishes in this imperfect work, written in the imperfect language of imperfect men, translated, copied, interpreted, voted on, and related by imperfect men. No two men will ever agree what this perfect word of God is supposed to mean, since much of it is either self-contradictory, or obscured by enigmatic symbols. And yet, the perfect God expects us imperfect humans to understand this paradoxical riddle using the imperfect minds with which He has equipped us. Surely, the all-wise and all-powerful God would have known that it would have been better to reveal His perfect will directly to each of us, rather than to allow it to be debased and perverted by the imperfect language and botched interpretations of man.

I submit that traditional christian doctrines are in error because the theology does not make sense. Traditional ideas concerning God, the bible and hell are in error. I am not saying there is not a God; I am saying the typical ideas of who He is are way off base!"


Nice!!! :BillyBob:

 

[Tye Porter]

I'll book mark and save this post for ya' in your thread.

 

[BillyBob]

jr;
If He is all-powerful, why not skip the crap?

Billy;
Because it's the crap that binds us and holds us together as brothers and sisters.

Without crap, we will not know who is the crappiest!


"Fear not diving into the deep end of the crap, for the more crap you believe, the more you will be able to persecute others and drive them into crap! Whoa to those of little crap, thou hast barely a hint of crap upon thyself. Remove the plank from thine own eye so you can crap on somebody else!"

From the 'Gospel of Tye'

[each copy comes with a lifetime supply of toilet paper

 

[BillyBob]

"Oh yee of little crap, join your crappy hands with thy brothers and sisters and force your crap everywhere. Let not truth get in the way of your crap. You must place your crap everywhere and roll around in it proudly."

From the 'Gospel of Tye'

[Each copy comes with a lifetime supply of toilet paper]

 

[Poly]

BB,
I'm continuing this from the shoutbox. You said Jesus loved the Godless. I'm sure you would say that he hung around and had fellowship with them just as many on here say. The difference between what you do and what Christ did is before he had fellowship with them they must have had a repentant heart. There is never a time when we see Jesus having a hunky good ol' time and being acceptant of one who was blatently unrepentant, spitting in his face or didn't believe that He actually was who He said He was. You, on the other hand would rather fellowship and keep all that you have in common with the atheists and those that hate God and be offensive rather than doing any edifying with your own brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

[BillyBob]

Poly;
You said Jesus loved the Godless.

Billy;
I would say that he loved everybody. Except maybe the Pharisee's, they were a brood of vipers. Tye reminds me of them.

Poly;
I'm sure you would say that he hung around and had fellowship with them just as many on here say. The difference between what you do and what Christ did is before he had fellowship with them they must have had a repentant heart. There is never a time when we see Jesus having a hunky good ol' time and being acceptant of one who was blatantly unrepentant, spitting in his face or didn't believe that He actually was who He said He was. You, on the other hand would rather fellowship and keep all that you have in common with the atheists

Billy;
Well Poly, this is the internet. You have NO idea who I chose to fellowship with in the real world. As for who I joke around with at TOL, I don't draw a line based on philosophy and decide only to be friendly to those whom I agree with. The religious zealots here, on the other hand, do make that distinction. Also, I am not an evangelist. It's not my job!

Poly;
and those that hate God and be offensive rather than doing any edifying with your own brothers and sisters in Christ.

Billy;
That is simply not true. I am full of edification for my brothers and sisters, however, many of them have an acid tongue and reject my online fellowship because I happen to joke around with Zakath, Gerald taoist and a dozen other guys who post fun and sometimes brilliant posts. I remember when taoist first came to TOL. Tye went berserk calling him vile names, treating him rudely and generally trying to drive him away and even went after Crow of all people. It was pure evil on Tye's part and it opened my eyes to the hate filled hearts of many so-called Christians here at TOL. If I had not come to this site already a Christian, I would never have become one based on what I saw here. I understand why this site attracts so many atheists who want to mock and deride Christians, many Christians deserve it!!!!!!!!!!

Now, if you wanna talk about what Jesus would do, let's ask ourselves what Jesus would do with an imbecile like Tye. Tye is the poster child of why people shouldn't become a Christian.
And he isn't alone in this.

Finally, I'll say again that this is the internet. It is fantasyland. I don't take it seriously, it is entertainment. I have met some people here whose friendship I take seriously, but for the most part, this is no different than putting a science fiction movie in the VCR, popping some corn, grabbing a beer and watching the show.

 

[Poly]

Originally posted by BillyBob

Well Poly, this is the internet. You have NO idea who I chose to fellowship with in the real world. As for who I joke around with at TOL, I don't draw a line based on philosophy and decide only to be friendly to those whom I agree with. The religious zealots here, on the other hand, do make that distinction. Also, I am not an evangelist. It's not my job!

Can I ask then, in your "real life", do you agree with such verses as Romans 12:9 telling us to hate what's evil and cling to what's good or in Ephesians where he says to NOT have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather REPROVE them? In this "fantasy land" you sure seem to get worked up and go against those who are just trying to do this very thing. I am zealous over my God. And I have enough respect for Him to try and be the same person in "fantasyland" as I am in real life. I don't think He appreciates us using the internet as an escape for being somebody else other than who we really are if it's going against what He wants us to do. I really
hate wickedness. I'm sick of the wicked trying to take over. I'm really tired of people spitting in his face and dragging God's name through the dirt whether it's on here or in person. And no matter where it's done, I plan on doing what is expected of me, by God in any situation where this occurs; Expose it.

 

[BillyBob]

Poly;
Can I ask then, in your "real life", do you agree with such verses as Romans 12:9 telling us to hate what's evil and cling to what's good or in Ephesians where he says to NOT have fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather REPROVE them?

Billy;
I walk a pretty straight and narrow path, Poly, and that includes how I choose who I spend my time with. However, I cannot say that I wouldn't spend time with a fella like Zakath. I find him to be intelligent and witty and would even enjoy discussing philosophy with him. I am not afraid of exploring all sorts of philosophies. I have read Plato, Sagan, Buddha and plenty of other writers as well as Paul. They all have something to offer.

Poly;
In this "fantasy land" you sure seem to get worked up and go against those who are just trying to do this very thing.

Billy;
I get worked up over self righteous religious legalism.

Poly;
I am zealous over my God. And I have enough respect for Him to try and be the same person in "fantasyland" as I am in real life.

Billy;
Well, I am not like you.

Poly;
I don't think He appreciates us using the internet as an escape for being somebody else other than who we really are if it's going against what He wants us to do.

Billy;
I'm not convinced that is what's happening.

Poly;
I really hate wickedness. I'm sick of the wicked trying to take over. I'm really tired of people spitting in his face and dragging God's name through the dirt whether it's on here or in person. And no matter where it's done, I plan on doing what is expected of me, by God in any situation where this occurs; Expose it.

Billy;
You Go Girl!!!!!

 

[Sozo]

BillyBob...

Would you consider this verse from Peter on your list of verses that you accept as a sincere message from God?

"For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit"

 

[SOTK]

BB,

I don't understand your position that this, TOL, is fantasy and not reality. Every where you go, you're there. People can't truly escape from who they are. I do agree that it is easier to be gutsy on the internet or be more confrontational, but it's ridiculous to state that it's not reality. Do you consider talking on the phone not reality too? Are letters not reality either? At what point, is a person responsible for the things they say? I wonder what God thinks about your internet personality argument? I wonder if He feels that it's just 'fantasy'? :think:

Let's say, for the sake of argument, you are right. Your internet personality is completely different from your real personality. In other words, you are intentionally trying to be a different person. What's that say about your 'real' personality? It sounds like deception to me. So, people on TOL now knowing this, are gonna know something about your real personality, aren't they?

Furthermore, don't you think we have a responsibility as Christians to behave appropriately in public? I do. Non-believers watch us closely. Now, I am not perfect, but I try especially hard to show good Christian moral character to whomever I am around. I feel that the internet is no different. You never know who is watching you. You never know who is reading your words. We are supposed to be fishers of men. How can we be fishers of men if the bait we use is not attractive?

SOTK

 

[BillyBob]

There is a lot of ambiguity here, Sozo.

Let's assume that it is a sincere message from God. It is still open to interpretation and misinterpretation. I can easily see how religious legalistic zealots would take a verse like that and run with it for personal gain.

"And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?"

Yep, I concur. Regardless of any typical rabid accusations, if a man is not guilty of them, his spirit is clean. Buddha said that no man is immune to accusation. He was right.

"But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:"

I could easily translate that as a justification for my position that much of Christianity is an invention of man, or at least, a misinterpretation of God's intent. It verifies that I do not have to be troubled because I sanctify God in my heart.

"and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:"

Sounds like apologetics to me. I do not, however, see many here at TOL being meek while offering their 'answers'.

"that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. "

Tell that to Tye and his ilk.

"For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing."

OK. I understand the point of this, it is very reminiscent of Paul. Who among us hasn't been on the losing end for doing what is good and right.

 

[BillyBob]

SOTK;
I don't understand your position that this, TOL, is fantasy and not reality. Every where you go, you're there. People can't truly escape from who they are. I do agree that it is easier to be gutsy on the internet or be more confrontational, but it's ridiculous to state that it's not reality. Do you consider talking on the phone not reality too? Are letters not reality either? At what point, is a person responsible for the things they say?

Billy;
Is your real name SOTK? Right away this is a demonstration that the internet is fantasy. We all use made up names, not exactly reality, is it.

When I write a letter, I use my real name. When I talk on the phone, I use my real name. When I meet someone in person, I use my real name.

Don't pretend that this is reality, it is far from it.

 

[SOTK]

My name is Aaron. A person could read more about me in my profile or just ask. I have nothing to hide.

 

[BillyBob]

Oh, well now the internet is suddenly reality. You can imagine my embarrassment.

 

[SOTK]

You should be.

 

[BillyBob]

Glad that's settled.

 

[Sozo]

Originally posted by BillyBob
There is a lot of ambiguity here, Sozo.

That may be more of a choice than you'd like to admit.

Let's assume that it is a sincere message from God

You may assume, if you wish.

It is still open to interpretation and misinterpretation

It certainly is, as are all things.

I can easily see how religious legalistic zealots would take a verse like that and run with it for personal gain.

Me too, but that does not negate God's intent.

Buddha said that no man is immune to accusation. He was right.

If Buddha said anything that can be construed as truth, he got it from God, but of whom does Buddha testify as the source of truth?

I could easily translate that as a justification for my position that much of Christianity is an invention of man, or at least, a misinterpretation of God's intent. It verifies that I do not have to be troubled because I sanctify God in my heart.

But you are not suffering persecution for righteousness sake, nor have you set yourself apart unto God, but you are only setting yourself apart from religion, of which I commend you. However, I think that at some point you need to make some conclusions about God and His message.

Sounds like apologetics to me. I do not, however, see many here at TOL being meek while offering their 'answers'.

Are you saying that you are unsure what your hope is? Are you willing to reject how you interpret God's intent because others are not gentle in their presentation?

 

[BillyBob]

Sozo;
That may be more of a choice than you'd like to admit.

Billy;
Perhaps.

 

[BillyBob]

quote:
It is still open to interpretation and misinterpretation

Sozo;
It certainly is, as are all things.

Billy;
Yes. And because so, the interpretation of it is contestable.

 

[BillyBob]

quote:
I can easily see how religious legalistic zealots would take a verse like that and run with it for personal gain.

Sozo;
Me too, but that does not negate God's intent.

Billy;
Agreed.