^wow, I'm sorry.
Personally I find faith can be pretty time-consuming and idea-restricting. Also, again, it's really not a choice. One can't just say, "Hm, believing in God sounds like a good idea, guess I'll do it." A belief is something you feel convinced of for some reason. Like, could you (personally) just decide, right now, to not believe in a god anymore? If you can, then you never believed in the first place.
Or maybe I'm wrong. I haven't been inside the heads of all that many people. What I can say for sure is that I absolutely cannot will a belief. It's a state of mind; it comes from reason and emotion; I have no power over it. Maybe I'm just weird like that.
Have you heard about
The Case for Christ? An Atheist was startled by the changes in his wife, who became a Christan, so he decided to test Christianity through the rigors of Investigative Journalism. He waded through a mountain of evidence, and compiled a verdict that astounded himself. He came to the conclusion that Jesus was who He said He was, and that he should follow Him. This man (Lee Strobel) Did choose God. He did say: "Believing in God sounds like the right idea, so I'm going to do it."
In chronological backwards order:
ZAKtheGeek –
I did read your post, but since there is no way for me to know what kind of organism they might have been, I just went with one of the smallest life forms known ATM.
I believe that Jesus is always standing in front of people, always extending his gift. It doesn’t have to be a corporeal person preaching, once someone can understand it, he waits.
In addition, belief IS a matter of choice, and it’s not silly.
ryanvergel –
I had no idea that something like Pascal’s Wager existed.
But, I think that what I was saying is different than that. I was basing my example on my belief that God is real, and that if someone doesn’t choose (pleads the Fifth or is an agnostic) that they ARE in fact choosing where they end up.
I was not talking about “Hedging your bets and following God, because if He doesn’t exist it doesn’t matter anyway.”
Marril
On Sodom and Gomorrah – They were given much time and one final chance to stave off their destruction, but neither moved on it.
Genesis 18:20-33 So the LORD told Abraham, “I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are extremely evil, and that everything they do is wicked. 21 I am going down to see whether or not these reports are true. Then I will know.”
22 The other two men went on towards Sodom, but the LORD remained with Abraham for a while. 23 Abraham approached him and said “Will you destroy both the innocent and guilty alike? 24 Suppose you find 50 innocent people there within the city – will you still destroy it, and not spare it for their sakes? 25 Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the innocent with the guilty. Why, you would be treating the innocent and the guilty exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
26 And the LORD replied, “If I find 50 innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.”
27 Then Abraham spoke again, “Since I have begun, let me go on and speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes. 28 Suppose there are only 45? Will you destroy the city for lack of 5?
And the LORD said, “I will not destroy it if I find 45.”
29 Then Abraham pressed his request further. “Suppose there are only 40?”
And the LORD replied, “ I will not destroy it if there are 40.”
30 “Please don’t be angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak – suppose only 30 are found?”
And the LORD replied “I will not destroy it if there are 30.”
31 Then Abraham said, “Since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me continue – suppose there are only 20?”
And the LORD said, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of 20.”
32 Finally, Abraham said, “Lord, please do not get angry; I will speak but once more! Suppose only ten are found there?”
And the LORD said, “Then, for the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.
33 The LORD went on his way when he had finished his conversation with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his tent.
Now, Abraham wants the cities to be saved, so he bargains with God. What if there are 50 innocent people? What about only 10? God promised that if there are only 10 innocent people in BOTH cities, he won’t destroy them. So his angels travel on to the city where they want to spend the night. Now, Lot, Abraham’s nephew, was sitting at the gate of the city and sees them coming. He greets them and requests that they join him for the night. They said that “Oh no, We’ll just spend the night out in the city square.” Lot insists though, and they feast at his home. After they retire, all the men of Sodom(young and old) came out and stood outside the house, shouting for Lot to bring the travelers out. (as they wanted to, well, you get the idea)
Anyway, the angels hid the door from the men and told Lot to escape with all his family, as the stench of Sodom and Gomorrah was going to be cleansed. So Lot fled with his 2 daughters and his wife into the hills and the cities and all the surrounding villages were destroyed.
Now, my insights. God had heard that Sodom and Gomorrah are evil, and that all the people inhabiting it were wicked and engaging in all kinds of despicable acts against him. BUT, he agrees to spare the cities on the account of 10 innocent people. So, his angels visit, and find that only Lot and his family are worth saving, so they tell Lot to flee and God rains sulfur and fire to destroy the cities and villages in the area.
Now, had only 10 innocent people lived in the city, it would have been spared. (originally, he had put the number at 50, but because he wants the people saved, he allowed Abraham to negotiate it down to 10)
I believe that there are more than enough innocent people left in America that God will still allow us time to believe.
Though, I do think that eventually God will get fed up with the direction we are headed if we don’t do something about it.
Also: PSYCO829, about the Bible. That's perfectly fine if you don't want to take the Bible as a good source of information. (though it's kind of contrary to your point if you immediatly quote Job about the Behemoth)
I will say about Job-Behemoth: Indeed it does appear to be a herbavore(sp?), BUT, normally Herbavores are more prevalent than carnivores anyway, as carnivores only eat herbavores. It could be that the carnivorous dinos were dying out at the time, and the Herbavours were much more common.
