Who is God to You?

[asi1998]

When you think of God, what automatically comes to your mind? I think of my creator who loves everyone and who is most definitely real. He is loving and active and is not all about rules and following them.

This post is to discuss God in a formal way. Please be respectful and try to refrain from ad homenim attacks. In addition, plese do not try to force your views on anyone. We are all free to believe what we want whether someone else thinks we are right or not.

[Jake55778]

There is already a very similar thread on the topic of religion.

Me, I'm an atheist. I can't disprove the notion of some kind of intelligence shaping the creation of the universe, but the idea of a personal God, one who hears and answers prayers, one who created humanity in his image, one who possesses a grand plan for everything that happens, is completely absurd to me.

[Sti_Jo_Lew]

God to me is something I don't personally believe in. But I've seen how religion can help people get through things, by thinking someone of a greater power is protecting them and that everything happened for a reason.

[asi1998]

Me, I'm an atheist. I can't disprove the notion of some kind of intelligence shaping the creation of the universe,

So can you tell me from where you believe this intelligence came and was incorporated into the creation of the universe?

[asi1998]

God to me is something I don't personally believe in. But I've seen how religion can help people get through things, by thinking someone of a greater power is protecting them and that everything happened for a reason.

God is not religion to me. He is my creator and counsels me through life. I have seen situation and phrases throughout the Bible help me and others through everyday life. My point: God, unlike religion, is more than just a thought but I believe he is real and loves us an will work with you and help you whenever you ask.

[Jake55778]

Simple answer: I don't know, and I don't think anybody else does either.

The idea of existence before the universe, before matter, and before time is so alien to me I simply cannot grasp it. But I am forced to conclude that something must have caused the big bang, and your guess is as good as mine. If you want to call that force "God" then I can neither prove nor disprove you.

[asi1998]

Simple answer: I don't know, and I don't think anybody else does either.

The idea of existence before the universe, before matter, and before time is so alien to me I simply cannot grasp it. But I am forced to conclude that something must have caused the big bang, and your guess is as good as mine. If you want to call that force "God" then I can neither prove nor disprove you.

There are a lot of born again Christians who do believe God caused the big bang. While I believe Gid spoke the universe into existence my dad believes that God might have caused the big bang. He is not alone either. I think you should give Gid a chance and sincerely seek Him if you wish to find Him. You will be surprised and impressed by what you will find because God and science can and should coexist.

[697134002]

Simple answer: I don't know, and I don't think anybody else does either.

The idea of existence before the universe, before matter, and before time is so alien to me I simply cannot grasp it. But I am forced to conclude that something must have caused the big bang, and your guess is as good as mine. If you want to call that force "God" then I can neither prove nor disprove you.

There are a lot of born again Christians who do believe God caused the big bang. While I believe Gid spoke the universe into existence my dad believes that God might have caused the big bang. He is not alone either. I think you should give Gid a chance and sincerely seek Him if you wish to find Him. You will be surprised and impressed by what you will find because God and science can and should coexist.

The big bang was not the start of the universe. The big bang is an explanation for the expansion of the universe from a central point where all of the matter in the universe was in a very dense state.

[Furdabip]

Believing that "god" was the thing that caused the big bang to happen means you accept that the big bang is real, was the cause of the universe's existance, and that all events through star and planet formation and evolution of life from single-celled bacteria some 3.8 billion years ago to all the current species of animals on Earth happened and is factual.

At that point you're just defining god in whatever terms suit you best. There's no mention of a god creating the universe by farting one into existance in any religious dogma, so why would you backpedal all the way back to the start of the universe to explain god? Because you simply refuse to believe that there ISN'T a god, so will continue to search for a gap in any logic or factual evidence to shove god in there so you don't ever have to come to terms with all the time you wasted believing in one.

If you are Christian, then you believe that the Christian bible recounts all events accurately and should be followed as a way to live your life. Meaning, you should own slaves, that it's okay to rape women, murder is justifyable, you shouldn't do any work on Sundays, and that if you step out of line in any way from the words within it, you are damned to an eternal torment in "hell."

If you DON'T follow the Christian bible, then you are not Christian, and should not claim to be. At that point, why would you retain a belief in a god that is clearly described in ancient texts as to his behaviour and preferred actions. You don't agree with them, right? So you shouldn't believe he is your god and your "soul" will be saved to live on in eternal bliss. But then you can morph that god into YOUR god, one personal to you. One that will help YOU through YOUR life. Why is that belief still a god at that point? Why can't believing in YOURSELF help you? Believing that you are the one that can get through whatever it is that you need to get through, by yourself or with the help of friends and family. Why do you STILL need a "god" at that point?

To wrap it all up, if you believe a god created the universe by simply "speaking," and accept that the universe is 14.6 billion years old, what would make you think that with his infinite power he would care enough about THIS universe when he would create billions of them everytime he had a conversation? He would have created an unfathomable amount of universes by the time Humans evolved into existance. All we are to him at that point is a drop of condensation on the window of his vintage 1967 Lamborghini Miura.

[asi1998]

The big bang was not the start of the universe. The big bang is an explanation for the expansion of the universe from a central point where all of the matter in the universe was in a very dense state.

Then what was the start of the universe?

[asi1998]

Believing that "god" was the thing that caused the big bang to happen means you accept that the big bang is real, was the cause of the universe's existance, and that all events through star and planet formation and evolution of life from single-celled bacteria some 3.8 billion years ago to all the current species of animals on Earth happened and is factual.

At that point you're just defining god in whatever terms suit you best. There's no mention of a god creating the universe by farting one into existance in any religious dogma, so why would you backpedal all the way back to the start of the universe to explain god? Because you simply refuse to believe that there ISN'T a god, so will continue to search for a gap in any logic or factual evidence to shove god in there so you don't ever have to come to terms with all the time you wasted believing in one.

If you are Christian, then you believe that the Christian bible recounts all events accurately and should be followed as a way to live your life. Meaning, you should own slaves, that it's okay to rape women, murder is justifyable, you shouldn't do any work on Sundays, and that if you step out of line in any way from the words within it, you are damned to an eternal torment in "hell."

If you DON'T follow the Christian bible, then you are not Christian, and should not claim to be. At that point, why would you retain a belief in a god that is clearly described in ancient texts as to his behaviour and preferred actions. You don't agree with them, right? So you shouldn't believe he is your god and your "soul" will be saved to live on in eternal bliss. But then you can morph that god into YOUR god, one personal to you. One that will help YOU through YOUR life. Why is that belief still a god at that point? Why can't believing in YOURSELF help you? Believing that you are the one that can get through whatever it is that you need to get through, by yourself or with the help of friends and family. Why do you STILL need a "god" at that point?

To wrap it all up, if you believe a god created the universe by simply "speaking," and accept that the universe is 14.6 billion years old, what would make you think that with his infinite power he would care enough about THIS universe when he would create billions of them everytime he had a conversation? He would have created an unfathomable amount of universes by the time Humans evolved into existance. All we are to him at that point is a drop of condensation on the window of his vintage 1967 Lamborghini Miura.

First of all, I do not believe that the big bang started the expansion of the universe billions of years ago. My theory is new age. I think how God created the universe is not as big of a deal inside Chriatianity (I am not saying that it is not a big deal in this discussion and I am saying that Christianity and science can coexist) I believe God spoke ONLY our universe into existence and loves us a lot more then you think based on your last comment. Human beings a special, they are not things that you just make more of to satisfy. Every one that is lost is special and God invests time in all of us because he literally was tortured and willingly hung on a cross with nails going through him for around 6 hours because he loved each and every human being. He was the perfect sacrifice for man's willful sin.

In addition to that, nobody perfectly follows the Christian Bible. According to the Bible the Christian is the one who loves God and believes that Jesus died and rose from the dead (Romans 10:9-10) It does not say the the Christian is the one who is perfect and follows and never works on Sunday and does not do anything indirectly opposed to God's word ever. It is one thing to be good and follow rules but the real issue is loving aged and doing what you are called to do by Him. That is Christianity.

[Furdabip]

First of all, I do not believe that the big bang started the expansion of the universe billions of years ago. My theory is new age. I think how God created the universe is not as big of a deal inside Chriatianity (I am not saying that it is not a big deal in this discussion and I am saying that Christianity and science can coexist) I believe God spoke ONLY our universe into existence and loves us a lot more then you think based on your last comment. Human beings a special, they are not things that you just make more of to satisfy. Every one that is lost is special and God invests time in all of us because he literally was tortured and willingly hung on a cross with nails going through him for around 6 hours because he loved each and every human being. He was the perfect sacrifice for man's willful sin.

In addition to that, nobody perfectly follows the Christian Bible. According to the Bible the Christian is the one who loves God and believes that Jesus died and rose from the dead (Romans 10:9-10) It does not say the the Christian is the one who is perfect and follows and never works on Sunday and does not do anything indirectly opposed to God's word ever. It is one thing to be good and follow rules but the real issue is loving aged and doing what you are called to do by Him. That is Christianity.

Your theory is "new age"? That right there proves exactly what I was talking about. You are fitting god into whatever slot you can in order to justify believing in him. There is no "new age" when it comes to Christianity. Either you believe that the bible is the spoken word of your god and to follow his word exactly how it is written, or you don't, and you're not Christian. You can't choose to accept SOME parts of the bible and ignore others. If you believe he was tortured and nailed to a cross for your sins, you should believe all the other "facts" from the bible. Again, if you do NOT follow the bible word for word, then you are NOT Christian, you are your own made-up religion using Christianity as your base.

Also, if you believe your god spoke to you and told you to kill someone, would you do it? Knowing that your god's will is infallible, going against it will displease him and condemn you to hell. If you wouldn't do as your god asked and kill someone, you are not religious and shouldn't claim to be. You're just inventing your view of your own god, and not the view layed out in religious doctrine. And don't try to say that "god would never do that," as according to the bible, he has before, so there'd be no reason why he wouldn't again.

[697134002]

The big bang was not the start of the universe. The big bang is an explanation for the expansion of the universe from a central point where all of the matter in the universe was in a very dense state.

Then what was the start of the universe?

Scientists are currently unsure. However, there is evidence of particles coming in and out of existence. Clicky.

Every one that is lost is special and God invests time in all of us because he literally was tortured and willingly hung on a cross with nails going through him for around 6 hours because he loved each and every human being. He was the perfect sacrifice for man's willful sin.

So, in order to forgive humanity for their sins, he had to make them kill him painfully? Why not just forgive them?

[asi1998]

Every one that is lost is special and God invests time in all of us because he literally was tortured and willingly hung on a cross with nails going through him for around 6 hours because he loved each and every human being. He was the perfect sacrifice for man's willful sin.

So, in order to forgive humanity for their sins, he had to make them kill him painfully? Why not just forgive them?

Because God is true to His word and faithful to His rules. If the payment for sin is death (from a blameless person), that is what must be paid. (Jesus was 100% God and 100% man)

[asi1998]

First of all, I do not believe that the big bang started the expansion of the universe billions of years ago. My theory is new age. I think how God created the universe is not as big of a deal inside Chriatianity (I am not saying that it is not a big deal in this discussion and I am saying that Christianity and science can coexist) I believe God spoke ONLY our universe into existence and loves us a lot more then you think based on your last comment. Human beings a special, they are not things that you just make more of to satisfy. Every one that is lost is special and God invests time in all of us because he literally was tortured and willingly hung on a cross with nails going through him for around 6 hours because he loved each and every human being. He was the perfect sacrifice for man's willful sin.

In addition to that, nobody perfectly follows the Christian Bible. According to the Bible the Christian is the one who loves God and believes that Jesus died and rose from the dead (Romans 10:9-10) It does not say the the Christian is the one who is perfect and follows and never works on Sunday and does not do anything indirectly opposed to God's word ever. It is one thing to be good and follow rules but the real issue is loving aged and doing what you are called to do by Him. That is Christianity.

Your theory is "new age"? That right there proves exactly what I was talking about. You are fitting god into whatever slot you can in order to justify believing in him. There is no "new age" when it comes to Christianity. Either you believe that the bible is the spoken word of your god and to follow his word exactly how it is written, or you don't, and you're not Christian. You can't choose to accept SOME parts of the bible and ignore others. If you believe he was tortured and nailed to a cross for your sins, you should believe all the other "facts" from the bible. Again, if you do NOT follow the bible word for word, then you are NOT Christian, you are your own made-up religion using Christianity as your base.

Also, if you believe your god spoke to you and told you to kill someone, would you do it? Knowing that your god's will is infallible, going against it will displease him and condemn you to hell. If you wouldn't do as your god asked and kill someone, you are not religious and shouldn't claim to be. You're just inventing your view of your own god, and not the view layed out in religious doctrine. And don't try to say that "god would never do that," as according to the bible, he has before, so there'd be no reason why he wouldn't again.

Again I say, God is not about religion and following rules. Nobody is perfect which is pretty much why the entire Bible was written. God says that all of the law is summed up by loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:35-40) in addition to this the interpretation of History back to Adam and Eve, and even further, day 1 point toward 5,000-6,000 years. The Bible pretty much confirms this. God does not randomly say go kill people but people do die and God does allow them to because we live in a fallen world.

[697134002]

First of all, I do not believe that the big bang started the expansion of the universe billions of years ago. My theory is new age. I think how God created the universe is not as big of a deal inside Chriatianity (I am not saying that it is not a big deal in this discussion and I am saying that Christianity and science can coexist) I believe God spoke ONLY our universe into existence and loves us a lot more then you think based on your last comment. Human beings a special, they are not things that you just make more of to satisfy. Every one that is lost is special and God invests time in all of us because he literally was tortured and willingly hung on a cross with nails going through him for around 6 hours because he loved each and every human being. He was the perfect sacrifice for man's willful sin.

In addition to that, nobody perfectly follows the Christian Bible. According to the Bible the Christian is the one who loves God and believes that Jesus died and rose from the dead (Romans 10:9-10) It does not say the the Christian is the one who is perfect and follows and never works on Sunday and does not do anything indirectly opposed to God's word ever. It is one thing to be good and follow rules but the real issue is loving aged and doing what you are called to do by Him. That is Christianity.

Your theory is "new age"? That right there proves exactly what I was talking about. You are fitting god into whatever slot you can in order to justify believing in him. There is no "new age" when it comes to Christianity. Either you believe that the bible is the spoken word of your god and to follow his word exactly how it is written, or you don't, and you're not Christian. You can't choose to accept SOME parts of the bible and ignore others. If you believe he was tortured and nailed to a cross for your sins, you should believe all the other "facts" from the bible. Again, if you do NOT follow the bible word for word, then you are NOT Christian, you are your own made-up religion using Christianity as your base.

Also, if you believe your god spoke to you and told you to kill someone, would you do it? Knowing that your god's will is infallible, going against it will displease him and condemn you to hell. If you wouldn't do as your god asked and kill someone, you are not religious and shouldn't claim to be. You're just inventing your view of your own god, and not the view layed out in religious doctrine. And don't try to say that "god would never do that," as according to the bible, he has before, so there'd be no reason why he wouldn't again.

Again I say, God is not about religion and following rules. Nobody is perfect which is pretty much why the entire Bible was written. God says that all of the law is summed up by loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:35-40)

That doesn't address what Furd said at all.

[asi1998]

How does it not?

[697134002]

How does it not?

He was talking about how people say that not all of the bible is literal but believe parts of it are (despite the lack of disclaimers saying that certain parts are metaphorical) making up their own religion by cherry picking parts of the bible to believe.
If you believe that certain things in it are incorrect, how can you believe any of it? It's like opening a science textbook and seeing several pages about how dinosaurs valiantly defended the mammals from meteorites, giving their lives so that the mammals may live. You just can't trust the book anymore unless it has a disclaimer that that part was a joke.

[Milo_Windby]

Cherry picking from the bible... the thing with that is that all groups of Christianity already do this.
Its why on one hand we can have a group who is Pro-Video game and even went to PAX and had their own little setup where you could play games with a guy dressed as Jesus and on the other hand have a group like westboro baptist church who seem to hate everything about America. All groups look at the bible in different ways and in a sense that is 'cherry picking'

Besides, Personal Belief is all about it being Personal... There is no set rules and regulations in place on what you should or should not think when it comes to what you think is true. If God is really up there then I bet you a shinny nickle he couldn't give a flying fuck how someone worships him.

[DuplicateValue]

In addition, plese do not try to force your views on anyone..

I think you should give Gid a chance and sincerely seek Him if you wish to find Him. You will be surprised and impressed by what you will find because God and science can and should coexist.

[Furdabip]

... in addition to this the interpretation of History back to Adam and Eve, and even further, day 1 point toward 5,000-6,000 years. The Bible pretty much confirms this.

Nope, you are not worth my time. I simply cannot argue with people who think Earth is only 6,000 years old, as they will never ever understand anything you're talking about, as they don't WANT to.

If you ever want to help yourself become more than what you are, I recommend you start by watching some of Zinnia Jones' videos about religion on the youtubes; http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... ature=plcp

Until then, good day.

[asi1998]

... in addition to this the interpretation of History back to Adam and Eve, and even further, day 1 point toward 5,000-6,000 years. The Bible pretty much confirms this.

Nope, you are not worth my time. I simply cannot argue with people who think Earth is only 6,000 years old, as they will never ever understand anything you're talking about, as they don't WANT to.

If you ever want to help yourself become more than what you are, I recommend you start by watching some of Zinnia Jones' videos about religion on the youtubes; http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... ature=plcp

Until then, good day.

Furd thanks for trying to help me and being respectful but I do want to believe the truth and scientific evidence and conclusions I have drawn from it with the addition of truly seeking and experiencing what God has done in my life and others has led me where I am.

[asi1998]

How does it not?

He was talking about how people say that not all of the bible is literal but believe parts of it are (despite the lack of disclaimers saying that certain parts are metaphorical) making up their own religion by cherry picking parts of the bible to believe.
If you believe that certain things in it are incorrect, how can you believe any of it? It's like opening a science textbook and seeing several pages about how dinosaurs valiantly defended the mammals from meteorites, giving their lives so that the mammals may live. You just can't trust the book anymore unless it has a disclaimer that that part was a joke.

God spoke figuratively also just like we do.

[asi1998]

Cherry picking from the bible... the thing with that is that all groups of Christianity already do this.
Its why on one hand we can have a group who is Pro-Video game and even went to PAX and had their own little setup where you could play games with a guy dressed as Jesus and on the other hand have a group like westboro baptist church who seem to hate everything about America. All groups look at the bible in different ways and in a sense that is 'cherry picking'

Besides, Personal Belief is all about it being Personal... There is no set rules and regulations in place on what you should or should not think when it comes to what you think is true. If God is really up there then I bet you a shinny nickle he couldn't give a flying fuck how someone worships him.

Milo that is quite right. God cares if you love him with all your heart and if you love your neighbor as yourself. The Bible never says "And thou shalt not play video games" nor does it say "And thou shalt hate America because they and all their ways are evil." As a matter of fact, God loves America and wants everyone there to turn to Him. Obviously a lot of Americans are evil and have turned from God but you find that all over the world unfortunately.

As you can tell by these forums I love my God and I am assured where I am going and what I am here to do but Escapecraft is probably my favorite game. I enjoy it more than a whole lot of things and play it a good bit. I even get masted by it sometimes (Which I believe is a sin and I should not do it so much) but I love Minecraft and I love MW3 and I love God. They can and should coincide.

[asi1998]

In addition, plese do not try to force your views on anyone..

I think you should give Gid a chance and sincerely seek Him if you wish to find Him. You will be surprised and impressed by what you will find because God and science can and should coexist.

Duplicate, I am not forcing Him to do that I am suggesting that. He is free to do what He wants and believe what He wants.

[SMWasder]

I can't imagine god because I find I don't believe in the concept; the best answer I could give you is perhaps what I think other people see when they think of god, or things I associate with religion (the first thing that pops into my head is Bristol cathedral).

I won't go into the particular whys and wherefores of it but I'd call myself an atheist. Although I admit that there is the tiniest chance of god existing, it's only because I can't actually 100% disprove it. So long as religion isn't harming people or overriding actual scientific study in schools I don't care what people believe.

[Jake55778]

Astronomy is what tipped me from agnostic to atheist a few years back. To grasp, however loosely, the immensity of our universe is a humbling moment. The scale of it, the age of it, the power of it, all put any written descriptions of God to shame. How could a being capable of creating such unfathomable complexity be so petty, so jealous, and so cruel? Why would such a being single out our humble rock orbiting it's single star amongst trillions?

Of course you only have to flip the dynamic of man and god around for it all to make sense. Instead of God creating man, man creates God. To the bronze age nomads to whom this God supposedly spoke the night sky was merely something pretty to look at. They had no clue that each of those specks of light was a star every bit as bright as our own. Or that the seemingly empty space between them was filled with yet more stars, stretching away across distances that they could have scarcely imagined. Without that perspective I imagine it would be easy to believe that Earth is the center of the universe and that a creator is merely hiding in the clouds.

In light of everything we now know however: God is simply too small.

As long as we're posting videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e-3nILrROU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nnwvoH-4XI

[697134002]

... in addition to this the interpretation of History back to Adam and Eve, and even further, day 1 point toward 5,000-6,000 years. The Bible pretty much confirms this.

Nope, you are not worth my time. I simply cannot argue with people who think Earth is only 6,000 years old, as they will never ever understand anything you're talking about, as they don't WANT to.

If you ever want to help yourself become more than what you are, I recommend you start by watching some of Zinnia Jones' videos about religion on the youtubes; http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... ature=plcp

Until then, good day.

Furd thanks for trying to help me and being respectful but I do want to believe the truth and scientific evidence and conclusions I have drawn from it with the addition of truly seeking and experiencing what God has done in my life and others has led me where I am.

You are not believing in scientific evidence. Many different types of dating show that the earth is more than 6000 years old. Here's a short list. One of the least refutable ones is dendrochronology. That's the study of tree rings. A new ring is made each year, and it reflects on how the weather was for most of that year with thickness, colour and other variables. Large events can be seen on tree rings such as large volanic eruptions. You can see decreased growth on trees alive when Krakatoa erupted due to the ash blocking some sunlight and resulting in lower temperatures. You can even see it on trees dated to when Mount Vesuvius erupted. By using events like those, and some less massive ones, dendrochronologists have made timelines from hundreds of trees going back over 10000 years. And here's a graphic about the difference between science and religion and searching for truth.

Scientific Method.png

How does it not?

He was talking about how people say that not all of the bible is literal but believe parts of it are (despite the lack of disclaimers saying that certain parts are metaphorical) making up their own religion by cherry picking parts of the bible to believe.
If you believe that certain things in it are incorrect, how can you believe any of it? It's like opening a science textbook and seeing several pages about how dinosaurs valiantly defended the mammals from meteorites, giving their lives so that the mammals may live. You just can't trust the book anymore unless it has a disclaimer that that part was a joke.

God spoke figuratively also just like we do.

When we speak figuratively, we make sure the person we are talking to understands it. In the bible, there is nothing about anything in there that says "This is true" and "this is metaphorical." Here's a comic about that.

Meatland.gif

On a more serious note, the bible was taken literally for much of its existence by its believers. Only now that certain things are being disproven by science are some people saying that things are metaphorical.

Cherry picking from the bible... the thing with that is that all groups of Christianity already do this.
Its why on one hand we can have a group who is Pro-Video game and even went to PAX and had their own little setup where you could play games with a guy dressed as Jesus and on the other hand have a group like westboro baptist church who seem to hate everything about America. All groups look at the bible in different ways and in a sense that is 'cherry picking'

Besides, Personal Belief is all about it being Personal... There is no set rules and regulations in place on what you should or should not think when it comes to what you think is true. If God is really up there then I bet you a shinny nickle he couldn't give a flying fuck how someone worships him.

Milo that is quite right. God cares if you love him with all your heart and if you love your neighbor as yourself. The Bible never says "And thou shalt not play video games" nor does it say "And thou shalt hate America because they and all their ways are evil." As a matter of fact, God loves America and wants everyone there to turn to Him. Obviously a lot of Americans are evil and have turned from God but you find that all over the world unfortunately.

As you can tell by these forums I love my God and I am assured where I am going and what I am here to do but Escapecraft is probably my favorite game. I enjoy it more than a whole lot of things and play it a good bit. I even get masted by it sometimes (Which I believe is a sin and I should not do it so much) but I love Minecraft and I love MW3 and I love God. They can and should coincide.

If God wants people to worship him, why doesn't he provide evidence? And what makes the minority of non-christians in America evil? Statistics say that Christians are more likely to be in prison than atheists.

[Wildwill002]

Today I learned never to argue with 697...

Now I respect people who believe in god but I personally feel like he/she/it is far too generalized to be true. There are too many different lessons for people to take out what they specifically want to believe in and when you raise the facts that what they've chosen to believe contradicts something else in the bible (I.e. a man that lies with another man must be stoned contradicting with love thy neighbor like you love thyself) quite a few seem to just ignore you or try to disprove it. (Not saying all, just a few)

[Furdabip]

So long as religion isn't harming people or overriding actual scientific study in schools I don't care what people believe.

Religion brainwashes people into waging religious wars with each other, simply because people believe different things than each other. I can't think of a single war that was started for reasons other than religious ones. Not. A. Single. One.

That makes religion dangerous. You should NOT have a view of "Well, if they're not hurting anyone..." about religion, as THEY ARE.