Questions for Christians

[Beckster]

1. If a hundred different religions have to be wrong for yours to be right, does this show that people from all over the world like to invent gods that don’t exist?
Religion is ultimately a representation of people's different perspectives, so I figure it anyway. God is a divine being, but man created different religions to worship him and those are based on cultural factors and other such things. And then there's those wack-a-doo Scientologists.... :roll:

2. If your parents had belonged to a different religion, do you think you would belong to that religion too?
My mom is Catholic and my Dad's religion has no name (they are like more modern Mennonites). I've never practiced my Dad's faith, they are too strict for my taste. I do consider myself Catholic, like my Mom, because it's what I know.

3. If people from the five major religions are each told conflicting information by their respective gods, should any of them be believed?
That sounds rather ignorant of a question.

4. How can you tell the voice of God from a voice in your head?
Dumb question, but I would say it's essentially that subconsciousness part of you that guides you through what is right and what is wrong.

5. How can you tell the voice of God from the voice of the Devil?
See above

6. Would you find it easier to kill someone if you believed God supported you in the act?
Seriously?

7. If God told you to kill an atheist, would you?
He wouldn't do that. It's not his thing.

8. When an atheist is kind and charitable out of the kindness of his heart, is his behavior more or less commendable than a religious man who does it because God instructed him to?
A humble person lives a life in God's image. It's always those good and humble people that get recognized, not the ones who feel they have to advertise their beliefs ... or something like that.

9. If you are against the Crusades and the Inquisition, would you have been burned alive as a heretic during those events?
Probably

10. If your interpretation of a holy book causes you to condemn your ancestors for having a different interpretation, will your descendants condemn you in the same way?
I don't really condemn anyone

11. Rape wasn't always a crime in the Middle East two thousand years ago. Is that why `do not rape’ is not part of the Ten Commandments?
I thought it fell under "do not covet the neighbor's wife"?

12. Do lions need `god-given' morality to understand how to care for their young, co-operate within a pack, or feel anguish at the loss of a companion? Why do we?
They have their own version. :wink:

13. If organized religion requires a civilization in which to spread, how could this civilization exist without first having a moral code to make us civil?
I am skipping this one

14. An all-knowing God can read your mind, so why does he require you to demonstrate your faith by worshiping him?
Basically it's living a good and honest life.

15. If God is all-knowing, why do holy books describe him as surprised or angered by the actions of humans? He should have known what was going to happen.
Books were written by man, not God himself and, therefore are quite biased.

16. An all-knowing God knows who will ultimately reject him. Why does God create people who he knows will end up in hell?
He gave us free-will and the ability to choose

17. If God is all knowing, then why did he make humans in the knowledge that he’d eventually have to send Jesus to his death?
I'll ask Him

18. Why did a supposedly omnipotent god take six days to create the universe, and why did he require rest on the seventh day?
6 days were not 6 "24 hour" days. That story was also told in a way to entertain and captivate people's attention.

19. Is omnipotence necessary to create our universe when a larger, denser universe would have required more power?
Apparently so, because I tried and couldn't make one.

20. Why are Churches filled with riches when Jesus gave all his wealth to the poor?
Not all churches are. And many churches take what they get and use right right back in the community. Who runs most shelters, retreats, and soup kitchens? Churches!

21. While in the desert, Jesus rejected the temptations of the Devil. He didn't censor or kill the Devil, so why are Christians so in favor of censoring many Earthly temptations?
Because He did it for us. Christians fear they will give in to weakness.

22. Given that the story of Noah’s Ark was copied almost word for word from the much older Sumerian Epic of Atrahasis, does this mean that our true ruler is the supreme sky god, Anu?
I didn't know that. I still say those tales were stories told as a way to teach people morals. Be good or God will flood your ass.

23. If your desire is to convert atheists so that they become more like you; do you think that you’re currently better than them?
That's ignorant to force your beliefs on others. Lead by example, but let them find their own way.

24. If religious people don’t respect their children’s right to pick their own religion at a time when they're able to make that decision, how can society expect religious people to respect anyone’s right to freedom of religion?
Most children will go with the one they were raised by.

25. If missionaries from your religion should be sent to convert people in other countries, should missionaries from other religions be sent to your country?
They are

26. If children are likely to believe in Santa Claus and fairies, does this explain why religion has been taught in schools for thousands of years?
Like it or not, religion has played a huge role in the history of the human race. Santa was based on a real person. A saint, in fact. I don't recall learning about fairies in school.

27. When preachers and prophets claim to be special messengers of God, they often receive special benefits from their followers. Does this ever cause you to doubt their intentions?
Yes

28. When you declare a miracle, does this mean you understand everything that is possible in nature?
Life is a miracle.

29. If a woman was cured of cancer by means unknown to us, and everyone declared it a miracle, would the chance of scientifically replicating this cure be more or less likely?
Probably less, if it's not obvious what cured her.

30. If humans declared fire to be a miracle thousands of years ago, would we still be huddling together in caves while we wait for God to fire another lightning bolt into the forest?
He is our teacher.

31. If God gave a man cancer, and the Devil cured him to subvert God’s plan, how would you know it wasn't a divine miracle? What if he was an unkind, atheist, homosexual?
The real God does not discriminate

32. Should an instruction to convert to your religion upon the threat of eternal torture in hell be met with anything other than hostility?
No. That's just dumb.

33. Can a mass murderer go to heaven for accepting your religion, while a kind doctor goes to hell for not?
Who says that would ever happen? No one told me I could break a Commandment before I was baptized, so I could clear my way upstairs.

34. Did the mass murdering Crusaders and Inquisitors make it into the Christian heaven?
I am pretty sure they are still suffering for their sins they committed.

35. How can we know what is right when we don’t know for sure who makes it into heaven and hell?
The 10 Commandments and your morals are supposed to guide you.

36. If aliens exist on several worlds that have never heard of your god, will they all be going to hell when they die?
We can ask them when we discover them.

37. If someone promised you eternal life, the protection of a loving super being, a feeling of moral righteousness, a purpose for living, answers to all the big questions, and a rule book for achieving the pinnacle of human potential… and all in exchange for having faith in something that wasn't proven, would you be suspicious?
It's more complicated than that.

38. If someone promised to give you a billion dollars after ten years, but only if you worshiped them until that time, would you believe them? If someone promised to give you eternal life upon death, but only if you spent your life worshiping a god, would you believe them?
Said the sarcastic atheist

39. Why does religion appeal more to poor, weak, vulnerable, young, ill, depressed, and ostracized people? Could religious promises be more of a temptation to these people?

Sometimes it's those who types of people who listen better.