[tedquick]

!!!

[tedquick]

Originally Posted by Rags123

I am curious which part of your statement...

"That is part of what makes this “former” greatest-country-ever such a wonderful place in which to live."

One of the things that make this the CURRENT greatest country-ever, is that we, the people can change the direction of the country.

I am not a young man....I have been unhappy with the direction a few times and happy with the direction a few times. THAT does not diminish that I think this is the greatest country ever and never believe it is former. I also do not measure the greatness of a country by the measurements you supply. You did not list heart, soul or anything in the abstract.

Would I like us to be on top of each of those lists ? I do not know.....only if it did not detract and added to our country, and I have strong feelings on many issues about which you flirt with here, but this country accepts a lot of folks from other lands and they need not take an intelligence test to get in.


SORRY I interrupted your thread here. I have a big mouth and am very opinionated, however, to me religion is from within and almost impossible to have a forum discussion on. Politics is different for many obvious reasons and you jumped from religion to politics in this thread. I have no desire to post on religion....it is in me and mine....I share when necessary, but certainly have no franchise on my feelings or my God, thus it is all personal. Sorry again...will leave you be

A good number of our recent posts have been off topic, but that frankly doesn't bother me. I will make a couple other comments and then we can return, but only if all others agree. But first, however, I was in a 7:30 A.M. meeting today with a room full of veterans and I even shared some tears with a couple of them. This afternoon I was in another meeting with two of the same. They know precisely how I feel about them and what they and millions of others have done, for without their sacrifices you and I wouldn't be having this discussion. Spending time with the veterans of which I was honored to share time with today simply added to the displeasure at our nation’s present direction.

As I said in an earlier post, I would not live in any other country but just because I love her to death doesn't mean that I’m not able to see that she has faults and some potentially fatal weaknesses. Three other statistics are: America is the 88th safest country, the 17th “best” country in which to live and the 8th wealthiest in the world. Safety, freedom & happiness and wealth are reasonable tests when comparing the good, better and best.

I will repeat, I love America (and to me personally, she *is* the “greatest” country in the world), but when I set aside my personal prejudices and consider other factors like those noted above -- maybe not so much!!

On this Veteran’s Day I close: God Bless all who have served and are presently serving our country and God Bless America.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by Bonanza

I would much rather see people take action with some group or organization that is involved in helping others in some way, than those who regularly go to church and other than that, do nothing.

Originally Posted by tippyclubb

I do believe in a higher power, I believe goodness is inside of everyone. I strongly believe in karma. I believe doing small acts of kindness everyday takes us one more step to our true purpose in life. The Golden Rule is a major belief of all religions and God is just a name.

I believe there is no one answer. Saying "It's my way or the highway" with regard to religious beliefs is denigrating to those who aren't a member of an organized religion, yet are inherently good people, kind to others and who live by the Golden Rule.

[DougB]

Today's Short Reading from the Bible.....from Genesis

"And God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the earth."
Then He made the earth round....

[Villages PL]

Originally Posted by DougB

Today's Short Reading from the Bible.....from Genesis

"And God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the earth."
Then He made the earth round....

............

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Rags123

I am curious which part of your statement...

"That is part of what makes this “former” greatest-country-ever such a wonderful place in which to live."

One of the things that make this the CURRENT greatest country-ever, is that we, the people can change the direction of the country.

I am not a young man....I have been unhappy with the direction a few times and happy with the direction a few times. THAT does not diminish that I think this is the greatest country ever and never believe it is former. I also do not measure the greatness of a country by the measurements you supply. You did not list heart, soul or anything in the abstract.

Would I like us to be on top of each of those lists ? I do not know.....only if it did not detract and added to our country, and I have strong feelings on many issues about which you flirt with here, but this country accepts a lot of folks from other lands and they need not take an intelligence test to get in.


SORRY I interrupted your thread here. I have a big mouth and am very opinionated, however, to me religion is from within and almost impossible to have a forum discussion on. Politics is different for many obvious reasons and you jumped from religion to politics in this thread. I have no desire to post on religion....it is in me and mine....I share when necessary, but certainly have no franchise on my feelings or my God, thus it is all personal. Sorry again...will leave you be

Well said.

[Shimpy]

Originally Posted by tedquick

Allow me to offer some fairly recent available facts (within the last couple of years):
America is 7th in literacy,
27th in math,
22nd in science,
49th in life expectancy,
169th in infant mortality,
3rd in household income,
4th in labor force and
4th in exports.

We are, however, number one in incarcerated adults per capita and number one in defense spending. So definitionally, do we sound like the greatest country in the world anymore?

Number one in defense spending sounds good to me.

[KeepingItReal]

World's most big-hearted nation: the United States.



The United States is the world's most generous nation, according to a global index of giving, as a higher proportion of Americans helped a stranger than any other country in the world.

The 2013 World Giving Index – published annually by international nonprofit organization Charities Aid Foundation – looks at three measures: monetary giving, volunteering and helping of strangers in a typical month. The survey, published on Tuesday, was carried out in 2012 across 135 countries.

[Scott8147]

Originally Posted by tedquick

Back on Sept 23rd, on the 4th page of the blog piece “Big Bang and the Bible” onslowe recommended the book “I don’t have enough faith to be an Atheist” by Norman Geisler. I just completed the book, thus my question and thank you, onslowe.

For me The Big Bang Theory adequately explains how God created the universe. Perhaps I should say that the BBTheory adequately explains to me the methodology that God utilized for His creation. If you are an atheist, and there is no God, then how can you explain the origin of the universe?

God is a man-made creation. There are so many things man did not and still does not understand that we created God because we felt that surely there was something greater than us who understood everything and was in charge. Since we will never understand everything, there will always be room for some people to say that's proof of God.
Yes, apparently there was nothing before the Big Bang --- nothing -- and that includes God. How did it start? How about a quantum fluctuation in the vacuum? We know that particles pop into and out of existence all the time. In time we understand even more and in time, hopefully the concept of God will pop out of existence as well.

[tucson]

To say that the universe just happened takes more faith than to believe that God is behind it. God truly did create a wonderful universe , He chose to b/c he loves mankind. He is an infinite being and always was, no one created God.

[QueenBee1]

Originally Posted by tippyclubb

Humans create God. I don't go to church anymore, and I don't pray often. I do believe in a higher power, I believe goodness is inside of everyone. I strongly believe in karma. I believe doing small acts of kindness everyday takes us one more step to our true purpose in life. The Golden Rule is a major belief of all religions and God is just a name.

Well Said! I to believe this, and think very similar.

[rubicon]

"To be an atheist requires an infinitely greater measure of faith than to receive all the great truths which atheism would deny." John Addison

[Scott8147]

Originally Posted by rubicon

What I have gathered from this thread is that whether it is a question of God or science both are based on faith as both gather their information from past history. Generally speaking the commonality among religious people is they are mostly warm and most welcoming whereas atheist are stern almost angry all the time. a primary example of what I speak is Bill Maher or the atheist organization from Wisconsin Freedom From Religion. This was noticed in the atheist community and now according to a recent WSJ article they have changed their approach to be more welcoming.

Christian believe in creation. Atheist believe in evolution some concur that a combination of intelligent design is possible. some believe that the reason scientist can't find the missing link to man is because aliens came with artificial insemmination procedures to speed up evolution. They point to those fiery chariot in the sky as space vehicles.

The problem with this exercise is that there are simply too many unknown unknowns (Donald Rumfseld)

So in my view one has to be content with their belief because it doesn't appear as of this date that anyone has an answer to this riddle

I opine I do not argue and I respect everyone's point of view

Rubicon, I'm always skeptical of generalizations and yours is no exception. I know many atheists as well as religious people and I think your generalization that atheists are angry all the time and religious people are warm and welcoming is definitely misguided. In fact, if I were to generalize, I would say that religious people tend to be much more judgmental and angry whereas atheists are more tolerant and accepting. But again, as with all generalizations, there are many on both sides which is why I take exception with yours.
Concerning your comment that some atheists believe evolution and a combination of intelligent design, that cannot be true. By definition, atheists don't believe in God or other supernatural beings and therefore intelligent design is out of the question. After all, it's just religion dressed up as bad science. Lastly, scientists have found missing links, but they have not found them all. That does not disprove the theory. We have not proved the theory of gravity either, but I doubt you are too concerned about falling off the earth.
I too respect your point of view - I just don't agree with it.

[bettymg1866]

We all have our own religions and i would hope that by the time we reach 55 - 85 we know what that is.... there is no reason to bring it to the TOTV..... i cant stand it when someone tries to force another religion on me...

[KeepingItReal]

We cannot see air but we all know it exists, we cannot see love and caring but we all know that it exists, we cannot see faith but we know it exists, I for one do not have to see scientific proof of God to know he exists. The created are not superior to the creator that they are able to question or demand proof of anything.