h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Was that just a random observation or was there some subtle yet vaguely tangible message?

no, no comment. you're doing a fine job. you bless you.

One minor problem with these rules..... ok say you're an atheist, read this, and decide to become religious. But then assuming temporarily that there is an all-knowing, all-powerful being, wont he/she/it know that your only in this whole religion schtick to cover your arse. If I were God in this case, my response would be "Well, here's an a******e. Trying to pull one over on me, eh? Well then, *zthoop!*, straight to hell with you!". Also, if we're to make the assumetion that this God is benevolent in any sense of the word, would he/she/it be more pleased with you standing up for your own beliefs rather than lieing about it? Just a thought.

I'm not religious at all. In fact, my willingness to assume divine duties (in the absence of anyone else performing them) surely reinforces my position as a commited agnostic, I would have said.

Hi! I almost forgot... *Hands Zebedee a tattered brown enevelope...* Here's your wages.

*tucks envelope into pocket*

Thanks my dear - how goes the weekend?

Too quiet... thanks but all the better for bumping in to you!

How goeth your weekend?

Good and bad actually - working today (bad) but going home soon (good). And yesterday I had an offer on a flat accepted (very good) and managed to end up breaking a tooth in some uninvited trouble last night (bad). Two friends got bottled (not badly) but had to go to A&E for stitches (scalps, not faces luckily)........so on balance not a great weekend......

Good grief! Not boring, anyway.... Are your friends alright now? Where did this happen? In a club or pub?

On Lavender Hill in Battersea, while we were walking home. Not the roughest of areas which just goes to show you never know when someone's about to heave a great big handful of shit at your fan.

Poor you and your friends (who I hope are recovering and not too bruised...). I grew up just out side London, just off the M40, near Uxbridge but where we live now is a rough area, about 30 minutes from Newcastle.

Were the guys who attacked your friends apprehended?

Sorry to interrupt your exchange but I gotta post my opinions on that god sod.

I, personally, am sick of having a priest put a gun to my head and scream "beleive in god or I kill you!"
I am sick of Americans going "praise the lord oh yea god is great and you unbelievers are sure in for a bad time!"
I am sick of Christians calling themselves pacifists and them killing Jews (among other people).
I am sick of them being 'right' and me being 'wrong'.
I am sick of being told to beleive in somebody who might as well be Father Christmas or Rumpelstiltskin.

So, whoever says it makes sense to believe in god is obviously in the pay in the priests. If there turns out to be a god and me wants to send me to hell, then I will tell him to suck my dick. Cos I'm not going to be bossed around by somebody who's made such a cack job of keeping his minions in line.
If he is an all-powerful deity then why can't he control a few thousand billion piddly humans?

"As the guards march me out to the courtyard
Somebody cries from a cell "god be with you"
If there's a god why has he let me go?"

"Heaven can wait, wait 'til another day!"

"And if there is a god, then answer if you will
Tell me of my fate
Tell me of my place
Tell me if I'll ever rest in peace"

UP THE IRONS!

Hey! About 2 weeks ago, alicat asked something about ingrown toenails. What to do with them. Which is off topic. I should probably start a new forum. Oh, well.
Ingrown toenails should probably be cut out by a doctor. They have a tendency to get infected and invariably hurt alot (unless you've had them for several years and killed all the nerves in your toes). My NP (nurse practitioner) said I should get mine cut out. When I refused, she told me I should;
1. Soak foot in Epsom salt 3 times a day for 30 minutes (which is impossible to do.. I get a chance maybe twice a week.)
2. Take clean cotton & try to push it under the offending toenail. Try to do this once a day: twice a day if your toenail is infected.
3. This wasn't suggested but I found that it helped. Hydrogen peroxide helps to clean the affected area, & kills most of the infectious bacteria. However, it also irritates the area, causing puffiness. It's best to peroxide and then soak your foot.
4. This won't work if you are diabetic. Warm soaks mess with (I assume) the circulation of the area soaked. It can cause problems. If you (or someone reading this) are diabetic, you probably already know.

By the way, God didn't do this to us. He's really an undercover narcotics agent. He's here to confiscate our supply of hydrogen peroxide and magnesium sulfate.

i admit i have only skimmed most of the previous entries, but i have to say that i've been seeing a lot of the same comments. the "i don't want to believe in someone else controlling my life" and "who would you rather rely on, you or someone else?" type of comments. basically, a lot of people afraid to admit they can't control everything. because the fact is, God or no God, you don't have complete control over what will happen to you or even how you will respond. of course, you have control over your decisions, but the fact that a God may exist who *knows* all at once doesn't remove that free will. when you've had a friend for so long that you can practically predict what they will do, how they will respond to something, do they accuse you of taking away their free will? it's doubtful. they still make their own decisions, and some you may not agree with, but you might be able to see what those will be and why. this is the same way God is presented, not as some all-*controlling* power, but as an all-*seeing* power who knows you too well.

also, i have seen people saying that God is a comforting idea that people created to explain the things they don't understand. now, God (or whoever) knows i am not one of those we're-only-supposed-to-have-a-limited-amount-of-knowledge-there-are-some-things-we're-just-not-meant-to-understand people who say that the mysteries are better left just that. but i'd like to know where all of this wonderful order we take advantage of everyday comes from exactly? true, physics and chemistry can explain why bodies hold together, biology even explains sometimes what and why we think. but what explains bilogy and physics and chemistry? the fact that chaos has organized into systems that conviently work into mathematics that we can comprehend is just much too convient to believe that it was accidental. these days, science no longer denies God, but supports the existence of Him/Her/It.

That's alright Mike ... feel free to put us back on topic

Do you feel better now by the way? There's a forum for people like us - check out Gargleblaster's page....

Firstly I should caveat the following comments with the fact that I am not a Christian (though I was raised as one) and have no agenda here except to share information. I say that because I don't want to misrepresent myself.

I'm focusing here on the Christian God not because I don't respect one's right to believe in something/someone else, but because so many of us have been exposed to this Western tradition and yet have lost sight of the very basics of what Christianity is actually trying to teach us.

If you'd like some insight into why we should believe in (the Christian) God's existence, read Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. It's short, in everyday language, and, most importantly, not preachy. (As a follow-up to that, read Lewis' The Problem of Pain to get one perspective as to why a caring God "allows" us to feel pain.) Alternatively, turtle's above suggestion to read Watson's Dark Nature is also a good idea. Evolution is indeed quite a convenient dismissal until we examine the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the "scientific" nature of ultimate entropy. And may I recommend one final book called Reasons Why Skeptics Should Consider Christianity by Josh McDowell & Don Stewart. I'm not saying these books are right, but they do attempt to actually explain their perspectives instead of simply offering so much "DO THIS BECAUSE I'M RIGHT AND YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HELL IF YOU DON'T!"

- About Paul Prefect's comment (above): the Big White Chocobo does not claim the power to send you into hell after the death of our mortal bodies, whether you read that as a lake of fire, oblivion, or whatever. (Neither does Bill Gates: he has at once taken our money and delivered unto us a mechanism for a hell on Earth, but can't figure out how to take our money in the after-life so he hasn't yet exploited that market.)
- On iodine's comment (above): (the Christian) God does not force you to give up control of your own destiny. It's called free will.
- Researcher 108826's comment (above): If we are to believe your assertion regarding what the Old Testament promotes, a few specific citations would helpful so that we may examine them in context. (Don't assume my request to be hostile -- indeed strict adherents to the Old Testament would have already had me stoned. I'd just like to know more about how you arrived at your conclusions.)
- Zebedee's last paragraph (regarding dinosaurs): Here here. But, again, see McDowell's book.
- GargleBlaster's quote (above): "Either God cannot abolish evil, or he will not. If he cannot, he is not all powerful, but if he will not, he is not all good." Yes, quite the conundrum. But according to Christianity, God wants us to choose Him but won't force us. Therefore you may "sin" against Him and your fellow man in your own pursuits, but without redemption, "the wages of sin is death," as I interpret to mean the complete banishment from God's presence forever. And if it's all true, this would be truly awful for the sinner (me included). One makes one's choice in this world for the next.
- Alicat's comment (above): I've had my most interesting discussions
on the existence of God -- and existentialism in general -- on a 3-beer buzz. I'm not advocating alcohol use or abuse and certainly wouldn't recommend showing up to church on any amount of alcohol. (Though it might make the sermon more interesting, your urge to hold a discussion with the good reverend while he's still speaking from the pulpit would be a might inconvenient and probably unproductive.) I'm just saying for me, in informal conversation settings, it works. The trick is to stop at 3 and only replenish when the buzz wears thin. You of course may need more or less depending on your weight and tolerance. Me, I'm a cheap drunk.

i've brought love from the beer pool. we've bottled it, and want to distribute it throughout the universe. it's free, and the more you give, the stronger it gets. much more intoxicating than liquor. this forum could probably use more than a few cases.

'...But according to Christianity, God wants us to choose Him but won't force us...'

But surely the question is not

"Given that God exists, do we choose Him/Her or not?"

as that would be a real no-brainer. The question is more

"Do we choose to believe in a supernatural being despite the lack of any solid evidence, which such a being could easily create if they so wished".

If God *does* exist, chooses to speak directly to a select handful of other people, creates a load of skeptics, chooses not to provide any decent evidence to help them overcome their skepticism, and then damns them for being themselves, God certainly isn't interested in equality of opportunity.

If God knows everything, surely (s)he would forgive an unbeliever if (s)he knew that they were fundamentally incapable of belief?

Or does that take us back to the 'Proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing' argument. In which case, if God *does* talk directly to certain people, isn't that a bit like giving them a free dose of proof, which hardly seems fair?

God does talk to everyone. sometimes, we're too busy talking to hear, sometimes, we're too busy doing things we think are important. the only really important thing we have to do is pass around these bottles of love. questions can be answered, and we will see the light.

God's silence on the matter is conclusive evidence that he doesn't exist, except in the minds of people who hear voices. I hear they have some breakthrough medications to handle that.