Why do so many Christians claim that they ALONE...........

Because they are deluded.

They hear messages from God, or instructions from Jesus or something.

They have probably been reading the Bible and chewing mescaline or suffering from some form of psychosis.

Or they're trying to get new recruits to give them money.

Of course its not just the Christians. The Muslims and Jews and Hindus can be just as bad...often worse.

There are two types of religious people Tobruk, the deluded and the dangerously deluded. Stay away from it.

What Steve said. The only thing funnier than religious fanatics are the myths they make up about other religions.

Because God SAID
" I am God, Thy God and you shall have NO other gods before me".

This assumes that one "knows" that Moses wasn't out in the sun too long. In the Sinai this is a possibility to be considered.

But in a nutshell that's why. :wink:

One can't help but notice that there are at least four Gods claiming humanity as their exclusive clients. A cartel would probably work but none of them seem too interested in forming one. (Thank God )

Tobruk--

You have a good point. I've done this myself. I think it's because it's so easy to see the faults in others, and so much more difficult to see our own shortcomings.

I criticise Christians for being exclusionary and cliquish, and while I'm doing that I'm being judgemental...

Sofia, Regarding your comment on being judgemental.

IMO that when one argues or wages war it is only fair to use equivalent weapons even if it demeans us. In the "Cold War" between competing economic systems this was known as a MAD policy. (Mutual assured destruction)

Since a Christian judges non-believers as intrinsically inferior they are making a judgement that they have no right to make. This forces us to make a judgement that we may or may not have a right to make.

BUT I feel that it is incumbent upon all the citizens of Earth to point out the irrationalities in Theist thought. If the irrationalities are not shown we will end up back in the dark ages or considering the newest technologies, Armageddon.

The irrationalities, I hasten to add, are not limited to religious subjects.
Politicians, Physicists, Pundits and Polymaths are all subject to various world views that are not in accordance with observations or logic. Fortunetely it doesn't usually take ten thousand years to refute those ideas.

Theist thought will put us back into the dark ages? How do you figure all those theists found their way out of the dark ages to begin with? Atheism was virtually unknown during the time most of the foundations for modern science were put forth.

Maybe there's an argument. Religious belief makes you smarter and more creative?

Just kidding. Just kidding.

I just wish Christians would stop introducing Jesus to athiests in such unattractive ways, and I wish athiests would stop trying to convince Christians that they are all stupid and deluded. And thus we would have a much more pleasant world along with all the other non-Christian religious.

4 Gods?

Who.

There's the god of the Jews, Christians and the Muslims.
Then there's whoever the **** the Hindus worship I guess.

Any others?

And could they all be the same God by different names? I mean who knows what His name is really? It isn't as if He hands out calling cards with His name, address, and phone number. And "God" or "Allah" or whatever sounds better than "Hey you".

Monotheism has got to be just about the worst idea man ever had.

And the monotheists see polytheism and/or athiesm as frequently far worse.

Foxfyre, The intelligentsia found their way out with the help of

Jesus, Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler,Jeanne D'Arc,Martin Luthor, Mahatma Ghandi, Thomas Jefferson, Voltaire, Martin Luthor King Jr. The list of "good" people is nearly endless.

Some of these persons "professed" Christianity. It could be fatal not to. Some probably actually were Christians but the one thing that they had in common was an ability to say "something is not just right here." And then to have the will to do something about it.

I admire Jesus, but that doesn't make me a Christian nor Him divine. Martin Luthor King Jr. may have had feet of clay but that does not negate the "fact" that "he had a dream". Budda may have been bulimic but a quest for truth (enlightenment) is not a bad idea at all.



Tobruk,
The God described in the Torah--- The God described in the Gospels--- The God described in the Koran--- The Great Spirit of the American Aboriginals. These are all Monotheistic Gods and they all had lesser spirits to help them as necessary. The Hindu Gods are not nearly so monopolistic.

All one has to do is read these "inspired Books" and you soon realize that they are not all describing the same God, no matter how far you stretch the imagination, or make allowances for different times, cultures, or situations.

Or perhaps my imagination is simply inadequate .

Personally I figure that Jesus was an Atheist, working as best he could with the superstitions and establishments availiable to him, to better the lot of mankind.

akaMechsmith, all one has to do is read the Jewish/Christian Bible to see how the perception of the one they called YHWH and/or God changed over time. I think God cannot be confined within any human vision or definition.

So who is to say? Only God Himself knows.

We got out of the dark ages in spite of the best efforts of religion to keep us there. The only reason things improved was because scientists dared to question some of the basic assumptions of religion and found them wanting. Under pain or torture and sometimes death, science moved forward and discovered things that the church didn't want discovered, questioned things that the church didn't want questioned, etc.

Those discoveries led to the rejection of the traditional church views and often to the rejection of the traditional church.

Sorry, but monotheism doesn't have a very good track record of playing well with others. Today, people see Islam as a violent religion, but 500 years ago, Christianity was doing the same thing. A thousand years before that, Judiasm was raping and pillaging their way through Palestine.

If we're going to look at the track record, monotheism is the worst thing to ever happen to this planet.

Cephus,

How can you possibly learn to play well with others when there are no others .

Satan comes close but I think that he is more of a pet to God than an actual companion in Godding. Perhaps he bites the hand that Created him. Bayud Satan tch tch.

I guess when you kill everyone who doesn't agree with you, you don't have to play well with others.

Cephus, Good Point, I guess that means that God doesn't dig Reganomics. Or win-win businesses either.


Actually now that you have made me think. Monotheism may have had a little something to do with why Moses sent soldiers into Canaan rather than a bunch of salesmen selling hot toasted manna and bagels.

Also I have noted that there are very few references to co-operation in the Bible. Co-opting is not quite the same thing.

akaMechsmith writes:
QUOTE]Or perhaps my imagination is simply inadequate[/QUOTE]

And there you have it. God by whatever name wouldn't be much of a God if our imagination or logic or anything else was capable of fully comprehending or understanding Him. It is undeniable that the ancient Hebrews understood God differently as they evolved over the centureies; ditto the Christians which is, after all, an extension of Judaism. I can easily believe that Native Americans, Hindus, Islam, Jews, Christians, etc. etc. all pray to the same God even though they perceive Him differently. And probably all have some of it right, and probably all have some of it wrong.

Cephas, I don't think you can hang the Crusades or the Inquisition or other Christian unpleasantries on monotheism. Even when religion was an issue--it was mostly political--there is no way to accurately portray Christianity as more bloodthirsty or militarily aggressive than were the barbarians and other people who were constantly encroaching on and then infiltrating and the occupying the lands that were the Roman Empire.

Foxfyre,

There you have it. Probably no God or subset of gods exist outside of imaginations.

But there is also a lot of Physics, Economics, and Politics that exist only in imaginations also.

Perhaps it well could be argued that imagination is the clearest distinction between us and the "lower" animals. Then it would follow that if God(s) is the "greatest dream" then religion is our greatest imagining.

I can go along with that :wink: