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Ferrets are Cool

(21,957 posts)
Tue Jan 31, 2023, 09:11 AM Jan 2023

What is THE question that could be asked

of a pastor on Sunday, in the middle of the congregation, that would cause him/her to stutter and be unable to give an answer?

This one is kinda weak, but how about, "If god is all powerful, why does he need OUR hard earned money?" Or maybe more to the point, "If god is all powerful, why does he need YOU to tell us about him? Why can't he do it himself?"

Or, "Why did god have to murder millions of children with the flood to prove a point?"

There are hundreds of questions that have no answers other than "faith". What would yours be?

47 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
What is THE question that could be asked (Original Post) Ferrets are Cool Jan 2023 OP
Is god male or female? Walleye Jan 2023 #1
Yep, that was the question I asked my grandma Butterflylady Feb 2023 #23
Can anyone say with one hundred percent certainty nightwing1240 Jan 2023 #2
I would argue that the sun rising tomorrow Ferrets are Cool Jan 2023 #3
then how do you accept that it will rise? nightwing1240 Jan 2023 #4
Science. MiHale Jan 2023 #5
Science is real. LakeArenal Jan 2023 #8
... Ferrets are Cool Jan 2023 #17
If the sun doesn't rise tomorrow that means the earth and all in it are gone. Srkdqltr Jan 2023 #6
Fuck fake faith. czarjak Jan 2023 #12
What? I chalk it up to probability. Voltaire2 Jan 2023 #16
The sun rising has happened every day for my entire life Farmer-Rick Feb 2023 #28
It's not faith edhopper Jun 2023 #45
Once again an "all knowing god" question... MiHale Jan 2023 #7
My question..... How can any human let alone a deity allow the torture of children? LakeArenal Jan 2023 #9
Yeah, that's the real killer question Farmer-Rick Feb 2023 #32
Where was Jesus. A lot of talk no saving. LakeArenal Feb 2023 #35
If there was one absolutely true religion, cloudbase Jan 2023 #10
Why is Dick Cheney alive when innocent children die? gibraltar72 Jan 2023 #11
Because he's richer and more powerful than those children Farmer-Rick May 2023 #42
Since the OP mentioned the word faith nightwing1240 Jan 2023 #13
Yeah, that's why faith is useless Farmer-Rick Feb 2023 #29
Nothing, I haven't set foot in a church in 58 years. Warpy Jan 2023 #14
Bottom line is, Mr.Bill Jan 2023 #15
And a sadist Ferrets are Cool Jan 2023 #18
Have the pastor explain, if he can, god's "will." joshdawg Jan 2023 #19
Yeah, if players on both teams are praying Ferrets are Cool Jan 2023 #20
I don't have a question for the pastor RussBLib Jan 2023 #21
+1 Ferrets are Cool Jan 2023 #22
What's the point of this question? Random Boomer Feb 2023 #24
This is a dicussuon board. If you don't like a question, Ferrets are Cool Feb 2023 #25
It's "questions" like this that give atheists a bad name. Random Boomer Feb 2023 #26
You are entitled to your "opinion". Ferrets are Cool Feb 2023 #27
The problem is religious people don't stay in their lane Farmer-Rick Feb 2023 #30
You're preaching to the choir Random Boomer Feb 2023 #33
OK, gotcha Farmer-Rick Feb 2023 #34
No, it wasn't. Ferrets are Cool Feb 2023 #36
But the real question I have for some preacher Farmer-Rick Feb 2023 #31
+1 Ferrets are Cool Feb 2023 #37
I said nothing about god or religion nightwing1240 Feb 2023 #38
I m going with George Carlin, from "Class Clown" Martin Eden May 2023 #39
... Ferrets are Cool May 2023 #40
OK, here's a serious question I might ask a pastor Martin Eden May 2023 #41
If Notre Dame Beats Loyola in football, Mr.Bill May 2023 #43
LOL Ferrets are Cool May 2023 #44
Why did God edhopper Jun 2023 #46
Exactly. I also want to know WHY Ferrets are Cool Jun 2023 #47

Butterflylady

(3,987 posts)
23. Yep, that was the question I asked my grandma
Wed Feb 1, 2023, 09:21 AM
Feb 2023

When I was an eight year old. She was a hard Baptist an
D she said "you have to have faith." Well as an eight year old that wasn't an answer so I knew then the bible was not to be believed.

nightwing1240

(1,996 posts)
2. Can anyone say with one hundred percent certainty
Tue Jan 31, 2023, 09:49 AM
Jan 2023

That the sun will rise tomorrow morning? We can all make that claim over experiencing it day in and day out. But there is still that teeny tiny possibility that it won't. What would you chalk that up to other than faith?

I am not saying you do not have valid questions. I am saying faith is a very real thing.

Voltaire2

(14,715 posts)
16. What? I chalk it up to probability.
Tue Jan 31, 2023, 04:04 PM
Jan 2023

As in I’m 99.999999% confident that the earth will continue to rotate and the sun will continue to do its thing for the next 24 hours. Actually for the next few billion years as well

That has f-all to do with ‘faith’.

Also your fallacy is: equivocation.

Farmer-Rick

(11,407 posts)
28. The sun rising has happened every day for my entire life
Thu Feb 2, 2023, 07:26 PM
Feb 2023

I have seen it with my own eyes. I have experienced it in a very physical way every day of my life. That's not faith. That's fact.

I guarantee you if I actually saw this invisible god the way I see the sun, I would believe in a god. But I have never seen a god do anything.

Faith is believing with absolutely no evidence. Because if you have evidence, you don't need faith.

I can have faith in anything. I can have faith that people who are different from me are bad. Or I can have faith they are just simply different. Faith can be used to believe both something true or something false. It is not a good tool for figuring out what is true or false.

So, faith is rather useless as a tool if you want to know the truth.

edhopper

(34,813 posts)
45. It's not faith
Sat Jun 3, 2023, 09:40 AM
Jun 2023

that we understand how the solar system works.
The sun does not rise, the earth spins on it's axis. Now there are several events that could change that like the sun going nova or the earth hit buy a planetoid. But as we see no evidence of those about to happen, I anticipate seeing the sun tomorrow. No faith needed. Faith is belief without evidence. And science doesn't deal in 100% certainty only probabilites. QED

MiHale

(10,783 posts)
7. Once again an "all knowing god" question...
Tue Jan 31, 2023, 10:24 AM
Jan 2023

Since god “knows all”, god obviously knows religion is one of the most divisive things for “god’s people”, it starts wars…etc., it in all reality kills innocent people.

Why doesn’t god prove to us it’s reality? Put an end to the suffering caused by not knowing.
If we knew for a fact god existed it would go a long way to end that suffering.

LakeArenal

(29,804 posts)
9. My question..... How can any human let alone a deity allow the torture of children?
Tue Jan 31, 2023, 10:34 AM
Jan 2023

god could fix that in a minute. Should have never allowed it.

All because god holds a 2000 year old grudge against a woman who ate a piece of fruit.
god’s creation. The woman and the fruit.

Fruit of knowledge no less.

Edit to add: IF the sun didn’t come up tomorrow, science would know why? Would god?

Farmer-Rick

(11,407 posts)
32. Yeah, that's the real killer question
Thu Feb 2, 2023, 08:10 PM
Feb 2023

Children are horribly abused, suffer and die everyday and what did god do about it?

Where were those children's saving angels?

cloudbase

(5,747 posts)
10. If there was one absolutely true religion,
Tue Jan 31, 2023, 10:41 AM
Jan 2023

why would it not be so obvious that everybody would subscribe to it?

Farmer-Rick

(11,407 posts)
42. Because he's richer and more powerful than those children
Tue May 16, 2023, 07:58 PM
May 2023

And god seems to save the rich and sneaky much more often than the innocent and less powerful.

And he's got better medical insurance than you and I will ever have. So much for fairness.

nightwing1240

(1,996 posts)
13. Since the OP mentioned the word faith
Tue Jan 31, 2023, 12:15 PM
Jan 2023

I've only been trying to point something out. I am not trying to prove there is or is not a deity that is not my intention. The definition of the word faith (it has usage beyond religion) is the firm belief in something for which there is no proof.

Hope that explains what was meant. thank you

Farmer-Rick

(11,407 posts)
29. Yeah, that's why faith is useless
Thu Feb 2, 2023, 07:33 PM
Feb 2023

If you had faith you don't need evidence. But faith can be had for anything. I have faith big foot exists. Since you don't need evidence, it is more an excuse for believing something with no proof.

Warpy

(113,130 posts)
14. Nothing, I haven't set foot in a church in 58 years.
Tue Jan 31, 2023, 02:25 PM
Jan 2023

If any god turns up at my death I'll ask it why it felt the necessity to hide itself away like a frightened child, allowing loonies and charlatans to speak in its place.

I don't expect it, after all, none of them bothered to turn up when I was doing LSD in the 60s.

joshdawg

(2,713 posts)
19. Have the pastor explain, if he can, god's "will."
Tue Jan 31, 2023, 06:56 PM
Jan 2023

Is it god's "will" that the holocaust happened?
That hitler damn near destroyed the world?
That over 20 million people died in WWII?
That serial killers do their thing?
Or is it that god's "will" allows a football player to catch a touchdown pass?
Or a baseball player hits a grand slam home run?
I could go on, but the message is there.

god's will, like the idea of god itself, is nothing more than bullshit.

I'll step down from my orange crate now.

RussBLib

(9,666 posts)
21. I don't have a question for the pastor
Tue Jan 31, 2023, 10:57 PM
Jan 2023

That pastor has gone through the same questioning as I have and did, and was likely troubled by their own questions. I turned my back on that crap. And yet, they found some salve, some palliative, some particular phrasing in the Bible to help soften the doubt so as not to upset the applecart.

There is likely no question that I could ask that the pastor had not already considered. That is, if the pastor ever really examined their faith. Their answer is likely to be pablum, or yammering on about how faith is needed.

They can have their religion. They can chant their chants, pray their prayers and cast their sacred spells all they want, and all I want is to keep their crap out of the public square. Our Constitution and Founders gave churches the right to exist, but also seeks a separation of state and church. That's what I work towards.

Random Boomer

(4,250 posts)
24. What's the point of this question?
Wed Feb 1, 2023, 12:51 PM
Feb 2023

I don't go into people's home and bully them, and this sounds incredibly belligerent and disruptive. Why would you do this, even as a thought experiment?

If a religious person steps on my toes, I respond. But I don't go on the offensive to attack them when they're in their own place, minding their own business. If they stay there, I leave them alone.

Random Boomer

(4,250 posts)
26. It's "questions" like this that give atheists a bad name.
Thu Feb 2, 2023, 07:43 AM
Feb 2023

I'm "discussing" this post because it's just this kind of aggressive attitude that distorts the image of atheists. As a gay person, I wouldn't appreciate some Christian homophobe coming to a gay rights meeting with the same motivation to disrupt and aggravate. It works the other way, too.

That distorted perception of atheists makes my life as an atheist more difficult than it needs to be. That makes it my business, too.

Ferrets are Cool

(21,957 posts)
27. You are entitled to your "opinion".
Thu Feb 2, 2023, 08:16 AM
Feb 2023

As I am entitled to mine. Asking a question doesn't mean one would actually commit to action. My life as an atheist is not difficult at all. I am sorry if yours IS. AND, your business is your business. It is no concern of mine.

edit to add: Your analogy is nonsensical. Gay people do not stick their beliefs into MY life and the lives of others trying to control how they live their lives. So-called christians do this on a daily basis.

Farmer-Rick

(11,407 posts)
30. The problem is religious people don't stay in their lane
Thu Feb 2, 2023, 07:47 PM
Feb 2023

That's the whole reason women in almost half the states can't get abortions. Because some silly man thinks he knows that a god wants us to think human life is magically sanctified when a sperm wiggles its way into a human cell.

That is Catholic doctrine that the silly Protestants have embraced because god. If my wife thinks gods are a bad joke why should she be forced to birth a zygote against her will? Human life is not sanctified. The state, governments and religions kill human life every day.

You do know this is the Atheist and Agnostic group forum you are posting in right?

Random Boomer

(4,250 posts)
33. You're preaching to the choir
Thu Feb 2, 2023, 09:09 PM
Feb 2023

If religious people step out of their lane to impinge on other people's rights, slap them down. I'm absolutely on board with making sure they don't impose their irrational, rabid beliefs on anyone else.

But that's not the context of the OP. The proposed context is to go into a church and try to make fools of the people there. It's not about holding firm on human rights, it's about poking Christians with sticks just because they're a supposedly easy target.

Honestly, I find that sort of behavior to be rather vile, even hypothetically. I have no interest in making fun of Christians or any other religion. I don't believe in their claptrap, and I never have. I've been an atheist for nearly 70 years now, but I don't find sport in taunting the religious, no matter how delusional I believe them to be. They are entitled to their obsequious obedience to their skygod, as long as they don't mandate that I join them.

Farmer-Rick

(11,407 posts)
34. OK, gotcha
Thu Feb 2, 2023, 09:52 PM
Feb 2023

I misunderstood.

Though I really want to make a joke about poking Christians with sticks. But I won't.

Farmer-Rick

(11,407 posts)
31. But the real question I have for some preacher
Thu Feb 2, 2023, 07:57 PM
Feb 2023

Is why does a god need us to worship him?

It's kind of creepy and sounds like a very insecure man. Bow down to me or I shall smite you. Why????

Why do we have to bow to gods? I don't bow to or worship my parents who brought me into this world. I don't bow to or worship the filthy rich or political leaders just because they may have power over me.

Why do gods demand worship?

Martin Eden

(13,462 posts)
39. I m going with George Carlin, from "Class Clown"
Sun May 14, 2023, 06:55 PM
May 2023

If God is all powerful, can he make a rock so heavy that he himself can't lift it?

Martin Eden

(13,462 posts)
41. OK, here's a serious question I might ask a pastor
Sun May 14, 2023, 10:32 PM
May 2023

Do devout Muslims, who worship the God of Abraham, go to Heaven?

My parents were not religious, so I was not indoctrinated as a child. As I grew up and and became more aware of the workd's religions -- nearly all claiming to be the one "true" religion -- I concluded none of them were.

edhopper

(34,813 posts)
46. Why did God
Sat Jun 3, 2023, 09:41 AM
Jun 2023

never condemn slavery? He used a commandment to stop people from making art about him, but said nothing about human servitude. Why?

Ferrets are Cool

(21,957 posts)
47. Exactly. I also want to know WHY
Sat Jun 3, 2023, 12:58 PM
Jun 2023

he had to murder every single living thing on earth, except for what was on Noah's Ark. Those babies and animals were not guilt of anything. He is supposed to be ALL POWERFUL...why not use that power to single out the bad "apples" murder just them and let everyone/thing else alone?

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