I’m technically Roman Catholic, but I differ slightly in my views. Let me start of by addressing the point someone made on here on whether or not someone could potentially get to heaven even if he or she does not have contact with the Christian faith (or religion in general). The Church teaches that if that person was a righteous and just human being, then he or she would go to heaven after death. Also, someone who was, say, a Buddhist, would still be able to reach heaven as long as he or she lived a just, fulfilling, and holy life. A person doesn’t necessarily need to be Christian to get to heaven.

The whole concept of heaven and hell has to do with man’s separation from God. No, I do not believe in the literal interpretation of Genesis, or most of the Old Testament for that matter (I’m not quite certain if there was a historical Moses). As someone stated before, sin is basically just separation from God. If I were to feed the poor or donate money to charity, I would be becoming closer to God by helping people who need help most. By sinning, I am consciously choosing to do something that goes against good will. That is, for example, murder, stealing, cheating, etc. The purpose of the Church, then, is to help get society to love each other and help the less fortunate.

Some of my more conservative Catholic friends believe that if one does not accept the divinity of Jesus, he or she would be damned for all of eternity. The Church IS NOT specific on this. I personally believe that by Christ’s death and resurrection, He has saved us from sin and damnation, meaning that as long as we seek to be united with God (whether through charity, worship, etc.), then you will reach heaven. Generally, it is believed that those who are in Hell openly and willingly refuse to strive towards righteousness. I DO believe an atheist can get to heaven. As long as he or she desires to help society and strives to give back to the world.

Jesus Himself condemned the Pharisees and the Sadducees for committing themselves to a strict interpretation of tradition, and forgetting about what really mattered: life on this Earth and helping others. According to the Gospels, when Christ healed a man on the Sabbath, the Pharisees condemned him for doing work on the Holy Day. This is somewhat what we see today in conservative Christians. They are worried more about offending God and attending Church services than they are about helping their fellow man.

What I ask all those who condemn religion is to be open-minded. Do not listen to individuals necessarily (I don’t particularly like the current Pope), but to understand the core message of ALL religions: Treat others how you would wish to be treated, love your enemies, and turn the other cheek.

If anyone has any questions, please respond to this, and I will respond back as quickly as possible.

At Jericho, Joshua6;17-19:

17 And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the LORD: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 18 And ye, in any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. 19 But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.

No call me a dumb stupid uneducated heathen, but it SOUNDS like it to me that Joshua is conquering in in the name of his God and KILLING PEOPLE WHO DO NOT FOLLOW HIS RELIGION. Brilliant, oh course, to suggest that it is GOD’S way for him to do so!

Now then we continue to after the battle, Joshua 6;22 and indeed:

22 And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.

Holy mother of God, these MUST be a people of peace – for they kill not just man and woman, but the livestock too!!! Shall we continue?

So we get to another city later on…

It should be funny to note, of course, that every time Joshua suffered defeat, it was not due to a bad strategy or a poor decision, but rather, due to the Israelites sinning and thus God punishing them, because the Christian God has anger:

Joshua 7;1:

1 But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel.

Wait a second, I thought this was an unconditionally loving god…he gets emotionally angry??? DO YOU CHRISITIANS EVEN KNOW THE DEFINITION OF “UNCONDITIONAL LOVE????”

But the israelites find the “source” of their sin, and here’s how they root him out:

Joshua 7;24-26:

24 And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. 25 And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. 26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor, unto this day.

Later on, the israelites find another opponent, Ai. And what do they do?

Joshua 8;24-29

24 And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword. 25 And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. 26 For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. 27 Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the word of the LORD which he commanded Joshua. 28 And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day. 29 And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day.

We continue on to Gibeon, where Joshua and the Gibeoniites fight five armies, Joshua 10;10-11:

10 And the LORD discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. 11 And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, and were in the going down to Beth-horon, that the LORD cast down great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: they were more which died with hailstones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.

And what became of those Kings lives, cities, and life between it? They died too. An all, 31 Kings [their cities] and all their inhabitants where killed by these peace loving people, the ancestors of the Christians.

Very peaceful, indeed…

So if I were a head coach of a football team, I could thus claim all my victories as “God’s Divine Will,” and blame all my defeats upon my players “sinning,” and then single out players and punish them by ending their careers to make amends fo rmy defeats. That is the metaphor placed before me in this book of Joshua. Ball-der-dashes.

Yes, most peaceful indeed.

Does it end there with Joshua? Becasue we all know how Christains like to hide behind the New testament, that which washed the blood of the old testament from their Christian hands. Fine, New Testament it is…

Matthew 10:34-39, Luke 12:49-53, Luke 14:26, Luke 22:36, and Luke 19:27.

Sorry Charlie, it’s all hogwash…

Religion is a quick intellectial fix for those who are smart but otherwise lazy. The core root itself is unprovable, so the equations, the definitions, the roots, the shrod around it can literally be ANYTHING you want it to be so long as you provide ample core support to your thesis.

It’s even easier if you regurgitate someone else’s Idea – take a couple “common sense” ideas, like “Todays churches need to go back to “The Old Way” and you have the meat necessary to grip those people who have witnessed too much change in their lifetime. And they don’t have to think too hard about it, either, because it’s simple stuff. The arguements against any reasonable dssection fal into either ‘but it’s a parable’ defense or ‘but it all a metaphor, here’s what he really meant’ defense. Absolutely brilliant. Sadly, people actually believe this stuff.

There are people who have been through shit in their lives, try telling THEM that all they have to do is love evryone and never steal or lie. People with anger, with depression, with all sorts of financial and emotional problems. And if you suggest that he is trying to test us, then i say to him fuck you. Cause if someone loves, they don’t put tests. All in all, your Christian God is a result of mythologies of people with limited emotional and intelligence quotance of the old times. Try Buddhism if you really need religion.
I myself, am what you call an “atheist”. Hell, if I hadn’s heard of God in the first place, i woulnd’t even have imagined of such powerful loving yet sleeping creature. In the sky. Lord of the rings is better than Bible.

Approaching it from the point of view of a parent, then surely any good parent would want their children to grow and develop and learn and mature, etc. He/she would want their happiness above their own and to watch said children grow into good, intelligent, kind and wise beings in their own right. Whether or not these children choose to love you should surely come at most second.

To do the right thing is to do the right thing regardless of the personal cost. If god created us all then ‘he’ should be happy to watch and help us grow as any good parent/wise & good superior being would – not punish us for refusing to choose to acknowledge that creation.
It’s true that you can punish your children for the mistakes that they may make, but not loving you isn’t a mistake. If you’ve done your job right it won’t be an issue anyway. If people are questioning even the existence of such a god then clearly he hasn’t.

On the subject of heaven: I wouldn’t want to be close to a god that needed an accompaniment of loving worshippers surrounding them. Personally, I feel that I’M above that – how can an all-powerful, loving and wise superior being not be?

Free will is a human ability that shouldn’t be thrown away. Life is about gaining knowledge not blind faith. We should take responsibility for our own salvation, our own development, our own actions and not expect to toss someone else the burden of our wrong-doings (‘sins’) as an easy way out. Saying that Jesus died on the cross for your sins is using a scapegoat instead of facing up these things yourself. It’s time for the human race to grow up and take responsibility for itself.