₦airaland Forum

If you cannot see a psychiatrist, then one of the best 'home remedies' for depression is vigorous physical exercise. Go out and play football or go for a long jog every day; you may see improvement in your mood within a few days. Take a look at this article for more evidence:

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/11/25/how-to-exercise-when-depressed-even-if-you-prefer-staying-in-bed/

And what if, for example, there is a god who allowed men to create religions and influence people, but the only people who are rewarded in the afterlife are those people who see that religions are man-made and put them aside?

Misconception # 11: Muslims wrongly don't eat pork

Reply: God has prohibited pork. There are several references even in the Bible where swine meat is prohibited. Science has associated 70 diseases with swine meat, the most dangerous being tapeworm, for which there is no cure. It causes irreparable damage to the insides of human beings. Even if a pig has been raised on a farm and its flesh is cooked very well at high temperatures, certain germs never die. The pig is a filthy animal; it eats human excreta. It has to protective instinct for its female. It is a shameless animal. Therefore people who eat its flesh, have no shame if their females mate with other men.

Pigs are no dirtier than chickens. And if you look at a list of the nations with the longest life expectancies, you will see that almost all of the top 20 countries are those whose cultures traditionally eat pork. So what is your point?

It's true that Christianity and Judaism do not formally ban polygamy. And in fact I don't really see the problem with it; however, as I am for equal rights, if you legalise multiple wives you should also give the woman the right to have more than one husband.

By the way you did not really address what the entire Quranic verse(4:3) says: "....marry such women as seem good to you, two and three and four; but if you fear that you will not do justice (between them), then (marry) only one or what your right hands possess; this is more proper, that you may not deviate from the right course."

So if you cannot treat your wives equally, then marry only one, and if that is not enough sexually then you can keep sex slaves ("what your right hands possess" as well. Obviously you are not required to be fair to your sex slaves.

Jesus or Muhammad, so that we can demonstrate that these guys were fakes.

GeneralShepherd: Since I officially dumped the idea of a god, I haven't seen my parents. I went home this christmas,it was a wonderful holiday for me,little did I know my mum was hurting deep down inside!

She called me today being the 1st of January 2014 and started telling me how she asked Yahweh to give her a son after she had four girls(who are all married) which He did according to her. She told me how she has barely slept most nights in the pasy year because of my atheism. Also said it might lead her to her early grave if I continue living without god.

My dilemma is I can't pretend about god and the bible,yet I don't want my mum to die or have sleepless nights! When people read the bible the smile on face shows I don't believe any of it, when I try to pray I feel like I'm mad talking to myself or like a kid talking to Barney and friends!

She's just using emotional blackmail on you. I don't think this is very kind of her. If you give in to this then she will just continue to use it.

mazaje: There is no god but allah and mohammed is his messenger, my brother you are on the wrong path. . You will rot in allah's hell unless you believe in him and accept his religion which is islam. . .say what ever you want but you will definitely remember this post some day. . .

Nonsense....Krishna is going to torture you cruelly for eternity if you don't believe and follow him only....and his cruelty surpasses even the cruelty of Yahweh and Allah, and anyone with even the slightest bit of reason will agree with me. Now submit. And give me your money.

sкчscrαρεr™:
I cannot categorically say if I believe those tales or not but know that those things happened many years ago when science and technology were not present to prove evidence. The bible recorded that Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fishes, the same bible recorded the aforementioned, and if you believe the formal then you have to choice but to also believe the latter.

Some people said it wasen't a fish that swallowed Jonah but a whale, but either way it could be that the event never happened. Perhaps, God was using that story as an allegory/imagery to convey a message, same way Jesus told the story of The good samaritan.

I am an atheist, but you sound like you would fit into a unitarian universalist church, based on people I know who have attended, though they aren't really in agreement with the idea of hell.

For the OP:

The Quran says that Jesus was born of a virgin, and that god commanded the angel Gabriel to go and blow into Mary's va.gina, which is how she got pregnant. So who is Jesus' father?

Joshthefirst: God has declared that he will come physically again to this earth as a judge. Until then, his followers preach repentance to everyone. Stop giving silly excuses.

And what if god's true followers are actually the atheists who correctly conclude that no god has ever sent qny prophets. How would you expect to be judged by this god?

Joshthefirst: We don't have all the answers too. So when we say we don't know, don't explode.

And we're wise enough to realize that mockery and anger related to the butthurt of atheism is unhealthy and suggests negative influence.

I thought that, for Christians, Jesus was "the answer".

The OP is a superb article.

vedaxcool: https://whatiftheyweremuslim.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/aptopix-central-african-republic.jpg

A Christian man chases a Muslim with a dagger.
Why are Christian Militias never “Christian Extremists”?
By Juan Cole (Informed Comment)
The dramatic events in the Central African Republic no doubt seem distant and complex for a North American audience. CAR is geographically as large as France, but with a population of only 4.5 million (similar to Lebanon or Costa Rica). It consists roughly of 25% Muslim, 25% Protestant Christian, 25% Catholic Christian, and 25% adherents of African faiths.
Last spring, the Seleka coalition of Muslim clans made a coup, which has provoked Christian-Muslim faction-fighting. Christians have organized militias, which they maintain are self-defense forces aimed at expelling Seleka goons from their villages or neighborhoods. In the fighting, some 440,000 people have been displaced.
The anti-Balaka Christian militia massacred 24 Muslims this week. Whereas Selaka is often called extremists in the US press, the Christian militias are almost never called “extremist Christians.” Moreover, Western press reports imply that the massacre is understandable since these Seleka members are connected to high-ranking Seleka coup-makers.
While Western press reports do speak of Christian militia members, on the American side the E-word was little applied. But surely massacring 24 non-combatant people is extreme.
http://whatiftheyweremuslim.com/

To be honest this is more ethnic than religious, but the media knows that making it seem a religious conflict will get people to read more articles about it, because no one cares about a purely ethnic conflict in Africa. However fighting over imported religion is the height of senseless.

dmus4love10: i cn c hatred here,so islam is nw ur headache.bt sori u cnt stop d religion nw,even d usa,uk etc wit der cnn,bbc dey cn nt do it dey r only makin us more popular.thousand r convertin 2 islam in der nose der.thank u 4 advertising 4 us.

Actually atheism and non-religion are taking over western countries, not Islam, and most western converts to Islam quit within 3 years. Atheism is even growing in Arab countries.

maclatunji: We know for a fact that we have a creator. That is the first step, the next step would be to find out: "what are characteristics of our creator"?

We do not know this. Even if there was a creator, show me that he is not dead.

maclatunji: I am a big fan of the science, but trust me the science cannot tell the exact moment you sleep. It can only identify the different sleep periods such as the period of rapid eye movements and the other #Yada #Yada #Yada

They can tell using EEGs and fMRIs. In addition I saw a study in which researcher captured the loss of cognitive awareness to within one second. If I were not traveling right now I could provide the name of the researcher because I have the book at home. In any case there is virtually no limit to the specificity of the demand you are making; I could do the same thing with determining the moment a light bulb is considered to be 'on', and conclude that since we cannot define what it means to be 'on' that therefore 'on' does not exist.

maclatunji: Another analogy:

Can anyone tell me the exact moment he fell asleep last night? I can guarantee that no one can.

Atheists reasoning:

1. You cannot tell the exact moment when you fell asleep last night.

2. If you cannot tell the exact moment that you slept, how would you know you slept at all.

3. We say sleep does not exist because you cannot isolate when it happens.

4. In fact, last night you did not sleep at all.

I know I slept for a few hours last night, would you agree sleep does not exist if I cannot isolate it?

The moment of sleep can be demonstrated with scientific instruments. This has been extensively studied. Science has not yet explained all the aspects of sleep, but this does not mean that it cannot be explained one day. Which brings me back to your OP. All the guy is doing is using a 'god of the gaps' argument; maybe he is unaware that these 'gaps' have been getting smaller and smaller...

The Quran can't even get the Christian Trinity correct: "And when Allah will say, "O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah ?'" He will say, "Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen." Quran 5:116

Mary was never considered a deity by Christians, and was never a part of the trinity. Epic fail.

the Quran also says that the Jews accepted the prophet Ezra as the son of god. Fail again. Jews have never ever acknowledged a son of god:

"The Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah "; and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah ." That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?" Quran 9:30

rationalmind: And when does the bible become an historical document? Which historian consults the bible when doing serious historical studies.

I told you there is no single historical evidence and you referred to a site I supplied talking about the bible. How dumb can it get!!!

The bible is a book of myths, so also the quran.

What I gave you showed that abraham passed through the valley of baca which has nothing to do with your mecca.

Agreed, there is not even any evidence for the existence of Abraham.

Baka, Mecca, no evidence they are the same. "Valley of tears"--no evidence that it is Mecca. Muhammad just wanted to connect his new religion with Judaism to gain credibility with the Jews of the area, and possibly to convert them. The Ka'aba is a pagan shrine (like all shrines, come to think of it)

Iron chariots. God lost a battle against an army equipped with them according to the old testament.

Quoting the Bible to an atheist is useless; we believe it was written by people who are just giving their opinions. There is nothing godly or divine about the Bible. It's just a book, nothing more.

And even if some being did create the universe, maybe he died during the big bang or sometime before the present. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise

woky: mtcheeeeew!


you and LB ar stil confuse


stil yet to see a real Atheist..

Una own atheist na childs play

And I've never met a 'real' Christian. The last Christian died on the cross.

NativeBoy: None of that means he was Greek. I can grow up in London and write in the queen's English, I'm still Nigerian not British. You misspoke. Paul himself mentions his entire upbringing was in Pharasetical Judaism. He was a Pharisee of Pharisees.

I don't agree with that comparison; Hellenism was much more flexible than British identity and incorporated elements of many cultures. It was more like being an American today---anyone who grows up in the USA is American.

Paul's cultural background was Hellenistic-Greek with an underlying layer of Judaism. Nothing unusual about that.

NativeBoy: Point it out please.

Paul wrote in Koine Greek; he was from Tarsus, a strongly Hellenistic city. His cultural background and his knowledge reflect this in his letters.

Which history?

Comparative.

NativeBoy: And you surmised all this how?

I work in the field of history.

NativeBoy: Also Paul was a Jew with Roman Citizenship. Please provide the source of your claim that Paul was a Greek Jew.

The Bible.

UKDBOSS: U see, atheism involves faith, cos u also have 2 believe dat god doesnt exist without solid proof dat its true. In dat light atheism can b compared 2 religion.

This is a misconception that you have. We don't say that god doesn't exist; we only say that we lack belief in a god. If Zeus comes down and shows himself to exist then I could believe. But don't hand me an old book and say that some men who lived a long time ago saw some miracles and I have to believe them. There is no faith involved.

NativeBoy: Now you're changing your tune a bit. How did Stoicism impact Paul and the early Christians when he debated them and pointed them towards Christ?

Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.... Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; (Acts 17:18, 22 NKJV)

And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, while others said, “We will hear you again on this matter. ” So Paul departed from among them. However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:32-34 NKJV)

If anything they yielded to his truth.

Remember that Paul was a Greek Jew. He spoke Greek and lived in a sea of pagan Greek culture. And the pagan philosophers would have been right not to accept Paul's claim of resurrection, given that it doesn't happen.

Paul makes use of a number of Stoic ideas, that self-control was a good in and of itself (instead of just following a command of god); or that god was the logos (the word) which activates all things....

He also uses Platonic ideas to discuss the world beyond this one in the same sense that Plato's cave describes our inability to perceive the world beyond...

etc.

9jadelta: who created god? god didn't happen by accident too. god must have a god.

And I'm sure that god's creator would be very angry to see what a mess that god has created on this earth. Maybe she (god's creator) will spank him a few times. He sure deserves it--if he existed.

NativeBoy: Please point to these influences. So when Jesus stated:

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.” (John 10:28-30 NKJV)

He was influenced by Hellenistic philosophy?

Or when John wrote:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. (John 1:1-3 NKJV)

He too was influenced by Hellenistic philosophy?

Did Hellenistic Greeks believe that the universe had a beginning? I think you know the answer.

I am saying that Hellenistic ideas, particularly Stoicism, had a major impact on the thinking of early Christians, including Paul. To ask me to prove that every idea came from Hellenistic philosophy is a misrepresentation of my position. Prove to me that those statements did NOT come from Hellenistic philosophy.