Haven't jumped in this topic feet first, figured I'd just see what others had to say. But with your question... you asked for an answer, and here's mine. god does not hate gays.

It's that simple. I don't know where people get the idea from, and I don't know where christians get off spouting this nonsense. God does not hate them, and if you are a christian, you shouldn't, either. Does God have an issue with the act of homosexuality? That's a whole different story... why? Because sex, at its nature, is not simply for pleasure and physical release... but also to create. And when god originally designed coupling, sex, marriage... he meant it to be for a man, and a woman. Homosexuality, if you follow a biblical worldview, is a twisting of that design... not evil, or demonic, perhaps, but not the way God intended it to be. It is no worse than any other sin, specifically, sexual sin. the bible views it in a similar way that it views chold molestations and beastiality... do I personally agree? Well, frankly, far be it from me to say whether it's right or not. Like with drugs and other physical addictions and flaws, I would never do it myself. Do I consider it a sin? Sure... but I do not hate the people who are homosexual. I treat them the way I would treat anyone else... give them the same advice, share my faith with them and what it says about their particular situation, and they can take it or leave it... I won't stop being friends with them simply because of that. As for the rest... there is way too much for me to discuss all in one post, so if anyone wants my thoughts on a particular subject, simply ask for it. God bless you all and good night.

Hi.

Thanks for all your answers everyone. I did pray this morning and found it an interesting experience to have. I personally know that for me, Christianity is not the way. I will go on my own path and have already found something I'm very interested in. Thanks once again for all your responses.

I'll be taking the topic down in a couple of hours, if you want to create a new one, feel free to do so.

Why take down the topic? It's interesting to see people's views, please leave it up

Hi Brad,

Just to clarify a point. We don't sing the Qur'an. I know it may sound like that to some, but the Qur'an is so amazing that nothing humanistic like singing can be atributed to  it. When you linguistdikly examine the Qur'an, you see that it is written like a poem. The nature of old arabic is such that the Qur'an could be recited malodiously.

Secondly, to those who asked why we have problems.  Here is my answer.
God is testing us to see whether we should go to heaven or not. Yes, I know God knows everything, but what we have to remember is that Allah is - Ahad. Ahad in arabic means 1, but 1 in a special distinction. Unlike anything else. So you can't really think of Allah in logical terms, since he surpasses logic itself. Back to what I was saying, whereas humans should have been on the straight path, they have deviated from the truth because of their own desires, inspired by Iblis Shatan.
God therefore lets these evils happen to test us for the following reasons.
1. Will we believe?
2. Perhaps, had he not placed this tribulation upon us, something bad would have happened in our lives.
3. Perhaps it is to punnish us for a sin that we committed.
4.. perhaps it is to raise our rank in his eyes.
Hope this helps.

If you still find it hard to understand, I recommend too you and to all other non believers to listen to Numen Ali Kon understanding Islam and Sheikh Hasan ali love of Allah. I think love of Allah is the name. Type it in anyway, and you should find it or something similar to what I said.
Also Sheikh Hasan Ali Shaykh I don't watch Tv. While the lecture is about enjoyment in this life, I feel as though it contains interesting points. also Sheikh Hasan Ali temptations of the Dunya. Dunya means world in arabic. He has a facebook page so you can email him with questions if you wish, I'm not a Sheikh - one who knows their religion very well, although I am trying to learn. This guy has years of knowledge and experience that I don't.
Hope this helps.

am I the first one who has experience with Hinduism to post around here? well, theoritically, I'm a Hindu, through and through. and about God, I certainly believe that there's some higher power that regulates/maintains the overall function of the universe. and that power is called the Virat or the Purusha in the Vedas. and as a Hindu, the religion also offers me a rational explanation for the question:"why are their multiple Gods and Goddesses?". the single power, for the sake of the proper functioning of the universe, derived from itself all the forms. and yes, the religion lets us see these as forms of energy, with a "living" form attached to the energy. I have, in my experience, found that this imagery helps me consentrate better during meditation. and as for hell and heaven, the Hindu scriptures present these as mere concepts, and not as actual places. I do have more to say, but perhaps later,...

If the bible is not the inspired word of God, then I can agree with the above post.  I can also shrug off any commitments I have in life including my marriage because, well, why not!  If there is a God who is unchanged, constant, persistent through all of time as we know it as well as before and beyond, there must be an ontic referent, a foundation to which we can return without fail, assuming that he even wants a relationship with us and that we want to establish one with him, else how would we at all get to know him, given the many views that are circulated throughout the world?  If this god is a god that changes with the seasons, then none of us need him anymore than we need human interaction, something we have proven we can live without even though we desire it, because he is no better than you or I or anyone else in this world.  He could choose to be loving one day, hateful the next, and what kind of god what he honestly be?  He would not be perfect, for perfection does not require change.  He would not be holy, for holiness would be lost with his righteousness, and that would change with him.  If one thing is right one day and wrong the next, he can't be any better at determining right from wrong or telling us what is good and bad in this world anymore than I can tell you that eating a sandwitch bought at your nearest fastfood joint is good or bad for you.  He is no better at establishing his authority over us because he is externally affected and changed by anything and everything, his existence altered so that he cannot be the same god entirely.  Why rely on such a god?
No, the god I serve is not affected by what I think of him, nor is he affected by what I do for him.  He does not make exceptions for me or anyone else, nor does he honestly need me to believe in him to exist.  You can say that my faith is in vain, can say that is possesses no reason or rationality, that I have traded in any greatness that I could have accumulated by turning my back on it for something I cannot prove to you or anyone else, but when I consider the alternatives, wen I compare time as I know it to eternity, I realize that everything I do in the world I know is just everything I've done and that it matters not once I'm gone, because everything else and everyone else who could establish it and imortalise it and turn it into anything worth discussing it will die just as I will, passing on with the age into nothingness, all for nothingness.  That is, in my opinion, a rather bleak vision that can only be overcome by a god powerful enough to overcome it.  Such a god would have to be just, have to reign supreme over all, his sovereignty unchanging, his majesty never wavering, his love and passion evident even in his judgement, his grace and mercy prevailing from beginning to end regardless of people or places or ideas.  Long and hard did I fight against this idea, proclaiming that there was no truth to it.  A year ago, my life changed and I discovered that no reason to believe was the very reason to believe.  I also discovered that truth cannot be modified to fit what one wants and wishes to hear.  It cannot be altered if it is to remain true.  Just as changing perfection renders it imperfect, so too changing truth turns it into a lye.  In the end, what one believes does not make it any more true than what anyone else believes.  Truth remains truth regardless, and if there is a god, a true god, then I once again, humbly submit, that we cannot all be right.

Well said and completely agreed on both your posts, Nocturnus.

The only thing I've got to say at the moment is that Violinist just said what I wished, in a much nicer way... Probably except the praying part at the end since I'm not religious, at least not in a way that I pray.
Especially thumbs up for the love the sinner/hate the sin comment.

Many of you are aware that I grew up in a Christian home, was Christian for the first 25 years of my life or so, but have since become much more agnostic towards the belief in a god or higher power. It is not so much I think such a thing is impossible, but more a case I can't find any empirical evidence that such a being exists beyond what is written in ancient books like the bible and the Koran. I was raised as many Christians are that the bible is infallible and inerrant, but once I really studied what the bible says was completely unable to look past a number of contradictions and inaccuracies within the scriptures. Not only were there a number of contradictions, but there were plenty of things within the bible I outright disagreed with from an ethical and moral standpoint.

To give an example earlier in this thread Brad brought up the question of hell. That was one of the core doctrines that drove a wedge between me and any belief in a higher power. The reason being on one hand the bible states that God loves us, that he was willing to die for us, etc but on the other hand if someone breaks one of his commandments, sins against God, or questions his existence he or she will burn for an eternity in hell. I could not fathom the unjustness, the sheer evil, the barbarism of a being that would torture souls for an eternity in a lake of fire. Why not just kill them and get it over with? That would be ultimately more merciful and punishment would be served.

Of course, I am well aware not all Christians believe in that type of hell. When I began to have these kinds of doubts Christian friends, ministers, etc would try and explain hell away by stating they don't think hell is like that. They believed in a more humane hell where people are cast into outer darkness away from the presents of God. However, while I see their point of view it is unavoidable that the New Testament itself mentions a lake of fire in a number of verses and I just can not worship or love a God like that. For me the concept of hell makes God an evil, tyrannical, unmerciful, dictator and I personally believe such a being does not exist.

As for the issue of why people believe so strongly in one religion or another I think basic sociology and psychology can explain that. It is no big mystery that someone born into a Muslim home will grow up to be Muslim, a person raised as Christian will usually become a Christian, and someone raised Jewish will grow up to be Jewish. They really have no choice in the matter because they are told from the moment they can communicate with family and friends that this or that religion is true and they never get to a point of questioning it too deeply. They are in effect brainwashed from birth to adulthood to accept various things are true and when they are old enough to look into it they are either afraid to or are unable to relinquish those beliefs in favor of an alternative belief system. Which brings me to a point.

In his post Brad was asking why people believe in one God, the one true religion, etc and the answer is simply that is always what they have been told. If one is a student of the New Testament they'll notice that many scriptures state things like "there is one mediator between God and man" or that "Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light." For many Christians such verses are the authority that their beliefs are the one true religion and that all other perspectives, religious beliefs, and concepts are false. They aren't in a position to question their beliefs so it is hard to convince them of anything else. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are monotheism's meaning the central doctrine is one God, one truth, one revelation so obviously polytheistic concepts have no place in those belief systems.

Since I am not religious I personally find all concepts of god or gods to be false, at least as far as I know, but don't want to sound like an arrogant ass by insisting my opinion is the only valid point of view. I realize I could be wrong about the god thing, but if so I merely ask that evidence be presented that I both can recognize and that can be validated. As the late great Carl Sagan said, "the more extraordinary the claim the more extraordinary the evidence needs to be to prove it." At this point we haven't gotten to ordinary evidence let alone extraordinary evidence so I remain unconvinced by the god hypothesis at this current time myself.

Hi, personally I do not believe that god has a sun. Jesus was a proffet.
So we face a controdiction according to the Bible here: So the Bible says that Jesus is the sun of God, but then priests don't get merried, right? So why does God have a sun, yet priests are not allowed to get merried?
Thank you.

Humans are inharrently flawed beings, do you disagree?
If not, how can you believe the evidence (by humans!) that god exists? furthermore, the bible has passed through time, through countless translations. Relatedly, it has passed through countless human hands. How can we, humans, be trusted enough to have not made any modifications? we are imperfect beings, after all.
Other than humans and the bible, I see no evidence of god's existence.
And I'm kind of amazed that taking Jesus as one's king is the only way to heaven. So people who have lived all their life for humanity, and have not discovered Christianity. Will not go to heaven?
Sorry, I'd rather try to save myself from this god by disbelief rather than trust in him, for a god like him isn't really a god I would be proud to give my allegiance to.
And I'm curious. If Satan is as powerful as god, (if not feel free to correct me), theoretically he would have full control over his realm. If I follow Satan and go to hell, again, theoretically I might be in a better place than heaven.
And about homosexuals. America passed a law allowing this a while ago.
So if you're (genetically!) a homosexual, you'll be sent to hell without any chanse to repent? I...find that action far more akin to a dictator than a loving god.
Again, I have done no research on Christianity, so these are just from the things I have heard. Please feel free to correct me if I had anything wrong.

Hi Tward,

Here is the proof you've asked for.
“Do they not look at the sky above them?― How We have made it and adorned?...” (Qaf, 50/6)

The following is stated in another verse:

“And among His Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your languages and your colors: verily in that are Signs for those who know.” (ar-Rum, 30/22)

Another sign is Allah's two names, Malik and Malik. One of them means King, the other owner. Have you ever heard of anyone saying "I am the King and owner of this kingdom?"
Sincere regards,
Thunderfist799