[jordyn]

now, that's funny...

considering  i'm consistently torn trying to explain to my daughter when she asks me if santa is real and my desire to not quell her questioning belief, he's there...in spirit, especially if he's indeed derived from King Wenceslas, as he could very well be a bohemian ancestor.  

the big difference, santa encourages materialism, good kids get their toys, inspiring children to behave for toys rather than to just be good people and parents in a situation to buy, buy, and buy some more, there's this fascinating movie, what would jesus buy making some interesting points about how christmas has become so material and less about the end of the harvest celebration, there's one on a town that banned christmas and even a mockumentry about a group of guys who went searching for santa.

jesus got gold and incense for christmas(sensible gifts) my daughter got a hundred and fifty dollar interactive dinosaur and another fifty or so dollars in gifts and still asks for more.  

like any god, spirit or demon he's as real as those who believe in him make him, and the one with the most believers wins.

the big difference, God encourages cowardice, good Christians go to Heaven, inspiring Christians to behave for fear of their souls and the reward of paradise rather than to just be good people.

Fixed that one for you, Jordyn.

[Rainbow]

Here in Puerto Rico we have one of the most long christmas in the world, we have the 24 and 25 that you guys have. And then in january 5 and 6 we have the day of the three wise men (los 3 reyes magos) that day the children put a bowl of water and a box of grass, for the camels that bring the wise man who bring them present. That is a way of symbolizing the gifts Jesus got (gold, frankincense and myrrh) so at the morning the water is gone the grass too (the parents trew it away) and you have 3 gifts, but these gift shoul be more sentimental than material.

[jordyn]

the big difference, God encourages cowardice, good Christians go to Heaven, inspiring Christians to behave for fear of their souls and the reward of paradise rather than to just be good people.

Fixed that one for you, Jordyn.

am i a coward?

 i've always been a good person...even being a godless whore i was a good person, that's why i was a whore and not a hateful ball of violence, but the pretty girl that lay with a lot of men and had them calling me god. 

It's really not that simple to get into heaven and only God can judge His creations so i fear a lot of the "christians" you are refering to will be going the other way, i've met some that i can whole heartedly agree are anything but Christly or like early jews, but then i'd be judging and fully entitled to go to hell myself,  but God speaks to me often, so i'm pretty faithful i won't. 

i'll be the first one in line to point down at fred phelps and laugh at him.

[jordyn]

Here in Puerto Rico we have one of the most long christmas in the world, we have the 24 and 25 that you guys have. And then in january 5 and 6 we have the day of the three wise men (los 3 reyes magos) that day the children put a bowl of water and a box of grass, for the camels that bring the wise man who bring them present. That is a way of symbolizing the gifts Jesus got (gold, frankincense and myrrh) so at the morning the water is gone the grass too (the parents trew it away) and you have 3 gifts, but these gift shoul be more sentimental than material.

i think my daughter needs to spend some holidays in puerto rico, she's all material at this point.   *grrs*

[Moloch]

the big difference, God encourages cowardice, good Christians go to Heaven, inspiring Christians to behave for fear of their souls and the reward of paradise rather than to just be good people.

Fixed that one for you, Jordyn.

Dammit... now I can't stop laughing!

God speaks to me often

God speaks to my mother too.... she's a manic/depressive paranoid schizophrenic with delusions of persecution.

[jordyn]

i'm a pretty popular girl with guys clamoring for me on saturday nights and even drunk i can politely decline, and when i go to the bar to get another round i talk a bit to my most beautiful skater for Christ, (he's really a phenomenally good looking man)we have a shot, i flirt with my favorite bouncer, i go back to my table full of tattooed wonders and we continue dancing and having fun until the bar closes.

sunday through friday i'm the proverbial poor single mother raising a most quirky high functioning autist and working a dream job at our local movie store(good pay, flexible hours, free movies and my boss is one of the girls i go drinking with on saturday.)

how's someone hearing a god different from anyone who thinks they're a real werewolf or a vampire?

i'm hardly your mother...

[Moloch]

Ahhhh.... so many cruel things I could say about my mother that would be completely off-topic....

No... you're not my mother - I actually have something resembling respect for you sometimes, and I speak to you. Ironically... by the time I was sixteen I didn't want gifts anymore, either for my birthday or for xmas. It might be because I could see where my parents were suing it as a means to try and buy my affection or make up for never being there or paying me any mind; or it could just be that I understood the real meaning behind these days. My folks always said I was too smart for my own damned good. To this day I still don't feel comfortable receiving gifts of any kind, even charity, nor even money my girlfriend puts int ot he house to help pay for bills...

To me, both concepts described in the originating post are useless. One encourages you to do good or be punished for eternity in a lake of fire and other such nonsense; the other encourages you to be good or be punished by a lack of increase in material wealth for what will seem like an eternity. Either way, something precious dies a little more with each passing generation.

[jordyn]

To me, both concepts described in the originating post are useless. One encourages you to do good or be punished for eternity in a lake of fire and other such nonsense; the other encourages you to be good or be punished by a lack of increase in material wealth for what will seem like an eternity. Either way, something precious dies a little more with each passing generation.

i tend to agree the heaven and hell concepts are borderline nonsense to, there's no clear biblical or Judaic description of heaven or hell...and yeah, i feel sorry for what our youth have to deal with today, ideally it'll make them stronger and not more hopeless.

am i a coward?

No, but I couldn't resist saying it because it's so damn true most of the time.

[jordyn]

am i a coward?

No, but I couldn't resist saying it because it's so damn true most of the time.

in some cases even i agree.

[blow_fly]

If nothing else, both God and Santa might encourage nasty, sociopathic individuals, be they children or adults, from going out of their way to terrorise and hurt others.  If that schoolyard bully is convinced that Santa won't give him anything if he continues to sit on his little classmates, he just might refrain from acting on his sadistic tendencies.

Hmm....... where do the people who do good because it pleases god first and themselves second, stand in this theoretical discussion?

Hmm....... where do the people who do good because it pleases god first and themselves second, stand in this theoretical discussion?

As nonexistant. Despite the protests of religious idiots everywhere, humanity IS selfish through and through, and altruism only serves as an extension of the survival instinct that teaches us to be kind to people so they'll watch our backs.
So...there are NO people who do good to please god. People do it to save their own asses because they have a need for a constant nanny watching over them and making them behave. Pathetic, really.

[blow_fly]

What better way of convincing an essentially selfish and vicious species to behave in a ''righteous'' manner than to scare the living daylights out of them through the artifice of a make-belief bogey man? Even if he's accomplished nothing else, God might have prevented humans from copying the example of our savage relation, the chimp, and engaging in fatricidal, intercinine warfare.