Religion and Ethics and Health BBS

Religion and Ethics and Health BBS
[ Religion and Ethics and Health BBS ]

Do you believe in God?

Posted by Devolution on August 27, 2026, 6:00 am

Because I do.

Even Satan believes in God.

Posted by observer on August 27, 2026, 12:13 pm, in reply to "Do you believe in God?"

James 2:19 - as a reality not just an abstract belief.

But knowing about God and knowing God are two different things.

One mythological entity believes in another mythological entity?

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on August 29, 2026, 10:59 am, in reply to "Even Satan believes in God."

Pretzel Logic
🥨

Why do you think your distortion of history

Posted by observer on August 30, 2026, 8:11 am, in reply to "One mythological entity believes in another mythological entity?"

supersedes the actual historical truth? Your lack of knowledge concerning the Bible’s centuries of power and influence in human lives, particularly in its absolute definition of Truth, is not negated by your mere opinion. That’s the wonderful thing about the Truth.
Merely ignoring it or castigating it doesn’t make it go away. It has its own power, raison d’etre, it’s own destiny, in spite of human opinion.

"History"? pffffftttt...

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on August 30, 2026, 8:38 pm, in reply to "Why do you think your distortion of history"

Fanciful tales.

I do not.

Posted by 7:77 on August 27, 2026, 11:36 am, in reply to "Do you believe in God?"

Yes.

Posted by DFM on August 27, 2026, 6:27 am, in reply to "Do you believe in God?"

What kind of tangible evidence do you have?

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on August 27, 2026, 10:27 am, in reply to "Yes."

You always insist on such evidence.😏

The persistant survival of Israel throughout history is without precedent.

Posted by DFM on August 28, 2026, 4:55 am, in reply to "What kind of tangible evidence do you have?"

Genesis 22:18
And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

The Israelites have earned 1/3 of all Nobel Prizes in Sciences despite a tiny population of 0.2% of World's people. Also look at their contributions to humanity: Polio vaccines of Salk and Sabin.
Industrialization of penecillin.
Laser.
Statins.
Relativity.
Nuclear Fission.

Ezekiel 36: God promises to restore the ruined cities, mountains, and land of Israel. He states He will take the people from the nations, gather them from all countries, and bring them back into their own land to prosper again.

This amazing prophecy has actually occurred during my lifetime.

Jewish innovators, scientists, and engineers have contributed significantly to modern medicine, technology, consumer goods, and communications. While an official, universally ranked "top 100" list does not exist, major historical inventions and foundational breakthroughs with Jewish inventors or co-inventors span several key fields.
Medical Breakthroughs and Health

Polio Vaccine: Developed by Jonas Salk, safely eradicating one of the world's most feared paralytic diseases.
Oral Polio Vaccine: Developed by Albert Sabin, allowing widespread oral distribution.
Insulin Purification: Refined and made clinically viable for diabetes treatment by multiple researchers, notably involving critical biochemical contributions.
Cardiac Pacemaker & Defibrillator: Invented by Dr. Paul Zoll to regulate heart rhythms and treat cardiac arrest.
Chemotherapy: Pioneered in cancer treatment through the work of pharmacologists like Jane Cooke Wright and others.
Recombinant DNA: Created by Paul Berg, marking the birth of modern genetic engineering.
Hepatitis B Antigen: Discovered by Baruch Blumberg, leading to diagnostic tests and vaccines.

Computing, Internet, and Communications

Google Search (PageRank): Co-developed by Sergey Brin and Larry Page.
Facebook: Co-founded and built by Mark Zuckerberg.
Cellular Handoff Technology: Invented by Amos Edward Joel Jr. at Bell Labs, enabling continuous mobile calls across coverage areas.
Microprocessor Architecture: Co-developed and engineered by figures at companies like Intel Israel and key figures like Stanley Mazor.
USB Flash Drive: Co-developed by Israeli pioneering teams and Dov Moran.
Waze Navigation App: Co-founded and engineered in Israel.
First Word Processor Computer: Developed by Evelyn Berezin (Barrison).

Everyday Consumer Goods and Materials

Blue Jeans (Denim Work Pants): Co-invented by Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis.
Instant Camera (Polaroid): Invented by Edwin Land.
Ballpoint Pen: Patented and commercialized for mass use by László Bíró.
TV Remote Control: Invented by Robert Adler at Zenith Electronics.
Stainless Steel: Advanced through foundational chromium-reduction chemistry by Hans Goldschmidt.
The Shopping Cart: Invented by Sylvan Goldman.
The Flexistraw (Bendable Straw): Invented by Joseph Friedman.

Agriculture and Environmental Tech

Modern Drip Irrigation: Commercialized and perfected by Simcha Blass and his son Yeshayahu via Netafim, transforming arid desert farming globally.

Opinion derived from a book of myths?...Hardly tangible...

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on August 29, 2026, 11:06 am, in reply to "The persistant survival of Israel throughout history is without precedent."

But if such logic comforts you in your waning years, so be it.

In the end, we all end up in the same place, returning to our carbonaceous beginnings. There's nothing tangible to think otherwise...
🥱

What kind of god would that be?

Posted by BornToFarm on August 27, 2026, 6:58 am, in reply to "Yes."

The God of Moses and the Hebrews

Posted by DFM on August 27, 2026, 8:15 am, in reply to "What kind of god would that be?"

What kind of god would that be?

Posted by BornToFarm on August 28, 2026, 11:01 am, in reply to "The God of Moses and the Hebrews"

Other than making Abraham and his descendants special as you so often tell us, what else is there about your god?

You have already stated that you don't believe in miracles.

You have already stated that if God forgave the Hebrews so many times, that He would have to an Idiot.

So, what else can you god do? Or what else has your god done? Or is that it?

The God who created the Western Concepts of Justice and Mercy.

Posted by DFM on August 28, 2026, 1:05 pm, in reply to "What kind of god would that be?"

Key Biblical Themes of Justice

Care for the Vulnerable: Scripture consistently commands believers to protect those who cannot protect themselves, specifically the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the immigrant.

Restorative Action: The Hebrew word for justice, mishpat, often means stepping in to stop exploitation and making things right for the disadvantaged.

Righteous Relationships: Righteousness (tsedakah) means living in right, fair relationships with other people, treating everyone with God-given dignity.

Major Bible Passages on Justice

Isaiah 1:17: “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, and please the widow's cause.”

Amos 5:24: “Let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”

Micah 6:8: God has told humans what is good, which is to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Psalm 82:3: “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.”

Jeremiah 22:3: True justice means delivering the oppressed from the hand of the oppressor and doing no wrong to the stranger or orphan.

You've told us a lot about the Hebrew people, but little about the god you claim to believe in

Posted by BornToFarm on August 29, 2026, 6:00 pm, in reply to "The God who created the Western Concepts of Justice and Mercy."

How did this god you claim to believe in do this?

The God of Hebrew people cannot be described.

Posted by DFM on August 30, 2026, 2:31 am, in reply to "You've told us a lot about the Hebrew people, but little about the god you claim to believe in"

The God of the Hebrew people cannot be described.

Posted by DFM on August 30, 2026, 5:11 am, in reply to "The God of Hebrew people cannot be described."

The God of the Hebrew people is considered ineffable, meaning God cannot be fully described, pictured, or defined using human language.

The Ineffable Name
The Tetragrammaton: The proper name of God is written in Hebrew as four letters, YHWH.

Lost Pronunciation: Because the name was too sacred to speak aloud outside the Temple, the exact original pronunciation was lost over time.
[Actual pronounciation and meaning: Y'haweh. Meaning: "He that Causes Being or Existence" originating from the Hebrew root word for "to be."]

Substitutes: Devout readers use terms like Adonai ("Lord") or HaShem ("The Name") instead of trying to pronounce the four-letter name.

Negative Theology
Defining by Limits: Medieval Jewish philosophers, most famously Maimonides, argued that humans cannot attribute positive human traits to God.

Apophatic Approach: This philosophy states that we can only truly describe God by stating what God is not—such as not mortal, not physical, and not limited.

Last I checked Justice and Mercy are Global concepts

Posted by Trish on August 29, 2026, 3:42 am, in reply to "The God who created the Western Concepts of Justice and Mercy."

with or without religion

Certainly NOT. For example, the Romans had no conception of "Justice"

Posted by DFM on August 30, 2026, 5:14 am, in reply to "Last I checked Justice and Mercy are Global concepts"

remotely correlated with our current standard.

Example: a slave could be legally tortured and killed at the whim of his/her master without the slightest legal repercussions.

Are you suggesting that all cultures practice them?

Posted by observer on August 29, 2026, 8:24 am, in reply to "Last I checked Justice and Mercy are Global concepts"

If so, does that mean different definitions of justice and mercy? Also, what is the basis for justice and mercy? How did, Hitler, Pol Pot, and Stalin define it?

For the most part, humankind has realized throughout the ages

Posted by Trish on August 29, 2026, 1:34 pm, in reply to "Are you suggesting that all cultures practice them?"

that we need each other to survive. Each township or region created laws they deemed just. Most humans agree that justice means giving people what they are due, being fair, and stopping unearned harm

Mercy is a universal concept found across major world religions, ethical systems, and human societies. In In major belief systems like Christianity, Judaism, Islam (as Rahma), Buddhism (Karuṇā

, and Hinduism, mercy is considered a core virtue and a primary attribute of the divine

Mercy requires two elements: the legitimate authority or power to punish, and the conscious choice to forgo that power out of kindness or empathy.

Actually, academically speaking, the development of Western

Posted by observer on August 29, 2026, 4:54 pm, in reply to "For the most part, humankind has realized throughout the ages"

Civilization directly refutes your claims, unless you’re claiming that if the macabre behavior was considered just by those performing it, as in truth depends on who is defining it, then justice becomes merely dependent on opinion, not principle.

The genocide of the Inquisition and the Conquistador's Meso-American massacres show...

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on August 29, 2026, 11:19 am, in reply to "Are you suggesting that all cultures practice them?"

...that your Christianity is far from loving and pure.

A strange cult of symbolic cannibalism, drinking the blood and consuming the body of a convicted martyr isn't normal nor is baptismal dunking in 'Holy Water'.
(and who made this water "Holy"?)

You make a lot of intellectual mistakes, but this is the most obvious

Posted by observer on August 29, 2026, 1:42 pm, in reply to "The genocide of the Inquisition and the Conquistador's Meso-American massacres show..."

one to me. Your broadbrush usage of the word Christianity, and your particular understanding of what it is, cause you to misapply it in almost every way possible. Sound Biblical doctrine is not the same as some “tradition” and history representing itself as Christianity. Those incidents you mention are not correctly identified as Christian.

Not only is it intellectually incorrect but it represents a bigoted mindset that coincidentally is not unlike that of the Inquisitors and Conquistadores.

How was I "intellectually incorrect"? How would you pose it as correct...?

Posted by Cheap Seats Shaman *= on August 29, 2026, 5:03 pm, in reply to "You make a lot of intellectual mistakes, but this is the most obvious"

These genocides were directed by their religion, ostensibly being "Christianity".

For you to rationalize it is bearing false witness regarding these actions.

If it is based on anything other than the Bible, and in these two

Posted by observer on August 29, 2026, 8:34 pm, in reply to "How was I "intellectually incorrect"? How would you pose it as correct...?"

incidents it was tradition, not Scripture, that motivated the action, it is not Christianity, no matter how many historians and others claim it to be.

So, it is intellectually dishonest to claim that anyone you call a Christian supports those historical incidents is a fact.

IOW, it is the Bible that defines Christianity!

So far as I can ferret out, the Hebrew God is the only one

Posted by GOG on August 27, 2026, 8:30 am, in reply to "The God of Moses and the Hebrews"

worth a damn. And not because It invented life (though that alone is no small achievement)(understatement)), and humanity, but because in the overarching theme there is everything right and good about trouncing evil, elevating good, and saving our race of beings.

Is that the

Posted by observer on August 28, 2026, 9:58 am, in reply to "So far as I can ferret out, the Hebrew God is the only one "

Trinitarian God worshipped by Christians? If so, why say “Hebrew” God?

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