Futurama Fry

We don't really "need" anybody or anything.

I used to think the same thing when I was a drug addicted criminal. What I needed was my sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll and I would break the law to make sure I got it. I used to tell myself that "I didn't need anything," while at the same time killing myself with and making sure I'd spend most of my life in prison in order to get drugs. The only thing that kept me from killing myself and/or going to prison was Jesus Christ.

That's a beautiful testimony. It warms my heart to see the Lord influence peoples' lives in such a wonderful way.

That's a bullshit argument.

You're not going to win an argument with anyone simply by insulting theirs. Everyone has their own testimony and beliefs, and it's best to let them be. This person, in my opinion, has a beautiful story of loss and redemption. Whether or not you choose to believe it is your business, but don't tell anyone that what they've experienced is wrong. Sometimes it's best to just move on and let people be. We can't all agree on everything, after all.

Um, hello, I'm a debater, I'm not gonna just stop debating.

It is.

A lot of atheists are pretty cool, actually (in response to the intended recipient of this meme). You may have been arguing with a contard to invoke that kind of response, so you may as well stop. They're not worth the effort.

It's addressing everybody who claims Atheists are evil simply for being Atheist.

Yep, probably a contard. I hate how these people ruin the image of theists by spreading an opinion that's actually quite unpopular. Oh well. If you're still insistent on debating them and willing to accept advice, I have some to give. If they're Christian, use this information from my experience: In the context in which I was taught the principles of Christianity, I was taught not to hate people because they don't believe in the true God. In fact, I believe that such people are only influenced by evil, and are not automatically evil themselves. The purpose of the church is not to shun or condemn them, but to spread the Gospel and save anyone who will accept it. The best way to do so is to show everyone God's mercy and love, not man's hate.

Religious individuals often preach hatred against nonbelievers (radical religious individuals anyway)

I've experienced that too, unfortunately. I went to my grandmother's church and there was a whole sermon about how Satan is using Islam to destroy Christianity. It's partially true, but it painted all muslims in a bad light, not just the radicals.

I don't think Satan is behind anything. Besides, the Bible hardly mentions Satan, so we don't really get his side of things.

I believe that Satan is actually behind quite a few things, but most of them are individual problems and challenges. The few times he is mentioned in the Bible, it marks a very important teaching (first sin on Earth, temptation of Christ, etc.). His side is that he wants people in his kingdom so he can raise an army to overthrow God and have complete control over everything. It's set in stone that it won't work of course, but he's still attempting it for some reason beyond human comprehension. The gist of it is that God has ultimate power, Satan is power hungry and therefore wants that power. He tries to prevent people from going to heaven because they will fight for God, and tries to get people to serve him to fight against God. He's basically attempting a supernatural Napoleon-esque rise to power...except there's nothing wrong with the existing ruler.

If he had more than a few pages, we could get the FULL story instead of just what we're told of him.

I think that we're given all that we need to know, but what's left unsaid is food for thought.

It would make alot more sense if he had more than a few pages.

I just realized that one of the sentences in that post didn't make sense so I'm going to try again:
Yeah. The only reasoning I can come up with is that the point of it is pretty much just to help people build a relationship with God. It's not really supposed to be read as a religious text. Instead of telling stories and dishing out rules, it tells people how to know God and make it into Heaven...often in the form of stories and rules. So I guess it's just perspective, really.

Perspective can be a problem too, because sometimes, it's only one perspective that's seen.

I mean the perspective in which someone chooses to read it.

Like I said, we're only given one side, which is the Bible's fatal flaw.

To some people, I guess. I'd like to point out that it's good to have an intellectual debate for once.

Mostly the religious, though.

True, and those that are a little TOO against it.

To truly know a character, we must be given their side instead of just the main character's side. That's the Bible's fatal flaw, it gives Satan little character and nothing more.

I believe that Satan's character is found everywhere but the Bible. The world's will is always becoming closer to his will, so you really just have to look around to see it.

That's what I've been doing.

Yep, and I appreciate it. Most people go straight to raging when it comes to stuff like this.