Protagonist

I made a religion (still working on a name)

So Boerd said
In case anyone was wondering, I don't believe that Solipsism crap, but I use it to steer Atheists into an emotion comparable to the one which we feel when constantly harassed particularly in threads not intended to debate God's existence. You know something to be true (in this case, an Objective reality), yet someone incessantly spews philosoph(istr)y at you telling you you haven't seen what you've seen, nor heard what you've heard. Here I will deliberately use a popular and offensive analogy for God. If someone has seen (not that I myself have seen God, but some have) Santa Claus in the sky clearly once, let alone multiple times, but has no other demonstrable irregularities in his vision, you cannot make him doubt it any more than I can make you doubt reality itself with my solipsism. So we get it, some of you don't believe in God. But very nearly have we destroyed an exploration of this fellow's beliefs with another religious debate that never convinces anyone. So let's stop, m'kay?

Maybe. As long as everybody's polite and nobody shouts "BURN THE HERETIC!" I think we'll be fine.

Control VS Freedom

I think the answer to this question is simple: the power vested in the state should be exactly proportional to how much you can trust its leadership. Theoretically, any system can be corrupted by stuffing it full of enough bad people, and any system can work if stuffed with enough good people. Ideally, the best governmental system would be a totalitarian system (hear me out) led by an infallible despot. However, since people are very, very fallible, despotism invariably fails. So, you just cut back on their power and make them a bit more accountable, and eventually you end up with a constitutional republic.

I made a religion (still working on a name)

Aragorn said
Gonna toss in my two cents. You seem to be failing the ABCs of religion:Assure SalvationBelieve a precise theologyConvert non- believersTo be specific, A and B. This sounds more like agnostic thinking. "God exists, but doesn't care anymore." Looking to convert? There's already millions of agnostics. No need to convert.(Slightly ironic since my own religion, Judaism, fails C.)

I think the term you're looking for is Diest or Apatheist.
Agnosticism is someone who thinks that God may or may not exist.

I made a religion (still working on a name)

bosesbjorn said
But it hasn't remained unchanged at all. Just look at how many different versions of the Bible there are, and how many different sects of Christianity.

It's really more like "different translations" than the bible actually changing. If you can read multiple languages, you can read the untranslated texts easily enough.

As for the different sects of Christianity, that's more a difference in how cultures and individuals react to the bible than a change in the bible itself.

Zion Colony

Yeah, just put the word "Semi-Auto" at the end of it.

I'd like to get the IC up soon. Is there anybody I've missed?

And is there anybody who hasn't finished their CS yet?

Zion Colony

As for Nero, would it be alright if that weapon was semi-auto? It can get a full auto upgrade later.

I made a religion (still working on a name)

Magic Magnum said
As for OT vs NT, there's a lot of scriptures in both that can be used to reinforce he was a violent sadist or that he was a forgiving saint. But such variance and inconsistency is what tends to happen the book is written by a ton of sand people who were not ever allowed to alter one anothers work. That or god is bipolar.2) Not really. Most atheists I run into to tend to say "You Christians are awful, but Jesus was kind of decent" still disagree with Jesus in regards to if Christianity is true. They just find Jesus to generally be a more decent and moral person than most Christians are, so it's basically another way of them saying "I wish you Christians were more moral".

1) I'd slightly disagree. I'd say the bible states that he's neither all-forgiving, nor is he vengeful, but rather trying to balance the two out. If he was one or the other, he wouldn't ever interact with humans (he'd just have destroyed humanity by now or abandoned it). My interpretation is that God is motivated by his love of humanity as a whole (in the sense that he desperately wants to see it improve. He's not particularly fond of the current human condition), To this end, he will do absolutely anything necessary. As such, he's aggressive when he considers it necessary, but wouldn't go out of his way to be cruel either.

As for the desert people 2000 years ago argument, that can be turned on its head. The fact that it's ancient is actually part of its appeal. The fact that it's been unchanged for thousands of years makes it more "timeless" rather than "outdated". If you compare it to music, it's kind of like classical vs. pop music.

2) Obviously, Atheists don't percieve Jesus as perfect, but they do tend to perceive him as very good. And I have seen non-Christians argue that Christians should be more like Christ/consider Christians a misaimed fandom of Christ. To the extent that one considers Jesus to be good, the more valid my statement is.

I made a religion (still working on a name)

The problem with the claim that Christ is good, but Christianity or the Christian God is not is this:

1) Jesus and God mutually approve of everything the other does. For that matter, they actually don't act that different per say. Old Testament God isn't really that vengeful (for example, in the book of Judges, he repeatedly forgives the nation for its own transgressions and seems to have an attitude of "I'll always take you back"), nor was Christ/New Testament God really all that merciful (in the book of revelation, he kills innumerable amounts of people. In fact, he's possibly more violent during this period of time than old testament God ever was)

2) Christians seek to be like Jesus. If you have complaints about the ways Christians generally behave, but have no such complaints with Christ, then your complaint is more that they aren't Christian enough.

I made a religion (still working on a name)

Magic Magnum said
True, but Christianity/The Bible constantly acts like it does.And if it did, then God and Jesus themselves would be seen as immoral.

Yes, and no. One way to interpret it all is an "appeal to force". Morality is a series of appeals to force (you steal, you get arrested). God has all the force, he gets to decide what's right and wrong. I don't particularly agree with this line of thinking, but it technically would reconcile theism and moral relativism.

What I gathered from reading the bible is that "social morals" (IE, what's socially acceptable or legal) are relative, while "divine morals" are not. Basically, society runs in circles morally (what was acceptable 100 years ago is not today, and what is acceptable today will not be acceptable 100 years into the future). God's considered a static point by which society is judged, as opposed to the other way around.

Zion Colony

As for Astra, I'd still like more information on her owner if she's going to have one.