Hey FrGamble!

If I really thought we were actively waiting for God to show up I would be happy. You and I both know you have the doors and windows shut and triple locked and the no trespassing signs are in place. You try very hard to protect yourself from encountering God, but there is still hope.

Quote: FrGamble

Look at what St. Paul VI said would happen to our society with the widespread use of contraception and you will see he was exactly right.

I don't know what he said would happen, but I would imagine he was entirely wrong.

Look it up, it's in a letter called Humane Vitae. Truly prophetic!

Quote: FrGamble

I You try very hard to protect yourself from encountering God.

I try just as hard to protect myself
from unicorns and the Easter Bunny.
Seems to work..

Unconditional is a sales word. As in
'unconditional money back
guarantee'. Read the fine print
and are plenty of conditions.

Same with your religion. The
phrase is nowhere in the Bible,
nor is it implied there are no
conditions. You use is as a
technique to lure people in.
There are nothing but conditions
tied to gods fantasy 'unconditional
love'. It's the perfect oxymoron.

Gods love may never go away,
but you better learn to keep him
happy or there will be hell to pay.
Literally. But for your own good
because he loves you so much,
right?

Please remember that God sends no one to Hell, you choose that for yourself. I wonder what you mean by "keeping God happy"? Do you have a conception of a god in heaven keeping score and tallying up all your good and bad actions? Or do you think of god like someone who is looking to say gotcha at any moment and judge you for your mistakes? I will join you in rejecting these false notions of God.

God is a loving father who loves you unconditionally and will always be there to forgive you. He loves you for who you are, His beloved creation, not for what you've done or not done. As St. Paul says, "Nothing can separate us from the love of God." As a loving father He obviously wants what is for your own good, that makes sense right?

Quote: FrGamble

I wonder what you mean by "keeping God happy"?

Here's a good example. Every year my wife
and I get a form from Blue Cross wanting to
reward us for medical treatment we might
have received. It came last week. If I've had
a physical this year, a flu shot, and have
discussed my medical condition with my
doctor, they send me a $50 gift certificate
to Amazon. I have had none all those things
done yet, but I will have them done later
this year. Because I'm going to have them
done, I checked all three boxes, sent it in,
and got $50 immediately at Amazon.

I told my wife and of course she's going
to wait until she actually has the work
done. Why? Because she thinks her God
watches her twenty-four hours a day and
reads all of her thoughts and she would
feel horrible guilt if she did this. This is
how her sick religion controls her, by
constantly threatening her with gods
disapproval if she bends the rules even
a little. All religions are about control.

If you Google it, Catholics and Protestants have
this in common, they believe god knows their
thoughts, desires and deeds. I am burdened
by no such silliness.

So without God you just make up your own rules and do whatever you want, I already guessed that.

Quote: FrGamble

So without God you just make up your own rules and do whatever you want, I already guessed that.

And you, "with" God, make up rules as you see fit as well. Priests not marrying, etc.

Quote: FrGamble

So without God you just make up your own rules and do whatever you want, I already guessed that.

We all do what we want, basically. Prison
is full of Xtians who did what they wanted.
Even you do what you want, you follow
rules somebody else wrote for you. Nobody
is forcing you to do that. Point is, I don't
think I have somebody monitoring my
thoughts and actions 24/7 like you and
my wife do. That would be just plain creepy.

What I did with Blue Cross harmed no one.
I just speeded up the process is all. But my
wife thinks god will not approve, which
to me is ridiculous.