[juju]

Originally posted by Tobiasly
You shouldn't lump all Christians together thusly. I'm a Christian, but I'm 100% against blue laws. The reason it's Christians in particular that you feel trod upon you is -- are you ready for this? -- the U.S. is predominantly Christian. (Since you live in Arkansas, I'm assuming it's worse than usual for you.) True separation of curch and state would be nice, but I don't think it'll ever happen. Again, I'm not saying I like the way things are, just that some of it will never change. Our currency will never not say "In God We Trust."

Well, the problem is that a lot of the people who call themselves Christians have such a wildly varied set of beliefs, that the word Christian is in danger of losing it's meaning (at least to me). These days, anyone can say they're a Christian and won't be questioned. So, i'm faced with two options. One, I can define 'Christian' as a person with the values that the majority of Christians I see today hold. Or two, I can give up and accept that saying you're a Christian means absolutly nothing except that you believe in God. I have chosen the first option, and the majority of Christians I see are completely nuts. I have met some people who say they're Christians who act competely normally (such as yourself). Quite truthfully, this baffles me. How can you associate yourself with such nutjobs? My wife's family is the same way. They say they're Christians, but they act pretty normally to me. For example, if they read and obeyed the bible, they would be anti-gay. But they're not. I don't get it. I consider nice people like yourself and my wife's family to not really be Christians. In my mind, if you're not completely insane, then you're not really a Christian. I know this isn't the case, but it helps me sort it out in my head.

Anyway, i'm highly predjudiced against Christians because of the all the nutjobs i've seen. This introduces a certain irrationality into my thinking on this matter, and I know this. So i'm sure you could probably decimate everything I just said. How about if I just admit that I have a problem? :)

Originally posted by Tobiasly
That said, I really think that if someone took a particular government to court to get blue laws appealed, they'd have a pretty good chance of succeeding in today's climate. Especially if they can show harm, such as a liquor store owner that says he's losing business because of the lack of separation of church and state. I haven't researched this, but I wonder if anyone has done this, and if not, why?

That would be awesome. :) Actually, i've never drank alcohol, so it doesn't really affect me. The teacher doesn't know this, though. And I do feel that I should have the right, even if I don't choose to exercise it. I mean, it is complete nonsense.

Originally posted by Tobiasly
If they aren't closed because of a law, you've got no reason to complain. The store owner chooses when he'll open, and that's his right. I'd like to be able to buy a Filet-O-Fish at 3 a.m., but that's not possible.

I agree that law isn't really an issue, but I wasn't addressing that. Even so, I don't agree with your logic at all. The law itself guarantees my right to bitch about whatever I want. I do agree that I can't do anything about it, since it's the store owner's choice. But one of the things the teacher asked us to address is how religion has affected us. Since the owner's choice is based on religion, I felt justified in putting it in.

Originally posted by Tobiasly
What if the existence of an all-powerful being is the only logical conclusion that can be drawn? When I dissected animals in high school biology, and witnessed the awesome intricacy of their tissues, organs, and how it all worked together, the only thing I could think of was "there's no way this just happened." I believe in evolution as well; I just believe God guided it.

But my point is, just because there is no physical proof that God exists, doesn't mean that everyone who believes He does exist came to that conclusion by just pulling it out of their ass.

Hmm... a debate on this topic would be in danger of going on forever. :]

My human evolution teacher knew a lot about human anatomy, and he used to bring up all sorts of examples of how the human body is constructed extremely poorly. He claimed that if a concious being did design us, then he/she must have been drunk or incredibly stupid. Unfortunately, I don't posses his great knowledge of anatomy, and I can't remember any of his examples. But here is a fairly good FAQ on exactly this subject. Since i'm not a scientist or medical doctor, i'm probably not very well equipped to argue this point. I'm putting my faith in what these people are saying, though, because they seem to have it together.

I think you believe because you want to believe. The idea of God and the afterlife is very attractive. After all, you don't have to die, you can live forever. The rest is just a matter of how you're going to rationalize your way to believing it. I think if you really studied the evidence at length, you'd realize that chance can invent humans. I guess this might be kind of insulting, and I hope you won't be mad. Please don't yell at me! I still respect your opinion, and I'm just being honest about how I feel. :)