Do you believe that 2007 will have the second coming of Jesus Christ?

[WMS]

Jesus was crazy.  Or a rotten person who led people astray.

That's all you really needed to say, to hit the nail on the head as it were.

It is comments like this that ensure the United States will never elect an atheist President.

[WMS]

Jesus was crazy.  Or a rotten person who led people astray.

That's all you really needed to say, to hit the nail on the head as it were.

It is comments like this that ensure the United States will never elect an atheist President.

As a Christian, I see absolutely no reason a President cannot be an Atheist.  I am repulsed by comments like those of former President Bush (41), that Atheists shouldn't even be considered citizens.

Because I believe in Jesus, who taught -- "Treat others as you would wish to be treated" -- it's simple.  I wouldn't want a Christian to be disqualified from holding office because he was Christian.  So, I wouldn't want an Atheist (or Jew or Muslim or Wiccan) disqualified either.

Many of my fellow Christians miss this.  The Great Commission of Jesus was to go into all the world and preach His Gospel.  Well and good.  But His Great Commission should never supercede or overrule His Great Commandment (do unto others).  The two should, ideally, compiment one another.

This appears to be Red Avatars Misunderstanding What WMS Is Saying Day.

KEmp's comment was insulting, rude, and arrogant toward Christians. Sad to say, I run into that a lot with atheists. It's never enough just to agree to disagree about matters of faith, they insist on outright attacking Christians (or Muslims, or Buddhists, or Jews, or fill-in-the-blank), and that hostile attitude toward believers (as shown in the anti-Christian example here) is what will prevent people from voting for them. It isn't a matter of legal status. There is no disqualification being referred to - it's that few people will want to have someone hostile or contemptuous to their faith in office and thus won't vote for them.

As I have said before, if you want to be an atheist I have no problems with that. Live and let live. But if you choose to go past that and attack other faiths...well, expect opposition.

Unless KEmp was joking. But he gave no indication of that.

[WMS]

Okay, let's look at it another way.

Jesus Christ existed.  You grant that.  So do I.

On numerous occasions, this "wonderful man" claimed to be God...accepted worship from other people...and was tried and executed because of this.  Remember, though Rome ruled Palestine, all matters theological were relegated to the courts of the Sanhedrin.  And they did not kill Jesus because he feed the poor or called for social justice.  They killed him because he said, "Before Abraham was, I AM."  For a Jew to say, "I AM" is the very soul of heresy.  It is to say, quite unmistakably, "I AM that I AM."  He said he had the power to destroy the temple in three days.  And raise the temple up in as much time.  Whether he spoke of his body or the temple in Jerusalem -- he was claiming to possess the power of God.

So, I wish to challenge your assertion that Jesus was a wonderful man.

Can anyone claim such divinity and power and not be evil?  Or insane?

Jesus was crazy.  Or a rotten person who led people astray.

Or...

He was who he claimed to be.

In which case, resurrection from the dead is a no-brainer.

Why is it a dichotomy between actually being the Son of God and being evil and insane?  It seems to me that it would be entirely possible for someone who truly believes himself to be the Son of God (and is not) to still have a good message to tell.

It seems to me that one could also be evil and insane, and nonetheless be the Son of God.

OK, now that's just scary.

[WMS]

2.  A comment was made (which I evidently misinterpreted and for which I apologize)

S'OK, apology accepted.

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I preclude no one from holding office. That's not the same as saying that I'd be happy with them doing so (Scientologists or Moonies, anyone?) but they certainly should not be barred from running and, if elected fairly, serving.

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Yeah, I'd forgotten about that. Loopy.

[WMS]

Okay, let's look at it another way.

Jesus Christ existed.  You grant that.  So do I.

On numerous occasions, this "wonderful man" claimed to be God...accepted worship from other people...and was tried and executed because of this.  Remember, though Rome ruled Palestine, all matters theological were relegated to the courts of the Sanhedrin.  And they did not kill Jesus because he feed the poor or called for social justice.  They killed him because he said, "Before Abraham was, I AM."  For a Jew to say, "I AM" is the very soul of heresy.  It is to say, quite unmistakably, "I AM that I AM."  He said he had the power to destroy the temple in three days.  And raise the temple up in as much time.  Whether he spoke of his body or the temple in Jerusalem -- he was claiming to possess the power of God.

So, I wish to challenge your assertion that Jesus was a wonderful man.

Can anyone claim such divinity and power and not be evil?  Or insane?

Jesus was crazy.  Or a rotten person who led people astray.

Or...

He was who he claimed to be.

In which case, resurrection from the dead is a no-brainer.

Why is it a dichotomy between actually being the Son of God and being evil and insane?  It seems to me that it would be entirely possible for someone who truly believes himself to be the Son of God (and is not) to still have a good message to tell.

It seems to me that one could also be evil and insane, and nonetheless be the Son of God.

OK, now that's just scary.

It is, I would suggest, a position that has been posited before.

When my best friend was murdered, I went through a tremendous crisis of faith and almost lost my faith.  I never discounted that God was.  I did seriously question what KIND of God was.  Perhaps God was a monster or a madman after all.  There is ample evidence in this world, leading people to that conclusion.

I no longer share it.  But since this is not a religious forum, and I am truly not here to proselytize, I won't expand. 

Sorry about your best friend. And I'm not here to proselytize either so I won't expand on it either, although I have my own answer to that question (fairly close to ILV's ).