You don't do a lot of things, by the sounds of it. Friendly, acceptance and open mindedness, to name a few.

And I'm not sure at what point I asked for preferential treatment? You're putting words in my mouth.

Anyway, let's leave it at that.

No, of course not. They're completely fictitious, mad-mad ideas created largely for children's entertainment.

Christianity on the other hand is based on historical fact. Jesus existed. There's more proof of that than William Shakespear existed. Scholars and experts, for the most part, all accept that. He was a real historical figure. Likewise, they're largely unanimous about the fact he via died via crucifixion on a cross. So the question then becomes...was he just some dude that said a lot of stuff but didn't follow through...or is he who he says he is...that being, the son of God.

I (and millions of others, for varying reasons) choose to believe that he is who he said he was. And lots (including you and millions of others) don't.

Which is absolutely fine. I have no issue with that. What I have a slight issue with, is professing to be the former on here (which I was only doing in response do an original post anyway) and being ridiculed and mocked for it (mentally insecure / God botherer type comments). They're just not needed.

(Yeah, sorry, I didn't leave it at that, did I. Oops)

Edited by sprites (20 Jun 2018 6.44am)

This is a partial list of notable people who have been claimed, either by themselves or by their followers, in some way to be the reincarnation or incarnation of Jesus, or the Second Coming of Christ.

Do you believe them? If not, why not?

Kondratiy Selivanov (c. 1730s–1832), the founder and leader of the Skoptsy sect in the Russian Empire.[1]Ann Lee (1736–1784), the founder and leader of the Shakers. Lee's followers referred to her as "Mother", believing that she was the female incarnation of Christ on Earth.[2]

John Nichols Thom (1799–183, a Cornishtax rebel who claimed to be the "saviour of the world" and the reincarnation of Jesus Christ in 1834. He was killed by British soldiers at the Battle of Bossenden Wood, on May 31, 1838 in Kent, England.[3]Arnold Potter (1804–1872), SchismaticLatter Day Saint leader; he claimed the spirit of Jesus Christ entered into his body and he became "Potter Christ" Son of the living God. He died in an attempt to "ascend into heaven" by jumping off a cliff. His body was later retrieved and buried by his followers.[4]Jones Very (1813–1880), American essayist, poet, literary scholar, and Greek tutor at Harvard who befriended several prominent American Transcendentalistsand suffered a nervous breakdown in 1837 after which he claimed to have become the Second Coming of Jesus.Bahá'u'lláh (1817–1892), born Shiite, adopted Bábism later in 1844,[5] he claimed to be the prophesied fulfillment and Promised One of three major religions. He founded the Bahá'í Faith in 1863.[6]Followers of the Bahá'í Faith believe that the fulfillment of the prophecies of the second coming of Jesus, as well as the prophecies of the 5th Buddha Maitreya and many other religious prophecies, were begun by the Bábin 1844 and then by Bahá'u'lláh. They commonly compare the fulfillment of Christian prophecies to Jesus' fulfillment of Jewish prophecies, where in both cases people were expecting the literal fulfillment of apocalyptic statements.[7]William W. Davies (1833–1906), leader of a Latter Day Saint schismatic group called the Kingdom of Heaven located in Walla Walla, Washington from 1867 to 1881. He taught his followers that he was the archangelMichael, who had previously lived as the biblical Adam, Abraham, and David. When his son Arthur was born on February 11, 1868, Davies declared that the infant was the reincarnated Jesus Christ.[8][9] When Davies's second son, David, was born in 1869, he was declared to be God the Father.[8]Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, India(1835–190, claimed to be the awaited Mahdi as well as (Second Coming) and likeness of Jesus the promised Messiah at the end of time. He claimed to be Jesus in the metaphorical sense; in character. He founded the Ahmadiyya Movement in 1889, envisioning it to be the rejuvenation of Islam, and claimed to be commissioned by God for the reformation of humankind.

Haile Selassie I (1892–1975) did not claim to be Jesus and disapproved of claims that he was Jesus, but the Rastafari movement, which emerged in Jamaica during the 1930s, believes he is the Second Coming. He embodied this when he became Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930, perceived as confirmation of the return of the Messiah in the prophetic Book of Revelation 5:5 in the New Testament, who is also expected to return a second time to initiate the apocalyptic day of judgment. He is also called Jah Ras Tafari, and is often considered to be alive by Rastafari movement members.[14]Lou de Palingboer (1898–196, the founder and figurehead of a new religious movement in the Netherlands, who claimed to be "the resurrected body of Jesus Christ".Ernest Norman (1904–1971), an Americanelectrical engineer who co-founded the Unarius Academy of Science in 1954, was allegedly Jesus in a past life and his earthly incarnation was as an archangel named Raphael.[15] He claimed to be the reincarnation of other notable figures including Confucius, Mona Lisa, Benjamin Franklin, Socrates, Queen Elizabeth I, and Tsar Peter I the Great.[16]

When you start making accurate statements,I will bother to answer them.
Father Christmas is based on a historical figure incidentally.

I hope not, he seems like a reasonable guy. Just chewing the fat. I certainly hopes he doesn't take offence.

The more I learn about the the quantum eraser experiments the more evidence there appears to be for a kind of determinism operating in the universe.

Which was a bit of a turn up for me.

So while I completely reject the 'personal god' keeping score on how many times you choked the chicken this week....it certainly leaves the door open for something.....or not...it's peeping through a doorkey into a dark expanse and trying to understand what you see.

Edited by Stirlingsays (20 Jun 2018 5.42pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)