No evidence? How about the testimony of eye witnesses. That seems to suffice as evidence even in a court of law. Unless, of course, you believe that they lied, in which case we can toss the Christian Scriptures in the trash.
Steve,
. Consider whether if in a Court of Law witnesses were called to give evidence of testimony in which someone said that a person appeared and disappeared from a room and then was seen disappearing into thin air, “as in a cloud”.
. No one is tossing Christian Scripture in the trash, Steve. That is an extreme statement to make, don’t you think?
. Many people have become atheists because of the incredible claims found in the Bible because when they attempt to resolve the wide variety of impossible or magical stories with their reason intact, they simply choose to do just what you say, toss the Christian Scriptures in the trash.
. Baha’is don’t do this. We view Scriptures in light of reason, with the recognition that human beings do have ways of telling stories and that these stories include such things in the Bible as:
. The sun, earth, and stars forming in 6 days.
. Noah loading a boat full of every critter on earth (times 2)
. Moses turned a stick into a snake (as did Pharaoh’s ministers)
. A talking snake.
. A talking donkey.
. Moses parting the Red Sea.
. Elijah going up into the sky in a whirlwind.
. Jesus popping in and out of a room.
. Jesus disappearing “as in a cloud”
. Baha’is “believe” in the essential reality of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.
. We recognize that throughout history people of “every” culture and tribe “on earth” have their stories, myths, and traditions, and that the Jewish people clearly have done the same.
. In light of this, and in light of reason, the scientific method, sociology, psychology, anthropology, etc, we review all evidence, as would a Court of Law, and come to certain conclusions. No Court of Law that I have ever heard of would accept the above list.
. That some are threatened by reason and logic is further evidence that there is an emotional coloring stemming from natural stages of mental imagination and attachment issues common in the human species.
. We need imagination for creativity, to visualize what is not, that we can fashion something new. It is how we are wired. But when our wires are crossed, things happen. We tend to mistake fiction for fact, and the fact that fiction must remain unquestioned by some testifies to some weakness of character. No offense intended, but in a culture which raises its children of fantasies such as Santa Clause, Paul Bunyan, and the Tooth Fairy, that misrepresents the truth almost universally in its politics, that delights itself in Hollywood fantasy on a “daily basis”, that sells gasoline, not at $4 a gallon, but rather $3.99.9 !! It is clear that this is a human cultural phenomenon in which fantasy is quite preferred to reality.
. That this is carried into religious beliefs should be no surprise, for it is pervasive in virtually all other aspects of human endeavor, from boob jobs to used car sales. Vanity and deceit are in our DNA, and to overcome this we need to tell the truth, and be able to tell the truth of our beliefs, however they may vary.
. To “attack” people who believe other than one’s self is a sign of weakness. To color arguments with emotion is an illogical appeal to something other than reason. To deny reason is to deny humanity.
. Humanity is suffering, largely over religious beliefs. Consider the Middle East.
. The people who believe Moses turned a stick into a snake are fighting with the people who believe Muhammad cleft the moon who are fighting with Christians who believe Jesus popped in and out of rooms. Is it any wonder people are behaving as children, fighting, and waging war?
. We most definitely need International Courts of Arbitration and a truly United Nations, with an authorized Force to compel nations gassing their own people to stop.
. I rest my case, you Honor.
