Satan and his demons are real.  One of the biggest trick Satan pulled is having people believe he doesn't exist. And you fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

So is God going to paying for my first class trip back to Isreal?  Cause if not I'm not going as I've said many times before when getting free plane trips from deities First Class Or Bust. Now if it is a first class trip will they be serving us some falafel or is God going to cheap out on us giving us some peanuts and water? If I'm going to get into the mood for some Isreal I need some falafel and some humas on the side and for a drink...a mint lemonade. If he can provide that I'll go back to the "Fatherland".

If Satan is a real person who can - against my will - inflict suffering and turmoil, then that makes God a father who doesn't care about me, one of His children.

Why doesn't God just exterminate Satan!? He's all-powerful right? Or don't you believe that? If you do, then you MUST accept that He's not willing to give all His children an equal chance at escaping eternal suffering. Eternal suffering is not something that will be allowed by an omniscient and all-compasionate Lord. Surely you can grasp this?

Now let me tell you; my dad is a minister so I went to Church twice every week. I have always been religious, but at some point I just knew there's more to spiritual life than that. I seriously started meditating and praying early in my life, and read about St Francis and St Augistine and also about the lives of Buddhist saints. Then I realised that Jesus tought something very similar to Buddhism. Upon further examination I found that Jesus most probably went to India during the missing years of his Biblical-biography. Fascinated by this discovery I learnt that in the Vedic tradition there is quite a lot known about a 'Saint Issa from the West'. Stunned to learn that Jesus was a student at some point as well, I finally comprehended that spiritual science must be - as with God - Universal.

There cannot be partiality in God. These 'I am Muslim', 'I am Christian', 'I am Hindu' designations that we impose on ourselves only further our misidentification with this temporary, material body. Black, white, red or yellow, the Soul is the same, so God shouldn't favour one group over another.

These are surely basic truths? Also, claiming that God is exclusive to a particular religion will systematically alienate deep thinking people from religion - exactly as is happening more and more - therefore,

Can't we all just get along?

No. You see, you are thinking too much about it and therefore you are someone who has 'fallen under Satan's domain'. This was the medieval technique used to keep the power in the Church's hands. How many tens-of-thousands of innocent women were burnt at the stake because they were wiches!? The Church feared people poking holes in their power structure by exposing weaknessess in the philosophy, therefore they changed the philosophy and gradually lost the important aspects of Christianity.

You've got to feel for poor guys like Galileo Galilei who were persucuted with so much blind hatred. How dare someone warn me of the devil when he should warn me about himself.

Satan can't do anything he wants. Otherwise all of humanity would be dead right now. God has given him limits on what he can do.

You're not God's child unless you are "born again" by the blood of Jesus Christ. If you have to believe in your heart  and confess Jesus Christ died for your sins and was raised from the dead then you are saved. God seals you with His Holy Spirit - God's spirit supernaturally resides in you. It's not about being religious. Being religious is not going to get you saved. It's truly believing in your heart Jesus Christ and His works on the cross and knowing Him. If you did know Him you would know Jesus Christ is the Truth, the way, and the life and the only way to the Father. There is no other way for salvation but by Jesus Christ. Truth by it's nature is exclusive.

Satan and his angels and those who didn't believe in the Gospel and names who weren't written in the Book of Life will eventually be destroyed in the Lake of Fire after the 1,000 year reign of Christ. I don't know why God allows Satan to deceive and tempt many but it is my belief it is for testing if people will follow the truth and God instead of lies and their sins. Just about all the prominent people in the Bible faced testing.

Satan is alive and deceiving the nations. Just check out my thread I posted on another forum that gives evidence of his works http://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000108/flat/186518662?d=186530288#1865302%20%2088

I agree 100%. Even if you do not believe him, don't you think there is an interesting correlation. I am willing to bet something will happen in the September/October season if the conference he spoke of occurs.

Wait, so you believe in Jesus?

If you believe in him, why don't you listen to what he says? If you acknowledge his existance(and Holiness) why do you overlook when he said, no one will come to the father except through me? To acknowledge his existance and holiness and to ignore his preachings about how to live your life and how to get to heaven is stupid. You base your thoughts on things you think to be true/logical  and not what God actually says.

The world will continue to be a horrible place as long as people believe stupid shit like this.

(coming from a religious person) I'd rather hang out with atheists than people like you. You sound exactly like the fundamental Islam guys in my class. What I would like to know is whether you are feeling at peace when you speak these things(?). I would be pretty confident that your blood is boiling. This is a hate speech. I'm interested in good philosophical discussions based on scripture/logic/revelation/history. You are interested in the same thing all other short-sighted humans are: conversion.

I'm out.

"Wait, so you believe in Jesus?"

Somewhere in the last 2000 years humanity has conjured up a meaning of this phrase. Yes, I agree he existed and that he was a saint and a spiritual teacher. As for being 'the only son of God', I would have to point out that my uncle has two sons, so why is he more potent than God?

"why don't you listen to what he says?"

Why don't YOU listen to what he says? Have you actually studied his teachings properly!? Here is the original Greek:

"ergo eimi ha hodos kai ha alatheia kai ha zoa; oudeis erketai pros ton patera ei ma di emou"

Notice that word erketai. It means 'locally in space and time'. I.e. for the incredibly disillusioned people that Jesus was amongst, there was no hope of learning true self-realization except through him because there were no other teachers around. He never said:"All men must accept me to enter the kingdom of God". That is man-made and secterian.

" You base your thoughts on things you think to be true/logical  and not what God actually says."

I have read many scriptures, and for you to tell me that I must accept everything in the Bible as 'the word of God' when you yourself cannot possibly explain the many incoherencies I can throw in your face is a fallacy.

Why would God only leave one book and then not explain 1)why we are here 2)what the nature of the soul is 3)what is the origin of the desire for pleasure etc. etc. etc. There are other places where these questions are dealt with properly. If you are a Christian then I would say start with the teachings of St.Francis and leave the mass-murderer Paul alone.

"To acknowledge his existance and holiness and to ignore his preachings about how to live your life and how to get to heaven is stupid."

In the Vedic tradition one can evaluate the stage of a person's religious excercise by looking at his motivation:

1) Fear. The lowest. The OP wants to use this as his motivation to some extent

2) Gain. This is what you are doing. "I want to get into heaven so let me accept Jesus". Good luck.

3) Attraction to His oppulences. This is starting to get somewhere, and you will see this is where the saints (Jesus, St.Francis, and many from India) start their teachings.

4) No motivation, except to please God. The zenith of spiritual life which liberates the soul from all material entanglement.

Note, there are stages in between, but this is a concise summary without getting technical. Like I said before, if this picture of God being painted by these fundamentalists is accurate, then He is a cruel and hartless Person. If this is true then I would rather be extinguished along with the fallen one's than share 'heaven' (and no one here can even start to talk about what that is) with these hateful, aggressive, "my way is the only way" people.