If God exists, why are the faithful so along demographic liines?

[Sci Fi Fan]

I direct this specifically at those who believe that non-believers will burn in hell, and that this is just.

This seems to imply that belief in God is an ethical and rational part of the selection process of who should get into Heaven.

How is this fair, when you account for the fact that the religious affiliation of your household is the single greatest predictor of your religious faith?

The strength of correlation is stronger than that of religious faith and charity, between religious faith and moral strength, etc.  Two law abiding, wonderful people can end up adhering to entirely different faiths just by being born into different countries, and thus apparently receiving very different verdicts on judgment day.

Some may point to examples where people have converted to Christianity in adulthood, yet such conversions are seemingly random in the sense that plenty of friendly and admirable people stick to the faith of their parents, while less admirable people remain Christians as a result of environmental factors.

So if faith is really the result of a deep, divine connection with the almighty, why is it no less connectable to simple statistical trends and psychological tendencies than food preferences or career choice through a variety of random factors that have no relationship to any inherent quality of character?

[Yawn]

God is NOT calling everyone today. And no, I don't believe those not called today will end up in an ever burning Hell. Neither do the saints go to Heaven. Earth is the reward of the saved, and He is coming HERE. At the end of the Thousand Year Reign of Christ and the Resurrected Saints ON THIS EARTH, the Father will make His home on the earth as well.

The incorrigibly wicked (those who have set their hearts to REBELLION against God will be burned up and become ashes under the feet of the saints. But it does say "ALL ISRAEL SHALL BE SAVED." He also told His followers, "Fear not little Flock. It is My Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."

Do good, and put GOD first and you have no reason to live in fear.

You shall love the Lord with all of your heart, soul and might" & "You shall love your neighbor as yourself"  THIS summarizes the Ten Commandments.

[MFA]

You shall love the Lord with all of your heart, soul and might" & "You shall love your neighbor as yourself"  THIS summarizes the Ten Commandments.

Wow, what a misrepresentation of scripture.  "THIS" summarizes all of the law, which, if you are counting on for justification, you must obey all of; not just these 10.

[Sci Fi Fan]

Wow, what a misrepresentation of scripture.  "THIS" summarizes all of the law, which, if you are counting on for justification, you must obey all of; not just these 10.

So you can't covet your neighbor's possessions?

Are all capitalists going to hell?

Do good, and put GOD first and you have no reason to live in fear.

So what about the good natured child in India who was raised under a Hindu family his whole life?

[MFA]

So you can't covet your neighbor's possessions?

Are all capitalists going to hell?

You misunderstand.  My point is that God's expectations for his people under Jesus' rule have nothing to do with following any laws (less than 10, 10, or more than 10).

So what about the good natured child in India who was raised under a Hindu family his whole life?

Not sure what this has to do with my post at all...

But what about this child?  What makes him "good natured"?  Do you mean "pleasant"?  Or completely and inherently good?  They're two different things.

But the Bible seems to say that for those "without law" (or, more specifically, without God's law), their own conscience becomes law to them and it is by their conscience that they are judged.

[Solar]

So you can't covet your neighbor's possessions?

Are all capitalists going to hell?

You are one screwed up SOB if you think this somehow even remotely equates to Capitalism.
In truth, libs are the ones that covets thy neighbors property, not the obverse.

[Sci Fi Fan]

You are one screwed up SOB if you think this somehow even remotely equates to Capitalism.

Brief off topic: Competition in business inherently involves coveting your "neighbor's" customers, profits, success, etc.  When you try to sell a product, you naturally covet whatever it is you are trying to obtain.  You see, nowhere in the 10th commandment does it limit its prohibition to unlawful or malicious jealousy.

[MFA]

Brief off topic: Competition in business inherently involves coveting your "neighbor's" customers, profits, success, etc.  When you try to sell a product, you naturally covet whatever it is you are trying to obtain.  You see, nowhere in the 10th commandment does it limit its prohibition to unlawful or malicious jealousy.

If someone is offering something for sale, it's not coveting to consider purchasing it.

[Yawn]

Funny how he can't see how a group of people voting to take property from their neighbor to pass out tho those who haven't earned it isn't coveting --  and STEALING.

[Sci Fi Fan]

If someone is offering something for sale, it's not coveting to consider purchasing it.

What if you save up your money to buy your dream car?  Aren't you coveting the car?

[Solar]

Brief off topic: Competition in business inherently involves coveting your "neighbor's" customers, profits, success, etc.  When you try to sell a product, you naturally covet whatever it is you are trying to obtain.  You see, nowhere in the 10th commandment does it limit its prohibition to unlawful or malicious jealousy.

Man, you are one screwed up individual, you can't own a customer!

To translate, you hate Capitalism, hence you admire socialism/communism.
No wonder you voted for the Marxist.

[MFA]

What if you save up your money to buy your dream car?  Aren't you coveting the car?

Does it belong to someone else who has no intention of selling it?  The issue is not "wanting something that isn't yours."  The issue is "wanting something that belongs to someone else."  Obviously (?) if someone is the intention of selling it, it's up for grabs.  It's not as if buying and selling didn't exist in the culture in which this law was observed.

[Sci Fi Fan]

Man, you are one screwed up individual, you can't own a customer!

I'm tiring of having to explain the most basic logical reasoning to you, but my natural optimism will prompt me to spell out the most basic connections, yet again.

You do realize that the tenth commandment prohibits the coveting of your neighbor's wife as well, right?  So it obviously extends to interpersonal connections as well as material possessions.  It's also interesting that you entirely ignore my point about coveting your customers' money, your competition's financial success, etc; rather, you cherry pick a perceived weakness in my argument and ignore the fact that every one of my points can stand alone.

[Solar]

I'm tiring of having to explain the most basic logical reasoning to you, but my natural optimism will prompt me to spell out the most basic connections, yet again.

You do realize that the tenth commandment prohibits the coveting of your neighbor's wife as well, right?  So it obviously extends to interpersonal connections as well as material possessions.  It's also interesting that you entirely ignore my point about coveting your customers' money, your competition's financial success, etc; rather, you cherry pick a perceived weakness in my argument and ignore the fact that every one of my points can stand alone.

What point, that Capitalism is thievery disguised as a form of commerce?
You have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about, but if you'd like to start a topic in Finance, we can pick it up there.

[Sci Fi Fan]

What point, that Capitalism is thievery disguised as a form of commerce?

As my argument was an ad reductio ad absurdum, I was implying precisely the opposite.  This is extremely basic reading comprehension.

How the hell could somebody with a functioning frontal lobe not understand this?