The Polymarket users betting on when Jesus will return

i didn't make such a claim. the existence of god has nothing to do with free will. he either exists, or he doesn't. your or my belief in the existence of god however is governed by the freedom to either believe or reject his existence. if god exists then rejecting him does not make him go away, nor does believing in god make him appear if there is no god.

my argument was that free will is the reason why god did not reveal himself in a way that everyone would immediately recognize him without a doubt. it was not an argument about his existence.

but here are a few points that relate to the current discussion:

science and religion must be in harmony. that is, they should not contradict each other. if there is a contradiction (in any specific point) then one of them is probably wrong. to resolve that difference science needs to do more research and religion needs to get a better understanding of the claim. perhaps there is an interpretation that can explain the discrepancy.

religion must be the cause of unity, harmony and agreement. if it is the cause of discord and hostility, if it leads to separation and creates conflict, the absence of religion would be preferable.

there will be a time when humanity will learn to live without meat. but today is not the time yet. that doesn't mean i'd believe that being a vegan today would be wrong, but rather that not everyone lives in a position where they can afford to give up meat because they have nothing to replace it with.

most religions are ill-equipped to deal with the problems we are facing today. religions need to adapt and renew themselves to be able to address the questions we are having today. the return of jesus plays a critical role here.

independent investigation of the truth. everyone should do their own research and study of religion. we can't leave that to priests or other studied leaders. those played a role in times when people where illiterate and depended on others to do the studying for them.

this is why i am hesitant to tell you what i believe, or what you should read, because in discussions like this it easily comes across as telling you what you should believe, as the example you are quoting shows. but that is precisely what i don't want to do, because that would be wrong. you need to find your own answers. that doesn't mean that i think reading the bible would be wrong. it's just not enough. you should also read about all the other religions, at least the major ones, if only to get a better understanding about the different beliefs that the people in this world today are holding. it is probably not necessary to read all the holy writings of each religion, at least not unless one of them piques your interest and you want to learn more.

I loved science from when I was really young, read every book in my school library’s J523/Astronomy section, including Cosmos in 3rd grade. But I also went to church every week with my family, read through the entire Bible in middle school, and believed that my faith would crumble and I’d go to hell if I ever gave up the belief that the Bible was 100% true and literal.

I also chose to keep emotional distance from non-Christian friends. They might lead me astray.

I remember an exchange with my mom (who was a teacher, mostly at Lutheran schools) during a car ride when I was maybe 6 or 7. I was excitedly talking about the big bang or something, and she said “yes, but we know from the Bible that the earth is 6,000 years old, right?” “Yes,” I answered, and in that moment I believed it. I didn’t feel conflicted: the Bible must be true, so someday I’d figure out in what sense the science was true too.

As I got older, I sustained this by basically hand-waving away the less intuitive explanations for an old earth. There are plenty of books out there for helping people do just that. Maybe the speed of life was different in the past. What can we really say with certainty about evolution? That kind of thing.

The beginning of the end was the day I learned about dendrochronology: tree rings. They’re too simple to hand-wave away. Soon after, I lost my faith.

Another huge area of cognitive dissonance: we prayed all the time, we talked about “miracles”, but I never heard any really credible evidence for one. It took some serious introspection, while still a Christian, to discern whether I actually believed in them or not.

Like, what exactly are you proposing when you say shaming and disowning women and children? No food stamps or healthcare for kids born out of wedlock? No public education for kids born to single mothers? Trap people in abusive relationships or have those people be destitute without any aid? Very Christlike!

Tell me buddy, what stones do you propose we throw? Which are the most Christlike? After all, Paul says Jesus died for everyone, save for those single mothers and their illegitimate children!

What kind of shaming are you envisioning to prevent pregnancies? Have actual hard data to back that up?

If any of my kids have a child out of wedlock I'm not disowning my child or their kids. Don't get me wrong, I'd hope I instill virtues that lead to them never being in such a situation, but I don't think I'm called to disown my family for making a mistake. We all fail in life, we're supposed to be there for those who need help not push people away who are struggling. But I guess to you disowning them is your Christlike response. Be sure to let your kid know if they mess up they're on their own, after all that's the standard Christ holds us to right?

But hey, disowning and shaming is to you the Christlike response. And you wonder where are all these hateful Christians people talk about.

And to an extent, I do get what you're saying, and I do partially agree. I've definitely been around lots of people who say their Christian but in the end do nothing to actually push those around them, especially fellow Christians, to actually live a Christlike life. I think we should teach our kids Christian values. I think we should advocate for those around us to see our point of view. I think we should do what we can to convince society we're doing it a good way and they should follow. I don't think it's right to use government violence against people to force them to live our lifestyle though. I don't think it's right to be spiteful and mean to gentiles, to those who live a different life from us.

> These opinions are shared by all mainstream Christian churches and the overwhelming majority of Christians.

I guess you'd be surprised how many people I heard which were OK with the bombing of the fertility clinic thinking it was an abortion facility. I've had multiple people tell me they got what they had coming to them with all the embryos they've murdered. I guess you haven't seen the lines of people yelling at people going to clinics, calling people murderers and throwing refuse. I guess you haven't been in pews hearing the person up front cheering for laws that will cause people to die.