Fear is the biggest enemy of humanity

Fear is our biggest enemy...fear causes calamities. Fear drives stock markets to crash, fear drives masses to surrender, to give up.

The opposite of fear is faith, not confidence...the faith in something more powerful than science or technology. A faith that goes far beyond what mankind can achieve.

I was thinking about Douglas Bader...no legs, did he surrender or give up, no he did not give up, he managed to walk again with artificial legs and not only that,  and then to fly again, and not only that to become one of the greatest Air Aces in WW2. And not only that, his artificial leg allowed him to parachute out of his burning Spitfire as it was spiraling down after being hit by enemy firepower.

Stalin and Hitler had huge power by evoking fear...the worst side of this Covid 19 pandemic is the fear it drives in humanity and allows negative forces of evil governments to control masses with controlling agendas.

Seb

Fear is most closely associated with the unknown. 

I'd say that faith is, for some, an antidote to fear.

Quite interesting to consider w hat the exact opposite of fear is though.

I'll throw "ignorance" into the ring as my contender for an antithesis. 

Faith is only possible for some while ignorance is a built-in survival mechanism that we all suffer from, to varying degrees.

Haha

Faith is as useless as tits on a bull.

Faith does not tell you what is right or wrong. faith does not lead you to truth.

Name one thing you cannot believe in with faith or one thing that you cannot believe the complete opposite in with faith?

Faith is a meaningless concept which people use to believe any piece of crap that they want.

Face it if you have evidence for anything you believe in then you have no need for faith, faith is just another meaning for hope or a wish.

I am unsure of your reference to Douglas Bader are you saying he achieved all that purely by faith? I have met several inspirational people that have achieved things in their life (nothing compared to Bader) and it appears to me that they achieved things by shear strength of character and determination. If faith is all that is required then why can't I fly, I have decided I have faith in my ability to fly but yet to get of the ground. More evidence that faith is farkin useless as far as I can see

Fear of the unknown is common to all of us. Even over-confident persons have fear somewhat disguised by ego and bravado.

There's a difference in blind faith (foolishness) and a deep trust and knowing where your faith is on, it's got to be on something far greater than human achievement. Mankind is very puny in the context of the mountains, the seas, the vast earth, and the unreachable planets, some a million light years away or more. It's a huge puzzle to man's limited brain, even to those endowed with huge ability, but ability is only gaged by humanity itself.

But fear is crippling, it is disarming, it weakens us and plays ugly tricks in our minds.

The mind can be stronger than the flesh and the spirit is stronger than the mind if it is based on the Deity of  goodness and truth.

I don't want to go too deep here, because I find it deeply offensive when certain posters ridicule, desecrate and blaspheme something very special to us.

To us it's a million times more offensive than calling a blackman the "K" word. It smacks of extreme hypocrisy and disrespect and is disturbing.

We christians believe that God manifested all His goodness in Christ to manifest His love in the flesh and died and rose again to overcome the biggest fear of all, death (both physical and spiritual) by standing in the place we all deserve at Golgotha.

Did I belittle your ridiculous god beliefs? 

Is faith the sole domain of christians?

Faith is blind faith and nothing more.

I did not once refer to your poxy fairytales of magic and the impossibly ludicrous when discussing faith and what it means so I am not sure why you brought that up.

Besides I have faith in something, I have complete faith and deep trust that your god doesn't exist so who's faith is right we both cant be right.

And care to tell me why you think your god is a loving god, he is at best an uncaring god and at worst a mass murdering thug that takes pleasure in human suffering especially children and babies. Oh thats right there are gods favorites and all the bad things happen to the unchosen.

From your ramblings it seems fear is what makes you believe in silly nonsense not faith

The Sader and  Pop-Up Salesman... anti-God popups are so predictable...automatically programmed in their unbelief that they cannot help appearing every time to sully life giving input..

It must bug them somehow.

you brought your religion into this not me and having a whinge that you find it offensive that people dont believe the same crap as you opened the door for us to walk through.

As far as I know there is no law here in NZ that says I cannot voice my opinion on religious beliefs just because it hurts your feelings

I am also still waiting for your explanation on how my faith proves your god doesn't exist according to your view of how faith works

why, oh why does the idea of Him bothers some people so much.

Faith is knowledge and trust....we all have faith, but not faith in god. Faith in the Unseen is difficult, yet a lot of people have faith in things they can't hope to comprehend...just call it science and they're all in, but there's a natural aversion to God. Why?

Indeed, Seb

Nothing so unappealing as overt insecurity.

I'm not even religious and I could destroy just about every argument they made above.

Why bother though? Yawn inspiring about sums up their points and conclusions. 

Whatever they say, you must know, their drivel is born out of a type of jealousy.

That's the part I find amusing. The cherry on the cake is that I doubt they realise it.

Hahahaha

I would answer you if I believed you were sincere in your curiosity but not to be ridiculed with contempt as in the case of the past. I am sincere in what I believe and of course you are free to have your own beliefs.

You don't believe and that's your right but don't interfere with those who do.

God does not dragoon us into belief...He gave us choices to choose between life and death.

Its not a god that bothers me, its that grown people believe in the impossible withouta shred of evidence.

And then they try to pass laws forcing non believers to follow their idiotic nonsense. Would you be happy if you and your family were forced to follow laws passed from another religions teachings?

Of course you wouldn't but your perfectly happy to stop me from opening a shop on Easter holidays or stone me for mowing my lawns on a sunday.

You want to follow the bible go right ahead but don't force your beliefs onto me or whinge when someone questions your beliefs/ 

Is it the fact that there are so many strong arguments against your religion being true or the fact that other people just don't believe in your god that is the hardest part for you?  

"Religion is not democratic"...so why does everything have to be democratic...I'm not...democracy today is a farce...a collective mindset.

...another brick on the wall.

Well, in it's real and deeper sense a true converted believer in Christ does not worship a religion...it's an individual conversion, going to church does not make you a christian. Each man stands on his own. You are not a christian because of your family, following or belief. It is only when you realise you need to repent in your heart for your past sinful life and accept Christ as your PERSONAL Saviour you become a true believer.

You don't have the foggiest clue...don't comment on things you do not understand, only fools do.

Democracies produce most of the technology and inventions - while having a fairer society for more people. 
From the ancient Greeks and Romans to modern-day countries, Democracies have prospered. 

Look at the best vaccines- they are all from Democracies. If this is not a sign from God, then what is? 

The Chinese vaccines do no appear to work very well, and no one trusts Putin's vaccine- not even the Russians. Even countries that are not Democratic, are more likely to buy a vaccine from a Democratic country. 

Religion is on its way out, and it followers are getting very anxious. They doubt their own faith...
Conspiracies are a good way for confused religious people to make sense of the world.
Abraham was a conspiracy theorist, hence why he tried to murder his own son and then blame God. 

By the way, I also went to Sunday school - so I know at least as much as you about the Bible, but probably more

Churches sell afterlife insurance policies. You can go to Church and buy "faith" and the exclusive ticket into heaven (that no other religion can offer). 

Knowing everything in the bible does not mean anything unless you believe it...intellectual knowledge without the "heart" and actual individual interaction is meaningless and so are rituals unless applied deeply.

Some like to be herd-like and follow the herd, others like to be individuals, the way God formed us...each human being has a different finger-print...think about it, trillions and trillions of people over the ages over the years and not one the same...if it was evolution then what design or mind could do this without one flaw...the same applies to DNA's and crystals in a snowflake...no copies...you can go on and on with different life in creation, how does a salmon return to it's exact spot in a stream where it was spawned how does a small bundle of feathers like a swallow nesting in SA find it's way to Siberia.

You unbelievers are as blind as bats and have no depth in your way of thinking.

I'm not addressing you and I'm certainly not arrogant...I'd leave you to your own beliefs if you did not try and dismantle others, don't you think that's a wee bit hypocritical..

Don't have any bad feelings to you or anyone and I don't think I'm better than any one. I try to be decent and respectful, sometimes probably misunderstood but I'm human and get annoyed when people get the meaning, intent or context wrong.

There seems to be a few posters here that create issues with bad intent. .

Bok regular

1084 posts

I'm not addressing you and I'm certainly not arrogant...I'd leave you to your own beliefs if you did not try and dismantle others, don't you think that's a wee bit hypocritical..

-------------                    -------------                   -------------                   -------------

Being religious is exactly that.
It rejects all other people's beliefs as nonsense, and only their own version of absolute truth is correct. Religious people want you to be tolerant of their intolerance. 
Muslims want tolerance to have their own religion in a democratic society,
all while their radicalized element believes it is fine to murder people if they do not convert to Islam. Or justification for the Christian Crusades in the name of God- etc, etc.  
If God was actually on one side, it would justify war. (Assuming a God even existed). 
 But how could anyone be entirely sure God was on their side? 
The Middle East wars are ancient men with modern-day technology. 

It is hard to have a logical conversation with a person who thinks God sits on their shoulder. God is their secret power to win any argument without using logic. 

Having hope or enjoying the wonders of the night sky is shared by people across the world. 
Religion is just philosophy. However, people can still discuss philosophy without being religious. 

A friendly suggestion, you and Crusader should stick to rugby posts where you are not bad and at times sensible and positive comments. Leave spiritual matters alone...and don't intrude on the freedom of those that believe. And I think it will be better for all of us...we don't have to read posts we don't like. 

Thanks but no thanks. 

Not intending to be horrible but I'd rather trust a snake oil salesman than advice from Crusader or you.

If you think I'm a fool, that's fine by me...I don't need anybody's advice or approval.

I have news for you, you have been trusting the snake oil salesman since you first were told of this god but dont take it personally you're not the first and unfortunately you wont be the last

So the world made itself out of nothing...Hahaha.

Anyway each to it's own, if this makes you happy so be it. 

Just a question Plum and Sader, without bringing God into it, what would you rather trust, a snake oil salesman or a pop-up salesman ??? ...

Seb,

When it comes to pop-up salesman, it's more of a respect issue than a trust one

They make money out of inconveniencing you while respectable professions offer a service/product that make your life easier, better or safer in some way.

"respectable professions offer a service/product that make your life easier, better or safer in some way" .....hahaha, like a product derived from Snake or Shark Oil  

Jokes aside, I'll try to relate a true tale about a story told by the father of an old school mate.

My mate Bruce was a son of a farmer who farmed in the little country town of Underberg in the foothills of the Southern Drakensberg in Natal. I often spent short holidays there. His dad was known for his unique humour in the district .

One day Bruce developed a pimple on his nose which would not go away and despite a few visits and consultation to the local quack (also a character of note) prescribed a certain cream as a treatment. However this ointment had no effect and the bump remained. 

One of the old Indunas on the farm told the farmer that he had a cure or remedy to take the pimple away. You must catch and kill a Puff Adder snake and extract the fat by boiling it and apply it to the affected spot. Despite being cynical about the suggested remedy, this was finally done. The extracted fat was applied on Bruce's snout.

Beyond belief the pimple completely disappeared.

Shortly thereafter Bruce and his dad bumped into old Doc Wilson in the town.

"I told you that ointment works well", exclaimed the old doctor.

"Works well indeed doc " said the farmer...it did nothing, my son was cured by applying Puff Adder fat.

Nonsense, replied the doc...do you expect me to believe in old native remedies founded on witch doctor's hocus pocus.

The story does not end there.

A couple of days later the farmer visited the doctor in his surgery for some ailment and while waiting in the waiting room noticed a bottle on his shelf containing an unsightly substance.

What's that on the shelf doc...does not look like medicine to me.

"Puffadder fat, Maurice.,replied the doctor without a blink of his eye.

(PS.That's good old fashioned Natal English country humour...you have to live there to understand it).

Thought I struck a rare nerve when I mentioned fear...the 2 that suffer most from this weakness responsed immediately and negatively...I would not choose these 2 as comrades in battle...wimps. perhaps, you be the judge, would you trust anyone of them if wounded in battle to lift you up and carry you...I don't know but I would not bank on it would you?

.

Lol VisNek

What's the domain for Ruckers cost annually...£40?

Geez boet, don't break the bank now.

Hahaha 

Do you still think I own this website? 

You are a complete twat, posts on a forum and then whinges when people reply with their views to his post.

Really are you this stupid all the time?

And as for the battlefield I want someone that will take action not shit in his hole and pray to mythical being to save his sorry arse. Actually why would you want anyone to save you, if heaven is waiting for you and earth is a shithole why are you in no hurry to get there?

The fact christians fight to live just as much as Atheist proves you lot don't truly believe that heaven awaits.

Fear of God - Wikipedia

You're also wrong, RooiKoos

Faith isn't the opposite of fear but its also not fear.

Ignorance is a good placeholder for now but too broad a term to be used as the ultimate opposite of fear.

Cumon, stretch your brain a bit and give us your contender.

It's a seemingly shallow task but pretty difficult in the end.