[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Got this email today. Believe in Jesus!


"This is a true story of something that happened just a few years ago at USC._ There was a professor of philosophy there who was a deeply committed atheist._ His primary goal for one required class was to spend the entire semester to prove that God couldn't exist._ His students were always afraid to argue with him because of his impeccable logic._ For twenty years, he had taught this class and no one had ever had the courage to go against him._ Sure, some had argued in class at times, but no one had ever really gone against him because of his reputation._ At the end of every semester on the last day, he would say to his class of 300 students,_ "If there is anyone here who still believes in Jesus, stand up!"_ In twenty years, no one had ever stood up. They knew what he was going to do next. He would say, "Because anyone who believes in God is a fool"._ If God existed, he could stop this piece of chalk from hitting the ground and ! breaking. Such a simple task to prove that He is God, and yet He can't do it."_ And every year, he would drop the chalk onto the tile floor of the classroom and it would shatter into a hundred pieces._ All of the students would do nothing but stop and stare._ Most of the students thought that God couldn't exist. Certainly, a number of Christians had slipped through, but for 20 years, they had been too afraid to stand up._ Well, a few years ago there was a freshman who happened to enrol._ He was a Christian, and had heard the stories about his professor._ He was required to take the class for his major, and he was afraid. _But for three months that semester, he prayed every morning that he would have the courage to stand up no matter what the professor said, or what the class thought._ Nothing they said could ever shatter his faith...he hoped._ Finally, the day came. The professor said, "If there is anyone here who still believes in God, s! tand up!" The professor and the class of 300 people looked at him, shocked, as he stood up at the back of the classroom._ The professor shouted, "You FOOL!!!_ If God existed, he would keep this piece of chalk from breaking when it hit the ground!"_ He proceeded to drop the chalk, but as he did, it slipped out of his fingers, off his shirt cuff, onto the pleat of his pants, down his leg, and off his shoe. As it hit the ground, it simply rolled away unbroken._ The professor's jaw dropped as he stared at the chalk. He looked up at the young man, and then ran out of the lecture hall._ The young man who had stood, proceeded to walk to the front of the room and shared his faith in Jesus for the next half hour._ 300 students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for them and of His power through Jesus._"

[storer]

That's all the proof i needed that God existed. See you at church.



not.

[phantomdragonz]

People are funny.... e-mail spam will be the demise of this world.

damn religious fanatics!

religion is great and all... but the people who try and shove it down your throat piss me off.. not to mention the damn flyers that get put out!!!

GRR...


Zach

[drive-thru]

It amazes me how people, who have a very personal relationship with God, think they can convince people to share their faith by sending out stories about something someone else told them happened to someone their friend heard about, which proves that God exists.
The trademark, clinical beginning: 'This is a true story' and the use of (often mass) email, the most detached and emotionless of methods of communication, illustrates how impersonal these stories are.

If they want to show people about faith, show them something real.

[mdc]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
. . . The young man who had stood, proceeded to walk to the front of the room and shared his faith in Jesus for the next half hour. . .

that is when i would have had to leave the room.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

"The young man who had stood, proceeded to walk to the front of the room and shared his faith in Jesus for the next half hour._ 300 students stayed and listened as he told of God's love for them and of His power through Jesus._"

So is he like an X-Man or something? Or are his only "powers" the judging of others?

[Earth Mk. II]

Why does that read like a Chick Tract?

[Diggory Laycock]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
"The young man who had stood, proceeded to walk to the front of the room and shared his faith in Jesus for the next half hour._ 300 students laughed at him and walked out shortly after he started._"

fixed.

[KeyLimePi]

I heard this same story, but like, in the end the police called the professor and said, like 'we traced the call and it's coming from inside the class.' Creepy, huh?

[itai195]

Forget chalk, I heard USC has a good football team?

[bamburg dunes]

Ya know, it's such a scary thing to see, when someone just has to share with you the love of Jesus that they have experienced. It's not even to just share, but it's like they are out to convince you that this is it, the truth, and they have it.

Reason I say this, is because one of my best friends has somehow been captured by the light of Christ. She is a completely different person now, in so many ways that it's scaring me. A normal conversation becomes a long drawn-out attempted coversion of me. She can't just BE a Christian, she has to, wants me to become one too. I keep saying to her, as nicely as possible, that what she experienced was for her, not me. That you can't convey properly what you experienced, let alone convert me to some religion because of that personal experience.


I love her as a friend, always will, but it gets scary when a newly converted person just has to convince you of their new faith.


Funny thing is, I've got another friend who converted to Islam, and is out to get me converted in much the same way that my Christian friend is.

Gods, Gods, Gods, which one to choose? Or maybe they are all the same really. **** knows, but I'm glad I got that rant off my shoulder.

[TheBadgerHunter]

Yep, this is why christians aren't respected. God doesn't play with chalk and he doesn't fight people's battles. Unless of course you're some evangelistic nut-head.

[olePigeon]

Broken chalk? My high school math teacher went through 2 boxes a day. He must be Jesus f*ckin' Christ himself! Praise the Lord! He works at Independence High School!

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by bamburg dunes:


Reason I say this, is because one of my best friends has somehow been captured by the light of Christ. She is a completely different person now, in so many ways that it's scaring me. A normal conversation becomes a long drawn-out attempted coversion of me. She can't just BE a Christian, she has to, wants me to become one too. I keep saying to her, as nicely as possible, that what she experienced was for her, not me. That you can't convey properly what you experienced, let alone convert me to some religion because of that personal experience.

I know that is what bothers me also. It is like when someone tries to recommend their doctor to someone else. "Go to him, he is the best, you will love him, tell him I sent you". What the hell would anyone gain from that?

If this God is so great and Jesus is the answer how come I don't see any results from the people who worship this stuff? How many people prayed in the world trade Centres? All of them? Number of survivors...... ZERO.

If God was that great and I ever saw any sort of result don't you think I would jump on it?

Not to mention all the cancer sufferers. Pray or don't pray, you either get through or you don't.

My neighbours are Catholic and it don't bother me at all as they only do good things like hold Church events to raise money for unfortunete people. Best of all they never push their belives on ANYONE and don't judge others based on what that book says.

[itai195]

Originally posted by bamburg dunes:
Funny thing is, I've got another friend who converted to Islam, and is out to get me converted in much the same way that my Christian friend is.

I thought Muslims didn't use the term 'conversion,' they say people 'revert' to Islam, IIRC. Frankly, as a Jew, I don't give a crap what you think

[Beewee]

What ever people want to believe they can believe in my opinion.
As long as it doesn't screw me over in some way I don't have a problem with their religious beliefs. There is no way to prove or disprove the existence of God or an afterlife of some kind.

The argument: God exists if and only if this piece of chalk doesn't break. The piece of chalk broke therefore therefore God does not exist. Is a valid argument form and nothing more.

I could say:
Gravity exists if and only if my post is NOT read.
My post was read therefore gravity does not exist. Yet how many people are going to float away after reading this?

[bamburg dunes]

Originally posted by itai195:
I thought Muslims didn't use the term 'conversion,' they say people 'revert' to Islam, IIRC. But I'm a Jew, so you can trust me to never try to convert you. Frankly, I don't give a crap what you think

Yes, they revert you, but I put it down to conversion. Something to do with all of us being born Muslim, ie, surrendered to God at birth but our society, parents etc make us whatever it is we become.

P.s. Ma Sh'lomkha? I'm Jewish too, but only because my parents are. I'm just a lost cause with them, lol

[macaddict0001]

Said prof doesn't sound logical. but he could just be crazy.

[bamburg dunes]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
I know that is what bothers me also. It is like when someone tries to recommend their doctor to someone else. "Go to him, he is the best, you will love him, tell him I sent you". What the hell would anyone gain from that?

Definitely. I have a theory though, but only applies to my friend I think. She was in a really abusive relationship, before she met that guy, we used to be as thick as thieves, clubbing, drinking, just being mad together. But she found God at a time when we stopped seeing much of each other, she had just come out of that relationship. I remember her feeling lost when I spoke to her on the phone, I couldn't get to her cause she was back home, and I could see she was needing something to give her a sense of what had happened. Her life, although not bad, was pretty shaken up and it was atthis time she got a new job in which her boss was this Christian activist. So I reckon she was looknig for peace, and a sense of things and found it in this Church she went to.

Still scary though seeing how different she is now. So long as she's happy, then I'm cool with that, and I'm hoping the zealous preachy part of her kinda calms the hell down.

[demograph68]

Technically, the chalk didn't hit the floor directly, but slid off his pants. Not so amazing to think about really.

[Xeo]

I read this story a while back.

Snopes
Truth or Fiction

But I don't think anyone here was seriously considering this story to be true.

[storer]

Originally posted by demograph68:
Technically, the chalk didn't hit the floor directly, but slid off his pants. Not so amazing to think about really.

exactly what i thought

[Cohiba]

The reason that Christianity is a proselytizing religion is because it is necessary for its survival. Drag a big enough net, the smaller fish will go through, yes, but you will almost always catch some tuna.

This is not necessary a bad thing. Religion is overall a good thing for people as humans are spiritual animals, who are afraid of things that they are unable to understand. The honest truth, it would do good for most of the world to be blindingly religious then to be blindingly atheist (minus your extremist of course). Christianity for the most part forces you to at least read a book, practice good will to others, and get into the habit of not sleeping in on Sunday.

The biggest thing is, when you really look at the scientific meaning for life, it is to **** and then to later die. All the stuff in the middle is just, well, stuff. When your common atheist becomes aware of such a fact, well people usually become depressed, especially in the soulless world of modern America.

However, take this great legacy in which this “Son of God” loved you so much that he went through a painful death for you. Next, if your not a dirt bag, when you die you go to heaven, instead of the lights just “turning off”. And finally, you get this sense of belonging at the spiritual level. People who are religious usually have less stress because they are not as afraid of death either.

Now, the idea that religion has caused the bane of mankind’s problems, that I have to object to. Government has caused the bane of mankind’s problems. Much of the past, governments have used religion to make people believe that things are bad. In which, there is no difference between using religion, and using the media. After all, communist Russia has killed more people in the name of atheism, then people have killed in the name of God last century (and maybe even longer). Also, if you are against abortion for purely semantic reasons (like I am), then to you atheism has also given reason to kill 40 million people in just 30 years throughout America alone.

Depending on your personality, religion has probably saved the lives and added to the overall welfare of mankind more then it has taken away. Avid church goers probably do not rape, mug, steal, or kill people as often either.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

"Even if a college professor had actually bolted from the room after a failed experiment, would 300 students really have remained in their seats for half an hour after he had departed to listen to a fellow student lecture on Christianity? "If it's not going to be on the final, it's not keeping me in my seat" is the typical student philosophy."



I know one that would have stayed.

[AKcrab]

I see these chain letters as modern day fables. Nothing more, nothing less.

[FulcrumPilot]

This is old news. Everyone knows that Jesus runs a chalk factory these days. Apparently he is giving some serious attention to his quality control dept.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by bamburg dunes:
A normal conversation becomes a long drawn-out attempted coversion of me. She can't just BE a Christian, she has to, wants me to become one too. [...] Funny thing is, I've got another friend who converted to Islam, and is out to get me converted in much the same way that my Christian friend is.

That's because people can have their own decisions justified when someone else follows them. It's really quite interesting. Anyone trying to convert anyone else of anything pretty much follows this. They might think that it truly is best for the person on the conscious level, but subconsciously they just want to feel good about themselves. And yes, it's the same thing when Mac users get switchers.

Originally posted by bamburg dunes:
If this God is so great and Jesus is the answer how come I don't see any results from the people who worship this stuff? How many people prayed in the world trade Centres? All of them? Number of survivors...... ZERO.

Um, I'm pretty sure not everyone in the WTC died on 9/11. Saying ZERO is kind of extreme. Unless you are talking about just the ones that died, in which case it's a really strange argument. I mean, technically we could say some of those that did survive prayed, and therefore got results. But I'd be willing to be just as many people who didn't pray survived. Or people who prayed to different gods survived.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Xeo:

Um, I'm pretty sure not everyone in the WTC died on 9/11. Saying ZERO is kind of extreme. Unless you are talking about just the ones that died, in which case it's a really strange argument. I mean, technically we could say some of those that did survive prayed, and therefore got results. But I'd be willing to be just as many people who didn't pray survived. Or people who prayed to different gods survived.

Nobody on the planes lived nor anyone in the upper levels on the collapsing buildings. You know they were praying. Guess he isn't as powerful as we are lead to believe.

[Xeo]

Originally posted by Cohiba:
[...] This is not necessary a bad thing. Religion is overall a good thing for people as humans are spiritual animals, who are afraid of things that they are unable to understand. [...] The biggest thing is, when you really look at the scientific meaning for life, it is to **** and then to later die. All the stuff in the middle is just, well, stuff. [...] And finally, you get this sense of belonging at the spiritual level. People who are religious usually have less stress because they are not as afraid of death either.[...]

Well, you've pretty much hit the nail on the head with what I think about religion and what logically makes sense about it. The only thing I'd have to say is that I can't sit back and try to lie to myself into believing in the all-powerful. I'm certainly not depressed because I know I'll be worm food. That just makes me want to live the life I have now as best I can, to have as much fun as I can, and simply value this life more. If it's all I have, then I have to take care of it.

So I can't really justify the mass illusion that has swept the planet, even if it helps some people. If people grow up not knowing about any gods, they won't be depressed about it. you only run into problems with certain people who grew up believing one thing and has changed. People can be just as caring and considerate without having the all-mighty say so.

[Atomic Rooster]

Mel Gibson is the second coming!

Prepare for the rapture!!!

http://www.raptureready.com/

[Superchicken]

Oi vey... you guys really have nothing better to do than rip into people who believe differently than you?

Wow you're big men aren't you, all up in arms on the internet about people actually having something that matters to them and telling it to you in the hopes that you might be able to share in the benefit of it. Dang those bastards hoping that they could make your life better as theirs had been. There should be a law against this!

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Superchicken:
Oi vey... you guys really have nothing better to do than rip into people who believe differently than you?

Wow you're big men aren't you, all up in arms on the internet about people actually having something that matters to them and telling it to you in the hopes that you might be able to share in the benefit of it. Dang those bastards hoping that they could make your life better as theirs had been. There should be a law against this!

You do know you just did the same thing didn't you?

[Superchicken]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
You do know you just did the same thing didn't you?

While I don't understand why anyone would send you this sort of drivel, I make it clear my friends shouldn't send me FWDs, I don't see why you can't. That said, why you feel a need to post it on MacNN so that you can get validation for your irrational hatred of Christians is beyond me.

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally posted by Superchicken:
Oi vey... you guys really have nothing better to do than rip into people who believe differently than you?

Wow you're big men aren't you, all up in arms on the internet about people actually having something that matters to them and telling it to you in the hopes that you might be able to share in the benefit of it. Dang those bastards hoping that they could make your life better as theirs had been. There should be a law against this!

See quotes above. I don't need anybody telling me how to make my life better. Got it!
This has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with people who think they
know how to run other people's lives. Be as religious as you want but when you start
telling me ow to improve my life with your religion, without ME asking you to do this,
you are in for some trouble from me.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Originally posted by Superchicken:
While I don't understand why anyone would send you this sort of drivel, I make it clear my friends shouldn't send me FWDs, I don't see why you can't. That said, why you feel a need to post it on MacNN so that you can get validation for your irrational hatred of Christians is beyond me.

Did you see me say anything negative or positive in the post? No, I made a comment in the subject based on the story.

I also mentioned in another post in this thread that I like my Christian neighbours and why I like them.

No, you just ignored those posts and jumped to your conclusion.

[olePigeon]

Speaking of Christians in class. I had an AWESOME astronomy/cosmology teacher at Sacramento State, Dr. Randy Phelps. He took a poll before on the first day. He asked a series of question about how old people thought the universe is. People started giving answers. Most shrugged and laughed, gave a random number off the top of the head.

But there were 5 people sitting near the front, all in suits or blouses, with Bibles on their desks (really.) Professor started asking how old people thought the universe. Various people answered with various answers, then the professor started shooting out numbers. About 7 people raised their hands when he mentioned 25,000 years old. Then more and more people started raising hands as he talked about millions of years, then decreased as he reached billions of years.

He started the class by saying something like, "Through application and observation we will come to a reasonable conclusion that the universe is somewhere between 13 and 20 billion years old. How many of you think it could be that old?" Only about 1/4 of the class raised their hands. Then he said something like, "Well, when I ask that question again by the end of the semester, my goal is to see at least 3/4 of the class raise their hands."

He taught the class EXTREMELY well. The whole idea of using observation to form a plausible conclusion given a certain set of criteria and information. We started with Eudoxus, went through other Greek and Egyptian astronomers, to Galilee , Kemper, Brahe, etc.

Started with the idea that Earth is the center of the universe, because that's what people saw. The sun "orbited" around Earth, so we are at the center. The Church liked that idea, Earth being God's greatest creation, it should be at the center. Then "celestial spheres" became popular because, with God being perfect, so should the universe. Then people like Kemper, Brahe, and Galilee started pointing out things like, the Sun, not Earth, is at the center of the solar system (and not the universe), and that they orbit in elliptical patterns, not perfect circles, and there are no celestial spheres, otherwise comets and asteroids would go crashing through them leaving a mess.

The cool thing is that when you're starting (and especially if you didn't know anything about astronomy before the class) you could actually believe these things were true given the evidence through observation. But after each lesson he would introduce a new observation, something that contradicts a previous observation (with evidence to support it), changing how we understand how the universe works. Eventually we got to Hubble and that's how we can estimate the age of he universe. He also covered extensively the "no-nos" of astrology (though it did have an important part in astronomy), and how the Christian Church did everything it could to stop the advancement of astronomy and cosmology whenever it didn't agree with the Christian faith. People literally being killed because their observations were contradictory to what the church had established.

So you really do experience thousands of years of observation, testing, and discovery over one semester. It was mind blowing, just a really cool class.

Anyway, at the end of the semester, Dr. Phelps asked that same question, that the universe could be about 20 billion years old. The entire class raised their hands, EXCEPT those 5 people in the front. They refused to believe the universe is any older than 25,000 years. The funny part was that one of them half-raised their hand, then quickly put it down when the other four didn't raise their hands. Dr. Phelps asked her, "Why did you put your hand down?" She said she misunderstood the question. I call it peer pressure.

Afterthought: Forgot to mention that the Christian Science Foundation has made ZERO contributions to science. Their entire existence is to try to contradict or explain scientific theory by using the Bible.

[Superchicken]

Originally posted by dcmacdaddy:
See quotes above. I don't need anybody telling me how to make my life better. Got it!
This has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with people who think they
know how to run other people's lives. Be as religious as you want but when you start
telling me ow to improve my life with your religion, without ME asking you to do this,
you are in for some trouble from me.

Fine, but NOT every Christian is like this, yet you make a blanket statement. News flash PEOPLE are dumb, it doesn't matter what religion you're looking at, I have met many many atheists who have felt a need to imply that I SHOULD slash must behave the way they do to be a worthwhile person. Why are you singling out the Christian asses instead of all asses?

[CreepingDeth]

It must be open season on Christians. When did they put the signs up? Hold on, let me go get my rifle…

[ambush]

**** god™

[Scientist]

Originally posted by Superchicken:
Fine, but NOT every Christian is like this, yet you make a blanket statement. News flash PEOPLE are dumb, it doesn't matter what religion you're looking at, I have met many many atheists who have felt a need to imply that I SHOULD slash must behave the way they do to be a worthwhile person. Why are you singling out the Christian asses instead of all asses?

I'm sorry, what is a "News Flash" person and why do you look down on them so? :-\

[demograph68]

Anyone up for Scientology?

[Superchicken]

Originally posted by CreepingDeath:
It must be open season on Christians. When did they put the signs up? Hold on, let me go get my rifle…

Just wait North America is increasingly more anti Christian every day. I would not be surprised if before my life is over I'm imprisoned for my beliefs (Nearly all of which would have been entirely socially acceptable a few decades ago...)

[Scientist]

Originally posted by Superchicken:
Just wait North America is increasingly more anti Christian every day. I would not be surprised if before my life is over I'm imprisoned for my beliefs (Nearly all of which would have been entirely socially acceptable a few decades ago...)

You wish. If you pay for the airfare and reimburse me for my time I'll persecute you for real.

[CreepingDeth]

Originally posted by Superchicken:
Just wait North America is increasingly more anti Christian every day. I would not be surprised if before my life is over I'm imprisoned for my beliefs (Nearly all of which would have been entirely socially acceptable a few decades ago...)

Maybe if this board ruled the world. And then we could have euthanasia!

[ambush]

Originally posted by CreepingDeath:
Maybe if this board ruled the world. And then we could have euthanasia!

it's ok to be christian but don't pester us with your stories.


they're generally bad.

[demograph68]

Learn this everyone! If you get religious spam don't post about it here, Superchicken might feel oppressed!

[Xeo]

Originally posted by Superchicken:
Just wait North America is increasingly more anti Christian every day. I would not be surprised if before my life is over I'm imprisoned for my beliefs (Nearly all of which would have been entirely socially acceptable a few decades ago...)

With some odd 80% Christians in the U.S. (I don't know about CA), I think you're stretching it a bit.

[AKcrab]

Originally posted by Xeo:
With some odd 80% Christians in the U.S. (I don't know about CA), I think you're stretching it a bit.

Superchicken Little.

[Zimphire]

Yeah.. SC, this country is still mostly Christian based. So is Canada for that matter.

It's just the anti-Chrisitian bigots are the loudest.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

So when does the night shift derailment post after post shift start?