Does religious freedom mean you can violate the rights of individuals in the name of your religion?

elijahin, Gods laws were always set up for man, but man wanted a king [ president, etc ] and no longer wanted God to rule [ I Samuel 8: 5-7 ]. This was the begining of many ends for us, as sin [ in many ways ] became rampet. If you read a little further down on this scripture, you will see that God had even told Samuel to tell the people what kind of king would reign over them...he warned them, but they still wanted a king. So, here we are and now we have a president that wants to rule over us, in otherwords, have the government control the lives of us all, right on down to what we eat. God had warned us a long time ago these things would take place. The laws ofGod were not harsh and we were free, but history [ bible ] shows all of us [ the world ] what can happen with kings ruling...they can become greedy, selfish, controling, etc, etc. But this is what man wanted...a king to rule over them and that's what man has had for a very long time. Has it helped? If it weren't for God making a promise to Abrham, we wouldn't even be in this country called Ameica. Also, if it hadn't been for our forefathers learning the lessons they had learned and putting them down in the Constitution, we again wouldn't have been free for over 200 years. We were blessed beyond words, because we did obey God and loved him...but then we strayed and forgot him and not only us, but many other free countries did the same and now, here we are struggling to get our country back...but God is the only one that can help us.

elijahin, the very first thing I had to learn, was, is there a God, then I had to believe his word [ the bible ].To prove there is a God, I did extensive studying on my own. I knew the bible said, ' the Lord our God is one God,' [ Deuteronomy 6: 4 and Mark 12: 29 ] and also knew that the earth and universe, trees, water, etc had to be done by a creator that was bigger than me. I knew you couldn't take something from nothing and create such balance within a universe or even a tree. The more I studied [ 42 years ], the more I knew there was a God, and a God that loved me. There is so much more to this I could tell you that even goes deeper, but it would take a lot of writting. But, if you are interested I will explain.
The next thing I figured out was if there was a God, than the bible had to have a lot of truth in it. But, to get to the truth, I did a lot of research with other books that were connected to the bible in some way. There were things in the bible that seemed to contradict each other and I wondered why...so I set out to find out and low and behold, they didn't really, there was a connection.
From all the years of study, I knew there was a God and the bible held the truth. A lot of people just read the bible and don't go any further with it, but with the bible you have to connect the dots and that takes research.
elijahin, you already believe or you wouldn't have asked God to give you wisdom. Wisdom comes from knowledge.
God said, ' you don't think like I think,' but He wants us to think as he does. All of Gods thoughts and plan is connected to love and family. We are his family and because of that, we're going to become more than what man has ever seen. When people read things in the bible that sounds terrible to them and it angers them, they really need to find out why God allowed those things to come about. Everything, and I mean everything that has happened from the time of Adam and Eve on up to our time has been to fulfil the coming plan of God...for all of us. But, we have many lessons to learn that will stregthen us spiritually along the way, make us better people and better children of God.
Gods ways are beyond our ways? Gods ways are the very ways He wants within us.
The one thing I have learned through all of my studies is that [ even though I am still very human in many ways ] the closer you get to God, the closer He gets to you. I have had some very interesting happenings because of this. Happenings that many have never had...wonderful things. If you want to talk more or have questions, I will be glad to talk to you. I am not going to try and persuade you to join anything, etc...just talk.

Okay, I'm going to try and answer you one by one...
Where did God come from? Revelation 16: 5, And I heard the the angel of the waters say, thou art righteous, o Lord, which art, and wast, and shall be, because thou hast judged thus. [ God was, is and alwys will be]. God has always been...always. When I was a kid, this was a question I use to have and it use to drive me nuts...until I found this in scripture. One could ask, where does infinity stop, it doesn't...it just goes on and on and always
has. In Genesis 1: 1 God created the heaven and earth with a word. He created it by speaking it. This is power beyond anything we have every seen and believe it or not, someday you will have that kind of power.

Well, you may have given up, but God has his hand on your shoulder because in your own mind you question things...and that's good...it means more than you'll ever know. If you did not question, then I'd be worried for you, even if its negative questions...its still spiritual thought. I know you don't know what I'm saying right now, but you will.

As I said above, when you come across things that seem terrible to you that God has allowed or God himself has done...there is a very good reason for it. We may think its horrible, but when you search out why God did what He did, it begins to make sense. Remember, God said [ Isaiah 55: 8 ] For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. Right now we are very human, think very human...God is spiritual and thinks that way. He wants us to get to know him, so we understand the whys He does what he does. A lot of people will take a sentence and read just what that sentence says and that's it...but some sentences in the bible you have to research out and get a clearier meaning to them, it may just have one word in that sentence that will make the whole difference in the meaning of the whole sentence. I use a book that has the english meanings of Hebrew and Greek that helps a lot with certain meanings in the bible, and sentences, all from one word.

Prayer is what puts us in spiritual contact with God. I have found that if you want a prayer answered quickly, fast and pray together...fasting for one day and praying. If you don't get an answer, sometimes your answer is no. When you pray, you just talk to him as you would a good friend. There has been times I have talked and prayed to God while I was driving some where or walking down my trail or in my bathroom. He really does listen.

Prayer is very important and very much in sink with Gods plan. When you pray your asking God to help you be strong in all things so that you will become more like his son and will be a light to the world and by your example be able to let others see God through you.

Believe me when I say, it is hard sometimes because there are those that you'd rather hit in the face than try to be kind to them. But, you do not have to like their attitude and you can always walk away. Gods plan for us right now is to learn to love him, obey him, love our neighbors as ourselves, as his kingdom cannot have any kind of evil in it as it will be nothing, but pure love surrounding us. Love that's so extreme you can't even explain it...very powerful.

Like I said, if you get close to God, He will get close to you. If you shut him out, how can He help you see him?

If God has always been, why is it so impossible that the universe has always been, in one form or another? Why is it not possible, that the gases, minerals and elements which make up the universe were not always in existence, even before the Big Bang?
And if it IS impossible that they existed forever, how is it that saying a word, suddenly made them materialize from nothing? why is it that something can come from nothing, if a deity utters a word?

I agree that questioning is good (though it's odd to hear a believer saying that) but that's just a matter of keeping an open mind. And my mind IS open. But that is not to say that I'm looking to change my mind. My mind is open to new evidence. I'll change my mind, if evidence is presented, but it has to be real evidence, not just circumstantial.

The horrors of the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament; are not excusable under any reasonable standard. There is no circumstance under which it is ok to dash the heads of toddlers against the rocks, as in Isaiah 13:15-18. There is no circumstance under which it is ok to kill non-believers and homosexuals, as in Romans 1:24-32. There is no circumstance under which it is ok to execute the VICTIM of rape, as is prescribed in Deuteronomy 22:23-24. There is never a circumstance in which sex slavery should be allowed, let alone be seen as the spoils of war, as in Deuteronomy 21:10-14, Judges 5:30, and Exodus 21:7-11. If this is Gods plan, God is a despot, a genocidal, cruel, perverse, dictator. And even if he IS real, he is unworthy of worship or even respect.

I don't know how God can prove himself. Maybe he could come down and show himself. That would be a start. But if he knows all, he surely knows what I need to hear or see, in order to be persuaded.

In Genesis 1: 3- 18 you can see that God spoke and it was so. In Psalms 33: 6- 9 also tells you that by the word of the Lord were the heaven [s] made, stars, moon , etc. And all the host of them In by the breath of his mouth. Energes is a Greek word in english meaning, energy.Hebrews 4: 12 says the word of God is quick and powerful [ meaning: energy ].God has powerful energy. In psalm 29: 4, a Hebrew word, koach, is a translated word for power and used in english in Psalm 29...the voice of the Lord is powerful, the voice of the lord is full of majesty. There is more to look into about this. The point is, that God is the one who energized the entire universe and created time, mass and space, and light-energy, and all He had to do was speak it. That is power, tremendous power. The reason these things came about is because there is a creator, a loving God that was, is and always will be.
Right now, elijahin, you, nor I could even look upon God and live. His power is so beyond powerful and we humans are filled with sin...we would die on the spot.
Your looking for evidence, as many others are, when you really need to just accept and know there is something greater than yourself. Once you do that, I really believe your mind will be open to what will be shown you.

Remember when I said you have to look for key words or sentences sometimes to get to the meanig of some scripture? Isaiah 13:1- 22 God uses the words...In that day. That day is called, the great day of the lord. This is future coming. That day will be the great and terrible day of the Lord. You can find much about this in Joel 1-3 chapters. The reason for this is sin and disobedience. Things have gotten so far out of hand and God knows it and much will happen because of it. But, this too is called to repentance and then Isaiah 2: 2-4 comes into play.
This is not because of God wanting to be cruel or non-caring, but because good cannot prevail if there is evil. And no one would make it into his kingdom unless things are turned around.
We're having a spark of what's coming right now...man has become corrupt and evil and it can spread to such a point, no one would make it. We are right now fighting a spirtual war between good and evil and man needs to pray, repent and get close[ put on his armour ] to God. Man has thrown him out and by doing that, we have opened a door for evil to enter.