From inside the fish Jonah prayed ... "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry."
—Jonah 2:1-2

Edited 2/2/2020 12:34:41

"THIS IS FOR BIBLE VERSES, NOT VERSES FROM MODERN SONGS."

Umadbro? You should find Jesus. He'll help you channel that anger in a positive manner. Or he would, if he existed, and if religion wasn't just something for morons to believe in so that they don't feel afraid and alone. Alas.

Want to shout in an echo chamber without interruption? Go find a forum specifically for Christians, this isn't it. This is a forum for Warzone. Religion has no place here.

Edited 2/2/2020 20:29:45

can I be god now? Sounds pretty swank gig tbh.

Edited 2/2/2020 20:41:50

@Johnny Silverhand. I tried to address this early on in this thread, but apparently Fizzer allows this. Religion helps people do good, I would never argue against that, but this thread should just ask people to read the bible, because if it goes on long enough, the whole bible will be on this thread.
There is no discussion on this thread, just mindless parroting of random verses. No explanation of what they mean, nothing. Forum threads are supposed to be a place of discussion, this thread is just spam.

While yes, knowing God is certainly something that is decided individually, I believe that unless you are taught something, you cannot learn it. That is to say, in this case, unless you are exposed to God and His Word, you cannot really know about it. And I get that some don't want to know; they don't have to read this thread. But as for being a recruitment site, I agree, Warzone isn't. In fact, for the most part, it's a very secular environment. But my reasoning for doing this is twofold:

The first is the one you have kind of hinted at, that is to encourage and inspire other believers (like Viking). If this was my only aim, then your suggestion of a Christian forum would be entirely appropriate. However, my second motive was basically to be a light in this world, which as Christians I believe we are called to do. And that means everywhere. And I know that most non-Christians would not want to read these sorts of things, but I don't know whether one day, somebody might have had a really bad day and decided to read the verses that I put here, and were encouraged.

Tbh this thread is rather alienating, not encouraging. How the hell am I going to expect to find enlightenment and inspiration here when all I see is a bunch of quotes from some text saying some stuff about some being that we are supposed to submit ourselves to and follow their rules for some reason? Place yourselves in the shoes of the outside looking in.

If you really wanted to try to help people find enlightenment, you really should do as marcus says. Explain the quote and why you put it there. And no, not in the frame of reference of He Himself, but in a way that is actually relatable to a general nonreligious layperson. The bible does have good insights. But not explaining what those are does nothing for the general audience. If you did that, I would be much more comfortable seeing this thread on this site.

Edited 2/2/2020 21:05:44

@Aura Guardian: Amen

@Johnny - In case you didn't notice, this is in the off-topic forum, by definition not directly related to Warzone. You want WZ stuff, don't read the off-topic forums. Simple. 😉

@Marcus (and Aura), you have a point about this thread having no explanations. In future, I will try to include a few of my thoughts on them. I think this is a better complaint than your previous ones Marcus.

@Aura, not quite sure what you meant by:

"And no, not in the frame of reference of He Himself, but in a way that is actually relatable to a general nonreligious layperson."

(Let me know if I've interpreted that wrongly in the following)
I cannot simply remove the verses from their religious context and explain purely the secular "moral" value of the text (if you can even have morality without religion, which is another debate entiely.)

I will, however, do my best to explain what I think the verse entails for believers (and/non-believers where applicable).

I hope I have reasonably and inoffensively presented my arguments, I don't want to be attacking anyone in this.

As for the explanations, I will start with the verse for today:

“Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
Deuteronomy 7:9 NKJV


I think this is a pretty stock-standard verse that speaks of God's faithfulness to his followers; He never breaks a promise. The verse mentions specifically those who love Him and keep His commandments, however I find it a testament to the mercy of God that although no-one has kept all His commandments, He is still willing to be faithful, if people will accept that faithfulness.

"if you can even have morality without religion, which is another debate entiely"

What a comment. Are you claiming that morality and spirituality are exclusively intertwined? Am I as a non-believer consequently incapable of being good? As Christopher Hitchens puts it, is there a moral statement uttered, or an ethical action performed by a believer, that I could not do or say as a non-believer?
Look at Nietzsche to know that having a framework of moral values doesn't have to be sustained by an omniscient being, or follow Kant's categorical imperitive (which could replace the entire bible imo if we are just talking about being good citizens).

Edited 2/3/2020 08:40:23

Sorry, worded badly - basically what I meant was, without God, where the heck does morality come from? If life is purely a result of a bunch of accidental chemical reactions, then why are some things "good" and others "bad"?

If there is no god, there is no morality.

And completely besides that, I am going to pull out a quote which I think is none the less true for being used a lot. If the world happened by accident, and your evolution was by accident, therefore your thoughts are an accidental result of accidental chemical reactions, so give me one good reason why I should listen to one accident's account of all the others?

Edited 2/3/2020 09:51:36

Actually, this was quite interesting (from the Nietzsche Wikipedia page)
"Nietzsche claimed the death of God would eventually lead to the loss of any universal perspective on things, and along with it any coherent sense of objective truth."

Cringey... This thread makes me question religion in a negative way, but keep going by all means.

If people could address any future complaints about this thread to my mail, that would be appreciated. Debate about the content is different, though.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
—Philippians 2:3


Humility is recognizing who God has made us to be and using that recognition to serve and redeem others. Living in humility as Jesus did, we don't just practice the golden rule, but we go one step better — we treat others better than we would treat ourselves. Are we instructed to do this because we're unworthy or unfit? No! Jesus was worthy and glorious, but he chose to treat others better than himself when he sacrificially gave himself to redeem them. It's a high standard. It's a hard standard. It is not for wimps. But it is ultimately glorious. (Hint: Read down through verse 10 and remember that the same type of reward will be given to the faithful!)

By frame of reference of He Himself, I mean using God to justify God.

Haha that's the same thing as if i made a thread about pokemon, cause i like pokemon and i think pokemon could improve your life if you let them be part of your life. Then I and someone else are taking turns naming all pokemons one after another. When people tell me it's silly i just answer that they can in future adress these complaints to me directly and keep naming pokemons :D

Well, related to the above argument, here's a verse with its commentary. @Johnny Yes, God did eliminate my anger towards most useless things, like someone posting lyrics to modern songs. You'll probably say I'm lying though.

Romans 3:10-12, 19-20 - "as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, there is not even one...
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin."

Commentary - "They have all diverged from the right way, they have either abandoned or corrupted the worship of God: the Jews, in forsaking the law and the prophets, and the Gentiles, in acting contrary to the law which God had written on their hearts. And the departure of both from the truth proves the evil propensity of human nature in general.
On the score of obedience to this moral law, there shall no flesh, no human being, be justified; none can be accepted in the sight of God. And why? Because by the law is the knowledge of sin: it is that which ascertains what sin is; shows how men have deviated from its righteous demands; and sentences them to death because they have broken it. Thus the law is properly considered as the rule of right; and, unless God had given some such means of discovering what Sin is, the darkened heart of man could never have formed an adequate conception of it. For, as an acknowledged straight edge is the only way in which the straightness or crookedness of a line can be determined, so the moral obliquity of human actions can only be determined by the law of God; that rule of right which proceeds from his own immaculate holiness."

Yes, Christianity offers a philosophical framework with which to live your life, but so does philosophy! I like to read stoic philosophy (in case my profile wasn't obvious enough), and it helps me, particularly on days that have been long and stressful, and even when I am close to tears. I don't need faith in God to endure the hardships of life. I can see the allure of religion, I can see why people resort to belief in God, belief that everything will be alright when they die in some hypothetical afterlife, and I'm ok with that, live and let live. Please keep this part of your life private however, this is a game, and I would like it to be kept secular. Can you imagine if believers from every religion started posting daily updates on threads like these? Players would rightly ask Fizzer to do something about it. You shouldn't get a pass just because you're the only ones doing it.

On a more positive note, a player bought me Royal Blue recently and it made me happier than I thought it would, I even told my girlfriend (she's real I promise) and she was happy that I was happy about something that seemed so trivial to her (can you imagine a grown ass man telling his girl that his internet friend bought him a colour he can play with? Yh, exactly). I would make the case that this player is more Christian than any of you, he has made one of God's creatures happy, your circlejerk thread means diddly-squat to anyone but yourselves.

I repeat what I said in my original complaint. I'm not trying to rain on your parade here, and I appreciate that you guys think you are doing God's work or something by spreading his word, but just look at the reaction this thread is provoking from outside players, surely this is the wrong way to market Christianity to non-believers? Start a discord and invite anybody who's interested to it. Matter of fact, the discord I'm in gives me random bible verses if I type in "+random", and I think that's pretty cool.

One more time, I don't want to discuss religion (because in my experience I have had more productive conversations with a wall), I'm just kindly asking you to have this religious exercise elsewhere. Additionally, I want to make it clear that I have Christian friends, they're kind to me, and I'm kind to them, and I'm ok that deep down they think I will burn in hell for an eternity, but until that time comes, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

If there is a god, and he truly is as wise as you claim him to be, let him judge me when my time comes, for now, let me enjoy this beautiful life he has (allegedly) given me.

Edit: Wanted to add this beautiful story.

Eskimo: 'If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?' Priest: 'No, not if you did not know.' Eskimo: 'Then why did you tell me?'

Edited 2/3/2020 22:42:08