How about this

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   A Texanposted 13 years ago

   I don't think I have ever posted on this forum before but I was thinking to myself, what if the reason "A God" didn't put all one needs to know that he/she exists is because he/she was testing you.
   
   What I mean is
   The nonbelievers always say there is no evidence so how could it be real? The believers are operating solely on faith, and if there is a God I would think that's what he wants, unquestioned faith.
   
   As for me, I decline to say how I feel on the subject, because I'm smart enough to know I don't know shit!
   
   Comments?

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      Twenty One Daysposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hey buddy.
      I get your drift. And yes, you have been relatively quiet amid the hype. My hat to you.
      
      Something to consider: not all believers -in fact most- are not operating only on faith. If they were, there would be a totally different understanding of it all.
      
      Most folks are under the impression of mixing logic with that thing called faith, which they don't know gherkins about -because no body is really explaining to them, even in Lakewood {wink}.
      
      Kind of like science -a lot of smoke and mirrors. Magic faith, magic potions, magic carpets, whatever. Hokus Pokus.
      
      Something you said struck a chord, that needing to know thing.
      That is the real root of the issue. Do they 'need' to know or do they already know and are trying by either side to prove it...

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         A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Don't get the Lakewood reference, care to explain?

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      Pandoras Boxposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      BTW why would you think that unquestioning faith would be what a god would want?

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         A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Its just a guess.

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      (Q)posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      If one wishes to start a cult, one needs to build fool proof safeguards into the belief system, such as unquestioned faith.
      
      See?

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         A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         No.

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            (Q)posted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Did I use too many words or too many syllables?

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               A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Neither, as usual you didn't say anything, but thanks for playing.

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                  (Q)posted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Ah, reading comprehension issues. You should have just said so.

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                     A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     Did you say something?

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                        (Q)posted 13 years agoin reply to this

                        No. It was just your imagination running amok.

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                           A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                           Man, I keep hearing a woman scream, hello, do you need help?

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                              (Q)posted 13 years agoin reply to this

                              It's just the voices in your head. Resistance is futile.

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         Davidsonofjesieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         hi mr.q,do you mean like the faith you have in your god {science}

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            tantrumposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Science is not a God. It's only a tool used by intelligent human beings.

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               Davidsonofjesieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I disagree,its the tool of the unwise

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                  tantrumposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  I disagree.
                  Religion is the tool of the unwise

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                  Ohmaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  The man typed on a computer connected to the Internet.
                  Please!!

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      Brenda Durhamposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think God minds being questioned.  Not if someone's really seeking.  He doesn't tell us to blindly accept His existence without offering us proof. (Faith isn't really blind acceptance; it's acceptance of things we know are there but can't see with our natural eyes.)
      
      He's given humans evidence of His existence time after time.  He showed proof of Himself to Abraham and Moses and others.  He's shown evidence of His existence by the act of Creation.  He gave us both His literal Word (the Bible) and the literal+Spiritual Word (Jesus the Christ).\
      
      I love Genesis 1: 1.  I always say if anyone will believe that verse,  the rest of the answers will fall into place.  It's not so hard to believe when we realize it's not just a statement standing alone without proof; it's a statement backed-up by tangible evidence (not only the existence of nature, but the very fact that Mankind exists is evidence that God exists.)

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         Davidsonofjesieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         very well said brenda

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      Sab Ohposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      "what if the reason "A God" didn't put all one needs to know that he/she exists is because he/she was testing you."
      
      
      Free will is the biggest test of all - and the whole point really.

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         A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Seems reasonable.

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         Madame Xposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Is that a fair wind from the East . . .
         
         

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   Madame Xposted 13 years ago

   You're a brave soul, Tex

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      A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      They can't kill me...can they?

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   mikelongposted 13 years ago

   This is something that I have thought long and hard about...
   
   Ultimately this is a concept that I put aside, for life itself is too short and intense a thing for me to worry about this aspect...
   
   So, I live my life the best I can, regardless of whether there is something to follow this life...relgion and morality do not have to go hand in hand....
   
   
   Regardless, life itself is an amazing thing....and pondering on the hows and whys of existence builds greater respect within me for it, whether or not there is a singular, multiple, or any type of consciousness behind it...

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      A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Finally, You said something I can agree with, woo hoo!

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      Friendlywordposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      It's downright creepy the way you are dead on any topic on these forums. I dont know what to call it. I'll just say you have a very clear head.

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      Twenty One Daysposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      mike, could not have said it better.
      consciousness is the problem.
      As long as we question, we will never get the true answer.
      As i told one Hubber: like chasing rabbits down a hole. If you stop chasing it, that rabbit will at some point poke its head out of the ground so you can see it.
      
      In my case, would bbq the literal rabbit. jeje

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   mikelongposted 13 years ago

   All in good time I suppose Tex...
   
   For all our differences I'm sure we have much commonality between us....

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   wyanjenposted 13 years ago

   Believers are operating solely on faith because the entire concept comes from man's own imagination.
   
   If you are OK with with believing a concept that has no basis of proof, that's cool. Knock yourself out.
   But, how much sense does it really make to say that something exists only because you really really want it to?
   You think that it wants you think that it exists. That's a pretty good racket.
   
   There is a magic, invisible, unknowable, god-thing who will prove itself to exist - but only when you die, and only if you live your life by the "rules".
   We can blindly look to the heavens, or we can look at the controlling bastards who are writing those "rules". 
   
   Guess which one I pick
   
   

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      A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hmmmmmmmm, couldn't give one fuck what you would pick, I'm just cool that way. Don't flip me off with a smiley face at the end, own it! With all due respect....

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         wyanjenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         That's not there for you, don't be so sensitive.
         I don't flip people off. Without fair warning. See, you just don't know me very well.
         
         It's there to emphasize what I think about the people who go about trying to control everybody  else by scaring them with a fairy tale.
         
         With all due respect...

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            wyanjenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Where did you go?

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      Faybe Bayposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      A great Priest in my area when I was growing up put a recorded message on a phone that each day started with this message.
      
      "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" He would follow this with a thought for the day, backed up by a daily scripture. It was a great comfort to my mother who wrote the number by the phone, so she could not lose or forget it.
      
      In my defense, who has seen the air, yet we breath it, know it is there. Is this because a scientist said it exists? Actually many things you use each day are a mystery even to scientists. My most recent run in with such mystery was taught to me in electrical theory.
      
      See there is no explanation for the way a nucleus will stay together, so they call it this "Gluons" holding the nucleus together and the definition is "An unseen force without which nothing would exist"
      
      Science is such a funny thing.

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      World Marketingposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I Agree

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   Pandoras Boxposted 13 years ago

   I too have pondered this. I have children. When it finally became time for me to walk away from christianity, and some time later theism altogether you can bet that for my childrens' sake I had more than second thoughts.
   
   I decided in the end that IF a god exists who can not understand the human dilemna and the mess of religion, then I didn't give a flying bird what he/she/it wanted.
   
   I decided in the end that IF a god exists who really wants us to love and or believe in him/her/it so much he/she/it would love us enough to reveal him/her/it self to us in a more direct and convicting manner.
   
   I decided in the end that IF a god exists who would punish us for doubting our own imaginations and the testimony of long dead -or still living- men (or women) then that was just going to have to be that because...
   
   I decided in the end that I had to be true to myself, and honestly believe what I could honestly believe, and stop trying to believe things I never could fully embrace the belief of, and...
   
   I decided in the end that IF a god exists who would punish me for that integrity then I'd rather burn in hell then sing his/her/its praises in heaven anyway.
   
   The religions are false, this I know. A god may exist, but I have no reason to believe so. If I have no reason to believe so, then I have to figure that it isn't important to any possibly existing god if I believe it or not.
   
   When I say I have no reason to believe a god exists, that doesn't mean I don't have appreciation and gratitude for the life and the world that I've been lucky enough to be born into. I have wonder, and awe. At the same time, I am not blind to the fact that life and the world are not quite so beneficient for many.

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   logic,commonsenseposted 13 years ago

   Just wondering, if you are a god, do you really care what mortals think?

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      Pandoras Boxposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe Tantrum can answer that for us.

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         logic,commonsenseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Oh, but she is a goddess!

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            tantrumposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Yes ! and I don't care what anybody thinks !

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      A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Don't know, maybe the god just wants you to believe using faith.

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   A Texanposted 13 years ago

   Never mind the Lakewood thing I Googled it.

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   china manposted 13 years ago

   The way I see this without looking long and hard is that it is a chicken and egg puzzle. If there were a god why would it want you to be good and if we were all good why would you need a god.

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    lyricsingrayposted 13 years ago

    I sometimes wonder what drives faith.  Maybe I don't understand because I was never raised with any.
    
    It is, respectfully, hard for me to grasp something that isn't tangible.
    
    Faith seems to soften fears and give hope in my observation.
    
    I can believe in fate and that our paths were long planned out for us already.
    
    Respectfully I cannot believe nor trust a god exists with what I hear preached and witness in truth.
    
    There is no one to blame for our tragedies but ourselves, and no one to give thanks to for our blessings but ourselves.
    
    If we all took responsibility for good and bad, I think things would be much different.
    
    I don't know if that made any sense.

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       A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       It made sense.

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       logic,commonsenseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       lyrics, you are right on the money!
       We all  make our own choices and we need to take responsibility for those choices.  What was, was; what is, is; what will be will be!

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    thisisoliposted 13 years ago

    Why would a god want faith?

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       tantrumposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Marketing

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          wyanjenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          Control
          
          Hi Tantrum. I didn't think you are real close to the earthquake, but glad to see you are OK just the same.

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       A Texanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I already said I don't know shit, you're suppose to have all the answers.

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    tantrumposted 13 years ago

    Very well said Brenda !
    
    
    
    

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    Faybe Bayposted 13 years ago

    The points are all so well taken and stated. The fact is, we are responsible. Anyone who has read Genesis would see that truth. Some people can hate God for not solving all of our problems, such as Cancer, Poverty, Abuse... In Reality, God or no God, I was angry with Him/Her/It, when my father died. God did not kill him, nor allow his suffering, mankind did.
    My fathers cancer did not come from smoking, it came from the chemicals designed by scientists to pave our roads, without regard for what harm these chemicals might do to someone who had to physically handle them each day.
    
    There has been Cancer, long before our roads were paved with this substance, yet the paved road, to these scientists and the men who wanted them to drive on, was sadly, more important than a cure for cancer.
    
    I like God, in Genesis, if it is believed, Mankind is in charge of the earth, and therefore, responsible for all of the problems.

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    awareposted 13 years ago

    How  about  that.

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