Do you believe in God? If not What do you believe in?
I'm not religious but I was brought up in a catholic family. I developed my own thought and points of view and I don't think I fit in religion. I just wanted you to share what your thoughts are on religion.So those who don't know about him, or aren't as educated as you and thereby don't have your religion, all die in the fires of hell, or get torn limb from limb by a flying tooth fairy?
Am I close?
I think the general idea is to try and make a decision before we find out whether the decision we did not take was the wrong one!
Still with the fear mongering huh? I can smell the fear through my screen.
Yep!
their are so many to choose from!
This is why ur religion causes so many wars. Deep understanding of garbage?
Zat so innit?
True dat! Not a bad idea spending one's life learning and knowing as much as we can though.
Agreed. If I continue to learn at the end of it all I know that I will know nothing..... still, but that nothing is a lot to fit in a lifetime.
Holy bulldust!
Have we got another bandwidth abuser here or what?
If anyone reads that much religious crud on a forum I'm gonna lengthen my hubs to half a million words!
Jeeze!
Talk about flogging religion on a forum, this one thinks he has the same coverage as the six o'clock news!You may recall we have a relatively new christiam contributor here who does the same thing.
The reception from her peers was less than enthusiastic as I recall.
-
I think I may know her!
- Sherlock221bposted 13 years ago
0Well said.
When the body dies, that is the end of the god belief right there.
No oxygenated blood to the brain... no more god.I know living now may not seem much to some who can't wait for the next life, but to me it's a no brainer.
I love my life, but am not about to begin following a sad psychotic myth in the vain hope of a life after this one.
Not for me.
I will continue to enjoy my life for as long as it lasts. I know I will make worm food when I die, and that will contribute to the life cycle.
While I'm here I will contribute what I can in the way of love to enhance what is here for the next generation.Those lucky worms!
I plan to feed a few myself, Earnest!
Life is wonderful enough without bringing imaginary villains and deities into the picture.I know living for today may seem like everything to some people who cannot accept that this life is just a training ground, that we are eternal beings, a spirit and soul with a body, not just a body with a soul (and for most unenlightened spirit)but for me it is a no brainer.
I love my life, but I'm not deceived by the enemy into thinking that this is it!
That just a short time living is what I was created for!
I will continue to enjoy life for as long as God sets me to be here in His power, like Earnest I will make worm food, for my body is nothing, and like him I will return to the very dust it came from, the chemicals and minerals God put me together with.
While I am here I will continue to reach out to the lost and try to bring them to a fullness of Christ, as God tells me I am to do, but I will also respect those who do not wish to accept Christ as their master, and choose to surrender their authority to other gods or demons.
Some of them are wonderful and beautiful people, it is not my part to judge or determine their future existence in eternity.
My sole responsibility is to be answerable to God for my own life, and to seek to warn those who God places in my life-path, of the dangers they may face.
Different perspectives on life are what makes it interesting, and we get to choose which one we prefer to follow.
Life's great, but death is nothing to fear!I should start calling you Lazarus Long then!
Yes back to dust we shall return,
BUT, the soul/spirit doesn't die..
Earnest what if when you die and find out you were wrong?
Lose/Lose
See ,the way I figure it ,if I die and find out I was wrong ,then nothing lost ,But, if God was right ,oh baby baby Im in Heaven!
Win/win
Not meant to offend, however, I'm sure a few might be.
Do you believe in God? Which one? There are plenty of them, last I checked.
However, I no longer have a formed belief on the topic. I did once.
As for my beliefs? I only have one I care to share with the general public(outside family and friends). I believe the Boston Redsox will WIN the World Series this year.
Smart, that is outrageously funny: standing in a garage to become a car! Good laugh, that.
Driving in a car does not make you one, either. But occasionally, especially when driving for many long hours, I find that, even after leaving the car, I still feel the seat and steering wheel, and when I close my eyes that night, I see the constant flicker of the dashed yellow line down the center of the road.
Such attachment comes from well-practiced familiarity and association.
Most people think they are their bodies. And when some experience being outside of their physical shell, they become disoriented or confused. I wouldn't doubt that many who experience an out-of-body (OBE) event merely do not mention it to others because they themselves view the experience as crazy or unreal. It may go against their cherished worldview.
When a surgery patient can later list for the doctors the dusty items on top of the shelves nearby, this is not from hallucination or "lucky guess." This acts as real proof of our spiritual nature.
The most startling OBE I've experienced was crystal clear in visual clarity -- color, textures, details. It lasted only a few moments. And mine was not induced by drugs, surgery and/or trauma. My body had been wide awake, in a conversation with a spiritual counselor.
One of my brothers experienced an OBE while in a phone conversation with his girlfriend. She had just gotten out of the shower and was trying to decide which dress to wear. My brother attempted to help her out and she freaked a little when he described the contents of her closet. She freaked because she realized that my brother could also see that she wasn't wearing anything.
Just as we humans have children who look much like us, God had children who look much like Him -- non-physical, spiritual and immortal sources of creation.
I get to live on in a wonderful way after my death.
I created children.Mine may all be rotten non-believers and will rot in hell like me.
Or maybe I will meet yours in eternity and we can discuss what a nice old bloke you were!
Bit strange, but nice anyway!
Not as punishment, Earnest, but as a matter of choice.
When a suicide perpetrator decides to step off the roof of a 20-story building, they meet "God's vengeance" at the velocity of impact. Their "splat" is the result of God's creation (the natural laws of physical reality) plus their own misguided decision. Hell is kinda like that.
You may not be able to remember such things, but the period between lives (what the Buddhists sometimes call "bardo" or "between time") is sometimes filled with great terror and disorientation. Being without your body can prove to be a real bitch.
One Hubber described developing the ability to have lucid dreams on a regular basis, but then the dreams got carried away. Fear crept in. And in that fear-based dream reality, fearful things were created. And he couldn't easily wake up. He might think he was awake, but the dream was still going on.
When you are without a body in the post-death bardo, there is no such thing as "waking up." No body. Nothing to wake up. Such near-perpetual terror could be likened to a lake of fire. Definitely not a comfortable position to be in.
What is truth? I don't know. Not yet. When I'm humble enough, I find pieces of it. Will I finally be able to awaken the sleeping immortal, within (the kingdom of heaven)? I don't know. I hope so. I strive to "follow Christ," but find myself too often chasing after ego. I still have a lot to learn.Still misreading it, eh, Earnest? No worries.
Just an FYI on the down low: death AND Hell were tossed away at the resurrection. To back it up, Johns vision defines it also, just at the mention -- twice in the same sentence-- about the first resurrection.
Happy Tuesday aft`noon bud.
James.Simply replying to a belief which has long standing with certain posters.
lone, there are literally dozens of sound reasons for all sorts of phenomena we experience in our minds, but that is it, no invisible impossible mythical entity required to explain phenomena, but the origins of it are the mind itself in many cases.
Some phenomena are difficult to explain, but one does not need to throw logic out the window and resort to myths in finding an answer to everything. We don't know everything, and I'm fine with that.Yeah, but you are choosing to burn in hell by not believing the nonsense this one tells you. Especially as he makes it harder to read by using colored "ink."
Is it just me - or are these guys sounding more and more desperate for people to believe them?Odd. You don't say you cannot explain it - you claim to have an explanation.
Majik. Amazing, E.G. Science has explanations for all manner of things. So, having an explanation for something is not the problem, I take it.
And your explanation? Will you merely claim ignorance, bury your head in the sand and hope you never run into anything like that for yourself? That really is funny!
Jerami and you would sure look funny with your butts sticking up in the air, and heads well-grounded. Funny but sad.
A one word answer does it for me.
Synchronisity.
Very hard to explain to the kids I know, but having experienced it myself on two occasions I understand your passion in defending your experience, I never ever mention mine for fear of being laughed off the forums..- Well I do not buy any of the biblical stuff as you know, and we have had the context and psychosis argument often enough in the past.
I have no problem with you believing you are here for all time.
The way I see it is that when my consciousness dies it is the end of this entity, and what is left behind will be a father and grandfather's love, and the moral example I have tried to set in my business life.
I like to think I make a difference and that matters into the future.I carry my grandfather's name.
My grandfather on my fathers side died when Dad was 14, on my mothers side when I was 3.
I have great respect for both of them as their history shows they were both good men.
I agree with Aguasilver. I've seen your kindness and thoughtfulness at times in these forums.
I understand your fear of being laughed off the forums, but you have my interest and respect for your experiences, too.
Synchronicity? Is it synchronicity when a scientist has one coincidence after another proving his thesis? And some alignments outside of the laboratory are statistically improbable ... in the extreme!
The random motion of air molecules makes a four-minute vacuum, twelve inches across, a statistical impossibility. This would prove to be far more than mere synchronicity. Even a hundredth of an inch in diameter would be a shocking anomaly and completely outside the reasonable use of "synchronicity."
Earnest, you sometimes strike me as a reasonably intelligent guy. Did you ever take statistics in school or probability theory? I haven't, but I've read enough mathematics (plus straight "A's" in Advanced Algebra and Trigonometry, Geometry, etc). Where does synchronicity end and improbability begin? How many coincidences does it take to confound physical law?
Take Jesus walking on water, for instance. Was it synchronicity of water molecules happening to move in the upward direction underneath Jesus' feet with each step he took? But only underneath his feet and nowhere else on the Sea of Galilee? Occam's razor would slice the heck out of that ungainly monster of an explanation. I don't think Occam's tool applies to every situation, but here it sure make sense.
And how is it synchronicity for my father's elder friend who in an OBE could read off the titles of books not visible to his Homo sapiens eyeballs? Hmmm-m-m! He merely spouted off a string of words which happened to match those titles? Synchronicity? Puhl-eeeze!
And my brother Larry's OBE experience freaking his girlfriend when on the phone he helped her pick out a dress to wear, pointing out the black dress, third one to the left of the green one. She freaked because she realized he could see her closet and she had just gotten out of the shower (and was not wearing a towel).
Synchronicity? Earnest, I have a one word reply!
Nope!
- andycoolposted 13 years ago0
I believe in an EGO-less myself. I believe in transforming my EGO to self-esteem... and thereby attaining deliverance and peace of mind. I'm almost there... where I'm immune to external shocks.
- Binaya.Ghimireposted 13 years ago0
- wongomowaleposted 13 years ago0
- dixie28714posted 13 years ago0
You are headed in the right direction
Leaving the Catholics in the dust was the best thing you could ever do!!! Praise God for that, now pick up a bible and read the book of Matthew where Jesus speaks to his disciples, you are on your way!!
Also, john 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should NOT perish BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE!! Belief in a myth equals salvation does it?
Salvation from what exactly? The shocking mess his dad left behind?You know, earnest, I don't know that I've ever looked at it quite this way. I agree with you to a point. Everyone is different, and so it would be quite natural for us to treat them differently. I think that's what you're saying, in part, am I right?
On that premise, I would say that it is reasonable to treat others the way they treat you within the bonds of common decency and respect. And, if for whatever reason, their treatment doesn't command decency and respect, your best bet is to simply distance yourself from them.
I find what you said very thought provoking.Personally I would prefer people to be treated in the way they choose to be treated, not how I treat myself.
I feel confident that some of the things I do would be most unsuitable if projected on others.That is a bit deep Earnest ! maybe you could give your bad back to the religionisers to give them some real issue to worry about themselves about
Now there is a great idea! I will generously allow them to take my back problem on.
I see exactly what you're saying. We generally tend to be much harder on ourselves than we would ever be on others. It would make sense for us to treat someone kindly where we might be harder in the way we treat ourselves.
So if I choose to be treated as exempt from all moral responsibility, to be treated as having the self given authority to do whatever I want, that would be OK with you, we would both be OK yeah?
I'm Ok, you're OK would still be a good starting point?Actually following transactional analysis processes is always a good starting point no matter who we are dealing with.
TA is 27 years ago for me aqua, I have spent the time since studying other things.
TA makes a simple truth, and the character of people has nothing to do with it.
I spent 31 years behind the counter in my motorcycle and auto businesses spending many years serving all the world known bikie gangs from Hells Angels to Coffin Cheaters, Road Rebels and a dozen others.
Most of them were ladies and gentlemen.
I am not some babe in the woods ya know aqua!
As far as biblical things go I will simply state that anything in it which is psychotic was written by a psychotic, and that you can write in stone.This is the problem with people like aquasilver who believe they have "higher authority" than anyone else. They assume there is only "my way or the highway." I have made some pretty drastic behavioral changes without the need to pretend I was doing it for an Invisible Super Being and therefore I have the right to tell you what to do and you need to do what I did.
This is why their religion causes so much conflict.I feel sure many of us have done thing under our own steam that would appear to be too much for others to take on.
Being an Aussie I know some of our immigrants have been almost super human in their endeavours to provide a good family life, even leaping in a leaky boat to have a chance at a decent life.
No god required.E.G., it's EGo that causes conflict.
Hence the Inquisition, Crusades, Witch trials etc etc. Now you spouting nonsense about having an authority I need to bow down to and I am rebelling if I do not attack homosexuals as sinners.
This is why your religion causes so many conflicts, aguasilver - you and people like you who take no personal responsibility because they have no authority. You are the problem. You.
Be a man. Take personal responsibility.There is nothing trite about honesty. Take personal responsibility for your actions.
Please stop lying about me. I am only using one persona. I know your "morals" allow you to lie, as long as you repent in your head but still......
I made a reasonable argument to try and explain why people such as yourself always feel the need to impose their "higher authority" on everyone else. Just look at you threatening everyone with punishment and damnation if they make the "wrong" decision not to believe the garbage you believe.
Why not address that point instead of lying about me?
Jesus did not attack homosexuals as sinners. He dined with sinners, talking to them with compassion. Anyone who claims to be Christian should do the same thing. It was only the so-called "law abiders" (the Pharisees) who condemned Jesus for loving the lowly sinners who needed his help.
Again, E.G., no matter how many times you blame religion for war, you're hitting the wrong target. Not very bright.
That's one problem with ego. Wrong target! Wrong everything. Even when ego is supposedly right, it is wrong. If you look only at the spectrum of a dichotomy, you won't find truth. You need to go outside of that spectrum to see how truly wrong ego is.
Pseudo-Christians attacking sinners who more need their compassion, that's wrong action. That's ego speaking.
With your illogical statements about religion, you are no poster child for logic. Because war and cruelty also exist outside of religion, there may just be a deeper reason for those ills.
You say "take responsibility." Good words, but can you live up to them? Can you take responsibility for your own ego? With your haranguing about religion and ignorance of the real cause -- ego -- I'm having my doubts.
There are many "higher authorities" in life. Some are temporary. Some are permanent. There are dictators, policemen, governors, presidents and the like. But there is also physical law -- like gravity. If you have no respect for law, you might step off a tall building and discover that you indeed go splat. So much for ignoring the higher authority of gravity.
And beyond gravity is an even higher authority.
How can such authority be only about love, but with so much violence and suffering in the world? That is a conundrum which can be answered, but only if you let go of ego long enough to look. And the answer is quite logical. In fact, very simple. It takes the creativity of Einstein and the intelligence of a child to discover it.You are correct. Religious people such as yourself are the problem. There is no higher authority. Take responsibility for yourself instead of this egotistical nonsense you keep spouting. Listen to what I am saying instead of defending your religious beliefs and saying nonsense as fact. You have no authority. None. The conundrum is why religious believers such as yourself blind themselves to reality and cause so many conflicts. And then claim they are not doing so. Disgusting.
- Binaya.Ghimireposted 13 years ago0
- jomineposted 13 years ago0
I would like to know more about synchronisity in the deeper Jungian sense myself.
I have the empirical evidence of my own experience which I would not try to pass of as truth, as I could not produce the evidence, and if I did it would still not be proper proof and could be torn apart as easily as your experiences can.
I also have the empirical evidence gathered by Jung during his experiences with inmates of a mental institution he was assigned to at one time and little else other than an account of poltergeists that could be seen as related.Ahhhh.... The Lovin Spoonful.... fond memories
I didn't realise he was talking about the manager...... I was going to ask him to sing a few bars to see if I knew the song.
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OK it seems neither of us believe Buddha is running the shop.
- Robin71posted 13 years ago0
Sure ,just goggle 'atheist forums' and tons pop up.
Sheltered life -yea right
Im pretty much the same way ,somebody says something I have to add my 2cents worth, but only if its something that I feel quite strongly about.
I do try and be courteous, and sing that song
Oh lord ,please dont let me be misunderstood
If Google advertised here , we'd make a mint ehI probably won't look, as I have no interest in the subject at all. To me it is a construct, and those who want to make a belief of it are welcome to, but it would bore the pants off me.
I am courteous unless something is projected that includes me that I disagree with, then I usually reply in kind.
Love the song!
You are right, we could retire to some wonderful place like New Zealand, or Australia!I hear that
Hey just finished watching a Doco on Aussie, the 12 Deadliest animals,think Ive seen it before ,but its always good to see geography close to home -though I wouldnt want to swim it
Next prog, on is New Zealand and Australian Border Control.
Gosh what a crack up the things people try to bring downunder
and the lengths they go to concealing dodgy stuff.
I mean do they think we are that thick!!
I just love hearing the accents( never thought Id say that)! and the calm manner they all use. Its a different demeanourI haven't seen it yet. I will check it out.
Never really got why they invested so much time and money, my god it turned into such an expensive war!!!!
Pride? Hmm..
USA Military would be better bordering their own nations lines ie
Mexico/USA
Drug Cartel /Illegal Immigratation
Priorities ?Crikey! You don't know about all the black stuff under the ground called "oil"?
The Iraq war is about controlling the Iraqi oil deposits.
Standing armies are more dangerous than central banks or oil companies.
- Dave Zupakposted 13 years ago0
No - what you see and experience is "existence," and you just choose to believe it was created by majik.
How do you know this exactly?
Have you read anything by Lawrence Krauss?
You are most welcome.
I have followed his work since he did the original circuit as he has been awarded for his capacity to explain many scientific theories to the public.
I find a lot of what he has to say stands up to scrutiny pretty well.
I thing there is about 10 hours in the series but I could be wrong.
He covers the big bang rather well, and his one about man being stuff of the stars is very informative.
I like science, and follow a lot of other peoples ideas too.
The latest spate of scientific docos on TV are sensationally well researched in the main and well funded.
Having said that, some are so poor as to be meaningless.
I appreciate you coming back here to comment as you said you would.
Maybe the god that made god was even better!
....or the god who made the god who made god.
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