Do you believe in God?
- Thread starter icurbyou
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Tryingtomastrkush
Well-Known Member
Lol ^^
that right there is exactly why you can't quote god.
"god" never said anything therefore that quote you stated was made up off the top of your head......and quoting yourself.....well....thats just flat out ridiculous
icurbyou
Well-Known Member
I think the question or opposition being presented by "non believers" to you and your point has a lot to do with the quote above.
See, you seem to think "God" and "Faith in a God" is the sole key in getting a community (family, country) involved in creating a civilization. This is where your ideals seem to go a little awry.
Why do you feel the only way for humans to create a civilized living space is if there is belief in God? Surely you see the ridiculousness in this belief (?)
I do not believe in God, yet I am 100% for my family. I have my family's back no matter what. I also have a pretty good neighborhood and though some are athiests, some poor, some rich and some religious... I have their backs regardless of their beliefs.
For you to (basically) say LACK OF GOD equals LACK OF CIVILIZATION shows that you are neglecting to fully comprehend the abilities of your fellow humans. We (as a human species) do not NEED God as you feel we do. You may need God, and that's your thing. However, don't attempt to bring the whole human race down to your dependence level.
icurbyou
Well-Known Member
Once again, you under estimate the morality of humans. You think if religion disappears death, murder and rape all come rushing in?
This is extremely primitive..
RELIGION HAS DISAPPEARED FOR ME.... Yet I do not cause death, rape or murder.
I'll say, it's a little disturbing and scary that you feel you need religion or belief in a God in order to NOT rape, murder and kill.
Tryingtomastrkush
Well-Known Member
He can't fathom having an existence not dependent on a higher power.
The believers keep saying we don't believe because we cannot comprehend the power of it all.
I think it is the other way around. It is much harder to believe there is no higher power and there is nothing after you die.
How is it easier to accept that instead of "you will live happily after ever if you do these 10 things"?
Religion is a crutch for the weak to grasp onto something.
Its not a necessity for society its not a necessity for anything
The believers keep saying we don't believe because we cannot comprehend the power of it all.
I think it is the other way around. It is much harder to believe there is no higher power and there is nothing after you die.
How is it easier to accept that instead of "you will live happily after ever if you do these 10 things"?
Religion is a crutch for the weak to grasp onto something.
Its not a necessity for society its not a necessity for anything
GlassFreak
Well-Known Member
if you are AGNOSTIC, you believe in a higher power, but not "god". i think most of the people here are agnostic, not athiest.It's okay sometimes to just simply say I DON'T KNOW. To me that is the crux of atheism. Instead of filling in the blanks with pre science worldviews, I like to be hopeful that while the answers are not within out grasp in my lifetime that someday the answers will be forthcoming. The biggest impediment to science has always been religion, because they do not like the answers which are being slowly revealed. If the church were more successful they would still have us believing that the sun rotates around the Earth. Man is slowly moving past the superstitions and for the myth followers, I can understand how this may be unnerving. You have my sympathy. Again, I would have no problem with either christianity or Islam, except that they are cult based. Buddhism, Hinduism, and Judaism are more in line with tolerant religions. They don't give a whit if I believe their stories or not. That makes much more sense to me and the damage caused by them to our societies has been minimal. Look to the carnage of history and you will almost always find the CULT religions.
out.
icurbyou
Well-Known Member
"Christ once revealed himself to me... I brought him up on indecent exposure charges" - Loch Ness Monster
Don't worry suedonimn. I don't limit my quoting to mere people.
GlassFreak
Well-Known Member
all god has ever done is give an answer to all the things that people couldnt understand. if you found something extraordinary, that you couldnt explain, that was just... amazing... the explenation is that god is responsable. what is the meaning of life? to get into heaven. why are we having this massive war? god said to. why do i have to kill my brother? because he doesnt believ in god, god says we must...again an athiest proves that the only thing they beleive in is nothing. Athiest choose not to believe what they do not understand, which i can understand, but its the fact that you refuse to learn about religion and the purpose that baffles me.
I just do not see the point in leading a life of no purpose, with no guidance
sorry, but i dont believe because i choose not to, i dont believe because everything people like you stand for, even tho its nice, is only there because its what the church has seen fit to be part of religion. religious people just use god as an answer for all the things they dont know and cand figure out.
GlassFreak
Well-Known Member
k now... are you seriously that dense? you just supported everything he said, religion is a cult superstition! what he is saying is that society run by religion does no good to anyone but the people in that religion. you are supporting the cult superstitions! FUCKSo basically you do whatever everyone else is doing? haha and you call me close minded
"A society based on cult superstitions does no one any good except the believers. "
EXACTLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY, So why not believe? ... Oh thats right you dont understand
GregD88
Well-Known Member
Damn dude I was waiting to do that
RetiredToker76
Well-Known Member
What a tricky question....so I shall have some fun.
Do I believe in love... yes. Can I explain love on a non-spiritual level, yes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love#Chemical_basis
http://www.healthtips.in/love-heart-body.asp
Those are just two research articles I found on the internet in less than 5 minutes. I have almost 300 pages of biomedical and psychological research concerning the biology, physiology, and psychology of love from my undergraduate years but I don't really feel like scanning them all.
The break down is that Love is MUCH like taking marijuana. There is a core biological reaction that occurs when presented with something attractive. The brain fires off various chemicals, including dopamine, which create a state of euphoria which we humans have named 'love.' The more intense the reaction to the stimulus the more intense the euphoria.
The activation of the canabid receptors in the brain has a very similar effect, in that they activate the release of chemicals in the brain, including dopamine. These chemicals create a euphoric feeling. The stronger the bud the stronger the high.
Love is a biological reaction to a suitable mate which insures perpetuation of the species. Creatures of far lower mental capabilities exhibit love reactions to proper mates as well. No magic, religion or hokus pokus in love.
So ya I think I can explain, experience, understand and believe in love since it has scientific data showing immediate effects of love on the human physiology.
As this relates to religion, I've looked and looked and found no external evidence that supports that what the bible says is 100% true. The tiny bits of evidence that have surfaced do not substantiate the bible, only the characters. It's KNOWN that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. Does that make him the son of god? Or is there a possibility that maybe in that day and age a unwed woman had intercourse, concieved a child, and to hide her shame from the community contrived an elaborate story about angels and God visiting and impregnating her?
Is it possible that Jesus had a decent upbringing and education that provided him with the ability to be an incredibly charismatic speaker with a good message? Does that make him the son of God? Not any more than John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or BaraK Obama. They were not the sons of God yet they have/had good messages and motivated millions.
Is it possible that 'faith healing' is nothing more than the practice of a combination of herbal medicine and will power? I would venture to say yes as I've seen people be 'cured' of cancer (in remission) from alternative treatments that are not AMA approved. Does that mean that these alternative medicines are 'false,' no it simply means science has not fully explained them yet. Do I rely on them as a cure all, nope because science hasn't fully explained them. Does it mean their Gods work, no again, just means that they've been figured out to work without knowledge of why.
The bottom line is that the 'evidence' of Christianity being 'true' is lack luster at best. There are MANY documents held in Rome by the Catholic Church that are not allowed to be released to the public. What do these writings contain? The 30 years of Jesus' life where he was a hellion maybe? Could they contain alternative theories of the resurrection? We don't know because the Catholic Church will not release them. I likely believe it is because they would lose a substantial portion of their power to the the truth that they won't let leak.
Remember reading the Bible is not reading what was originally written. Reading the bible is reading a story that was handed down almost a thousand years via ONLY word of mouth. Until the printing press was invented a vast amount of the biblical information that had been written down was already on interpretation 5 and 6 or more.
The bottom line of the Bible is this.
God owns and creates EVERYTHING. God then 'rules' everything via stone tablets burning bushes, prophets, and seers. That God is a bit of a dick. He strikes down whole cities because they practice a faith other than his. He removes peoples ability to communicate and creates racial inequity because of homosexuality. He murders the entire planets population save for Noah and his clan. Then he rapes a virgin and tells her via proxy he knocked her up.
Suddenly he's a daddy and becomes more and more calm. Now he's forgiving, loving and compassionate because now he's a daddy. His kid does some amazing works around the area. Provides people with faith. Teaches them kindness and compassion based on a set of acts of kindness. Since the kid speaks for dad everything the kid says is 'word of God.' The politico's of the time see the threat to their power and kill the infuriating bastard. Yet his followers faith is SO strong that he comes back from the dead (or at least a really deep coma) and talks to them before vanishing forever. (Begin book of Mormon here.)
A rather nifty story if you ask my opinion. It has no more validity than any other work of fiction ever written. I could find human analogs for every single character in any novel with a little research or a discussion with the author. Hell I'm a character in 2 comic books. The evidence that people love to trot out as 'proof' of Christianity is not tangible and is widely open to interpretation. Therefore I'm an agnostic. Yes I've read the bible, twice. I was disgusted by the old testament and found the new testament to be a bit fluffy for my taste. Good story, nothing more.
-RT76
GlassFreak
Well-Known Member
this is how it should be, nobody should give a shit what anyone else thinks. but thats what im so against when it comes to religion, all the church tries to do is get new members. they dont support any type of pregnancy prevention, but if you join, they will totaly look the other way on the fact that 90% of the people that go to church are using some sort of birth controll. its all hypocritical, as long as you are with them, you can do whatever, but if you arent, you beter not get in theyre way!
GlassFreak
Well-Known Member
harry potter came to me in a dream! he said that if i kill my family, and burn the house down, i can come stay with him at hogwarts! he said he can teach me how to do magic! he can teach me how to fly! IM TOTALY DOIN IT MAN! WHO WOULD PASS THAT UP!?
GlassFreak
Well-Known Member
FAITH, is the absance of spirituality in religion, no matter what, gatta have faith, loosing your spirituality? keep the faith alive man!I still don't know why faith is so necessary to develop spiritually????
i have 0 faith in the "lord" and "god our savior". they are main charactors in a story called the bible. jesus never even existed, yet people are fourced to kill in his name or lack there of daily.
i consider myself very spiritual, moreso than most of the hardcore catholics i know, in my family or not.
people need to stop lookin to god and jesus for guidance, the only faith people should have is faith in yourself. this is your world anyway, if you die, your world ends, eveyone elses still goes on, but YOUR world is over. do you really believe in god or is it just something to let you sleep at night, something to take the pain away from every day life, something to distract you from reality.
Sure Shot
Well-Known Member
The Holy Spirit himself talked to you?harry potter came to me in a dream! he said that if i kill my family, and burn the house down, i can come stay with him at hogwarts! he said he can teach me how to do magic! he can teach me how to fly! IM TOTALY DOIN IT MAN! WHO WOULD PASS THAT UP!?
Did you write it down and spread the Good word?
Praise Potter!
GlassFreak
Well-Known Member
only what i could really remember, and only what seemed real to me... i hope i didnt miss anything important... some of what he said was kindof out there...
NewGrowth
Well-Known Member
Well said. I would not agree with having faith in yourself however. Have faith in Nothing and anything is possible.
If I had a church it would just be a bunch of monks who meditated and when people came to visit they would give them magic mushrooms.
The funny thing about "reality" is it is only your mind. Simply said by Bill Hicks "It's just a ride"
Roseman
Elite Rolling Society
I believe in God, He is REAL to me!
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I accept and profess that the Universe and all of creation that we know of, operates on tens of thousands of PRINCIPLES and LAWS that most of the educated are aware of and we easily accept as facts.
Some examples of these Laws and Principles are the Law of Gravity, for instance. Our planets revolve around the sun, and are held in absolute perfect positions, or they would just fly off into outer space or collide into each other. If we throw a baseball upward into the air, it will return on a downward path that is perfect in relationship to the path it traveled upward. That ball will obey that law.
There is the Law of Procreation. A sperm has to be delivered to and enter the egg at a perfect precise time, to make a new born. Us pot growers know Male Pollen has to enter the female flower at a perfect time to make a new flower.
The Law of CAUSE AND AFFECT, or the Law of CAUSE and EFFECT. We all accept that when we throw a rubber ball on the concrete walkway, that it will bounce back up in a pre-determined direction.. We know the law of Physics if we shoot pool. AND If we line up a standing stack of Dominoes, and push the first one over, the remaining Dominoes will also tumble over. Most of us accept as fact, what goes around, comes around, OR What comes around, goes around, be it a bad cold, or gossip or whatever. IF we strike a person with a harmful blow, the most normal and natural reaction is for that person to strike us back. It's a natural Law. Many of us that are older and wiser also have learned that if we throw a piece of chewing gum on the concrete walkway, we will eventually live to step on a piece of chewing gum thrown on the sidewalk. If we cheat on our spouse, well, we all know what happens. We call it KARMA, or REAP WHAT WE SEW, or the Law of Cause and Effect, or WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND. We have all experienced that law or principle in action.
There is the Law or Principle of Duality. There is LIGHT and Darkness, Male and Female, Good and Bad, UP and Down, Left and Right, Two eyes, two ears, two lungs, two nostrils, two arms, two hands, two genders, two equal and opposite parts, two equal and exactly the same parts, etc. It is still Duality. Who could argue with this?
The Law of Rythm. The "pendulum swings" manifests in everything. The measure of the swing to the left is the same perfect measure of the swing to the right. This law operates in life quite visibly with people who are bipolar. One day they're up, the next they're down. For most people, the law is realized when they become very, very happy. The law dictates that someday they will be very, very sad. When pain stops, it feel good.
The Law of Cycles. We obseve the perfect cycles of the seasons, the tides and ocean waves, the menstrul cycles of women, the revolving of the plants, Good Times, Bad Times, Good Luck, Bad Luck, The fish are biting, the fish are not biting, Floods and Droughts, the cycle of the Oak tree with it's leaves dying and being born again, the sap rising and lowering in the trees, etc We all accept that life occurs in cycles.
The Laws of Polarity. Everything has its opposite. Again, DARK-LIGHT, MALE-FEMALE. This law helps us to understand the perfect principles of the flow of Electricity, the principles of yin and yang. Some energy attracts and some energy repels. One is not better than the other but both exist equally. I like to think of the astronomical world where one body can capture another by pulling it into its sphere of influence. This principle can be understood in life when we recognize the truth in this saying: If you want him to be more of a man, be more of a woman. If you want to get more, give more.
The Laws of Love. The love you take, is equal to the love you make, or give. (Paul McCartney said it)
The Laws of Vibrations. Atoms, Neutrons, etc Everything vibrates. we ARE ALL connected. Nothing is still. Nothing is NEW. This Law helps us to understand the essence of things. It is this fine network of vibrations that connects us with every other living thing. You might picture it as an invisible world wide web. It is in tune with the vibrations of the universe that we attract and are attracted to every experience in our life. To use a metaphor, suppose you like country and western music. If you set your radio dial to country and western you will not hear classical or jazz music. If you vibrate at a peaceful level, you will not meet people who are violent. Sleep with dogs, get fleas. Hang with gentle people, avoid violence.
The Laws of Mentalism. What we see in this physical world, EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS IN THIS PHYSICAL WORLD, that man made, first existed as a thought. (GETTING DEEP)
The Laws of Attraction, and Repelling.
AND I COULD GO ON AND ON. Like I said there are thousands and thousands of these Laws and Principles that we all accept and beleive.
IF no one ever read a book, and was of average intelligence, he would observe these Laws and Principles in life, in the world that surrounds us and accept them.
These LAWS create, they nurture, they protect, they "cause" , and these LAWS for the most part, operate for the betterment of us all. They seem to operate on LOVE and GIVING, instead of HATE and TAKING. They encourage, and do not discourage. Yea, if we stick our hand in the fire, it burns our hand and hurts, that's a LAW, but it is to protect us from jumping our entire bodies into the fire. These LAWS are operated and caused by FORCES that I think none of us understand. I don't understand my microwave or TV remote, but I still use it.
Regardless of our understanding, these FORCES and LAWS do exist, and people, seekers and philosophers and prophets like Abraham, Moses, Socretes, Pythagoras, Jesus, Mohammed, Budha, Ghandi, etc, studied these LAWS, and gave them a personality, or Idenity, and they shared their meditations and conclusions with us all. A majority of people accept these conclusions, although we do not all accept the same conclusions. These seekers and philosophers and prophets called it THE FORCE, ALMIGHTY POWER, A CREATOR, that they called GOD . They also gave this GOD a personality, a gender, like an enity, called him KING, and other high titles, and they gave it a name; Jehovah, Allah, Zeus, Apollo, etc.
I have come to believe in and accept this Power and Force, and these LAWS and Principles, what I call and we call GOD. They work for me, they serve me well, they give me peace and underestanding. HE works for me, HE serves me well, HE gives me peace and underestanding. I don't have or use any of the suggested names, and I certainly do not accept any particular or specific denomination or religion given by man. But this GOD and the Laws and Principles are worthy of my time and research, my respect and study and meditations. Because of these LAWS and Principles I know what to expect more times than I do not, I have a Power or FORCE to beleive in and LAWS and Principles to count on and rely on and trust in. Just like I know if I throw a ball up into the air, it will return down, I know IF I do good deeds, my life will be better and IF I do mean things, my life will not be better and will be not as good. (CAUSE AND AFFECT) I have learned to chose good over evil, good over bad, light over darkness.
I have sought and searched and researched this subject to the point it almost over took me, more so back in the 70s and 80s. I still do today. I am a very avid reader of Non-fiction, about "where did I come from, why am I here, who made me, created or started me, who is GOD, what is God, and I read at least one to two books a week now about this.
My favorites are THE HISTORY OF GOD, and THE HISTORY OF RELIGION.
I have to ask myself are one half billion Jews wrong, one billion Muslims wrong and one billion Christians wrong, and nearly one quarter billion Hindu and Budhist wrong, for accepting the existance of GOD?
JESUS ?
I easily understand the difficulty with JESUS. we are told in "the Bible" that he was born of a virgin, walked on water, died and came back to life, and was the only man in History to do that. That is hard to beleive. (Yes I know of MIRTHA and pagan's Mithraism and the others who claimed ressurection in mythology)
So was Jesus' life a myth? When I read Josephus, the Roman Historian, all educated people accept and believe his account of Roman History. Historians accept and believe every word he wrote about Roman History, EXCEPT his account of Jesus, his teachings and his death. Josephus wrote that Jesus was a well known, well traveled preacher and teacher that was crucifed by Rome, at eh demand of the Jewish Priests, and that many, "hundreds of his followers" claimed to have seen Jesus after his death.
I have to ask myself how did Jesus and a dozen followers, along with a book composed of many shorter books and stories, convince over a billion people to follow his teachings and beliefs today?
I am amazed to read and study the cause of death of the twelve apostles. Peter AND his wife were brought to Rome, and told "Deny HIM and live, Claim HIM, and be crucified AND WATCH YOUR WIFE BE CRUCIFIED FIRST RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!" Peter responded, according to Josephus, tht he did not deserve to die like Jesus died, so they crucified him UPSIDE DOWN. PETER DIED ON THE CROSS, AND HIS WIFE TOO, as Peter watched.. WHY didn't Peter and the other apostles just take the easy way out?
(google death of the apostles)
And of the other eleven apostles, ten were given the opportunity to live, or be tortured, burnt at the stake, drawn and quartered, cut in half, stabbed, and they chose DEATH and TORTURE over living. WHY?
FAITH is defined as beleviing in the unseen.
Like I never saw the planet Pluto, or any neutrons, or atoms, or Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. Do you beleive in them? Because they have been revealed to me by others, and proven to me to be real by wiser and more educated and knowledgable people who did the research and study, in books, and stories, I accept them and believe in them. FAITH is just that, FAITH. You accept or you do not.
I have an apple sitting right here on my desk. Do you know whether if it is sweet or sour? Of course not. Why not? Because you have not tasted my apple, no matter what anyone tells you, you do not really, really know how it tastes. But what if a billon others tasted it first, right before your eyes, and told you, it tasted sweet. Wouldn't you lean toward being convinced that it is probably a sweet apple?
Well, I have tasted GOD, as many others have. And I have tasted Jesus. And OHHHH , how sweet He is.
I took an hour and half to write this, so I'm going to post it as a new thread. Maybe someone will get it.
Now nail me to a tree. I do expect the doubters, and non-believers to argue and attack. The heathens do that.
permalink
I accept and profess that the Universe and all of creation that we know of, operates on tens of thousands of PRINCIPLES and LAWS that most of the educated are aware of and we easily accept as facts.
Some examples of these Laws and Principles are the Law of Gravity, for instance. Our planets revolve around the sun, and are held in absolute perfect positions, or they would just fly off into outer space or collide into each other. If we throw a baseball upward into the air, it will return on a downward path that is perfect in relationship to the path it traveled upward. That ball will obey that law.
There is the Law of Procreation. A sperm has to be delivered to and enter the egg at a perfect precise time, to make a new born. Us pot growers know Male Pollen has to enter the female flower at a perfect time to make a new flower.
The Law of CAUSE AND AFFECT, or the Law of CAUSE and EFFECT. We all accept that when we throw a rubber ball on the concrete walkway, that it will bounce back up in a pre-determined direction.. We know the law of Physics if we shoot pool. AND If we line up a standing stack of Dominoes, and push the first one over, the remaining Dominoes will also tumble over. Most of us accept as fact, what goes around, comes around, OR What comes around, goes around, be it a bad cold, or gossip or whatever. IF we strike a person with a harmful blow, the most normal and natural reaction is for that person to strike us back. It's a natural Law. Many of us that are older and wiser also have learned that if we throw a piece of chewing gum on the concrete walkway, we will eventually live to step on a piece of chewing gum thrown on the sidewalk. If we cheat on our spouse, well, we all know what happens. We call it KARMA, or REAP WHAT WE SEW, or the Law of Cause and Effect, or WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND. We have all experienced that law or principle in action.
There is the Law or Principle of Duality. There is LIGHT and Darkness, Male and Female, Good and Bad, UP and Down, Left and Right, Two eyes, two ears, two lungs, two nostrils, two arms, two hands, two genders, two equal and opposite parts, two equal and exactly the same parts, etc. It is still Duality. Who could argue with this?
The Law of Rythm. The "pendulum swings" manifests in everything. The measure of the swing to the left is the same perfect measure of the swing to the right. This law operates in life quite visibly with people who are bipolar. One day they're up, the next they're down. For most people, the law is realized when they become very, very happy. The law dictates that someday they will be very, very sad. When pain stops, it feel good.
The Law of Cycles. We obseve the perfect cycles of the seasons, the tides and ocean waves, the menstrul cycles of women, the revolving of the plants, Good Times, Bad Times, Good Luck, Bad Luck, The fish are biting, the fish are not biting, Floods and Droughts, the cycle of the Oak tree with it's leaves dying and being born again, the sap rising and lowering in the trees, etc We all accept that life occurs in cycles.
The Laws of Polarity. Everything has its opposite. Again, DARK-LIGHT, MALE-FEMALE. This law helps us to understand the perfect principles of the flow of Electricity, the principles of yin and yang. Some energy attracts and some energy repels. One is not better than the other but both exist equally. I like to think of the astronomical world where one body can capture another by pulling it into its sphere of influence. This principle can be understood in life when we recognize the truth in this saying: If you want him to be more of a man, be more of a woman. If you want to get more, give more.
The Laws of Love. The love you take, is equal to the love you make, or give. (Paul McCartney said it)
The Laws of Vibrations. Atoms, Neutrons, etc Everything vibrates. we ARE ALL connected. Nothing is still. Nothing is NEW. This Law helps us to understand the essence of things. It is this fine network of vibrations that connects us with every other living thing. You might picture it as an invisible world wide web. It is in tune with the vibrations of the universe that we attract and are attracted to every experience in our life. To use a metaphor, suppose you like country and western music. If you set your radio dial to country and western you will not hear classical or jazz music. If you vibrate at a peaceful level, you will not meet people who are violent. Sleep with dogs, get fleas. Hang with gentle people, avoid violence.
The Laws of Mentalism. What we see in this physical world, EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS IN THIS PHYSICAL WORLD, that man made, first existed as a thought. (GETTING DEEP)
The Laws of Attraction, and Repelling.
AND I COULD GO ON AND ON. Like I said there are thousands and thousands of these Laws and Principles that we all accept and beleive.
IF no one ever read a book, and was of average intelligence, he would observe these Laws and Principles in life, in the world that surrounds us and accept them.
These LAWS create, they nurture, they protect, they "cause" , and these LAWS for the most part, operate for the betterment of us all. They seem to operate on LOVE and GIVING, instead of HATE and TAKING. They encourage, and do not discourage. Yea, if we stick our hand in the fire, it burns our hand and hurts, that's a LAW, but it is to protect us from jumping our entire bodies into the fire. These LAWS are operated and caused by FORCES that I think none of us understand. I don't understand my microwave or TV remote, but I still use it.
Regardless of our understanding, these FORCES and LAWS do exist, and people, seekers and philosophers and prophets like Abraham, Moses, Socretes, Pythagoras, Jesus, Mohammed, Budha, Ghandi, etc, studied these LAWS, and gave them a personality, or Idenity, and they shared their meditations and conclusions with us all. A majority of people accept these conclusions, although we do not all accept the same conclusions. These seekers and philosophers and prophets called it THE FORCE, ALMIGHTY POWER, A CREATOR, that they called GOD . They also gave this GOD a personality, a gender, like an enity, called him KING, and other high titles, and they gave it a name; Jehovah, Allah, Zeus, Apollo, etc.
I have come to believe in and accept this Power and Force, and these LAWS and Principles, what I call and we call GOD. They work for me, they serve me well, they give me peace and underestanding. HE works for me, HE serves me well, HE gives me peace and underestanding. I don't have or use any of the suggested names, and I certainly do not accept any particular or specific denomination or religion given by man. But this GOD and the Laws and Principles are worthy of my time and research, my respect and study and meditations. Because of these LAWS and Principles I know what to expect more times than I do not, I have a Power or FORCE to beleive in and LAWS and Principles to count on and rely on and trust in. Just like I know if I throw a ball up into the air, it will return down, I know IF I do good deeds, my life will be better and IF I do mean things, my life will not be better and will be not as good. (CAUSE AND AFFECT) I have learned to chose good over evil, good over bad, light over darkness.
I have sought and searched and researched this subject to the point it almost over took me, more so back in the 70s and 80s. I still do today. I am a very avid reader of Non-fiction, about "where did I come from, why am I here, who made me, created or started me, who is GOD, what is God, and I read at least one to two books a week now about this.
My favorites are THE HISTORY OF GOD, and THE HISTORY OF RELIGION.
I have to ask myself are one half billion Jews wrong, one billion Muslims wrong and one billion Christians wrong, and nearly one quarter billion Hindu and Budhist wrong, for accepting the existance of GOD?
JESUS ?
I easily understand the difficulty with JESUS. we are told in "the Bible" that he was born of a virgin, walked on water, died and came back to life, and was the only man in History to do that. That is hard to beleive. (Yes I know of MIRTHA and pagan's Mithraism and the others who claimed ressurection in mythology)
So was Jesus' life a myth? When I read Josephus, the Roman Historian, all educated people accept and believe his account of Roman History. Historians accept and believe every word he wrote about Roman History, EXCEPT his account of Jesus, his teachings and his death. Josephus wrote that Jesus was a well known, well traveled preacher and teacher that was crucifed by Rome, at eh demand of the Jewish Priests, and that many, "hundreds of his followers" claimed to have seen Jesus after his death.
I have to ask myself how did Jesus and a dozen followers, along with a book composed of many shorter books and stories, convince over a billion people to follow his teachings and beliefs today?
I am amazed to read and study the cause of death of the twelve apostles. Peter AND his wife were brought to Rome, and told "Deny HIM and live, Claim HIM, and be crucified AND WATCH YOUR WIFE BE CRUCIFIED FIRST RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!" Peter responded, according to Josephus, tht he did not deserve to die like Jesus died, so they crucified him UPSIDE DOWN. PETER DIED ON THE CROSS, AND HIS WIFE TOO, as Peter watched.. WHY didn't Peter and the other apostles just take the easy way out?
(google death of the apostles)
And of the other eleven apostles, ten were given the opportunity to live, or be tortured, burnt at the stake, drawn and quartered, cut in half, stabbed, and they chose DEATH and TORTURE over living. WHY?
FAITH is defined as beleviing in the unseen.
Like I never saw the planet Pluto, or any neutrons, or atoms, or Abraham Lincoln or George Washington. Do you beleive in them? Because they have been revealed to me by others, and proven to me to be real by wiser and more educated and knowledgable people who did the research and study, in books, and stories, I accept them and believe in them. FAITH is just that, FAITH. You accept or you do not.
I have an apple sitting right here on my desk. Do you know whether if it is sweet or sour? Of course not. Why not? Because you have not tasted my apple, no matter what anyone tells you, you do not really, really know how it tastes. But what if a billon others tasted it first, right before your eyes, and told you, it tasted sweet. Wouldn't you lean toward being convinced that it is probably a sweet apple?
Well, I have tasted GOD, as many others have. And I have tasted Jesus. And OHHHH , how sweet He is.
I took an hour and half to write this, so I'm going to post it as a new thread. Maybe someone will get it.
Now nail me to a tree. I do expect the doubters, and non-believers to argue and attack. The heathens do that.
GlassFreak
Well-Known Member
k man, you are really bumin me out, i thought the human race has come a little farther than this. if you need "god" to keep you from killing, raping and throwing the 10 commandments out the window, and you also need him to give your life purpose and guidance, go for it man, if thats what it takes for you to maintain your humanity, go ahead!again an athiest proves that the only thing they beleive in is nothing. Athiest choose not to believe what they do not understand, which i can understand, but its the fact that you refuse to learn about religion and the purpose that baffles me.
I just do not see the point in leading a life of no purpose, with no guidance
i just feal very sorry for the man that has to ask god what to do next in life, and cant have the decency of human nature to prevent him from going insane... people like you scare me.
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