GOD
- Locked due to inactivity on Aug 4, '16 4:22pm
Thread Topic: GOD
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(do you ever hate it when you type up something long and when you hit submit, it asks you to log in again and you lose your work? And even as you sit there retyping it, you know it'll never sound as good as the first time? Yeah, that just happened. I'll attempt to retype it like my first draft though.)
Usually whenever a Jehova's witness comes to my door, I answer in my underwear. I'm not rude, but I try to make the conversation as uncomfortable as possible. xP
And as for your response, that is my major issue with religion. "no one truly knows what is going on in God's mind." That doesn't set well with me. It leaves too much room for manipulation and complacency.
When I went to a Christian school they made us go to church every Wednesday, and the church taught us that God answers every prayer in 1 of 3 ways; Yes, No, or Wait. Would you agree?
Even at 8 years old I saw an issue with this. For example, let's replace the word "God" with something that has less hype. "Milk Jug" should work.
So let's say you get on your knees and pray for the almighty milk jug to help you out financially. You're funds are running low and you need just that extra little bit of help with some money. Now, the almighty milk jug will answer in 1 of 3 ways. Yes, No, or Maybe. If you win the lottery, or find some money on the ground, or even if a distant relative dies and leaves you a lot of inheritance; your reaction will be to believe that the milk jug has answered your prayer with "Yes". If your money falls out, you go broke, and end up in a worse state then you were, then you will believe that the milk jug answered "No". And if you sit there and wait, and wait and nothing changes, then it's obvious the milk jug answered, "wait". In any case, you sit there complacent and fully believe that no matter what happens, the milk jug has a plan for you that you couldn't possibly understand.
I personally am fed up with the entire idea of religion. It teaches us to be content with not knowing. That is the main reason I am an atheist.
If a theist doesn't know the answer to a question, then the response is usually along the lines of, "I don't know. God did it. We aren't meant to understand or question the will of God." That doesn't set well with me. I can't support that thinking.
If an atheist doesn't know the answer to a question, then the response is usually along the lines of, "I don't know. This is what we do know. And this is the conclusion we can draw based off of the information at hand." That is something I can respect. That is a willingness to learn. Not a complacency with being ignorant.
Further more, earlier in this post I said, "I am an atheist." I did not say, "I choose to be an atheist." I do not believe it is a choice.
There is no proof for God. There is no proof of an after life. You are basing it off of a book written by man. And man's word. There is nothing factual to back up anything you say, let alone separate your claims from those of any other religion out there. Religion is not clear.
If the options are not clear, then am I really given a choice? Is there really anything else to expect than what we know for fact? I am not given my options clearly, therefor I am unable to make an accurate choice.
Imagine a brick wall. So tall you can't see over the top of it.
If I told you that on the other side of the brick wall was a beautiful garden, you would of course ask me how I came to that conclusion.
I would then tell you that the man sitting on top of the wall told me so.
You would probably look up and see nobody on top of the wall. And you would call me out on that.
I would reply by telling you that there is infact a man on top of the wall.
You wouldn't believe me. You might walk up and down the wall, but you wouldn't find anybody sitting on top of it. Eventually, you might even build up enough documentation and factual evidence opposing the idea of a man ontop of the wall to call me out on it. You would present your evidence to me.
And I would reply that the man is invisible and you can only see him if you believe in him hard enough.
That is what religion does.
If I am not clearly given my options, then how can I be expected to make a choice? Religion seems to be more of a denial of reality. A comfort zone. People don't like the idea of a chaotic universe without any supreme justice. People also don't like the idea of mortality. They would rather think they could live forever. But all of those pleasant thoughts about a supreme being and immortality chalk up to nothing more than wishful thinking.
Religion is the denial of reality.
And I would rather live an ugly truth, than a pretty lie. -
(That sucks. I hate it when that happens. I feel like stabbing something when it does.)
Lol XD
I do have to agree. I've always had a problem with that myself.
The Catholic Church claims that the Bible is a documentation of God's Revealition. While God's Revealtion is complete, many things he left unclear for us so that we may find that out when we die.
In all honesty, I would be atheist as well if it weren't for some personal experiences that I had as a child.
When I was little, angels used to visit me. They would talk to me. I know what you're thinking, "This chick is crazy," but hear me out.
One time, when it was nap time for me and my little brother, I was in my room and my mom was in the living room rocking my brother. She heard me talking to someone in my room, but she couldn't hear the person I was talking to, so she called me into the room with her. When I walked in, she asked me who I was talking to. I replied, "An angel." My mom thought that it probably wasnt an angel and probably someone that broke into the house, and me being the obnoxious, talkative me, was having a nice, long conversation with that person. To try and see if she could get me tell her who it was, she asked me if the angel was a boy or a girl. When she asked me this, I laughed and replied, "Mama, you so silly. Angels no boy or girl, they're divine beings!" Keep in mind, I had just turned three at the time. After this, my mother called all of our relatives and friends of the family to see if they'd said anything about angels to me, and none of them had. Also, she was with me at church ever Sunday, and they had never talked about angels in the homilies. The angels had told me.
Another experience I had is my dead Great-Grandpa Nubby (called that because he accidentally cut part of his thumb off) used to visit me in dreams. He died almost four years before I was born. I used to be able to tell my family things about him that they had never told me. This actually freaked some of my family members out. He also told me about how God is real. I think I should believe him since he was the dead guy coming into my dreams so he could be there for me since he felt bad for not being able to go to my mother's wedding.
Also, when I was a child this statue of Mary that my grandparents keep in their backyard garden used to talk to me.
The last thing I will tell you about (as there are more experiences that I've had and am having but cannot share because I'm not allowed to) is how I used to be able to nearly flawlessly explain sin and death as a young child. The priests at my church have always loved having conversations with me about God since I am apparently "insightful on the subject."
These, and many other personal experiences, are probably the only thing keeping me a Christian. I have always believed strongly in tel things, science and religion, and when science and religion contradict (except for the no God vs God issue) I always stick to the side of science. You should hear me when people start talking about evolution vs creation. I get so mad at the ignorance of people who believe in creationism. I even explain how that part of the Bible is obviously meant to be taken symbolically and not literally, as there is solid proof that evolution happened. Then they try this stupid "well the bones are just odd rock formations" and I'm like, "No, you ignorant fool, it's not. Stop living lies!"
So I'm probably the closest thing you get to a reasonable theist as you can get. Ad no, I'm not schizophrenic. I've been tested for that and I'm not. These are real events that happened to me, and now they're happening to some of my friends as well. And it's impossible for them to be saying things out of a joke because they'll be pointing at something, and sure enough, when I turn to look something is there. -
Sadly, everything you stated was a personal experience. An article of faith; not truth.
You presented me stories of a little girl seeing angels and talking about religion. Whilst I do respect your understanding of science, I cannot take anything you have stated as any form of proof. Only an excuse for you to stand by what you believe. -
I was not attempting to give you proof. I was merely stating my own reasons for believing. I was actually trying to say that your conclusions are logical and aren't based on "well it just simply can't exist" ways of thinking. You were giving valid reasons that I can respect.
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This is going to be a bit off subject, but are you a Dragon Ball fan? And have you read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?
I got bored so I took some of your quizzes and I think I found a few references in one of them. -
I think to just belive in god. So if there is a god, you get to go to heaven. And if there isnt,well you haven't lost anything.
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I have never watched dragon ball, although I am familiar with the memes.
And I have read all of the hitch hikers books. -
@Jake That's part of my reason as well lol.
@barberbob You actually seem like a pretty cool guy. It was a good discussion. -
I get that alot. ;P
Twas stimulating. Glad it stayed peaceful. -
Right XD
So am I. -
we did this to ourselves, bob. you're right, it doesn't seem fair. But if you notice...His "cheerleaders" have just as much- even more sometimes- going on in their lives. We're in the same place as everyone else. but totally different.
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