Damn it... you got the 100th post. I wanted to do that. But you know, even if this thread was closed there would be a new one on religion soon enough. It's such an intriguing topic, and besides, maybe someone could use it to ask about another religion they want in their story -- as it would be in a public thread, it would be a reference to everyone. Talking about subjects like this doesn't have to be bad. Thinking of other things I've heard to not do on a date: has there ever been a thread talking about ex's? Heh...
From what I've heard it was something taken from an Islam text, however, I heard it in a song (Lupe Fiasco - American Terrorist) and it just struck a chord with me I suppose. So now it's in my signature.
Seventh Day Adventist Hi there... I thought your question was pretty unique. I myself have struggled with spiritual-type awakening. I personally believe that religion is based upon believing in a supreme/higher being in which the process of believing in such gives an individual hope and faith that what ever happens in or around their lives is just and has reason. One day you will find the contentment and filled-void that you are longing for. It takes a little more effort for some and sometimes none for others. I think the important point is that you have made a motion towards wanting to be somewhere.
I don't say it would necessarily disprove it or anything, but I would agree that the existence of an intelligent, sentient creature from another planet would be a blow towards Christianity and most religions. Microscopic and non-sentient creatures, on the other hand, would neither strengthen nor destroy any argument. I don't know why you think they couldn't comprehend the possibility. :/
I don't believe in God. I find the idea of a God to be irrelevant. It took me a long time to come to that conclusion, but after everything, it's the only conclusion I could logically come to. Alice, buy some books on different religions. Go with what makes sense to you. Don't let anyone give you that bull**** about truth and what's right or wrong. Every religious person that I've debated into a corner has ended up saying, "Well, I feel that my beliefs are right." Or, "I've felt God's presence, I know He exists." So much of religion is about feeling. So do what feels right to you.
Wasn’t this the malevolent god in the First Testament though? In the second Jesus spoke of a benevolent “kind” god, I’m sure. Why? I don’t think anyone had any agenda to bring to this. It’s unusual though…religion is usually the first (shoulder-to-shoulder with politics) topic that would have everyone at each others throats with flame wars. But incredibly this is not the case. Everyone’s been debating just fine. On a personal note, I do have some personal problems with just about all religions…but I don’t have a problem with the people in it. I have a profound respect for Buddhism because of the way the students are encouraged to question any philosophical conclusions that are made to make way for new thoughts etc. To me, religion doesn’t at first seem to allow this kind of freedom. One would think that looking for a new “branch” (i.e. from Orthodox Catholicism to Protestant) is an idea if you’re not happy, but the thing about religion is that it deals with doctrines to exist so it doesn't really seem to matter which religion someone chops and changes to...thoughts are always "contained". The way I think of it is that you don’t need doctrines to simply exist or to “be” human. When I talk of religion in the past context I'm going as far back not only to when people thought that the Earth was flat but also to any particular religion's conception. These are the days when people didn't even concieve of the notion of space flight so it's highly improbable that they would have thought of beings from other planets. Most modern religions today tend only to gather as much force as that of a cult because of what science is doing to raise people's conscience. From what information I can gather from religion in the historical context, people often talked about having visions of angels etc, but no mention of beings from another planet or of their physical description that we see from modern day accounts. On a similar matter, it seems quite un-unique to see that people nowadays claim to see UFOs but they no longer see angels…. I wonder if the belief in the existence of extra-terrestrials really is turning or has turned into the new modern age religion? I wouldn't be too surprised as no one has actually presented any solid conclusions. When that happens then these subjects tend to turn quickly into the supernatural instead of the scientifically probable as it initially did.
There is evidence to support that idea. For example, the Heaven's Gate cult believed that an alien spacecraft hiding behind comet Hale-Bopp would receive the spirits of those followers who committed ritual suicide after living ascetically, and would install those spirits into new, ascendant bodies. My teammates and I wrote and presented a paper on this cult in my recent World Mythology course.
so, how/when/why did they get switched?... the god in the ot is the same one as in the new... christ just gave his image a makeover, is all... becoming 'the father of press agents' if not of mary m's child, a la merovingian theorists... ;-)
Religion scares me. So many different views so many different beliefs and so many different opinions its hard to venture an opinion without offending someone.
I will start by saying that humans are extremely arrogant. Of course we want to believe that an amazing God created this great big universe, and then created us on this tiny little planet, and thereafter loved and cared for each one of us. We were arrogant enough to actually literally believe, not so long ago, that the universe revolved around us. When people like Copernicus and Galileo proposed otherwise, and with sufficient proof even, they were deemed heretics. But it turned out to be true. We aren't that special. Later it was discovered that our sun was only a medium-sized star, one of billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. And that there were billions and billions of other galaxies, each containing billions of its own stars. Imagine the zillions of planets orbiting those stars out there. Yet humans still believe that we alone have been created and cared for by an all-powerful being. We still believe that, in the unfathomable depths of space, we are still that special. Do you see my point about the arrogance yet? Stories of the creation of the world, and the ideas of Gods have been around since there were drawings on cave walls. We needed them then, in order to understand the complex world that we live in. But, as we have become more observant, and found real, logical explanations for things like rain and sunsets and volcanoes, shouldn't we have outgrown the ideas of Gods? We cling to them, though, because we still have the need to feel special. A lot of people, I think, couldn't deal with the fact that our existence isn't much more than an inaudible sigh in the midst of a cosmic orchestra. We're like a college kid who is a lot smarter than he was, but still needs his teddy bear to fall asleep at night. (No more God-bear for you, kiddies.) I guess that's it. I feel like I had a bigger point, but it's late and I'm tired and can't philosophize anymore. Summary: The idea of God is a philosophical security blanket, nothing more.
Indeed, your post does prove our arrogance, but by no means does it disprove a God. One would have to be obscenely arrogant to rule out the possibility of a God all together as you have done with this quote:
I don't believe so I can't really answer that one. I don't think that you have to believe to be honest, but I think people just like to have the belief as maybe it brings them comfort. I just don't know! Interesting question Night Haunter....
Same here, Night Haunter. I don't believe and no one will compell me to do so. My ex-wife is certain I will go to Hell, and that by speaking frankly to my kids about religious tolerance (they never made their own choices, of course), I have doomed them to the fires as well. Some people believe because, as Torano pointed out, it gives them a sense of peace and security. Some people believe because the Universe seems too well-constructed to have become that way without a Designer. Some people believe because they are afraid not to. And I'm sure we will see a few other reasons as well.
Everyone has a reason that is personal to them that makes them beleive. So I ask everyone to answer honestly. Why do you personally have to beleive in God?
PLEASE, people, I encourage you to read the book The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. In it he explains how and why it is impossible for the notion of "god" to exist. It is a book that is to enlighten...not to be spiteful to those who believe. He is very fair in his approach because he refutes god from a logical and scientific viewpoint but also goes into a retrospective look as to why religion does exist and how it serves mankind in being a source of philosophical understanding behind how we approach the meaning of our existence. He's done a great job in breaking down the horrid and despicable notions of how religion has been bastardised by the religious elite. It's better to see what religion is: mythology. Take Greek mythology for example. They were very simple stories very cleverly told in how the human condition operates. Same again with the notion of Satan. It's not a character that actually exists; but more to do with the metaphorical side of the human diabolical conditions that we are predisposed to. Same again with god. Greeks, I think, didn't believe in gods the way mainstream religions do today, but that they served to tell functional morality tales. This is what western religion was supposed to entail for us through myths in the exact way we visit the cinema or why we read books. If you're Christian then it's worth reading into what is to be understood by gods and demons from that type of perspective...figuratively, not literally. The teachings makes much more sense that way and break down the notions of it all being sinister.
Well... I don't have an answer because I don't believe in that entity. I don't believe in it because it seems to have little relevance in the long run. My philosophy is basically: Invictus Ego. To translate, it means something like "Myself Unconquered". I like it because, at the end of the day, you have to worry about yourself and you shouldn't feel as though something else is controlling your life. "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul" Excerpt from - Invictus, William Ernest Henley
Well, I will be the first to admit that there is a lot about this universe that we do not understand, and probably never will. To assume otherwise would be extremely arrogant. I recognize that there is the possibility of a higher form of life, and maybe one that had a hand in our creation. However, I sincerely doubt that it would be anything like the Biblical God. Really, though, it's all speculation. Notice that nowhere in my post did I say anything about disproving God. I only wanted to demonstrate what an unlikely (and, in all honesty, silly) idea it is. However, all I'm hearing out of this thread is, "You can't disprove God, so he must exist." That's fallacy, folks.
