God doesn't care
ShepherdsDog @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:01 am
Funny how the Muslims and Christians have twisted the original ideas of the Jews. There is no clear promise of an afterlife, only the life you're given...evil doers just cease to be once they die
Brenda @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:03 am
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
Funny how the Muslims and Christians have twisted the original ideas of the Jews. There is no clear promise of an afterlife, only the life you're given...evil doers just cease to be once they die
That is something I do believe in. When you're dead, you're dead.
No heaven, no 72 virgins.
Lemmy @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:16 am
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
Funny how the Muslims and Christians have twisted the original ideas of the Jews. There is no clear promise of an afterlife, only the life you're given...evil doers just cease to be once they die
Don't forget the Egyptians. The Egyptians were big on afterlife. And Christianity is largely a reincarnation of Egyptian religion, piled on top of Jewish scriptures. It's a not-so-new new covenant, so to speak.
Gunnair @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:27 am
Brenda Brenda:
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
Funny how the Muslims and Christians have twisted the original ideas of the Jews. There is no clear promise of an afterlife, only the life you're given...evil doers just cease to be once they die
That is something I do believe in. When you're dead, you're dead.
No heaven, no 72 virgins.
The paranormal suggests different.
Public_Domain @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 7:33 am
I really struggle to believe in the paranormal.
I also absolutely hate discussing it. Worse than any political or religious discussion I've ever had are the irrational screaming matches over the existence of ghosts.
I'd rather argue in favour of capitalism in gigantic theatres packed with people than ever talk about ghosts with my mother again...
My grandma believes something will happen in December 21st, 2012. Ripped my head off, called me "selfish" for not believing anything will happen. How the fuck can I even discuss an issue with a loved one that only turns their face beat-red with anger?
Some discussions are just completely unhealthy. They become packed with emotion to the point that any attempt at suggesting something different is seen as an insult to everything they understand. The ghost thing especially. I'm a strong believer in the power of the mind, and ultimately, the concept of seeing what you want to see. But if I say that's what I believe, I'm spitting int he face of the loved one they saw in a mirror or whatever.
I've never been hit for my politics, nor threatened (in person). But I almost got punched in the face for saying what I believe about the supernatural, by my own brother. It's one of the few things I'll actually just not respond to if people bring it up. The only things I refuse to talk about are abortion and ghosts. And 9/11.
That said, there's an endless list of issues like that.
Gunnair @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:05 am
There seems to be far more anecdotal and even, I suggest, physical evidence to suggest this is a discussion worth having. Far more than on omnipotent God being.
Jonny_C @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 8:30 am
Public_Domain Public_Domain:
If god exists and gave total free will, then I see no reason to pray to him,
thank him, or even be required to respect him. He didn't do any of it, we did.
If his work is done, then I suppose we no longer need deal with him.
I personally don't believe in god because the idea of all human suffering being
chalked up to a reality show for some omnipotent being unsettles me.
I will admit I believe in something. Relationships and nature. What's behind
nature? Random chance (and mutations) performed to such a constant degree
as to create a structure, patterns, success stories.
Nothing I can pray too, nothing I can thank.
I'm glad for nature. But thankful? Why? It's not a gift, it's reality, just like
anything and everything else. I enjoy nature, but thanking it solves nothing.
It's not listening. It has it's own plans, constantly changing, constantly random yet organized.
I believe humanity and nature are one. I believe the interest of all is what
makes nature work. While it has mutations and struggles here and there,
it continues on vibrantly as a full system.
thank him, or even be required to respect him. He didn't do any of it, we did.
If his work is done, then I suppose we no longer need deal with him.
I personally don't believe in god because the idea of all human suffering being
chalked up to a reality show for some omnipotent being unsettles me.
I will admit I believe in something. Relationships and nature. What's behind
nature? Random chance (and mutations) performed to such a constant degree
as to create a structure, patterns, success stories.
Nothing I can pray too, nothing I can thank.
I'm glad for nature. But thankful? Why? It's not a gift, it's reality, just like
anything and everything else. I enjoy nature, but thanking it solves nothing.
It's not listening. It has it's own plans, constantly changing, constantly random yet organized.
I believe humanity and nature are one. I believe the interest of all is what
makes nature work. While it has mutations and struggles here and there,
it continues on vibrantly as a full system.
I think you put that very well.
We are the only organism that can contemplate its own death. I'm not talking about survival instinct, but rather our capacity to envision our own death, and to speculate on what comes after it.
Ultimately, our own consciousness and our own conceit makes us conclude that we can't die, that we simply pass on to another plane of existence. It is from that that we get the notion of God, and in particular a loving God who cares about what we do, and a God who presides over heaven. It is also from that that we get the willingness to believe in the paranormal and ghosts.
The thought that there is a power greater than us is a comfort, at least in the selfish sense of investing that power with the ability to give us everlasting life.
Ultimately, those who truly believe in a caring God are to be envied. They have laid to rest the notion of death, and the fear of death. Sometimes I wish I were one of them. I have not yet confronted my own mortality, but I have lost dearly loved ones. For their sake, as well as my own, it would be nice to believe that death is not an ending but a transition.
Saipan @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:14 am
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
Funny how the Muslims and Christians have twisted the original ideas of the Jews. There is no clear promise of an afterlife, only the life you're given...evil doers just cease to be once they die
Yes, there's life after life.
Even for evil doers
Brenda @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:23 am
Saipan Saipan:
ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
Funny how the Muslims and Christians have twisted the original ideas of the Jews. There is no clear promise of an afterlife, only the life you're given...evil doers just cease to be once they die
Yes, there's life after life.
Even for evil doers
Is that an opinion or a fact?
Saipan @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 9:31 am
Same thing.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
- - Christopher Hitchens
Gunnair @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:43 am
Saipan Saipan:
Same thing.
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
- - Christopher Hitchens
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
- - Christopher Hitchens
Somebody brought an empty bucket to the fire.
Zipperfish @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 10:54 am
I believe in ghosts. Not vogue for a agnostic scientist, but there you have it. My guilty pleasure.
Gunnair @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:05 am
Zipperfish Zipperfish:
I believe in ghosts. Not vogue for a agnostic scientist, but there you have it. My guilty pleasure.
Why not? There is certainly evidence out there that something is going on.
andyt @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 11:06 am
Always liked this:
$1:
What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home
Namaste
Tyler_1 @ Tue Dec 18, 2012 1:55 pm
I don't know if God cares, or if there is one, or maybe even more than one. I like the idea of a friendly one though. I try not to be evil and who knows, maybe I will see them someday and the mystery will be solved. I would rather hope for that than look forward to nothing happening at all. 