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Do You Believe In God?

saechalyn

By saechalyn,
in Quizzes And Polls

Do you believe in God?  

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Steven Newbie

Steven

Posted
Posted

Brings to mind a lovely quote.

"I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure—that is all that agnosticism means." — Clarence Darrow

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

this quote assumes many things.

first - that unless men utilize the type of evidence that is comfortable for Clarence Darrow, then it is for naught.

Clarance, like others - can make up his own mind, as is his right to do. But also like others, there is a not-so-hidden potshot taken at others who do not share his point of view.

therefore it also assumes that dear Clarence seems to be the only man porportionaltely qualifed to make a respectable decision on this matter.

and I assume therefore.....that there is a degree of frustration on the part of clarance, or possibly others like him who must insinuate that men like me are foolish and/or ignorant, a frustration that obvious brilliance such as his cannot get through to the thick mass that lies between my ignorant eyes.

there always seems to be some other personal motivation behind quotes like this, which reveal to me at least, some sort of inner struggle within the person who lauds themselves as a step above. And it's the pride that I hear, that tells me this person is unresolved, or he simply would not make the effort to condemn me, whether it was done in jest or done slight of hand. Because it would not matter to him. Because like me.....he was "sure" of his position.

But to dear Clarence, a man like me matters. And it pisses him off that I do.

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Steven Newbie

Steven

Posted
Posted

Yes of course. 

Not sure what really to understand about it.  I am skeptical of modern religion.  i think things have been written over and interpreted (sp?) incorrectly at this point.  like a game of telephone.

not sure what/not/to/ believe

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

this is a very understandable point of view.

if you do some digging and research archeological eveidence, you may find that the text itself - really has not gone thru any radical (or even measurable) changes, it is actually amazingly consistent it its message.

Others argue (and resonalbly so) that not "ALL" the text has been cannonized as biblical. I also think this is a reasonable argument. I also think that if you research - you'll again find some remarkable consistency in what was chosen to be condensed into the text we know today. You'll also find that many forgeries, fakes, additions, and other holy wiritings fo the time were created and wisely ommitted. I have a small collection fo some of those writings in my library. BUT - to be able to swallow this then one must first beleive that there is God - who intended these writings to be collected a certain way - and if so, there is an opposition to that intent as well who would seek to mix confusion and doubt into the process. Thats the hardest thing about the bible - it forces a position on the receiver of either accepting a divine agenda or downgrading the entire process as simply human and therefore suspect. I think that we forget to ask the basic question that if biblical writings are man-made, yet God-inspired......then why? Whats the point and purpose of scriptual writings? Why would a "God" enlist the efforts of completely fallible men - to communicate for him?

Is it the text that is the problem?

Is it the literal interpretation that is the problem?

Or is it the agenda of organized religion that is the problem?

to me, its the latter.

In biblical times organized religion was - just like today - a failed and controlling and perverse system - twisted from mosaic law to become worship as a God unto itself - thus perverting the nature of what god intended outright.

Mosaic law in the beginning served as a tool to introduce structure to millions of roaming and displaced Hebrews with no identity and culture of their own, as they had been under exile and foreign rule for many generations. It created a framework to seperate this nation from the beleifs and lifestyles of surrounding nations. It introduced a new concept of ONE god, and created a supernatural gateway to begin a slow process of contact and reconcilliation between this ONE god and the people he chose to call his own.

By Jesus time - Mosaic law was simply a controoling device used to instill fear and seperation from God by the religious rulers. Just like today - the twist and arrogance of man has perverted the intent of the church.

And just like in his day - God is still God, and he seeks greater intimacy with the beleiver than that which we are shown or taught, and therefore it requires a degree of out of the box risk to accomplish this. No one ever becomes anything simply by studying it. One must risk the embrace and get on the path because there is so much more to the process than studying form a safe distance.

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Scary Guy Veteran

Scary Guy

Posted
Posted

Steven, it's a quote, don't read too much into it.

But if you want to read into it, he's sure that he wasn't sure. He didn't say atheist and he didn't take a "pot shot" at one religion specifically, and he took a pot shot at science at the same time.

The fact is you don't know for sure until you actually die. That is why it's called faith.

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holliwood66 Newbie

holliwood66

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No, I don't believe in any god nor do I have any spiritual beliefs. I believe that this one life is all we have and after the last firing of the last neural cell we decay down to stardust. I also think that humans will have mastery over death through genetic design and manipulation. I heard a fascinating talk on NPR on gene therapy and cloning stemcells for tissue regeneration. However, even with complete/continual replacement of all tissues in the body there would still be a maximum life-span of 8000 years or so due to accidents *LOL* I am intrigued by the idea of replacement of neural cells: how do existing cells share data? Where and how is data stored in the brain tissue and could personality/memory be downloaded chemically into a stemcell bank? Tooooo coool.

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DarkChylde Newbie

DarkChylde

Posted
Posted

Throughout my life my relatives always told me that "christianty" are the land-stealing devils and there word of "god" means the word of "hate".

Im just the type of person that I see to believe. I was born spiritual and saw spirits my whole life, but I have no desire to follow any religion about it and I keep it to myself cuz I know most cant see them and I dont blame them for not believing. If I never saw spirits I wouldnt believe it either. Thats why I despise those who try forcing there beliefs down others throats.

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Onyx Newbie

Onyx

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Posted

I've heard that about you. But this is a spirituality thread. NOT a DC's big penis thread.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I see it coming! Somebody's going to start a penis thread!

What is it with all these body part threads lately? :tongue:

*smacks everyone*

Back on topic!

I still haven't figured out what I want to say about God, but I will just say I believe there is an intelligence guiding events. I don't understand why things happen as they do, however when I feel in tune with this intelligence I am at peace. I have a lot of questions though and a lot of things do not make any sense to me.

More later.

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phee Enthusiast

phee

Posted
Posted

I have heard that if the universe had been around for the equivilant of one year... The earth would have been around for a few minutes of that year, and humans only about 2 seconds of that minute...

Given the vast and enormus scope of the Universe, and the fact that we only know the most miscule amount about the universe (there is much more we don't know than we do know) adding to the fact that we have only been here for a fraction of flash of time... I find it very hard to say there is a God/Gods/Supernatural/Spirtual forces, and equally hard to say there isn't a God/Gods/Supernatural/Spirtual forces....

For me to say I believe, or I know that such things do or do not exist would be like me trying to describe the ocean and all of it's contents by studying a shotglass full of salt water....

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