The GOD Thread~

[Arctic Hysteria]

There's this quote that pretty much sums up my view

“If you think God’s there, He is. If you don’t, He isn’t. And if that’s what God’s like, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Cheers.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

The Rush song shows me they had some of the knowledge, but indeed chose to shun God, at least when that was written.

Narrow is the path to God, and there are few who go in by it.

Recently Born-Again Christian Finally Has Social Life

"Before I joined Christ's flock, everyone used to make fun of me
and call me a weirdo," Dunne said. "But the people at New Hearts
accepted me unconditionally–so long as I accepted Jesus Christ as
my savior. Once I did that, all sorts of wonderful things followed,
like having plans on Friday nights."






Former Cult Members Find New Life In Christ

Helen Hurley of the Fellowship House in Hanover, NH, where cult
survivors are being given a chance to return to the real world,
be reborn and ascend into Heaven for all eternity through devotion
to the one true Savior, Jesus Christ.


"Look," she said, her expression turning serious, "some of the men and women who have come through the Fellowship House were actually involved in ritual cannibalism at one time. Now they can turn their back on darkness and confusion. They are free to take their first communion, and in the sacramental eating and drinking of the body and blood of Christ, they have been washed of their sins by the blood of the Lamb."

After all, isn't that what it's really all about?

But it IS undeniable to all of us, atheist or otherwise, that many people who have once been completely withered by life, enliven with Christ. Many who have been addicted and strung out, become clean and envigorated. Many who have been dead have the light shine in their eyes again.

Christ is the Great Equalizer. You can be a drug addict, have a rap sheet, or be a WASP; but with Christ, we become one family. We welcome all who love God, and want to bring them into our house. Why do we do this? It's not what children do. It's not typical adult behavior. Human behavior is to be cliquey and exclusionary. When Christ comes alive in you, nothing else matters but doing God's will. Therefore those who do God's will become your family; become who you love and want to spend time with.

And there is an undeniable beauty in that which men alone, and living by freewill, cannot obtain.

 

[Arctic Hysteria]

Narrow is the path to God, and there are few who go in by it.

Narrow? I see quite far many people choose that path.

People of each religion believe the path they choose spares them a place in heaven and any choice other than the path to *their* God leads to hell. Those who don't believe are not loved and do not belong.

Can I have a laugh?

Is heaven also that crowded, divided and discriminating? How worse can hell be?

How many criminals and morally corrupted human beings are there that are religious and believe they are devoted to God? Some even believe they do *God's will*

And there is an undeniable beauty in that which men alone, and living by freewill, cannot obtain.

There is a beauty that only many people with freewill can obtain, that is the victory of overcoming hardship in life by believing in themselves and in the people that love them; the realization that their acts of kindness are generated from their own heart and mind, it is their own choice to do good. And even though by not choosing a side means they gotta "go to hell" regardless, according to a few *Gods*' guidelines, it doesn't change how they want to live, love and do good.

I was exposed to Buddhism as a child, learning that Buddhism is a way of life and not a religion, and so worshiping is not a part that entails choosing it. Nobody does any deity's will, nobody is threaten to be thrown to hell if not follow any of a hundred things, or is promised to be rewarded with a piece of heaven if do. Choosing this way of life, one must learn to tolerate differences, be kind and do kind from their own realization for their own karma, obtain and preserve knowledge to inspire other than preach.

I have a childhood friend who killed himself at the age of 14. His family was Christian, and his church refused to give him burial. His ash was taken in by local Buddhist temple. The monks set up an altar for him and take care of it everyday.
So much for *unconditional love* and *family unity*?

So anyway, I'm an Agnostic, and that enables me to learn from and relate to various religions, and to hang with folks who believe in any God or no God at all as long as they're kind-hearted human beings, without slamming some preaching down their throats. I don't have the urge to preach religious folks about Agnosticism or Atheism, live and let live. But I'm highly allergic to the "if you don't believe in God, you're at disadvantage / you're all alone / you're not as good as us / you don't belong", sugar coated chocolate sprinkled passive-aggressive "our way or high way".

Feel free to express your love to God.
But please, bear in mind that in case someone's God is Abrahamic or Iranian or Indian or African or not even defined, they're not subjected to your judgment.

 

[johnnyyukon]

There's this quote that pretty much sums up my view

“If you think God’s there, He is. If you don’t, He isn’t. And if that’s what God’s like, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

Cheers.

 

[johnnyyukon]

God Re-Floods Middle East

"The Lord thy God has warned you and warned you, but you have, in your hatred and selfishness, chosen to turn away from Him," read a press statement from God, delivered by seraphim and cherubim acting as His earthly agents. "Prepare now to face His wrath and be drowned beneath the cleansing waters of His righteous rage. Children of Israel and Palestine, you who would not repent your sinful ways and live together as God's children, prepare to face your doom under the unstoppable deluge of the Lord's retribution."

Speaking on behalf of the Lord, an unnamed, non-denominational representative of Heaven said: "God only promised humanity that He would never again flood the entire Earth. He never said He wouldn't flood specific areas."

"For too long, thou hast ignored the entreaties of thy Lord to let go of your wickedness and hatred and live together in peace, My children," God said. "Thou hast refused the lion to lie down with the lamb, and My rod and staff have been of no comfort to you. Instead, you have continued to kill each other without ceasing. The time has come for that to stop. You want to keep running each other over with tanks and strapping dynamite to yourselves, killing women and children in pursuit of your extremist political positions, that's just fine.

Let's see how well you carry out your murderous agendas under 800 feet of water."

God Re-Floods Middle East | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

 

[Beorn]

Actually, a rejection framed the way it was in this case is usually based on the perceived lack of reality which all these childish fantasies share.

The existence of God is the ONLY way ANY "fantasy" like significance, love, meaning etc. can be grounded in reality. It's illogical and inconsistent to reject God and then think that it's somehow superior to only pretend that life has significance and not that life is governed by God.

If there is no God then they're both fantasies and there's really only one way to reject ALL fantasy...

Thank God most people just choose to be inconsistent, especially since their premise is wrong.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

^What atheists/agnostics do is replace God with man, and think it is enough.

 

[Arctic Hysteria]

^What atheists/agnostics do is replace God with man, and think it is enough.

Oh Wow. I wish we were that simple.

 

[á´…eparted]

If there is no God then they're both fantasies and there's really only one way to reject ALL fantasy...

Thank God most people just choose to be inconsistent, especially since their premise is wrong.

Suggesting suicide is the only way to those who are atheist or don't believe in god huh? Wow, that is an unbelieveably low blow. You know, I have literally been there when my former spiritual beliefs died. Seeing you (or anyone) suggest this is one of the most disgusting things I have seen in months.

Good luck recovering from this one: cause you can't.

 

[Beorn]

Suggesting suicide is the only way to those who are atheist or don't believe in god huh?

I don't think that's the case because I don't think God doesn't exist.

Wow, that is an unbelieveably low blow. You know, I have literally been there when my former spiritual beliefs died. Seeing you (or anyone) suggest this is one of the most disgusting things I have seen in months.

It's horrible that you suffered like that, I have too, but don't blame me for taking a belief system ill-suited for humanity and showing just how ill-suited it is.

 

[Beorn]

Oh Wow. I wish we were that simple.

Please explain.
Just because people pick and choose from a variety of (often inconsistent) beliefs doesn't change that they're acting like God.

 

[Nicodemus]

The existence of God is the ONLY way ANY "fantasy" like significance, love, meaning etc. can be grounded in reality. It's illogical and inconsistent to reject God and then think that it's somehow superior to only pretend that life has significance and not that life is governed by God.

If there is no God then they're both fantasies and there's really only one way to reject ALL fantasy...

Thank God most people just choose to be inconsistent, especially since their premise is wrong.

Your premise is right only when we are talking in absolutes. The mere feeling of love, a mere sense of significance and meaning are all humanity needs to be content. Hell, it is all we can possibly obtain of love, significance and meaning, and, hence, all these words can mean.

Metaphysics is over, my brother.

^What atheists/agnostics do is replace God with man, and think it is enough.

What christians do is replace ignorance with an invisible sponge, and think it is knowledge.

 

[Beorn]

Your premise is right only when we are talking in absolutes. The mere feeling of love, a mere sense of significance and meaning are all humanity needs to be content. Hell, it is all we can possibly obtain of love, significance and meaning, and, hence, all these words can mean.

Western civilization is starving on illusory significance and love. It is not enough.

 

[Totenkindly]

The existence of God is the ONLY way ANY "fantasy" like significance, love, meaning etc. can be grounded in reality. It's illogical and inconsistent to reject God and then think that it's somehow superior to only pretend that life has significance and not that life is governed by God.

If there is no God then they're both fantasies and there's really only one way to reject ALL fantasy...

Thank God most people just choose to be inconsistent, especially since their premise is wrong.

To be fair, if someone disagrees with your view of reality, it comes across more like this:

You also erroneously have an "all or nothing" view of the universe. Just because something might not have universal significance across the board for everyone does not mean that it doesn't have personal significance to me in my particular corner of the universe; and that's actually acceptable.

Do you think an individual's pain, or a small community's pain, doesn't matter at all to those people if God does not exist? It affects their quality of life regardless. Or that people can't invest in something with integrity just because it might not have eternal religious significance? For that period in time, for those people, in that place, it does matter and it does impact the quality of their existence.

You seem to have such a binary view: If you're not agreeing with your particular view of the universe, then you might as well end your life now. Black and white simplifies decision-making but doesn't really do the topic justice. There's a lot people say about brutalization that occurs with the loss of universal meaning, but there's quite a bit of brutalization that has occurred in the name of universal meaning since people can now be labeled as enemies opposed to one side's view of truth.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

Your premise is right only when we are talking in absolutes. The mere feeling of love, a mere sense of significance and meaning are all humanity needs to be content. Hell, it is all we can possibly obtain of love, significance and meaning, and, hence, all these words can mean.

Metaphysics is over, my brother.


What christians do is replace ignorance with an invisible sponge, and think it is knowledgeGod.

But if it brings beauty out of ashes, and all the world can witness this, isn't that a pretty remarkable sponge?

 

[Nicodemus]

Western civilization is starving on illusory significance and love. It is not enough.

Save us, God, bring back the Middle Ages!

But if it brings beauty out of ashes, and all the world can witness this, isn't that a pretty remarkable sponge?

I like to think of that sponge as a great big bang.

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

Save us, God, bring back the Middle Ages!


I like to think of that sponge as a great big bang.

No, no, no. Where is your usual level of biting and unbeatable wit? Are you losing your edge in love, Nico?

The Great Sponge caused the Big Bang. And lots of bubbles came out of it. And He placed us on one of them, to rule over it and to be His army of shining, clean faces.

See?

 

[Nicodemus]

The Great Sponge caused the Big Bang. And lots of bubbles came out of it. And He placed us on one of them, to rule over it and to be His army of shining, clean faces.

See?

Proof?

 

[AphroditeGoneAwry]

You first.

 

[Nicodemus]

You first.

Big Bang - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia