Magic? Miracles? Supernatural? What's the diff? :)
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regarding bad but pervasive logic, don't forget the ever popular "We don't understand God therefore God does not exist" along with "We don't understand God therefore anyone who does is a moron" or "lying" or "delusional"
Ah, the old, "you wouldn't understand" gambit.
Folks like you seem to forget about us deconverts. I understand typical god claims quite well indeed, better I daresay than most. It is not a matter of not understanding them, but of not crediting them. It is a question of belief, not of comprehension.
I do not assert that anyone who believes in a god is a moron, a liar or deluded, but I do think many common "arguments" in favor of god's existence are moronic, delusional, and occasionally, outright lies.
The truth is that there are very few actual idiots in the world. Which means that if I think some of the arguments that people subscribe to are idiotic, I think the people who subscribe to those arguments are usually better than that. If I truly thought theists were inherently mentally incapable, I wouldn't attempt to interact with them in the first place.
Ok, so what is "God" according to you?
An experience? An emotion? A sixth sense?
An unimaginable Spirit that nothing would exist without and permeates
the animate and inanimate...Pure Awareness...Brilliant beyond understanding
while dwelling in a puppy's breath...the Source of everything you see and feel.
(I can not relate to those 3 choices, they do not make sense to me.)
I could make a list of what God is according to me....maybe later.
An unimaginable Spirit that nothing would exist without and permeates
the animate and inanimate...Pure Awareness...Brilliant beyond understanding
while dwelling in a puppy's breath...the Source of everything you see and feel.
(I can not relate to those 3 choices, they do not make sense to me.)
I could make a list of what God is according to me....maybe later.
Maybe I need drugs to understand? It almost sounds like you are "high" or something.
Maybe I need drugs to understand?
It almost sounds like you are "high" or something.
You always say that, Freak.
If you have had ''high'' experiences only on drugs, I can understand that.
But, it gets old....thinking that it is only on mind altering drugs a person can experience the
divine, sacred, cosmic, the supernatural or miracles.
I wonder if reading Dr. Bucke's book, "Cosmic Consciousness", might change this thinking.
He was fascinated by what he saw as a theme in many people throughout history...
'Why were they different ...what made them say the things they did'...Buddha, Jesus,
Walt Whitman ...William Blake...'What changed these people...what did they experience the
everyday man has not?
You would like this book.
I have been blessed with what others would call mystical experiences, yes...
I wonder why myself...past karma? I dunno!!! Ha!
But, remember I have meditated for over 40 years...often 3- 6 hours a sitting...
that changes a person, a heart, a mind...your soul...this is why I adore God...
God and I are like *this*, fingers crossed....He's my Dad...I know Him intimately.
(It is a thing of awe...that is, if I told you what God is like...and is very humbling to the open person.)
He is a Spirit that has no wrath or judgment, #1.
Any one who thinks this
has not experienced 'Him' directly.
Maybe I need drugs to understand? It almost sounds like you are "high" or something.
She is high on naturally occurring dopamine in her body, Freak. She is capable of a limited form of what the Culture Novels refer to as "glanding". That, and her brain is wired differently than yours, likely -- though whether from being bathed in more dopamine or just happy coincidence, I couldn't say.
I have met a number of Miss Hepburns in my time and they are wonderful, pleasant people to be around, and generally very "live and let live" types. The first one I ever noticed was a gal who sang in a church choir who was invariably caught up in the music to the extent that she appeared to be having "musigasms" more or less continuously. She seemed constitutionally incapable of seeing anything as a threat or as having a downside. My guess is that if she contracted cancer she would still enjoy the experience. Although it might cause her to fail to seek treatment early enough to save her life, it wouldn't really matter to her quality of life, only its length.
I have no issue with that, but trying to discuss metaphysics with them is like talking to someone in an alternate universe with completely different experiences, so it doesn't get very far.
Lol ... well I have found a good stiff dose of Valium does the trick for me (it is believed to potentiate dopamine by acting on the GABA receptors). Not a sustainable strategy though. The couple of times I have had it administered so that I would not care how much a medical procedure hurt, for about a half hour I felt the way about life, existence, people and everything that I have always wished I could feel 100% of the time. I mean, objectively, having a fiber optic device run up your nether regions is not cause for celebration and yet ... I didn't mind it and was even amused by it and carried on an affable conversation with the medical staff while they did it.
This is what the lass in the choir I mentioned was like ... it is what others I have met were like. In most cases I knew them well enough that I was certain they didn't have a covert supply of "mother's little helper" ... it was just native to their biochemistry. I'm surprised it doesn't affect their judgment adversely, but they do seem to function in the world just fine. And there are no withdrawal symptoms for most of them because it never goes away.
Lol ... well I have found a good stiff dose of Valium does the trick for me (it is believed to potentiate dopamine by acting on the GABA receptors). Not a sustainable strategy though. The couple of times I have had it administered so that I would not care how much a medical procedure hurt, for about a half hour I felt the way about life, existence, people and everything that I have always wished I could feel 100% of the time. I mean, objectively, having a fiber optic device run up your nether regions is not cause for celebration and yet ... I didn't mind it and was even amused by it and carried on an affable conversation with the medical staff while they did it.
This is what the lass in the choir I mentioned was like ... it is what others I have met were like. In most cases I knew them well enough that I was certain they didn't have a covert supply of "mother's little helper" ... it was just native to their biochemistry. I'm surprised it doesn't affect their judgment adversely, but they do seem to function in the world just fine. And there are no withdrawal symptoms for most of them because it never goes away.
Pretty sweet deal if you can get it.
Interesting...
I had to use Knonopin (a drug in the same class) to treat my panic disorder. It's pretty amazing stuff, in the sense that it could take me from panic mode to completely calm in about 30 minutes flat. Unfortunately, it causes dependence and it took me about 4 months to taper off of it after a year of being on a low dose.
I never noticed any kind of "high" or anything...the only real side effect was drowsiness. I never noticed any changes in my ability to drive or work. If it weren't for the dependence/tolerance problem, it would be the "perfect" drug for me.
Yeah it'd be nice to be in a calm state like that all the time, like some folks seem to be. Maybe those folks are the ones who go sky-diving and base-jumping...they need that much adrenaline to get excited. And maybe they're probably the ones to sign up for military service, fire-fighting, law enforcement, and other high-risk professions.
regarding bad but pervasive logic, don't forget the ever popular "We don't understand God therefore God does not exist" along with "We don't understand God therefore anyone who does is a moron" or "lying" or "delusional"
I had to use Knonopin (a drug in the same class) to treat my panic disorder. It's pretty amazing stuff, in the sense that it could take me from panic mode to completely calm in about 30 minutes flat. Unfortunately, it causes dependence and it took me about 4 months to taper off of it after a year of being on a low dose.
I never noticed any kind of "high" or anything...the only real side effect was drowsiness. I never noticed any changes in my ability to drive or work. If it weren't for the dependence/tolerance problem, it would be the "perfect" drug for me.
Yeah it'd be nice to be in a calm state like that all the time, like some folks seem to be. Maybe those folks are the ones who go sky-diving and base-jumping...they need that much adrenaline to get excited. And maybe they're probably the ones to sign up for military service, fire-fighting, law enforcement, and other high-risk professions.
Klonopin is a drug with many on and off-label uses but yes, like many drugs it has taxiphylaxis and dependence issues. That is because it is synthetic and non-modulated by natural biochemistry. Whether you are talking about chronic joyfulness or chronic depression, it seems that whatever one's natural biochemical makeup is, tends to be quite durable, whether desired and pleasant, or not. You can move that needle, sometimes even permanently, but only with difficulty.
I am not prone to depression or anxiety, so I am fortunate. I will take my boring stability any day of the week, overall. Even there, though, I've had to learn to let go of expectations for particular outcomes, let go of illusions, and not to take simple reality personally. A lot of that came from the way theism set my expectations in childhood. Which is to say, in the stratosphere.
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