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No it doesn't. There is no evidence for that, and while it's frequently stated, and widely believed (Oprah, par example), I think it's just another futile attempt by humans to order the universe to their liking, making it a cozy, comfortable place, supportive of humans. How can anyone with an iota of intelligence or scientific training say such a thing.
Synchronicity, yes. Purpose with human beings in mind, no.b
I take it we’re talking about human experience here?
Because, in fact, in the material world, everything DOES happen for a reason - so much so that we can say there is a perfectly good, non-occult explanation, even when we don’t know what that explanation is.
I take it we’re talking about human experience here?
Because, in fact, in the material world, everything DOES happen for a reason - so much so that we can say there is a perfectly good, non-occult explanation, even when we don’t know what that explanation is.
When people say "Everything happens for a reason" they aren't referencing the mechanics, rather it is meant to suggest that some intelligence is directing it for some purpose that humans would understand if known. It is the sort of thing which gets said when some outcome we don't like or understand has occurred. It gets employed to explain away the seeming cruelties of the divine caprice. Why was that family of five's young father killed in a bizarre accident? Well, everything happens for a reason. God has its purposes you see.
in short it is one more version of "Mystery of Faith."
No it doesn't. There is no evidence for that, and while it's frequently stated, and widely believed (Oprah, par example), I think it's just another futile attempt by humans to order the universe to their liking, making it a cozy, comfortable place, supportive of humans. How can anyone with an iota of intelligence or scientific training say such a thing.
Synchronicity, yes. Purpose with human beings in mind, no.b
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grandstander
When people say "Everything happens for a reason" they aren't referencing the mechanics, rather it is meant to suggest that some intelligence is directing it for some purpose that humans would understand if known. It is the sort of thing which gets said when some outcome we don't like or understand has occurred. It gets employed to explain away the seeming cruelties of the divine caprice. Why was that family of five's young father killed in a bizarre accident? Well, everything happens for a reason. God has its purposes you see.
in short it is one more version of "Mystery of Faith."
Totally agreed!! In fact, I believe many things happen everyday for no good reason at all!
No it doesn't. There is no evidence for that, and while it's frequently stated, and widely believed (Oprah, par example), I think it's just another futile attempt by humans to order the universe to their liking, making it a cozy, comfortable place, supportive of humans. How can anyone with an iota of intelligence or scientific training say such a thing.
Synchronicity, yes. Purpose with human beings in mind, no.b
Every effect is preceded by a cause. Hurricanes, for example, are caused by the sun heating the oceans in the equatorial latitudes more than in the northern latitudes. So everything happens for a reason. Purpose however implies an intelligent cause. There is no intelligent cause in the fact that the equatorial latitudes of planet Earth receive more direct energy from the sun than do the northern latitudes, causing an imbalance that is responsible for weather. But there is always a reason behind everything that occurs.
When people say "Everything happens for a reason" they aren't referencing the mechanics, rather it is meant to suggest that some intelligence is directing it for some purpose that humans would understand if known. It is the sort of thing which gets said when some outcome we don't like or understand has occurred.
Exactly. And that's why I find the phrase so annoying.
In a mechanical sense the phrase is 100% accurate. It's also why traveling into the past could never work. Change just one 'cause' within the incredibly complex web/chain of cause-and-effect and you instantly create an entirely new chain that didn't exist before.
I am fond of the word serendipity, but there isn't a comparable widely known word to describe its opposite. All the antonyms seem to be based on the presumption of some outside agency, e.g. "ill-fated" which suggests direction. Supposedly an author in the late 1990s coined the word zemblanity to describe unpleasant or unwanted chance outcomes that occur, but somehow I doubt that will ever catch on, LOL
Closest I can come to it is the ever-popular "S*** happens".
No it doesn't. There is no evidence for that, and while it's frequently stated, and widely believed (Oprah, par example), I think it's just another futile attempt by humans to order the universe to their liking, making it a cozy, comfortable place, supportive of humans. How can anyone with an iota of intelligence or scientific training say such a thing.
Synchronicity, yes. Purpose with human beings in mind, no.b
Ya know how people have NDEs?
Well, I've had my share of moments where I was stunned with my mouth dropped as I was shown something out of the blue...staggering snapshots of my life...
trivial things...and how each and every one
was perfect for me to be 'here', right now. I saw the progression from years past....and wow!
Did it ever blow my socks off.
I didn't need any order in any Universe! I'm pretty darn cozy as it is.
How a person can say these things is cuz they were shown...and they ''see'', I see every moment has been for this moment right now.
No one has to believe me, think I'm weird...in fact, I hope they don't believe me...
it'll be more of a great surprise if and when it happens to them!!!
Here's another unscientific thing...I know why every single thing ever happens to me...the good, the bad and the ugly...might take me a couple minutes after I stop the bleeding...but, then I 'see', "Oh."
Doesn't take much to see..."Ya leave a lit cigar on the cabin counter and Susan's cabin burns down." Stupid is what stupid does.
Closest I can come to it is the ever-popular "S*** happens".
That is actually as a good a summary of the real dynamic as one could wish. The drawback is in its lack of utility. If someone has suffered a loss or endured a great disappointment, "bleep happens" provides no comfort despite its accuracy. This is where the religious enjoy an advantage. They get to say a bunch of things which despite not being true, do serve to discharge one's obligations to proper displays of sympathy or empathy. "The Lord has called her home"..."He's gone to be with Mama in heaven" all those cliches may be drawn like guns when the situation calls for comforting. "That's the way the ball bounces" isn't what people want to hear in those situations.
How a person can say these things is cuz they were shown...and they ''see'', I see every moment has been for this moment right now.
Why is it that these sorts of things only ever happen to people who are well disposed toward interpreting things in a spiritual manner? I have never, nor have any of my friends and acquaintances who may be described as rationalists, seen a ghost, heard a disembodied voice, or seen natural law defied in any manner.
I have a new neighbor across the street who is spiritually oriented. Yesterday he asked me about the people who had lived in the house before they moved in. I told him about Stan and Carolyn and he asked me if she had died in the house. I told him that she had and he responded "I thought so." What followed was his story of having three separate visits from a female apparition which he was interpreting as Carolyn haunting the house because she had died there. This guy had actually hired some sort of exorcist or voodoo doctor to come and purify the house by chanting and burning incense. My neighbor announced that it worked and the apparition is no longer making appearances.
What can one say when one hears something like that? My true reaction had to be suppressed in favor of my congratulating him on driving away the evil spirits.
Why is it that these sorts of things only ever happen to people who are well disposed toward interpreting things in a spiritual manner? I have never, nor have any of my friends and acquaintances who may be described as rationalists, seen a ghost, heard a disembodied voice, or seen natural law defied in any manner.
I have a new neighbor across the street who is spiritually oriented. Yesterday he asked me about the people who had lived in the house before they moved in. I told him about Stan and Carolyn and he asked me if she had died in the house. I told him that she had and he responded "I thought so." What followed was his story of having three separate visits from a female apparition which he was interpreting as Carolyn haunting the house because she had died there. This guy had actually hired some sort of exorcist or voodoo doctor to come and purify the house by chanting and burning incense. My neighbor announced that it worked and the apparition is no longer making appearances.
What can one say when one hears something like that? My true reaction had to be suppressed in favor of my congratulating him on driving away the evil spirits.
Exactly!
It is only the people who have some desire to believe that ever see or hear anything. The people who believe in ghosts seem to see ghosts in every "haunted" place they visit. People who believe in Bigfoot seem to hear and see things in the woods. I could go on, but I think you get the picture.
I have never seen anyone who just went to sleep an atheist, and woke up claiming God spoke to them in their dream or some such nonsense. It is always the ones who were already prone to believing, or those who want or need to believe. Take our very own Mystic as an example.
My question is, if there is some God out there, and he is speaking to people or showing people things, why isn't this God showing this stuff to the atheists and non-believers, instead of the ones who already believe or want to believe???.
As to the actual OP, the saying is crap. If "everything" happens for a reason, and God is behind that reason, no one should want to have anything to do with that monster.
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