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But with you and most of the other fundamentalists here, there is no difference between your god and your bible -- and you all believe you KNOW how to interpret scripture - thus "knowing god's mind."
I know theology, yes. I've been to school for it and have a degree, along with 20+ years of personal study.
God has revealed his will in the Scriptures.
You may consider me arrogant to say that....but you don't think it's arrogant of you to tell me different?
Believing in God is one thing, but trusting a book is something else entirely - a "something else" that has done us little good, in my opinion, especially in this country.
So while you may not claim to have God figured out, those who wrote that precious book of yours HAS claimed to have God figured out ... and they were just as mortal and fallible as you are. Trusting in their supposed wisdom is what has caused so much strife. Even we atheists would be able to happily frolick with Christians in a flower-filled world if not for that book.
Actually....each of them were inspired by God to write the part they wrote. I'm not sure any of them claimed to have it all figured out.
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Just yesterday, Pennsylvania became the 19th state to allow gay marriage. Why is that important? Because the only reason why we don't allow it in all of the other states is because of that book, a collection of harsh and draconian laws that literally gives us a list of people we're supposed to hate. Nothing like pre-packaged bigotry to get the inquisitions rolling, eh?
Actually, Pennsylvania only allows it now because a few liberal judges decided to impose their will on others. Now, you are here telling us what we believe. That sounds like bigotry to me.
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If people could just stick to believing in God instead of worshiping the Bible, all of us would get along SO much better. And that's God's own truth.
Why bother to believe in God if you don't actually let that belief affect your life?
Twas not my intention to spark a debate with this topic.
I am merely stating my observations, my experience after having been lovingly indoctrinated in religion from ages 18-36, and it was done so lovingly that I hadn't thought to question the things that didn't make sense. By age 36, life was throwing so many curve balls which religion and all the religious people in the world couldn't help or solve. All the dogma and rules were suffocating me to the point I couldn't function in our modern society, which is kind of important to do when you need to stand on your own two feet in this dog-eat-dog world.
So at the age of 36 I learned about "cognitive dissonance" in a psychology class. It felt a lot like the strange torment my mind was going through in religion. I was Heavenly happy but miserably unable to function as an adult in the modern world. Over the course of a couple years I have slowly been able to let religion go and keep the positive truths I learned along the way. Gratitude, patience, compassion, unconditional love (within reason), the infinite worth of each human, finding our purpose in life and multiplying our talents & skills & passions to share with others, loving nature, recycling, eating nutritiously, exercising, etc etc.
...snip... Over the course of a couple years I have slowly been able to let religion go and keep the positive truths I learned along the way. Gratitude, patience, compassion, unconditional love (within reason), the infinite worth of each human, finding our purpose in life and multiplying our talents & skills & passions to share with others, loving nature, recycling, eating nutritiously, exercising, etc etc.
Twas not my intention to spark a debate with this topic.
There will always be debate with a subject like religion - it's probably why a number of forums prohibit discussing that and politics.
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Originally Posted by Zelpha
So at the age of 36 I learned about "cognitive dissonance" in a psychology class. It felt a lot like the strange torment my mind was going through in religion. I was Heavenly happy but miserably unable to function as an adult in the modern world. Over the course of a couple years I have slowly been able to let religion go and keep the positive truths I learned along the way. Gratitude, patience, compassion, unconditional love (within reason), the infinite worth of each human, finding our purpose in life and multiplying our talents & skills & passions to share with others, loving nature, recycling, eating nutritiously, exercising, etc etc.
Spirituality.
You seem to have found that perfect place between belief in God and religious indoctrination. If it were even possible for me to believe, I would be in the same place.
It's just a sad fact that far too many people have not faced the cognitive dissonance in their own thoughts about religion and have, instead, become somewhat fanatical in their beliefs.
Actually, Pennsylvania only allows it now because a few liberal judges decided to impose their will on others. Now, you are here telling us what we believe. That sounds like bigotry to me.
Are gays forcing you to marry another man? No? Then lifting the ban doesn't impose one damn thing onto you. Plus, enforcing the Constitution (rather than the Bible) is NOT bigotry - it's obeying the law. Those bans were all unconstitutional from the start and even the very conservative Republican anti-gay PA governor, Corbett, isn't going to appeal the decision. Because he knows he would lose.
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Originally Posted by Vizio
Why bother to believe in God if you don't actually let that belief affect your life?
You can let if affect YOUR life all you want. The problem is that you want it to affect my life, too. And everyone else's, freedom be damned. Religion needs to stay a personal choice and not a government mandate.
There is a vast chasm between "religion" and "a true, living relationship with the Living God." Religion, by itself, much like 'feelings' will never be enough to sustain faith over a lifetime, nor should they. But, a deep, abiding faith is more than sufficient to sustain a true 'relationship' with God.
For those like Zelpha, if you have a 'true relationship with God,' do you think it's the same desert tribal god of the Old Testament that slaughtered and murdered and rampaged across the Middle East?
Because there is where some HUGE cognitive dissonance takes place - this belief that the god of the Old Testament is still this perfect, just, fair, loving God that, I dunno, just happens to enjoy burnt offerings and genocide.
Actually, Pennsylvania only allows it now because a few liberal judges decided to impose their will on others. Now, you are here telling us what we believe. That sounds like bigotry to me.
Ah, yes, that 'liberal' concept of judicial review, without which we got along fine until... 1803 (Marbury v. Madison)...
Now, let's see just how 'liberal' Judge John E. Jones III is, shall we?
And as for the judge, in 1992 he ran for Congress (and lost) as a Republican. Then he served on the transition team of Republican Governor-elect Tom Ridge. John E. Jones III - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yeah. What a lefty...
So what precisely is 'liberal' about this judge, who has interpreted the Windsor decision exactly the same way that every other federal judge has interpreted it? Nothing. 'Liberal' in this case is just a inapplicable epithet from Vizio, who is either too lazy or simply unable to coherently argue against the ruling.
Last edited by Unsettomati; 05-22-2014 at 02:13 PM..
As we go about living and practicing our religions of choice, can we admit to ourselves that deep down there are a few things about our religions that we question, some elements that don't quite make sense or resonate with us, yet we carry on and profess belief and loyalty.
This is cognitive dissonance, in which our minds, lives, beliefs, and actions are in conflict because we profess to believe something while deep down our intuition tells us that the belief is not entirely accurate or logical or necessary.
Spirituality may be a more adaptable method of finding meaning and depth. Spirituality is personal and fluid and dogma-free.
This can't be, I would consider this as being somewhat double-minded, one needs to be full-throttle with their beliefs, that doesn't mean one understands everything there is to know, because I sure don't myself.
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