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I don't believe man is omnipotent. I just don't see if I believe in Thor as my omnipotent savior what good that is going to do me. You said I can believe in a god of my choice, right? I pick Thor. Now, explain to me how I am better off than I was before.
well , it is a religion specifcaly designed for living in the world and you would hopfully be fallowing those old beliefs and your life would be better for it
BTW thor nor odin never claimed to be omnipotent
I know you say it in jest or sarcasm. But picking someone beside yourself tells there is hope for you. If you recall, Thor as a God was someone powerful. Well, the mighty one I believe in is God. And by the way, that is who the pilgrims believed in when they made that journey over an ocean they believed might have a tipping point. Did you ever think that the goodness in the world, kindness in the world etc is that "thing" we call God. Just because we may not have chosen the right word does not mean that a power that is greater than us, esists. I choose to believe. Now don't make me thor.
If you are right and 5000 other gods exist, I assume they are good creatures and will be impressed with my behavior. I have spent a lifetime doing good for others. I recently retired and still do as much as I can for others?
I know you say it in jest or sarcasm. But picking someone beside yourself tells there is hope for you. If you recall, Thor as a God was someone powerful. Well, the mighty one I believe in is God. And by the way, that is who the pilgrims believed in when they made that journey over an ocean they believed might have a tipping point. Did you ever think that the goodness in the world, kindness in the world etc is that "thing" we call God. Just because we may not have chosen the right word does not mean that a power that is greater than us, esists. I choose to believe. Now don't make me thor.
some pilgrims did, some only claimed too, many still held on to the beliefs of there ancestors and came here to escape the persecution in there homeland ...we claim these truths to be self evident
If you are right and 5000 other gods exist, I assume they are good creatures and will be impressed with my behavior. I have spent a lifetime doing good for others. I recently retired and still do as much as I can for others?
And if you are correct and that is the presupposition, than I too should probably go. I've donated to charities, been to third world countries after devastating typhoons, landslides, and civil wars and dropped food and gifts for children on Guam during Christmas. I may not believe in your God, or 5000 other Gods, but that doesn't make me an immoral person as you imply.
Your implication is such that "You have spent a lifetime doing good for others."
Is that because you just believe in God, or is that because you are just a good person? Is it your belief in God that makes you do good things? If so, that scares me, because I truly fear the person who only does good as a result of their belief. What keeps you from doing bad? Is that too, your only recourse for not doing bad?
My point was to acknowledge that you told me I needed to accept something greater. I suppose I do. I do accept nature, in the most simplistic form and not as spiritual, as something that has ultimate control over things. I don't see it as some sort of 'divinity' that is watching our every move to make sure we perform the right acts. It doesn't have a 'plan', it's just nature. Just as it rains, or the sun shines, such is nature. Understanding how it all works, may perhaps be a large focal point in my life, but it does not mean I feel it has any bearing on my life other than the uncontrollable.
I don't fret over nature having 'heard' me or 'seen' me do something. I don't believe in the "Big Brother" Gods that people seem to suscribe to. I don't see why I should acknowledge the Christian God any more than, as we saw on another thread, The Flying Spaghetti Monster. There is just as much proof for the Flying Spaghetti Monster as there is the Christian God, or for that matter, Zeus, Odin, Thor, Baal, Chaac, Shiva, Ra, etc... etc...
I don't need God or religion in my life in order to be moral. I can do that on my own. I hope you're able to see through that instead of what is such a typical mindset in this country today which seems to be: "If you're an Atheist, you are a bad person."
P.S- I don't mean to sound offensive, rude, or crass. If I've come across as such than I apologize. Usually people find it offensive when I compare their God to that of The Flying Spaghetti Monster. To me, it's just as non-real. That's all I'm trying to get at.
GCStroop: I suppose your answer could addres the insufficiencies in my answer, but there is a higher power, scientifically described in different terms, but we need a name for that mysterious power that keeps on surfacing in our lives. God seems soul satisfying. Now I know you can't see our "souls" but sometimes, we respond to life's situations with a "passion" that seems to come from somewhere. My daighter is a nurse. When she was in training, in her surgical stint, she related an instance that occurred in surgery. The patient was wheeled in, anestetized and as had happened many times, the surgical team opened the hand of the patient and discovered embedded in her palm, a religious medal. the lead surgeon said to the student nurses, "See this medal? This woman has hope...I would rather do major surgery on a patient with hope than minor surgery on a patient without hope." Call the hope what you will, but God is easiest to say. When I think of all the things that happened over the years in my own life, I know I could not have made it without Him.
CG81. I don't see how God gets even if we don't obey the commandments etc. What He does say is simply this. If you do not obey or regard the behavior mod we recommend, you will find out later, that there are consequences. When I think of the times that I may have broken a rule oir two, what happend afterwards was my own doing not God's.
There has to be something good going on because we discussed a sensitive subject and were respectful doing so. What we believe in makes us so. I know and you know that Christianity spread all over the world. It began with the beliefs of one man Jesus Christ. I think I am a pretty good person, but there is no world wide clamor for my teachings. So, Jesus was special and I am glad to be one of his believers. The Ten Commandments offer a behavior modification plan that fits any size. In Italian lore, when planting tomatoes, it is wise to attach the clinging vine to a a pole (usually a tree sapling) to hold the plant upright. Failure to do so causes the plant to grow along the ground, produce little fruit and maybe just rot away. Our parents compared our set of beliefs which society labels, "religion" to the pole. Tied to it, gives us the "groundeness" we need in life. It holds us accountable." Our family gatherings are always punctuated with a blessing or a story with a life lesson. Maybe it does not work for you. It certainly has worked for my family. There have been times, when, after being asked to help someone, and I tried the usual, and nothing was left to advise, I would ask the person if they tried prayer. Perhaps, the ability to focus, even during those moments, gave the person the impetus to re=focus, to be re-charged and to go on. Above my desk, appears the words. "Today, there is nothing that God and I cannot do together. If not today, there is always tomorrow." Sounds kind of preachin but I am not a die-hard church goer, I am just a person who started out in life under tough circumstances and sometimes all I had was the belief that someone cared.....God.
Last edited by Friendly blogger; 02-07-2008 at 03:56 PM..
Reason: correct contraction can't to cannot.
I'll worry about that then... so far it always has. (I've got a good mechanic )
but the point is you need the machnic for your falible machine
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