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As another "experiencer" whose experience was NOT visual but equally convincing and transforming, I suspect we are all individual enough that the mode and method of our experiences need not be remotely similar. The idea that there is a very different way to experience Reality that bypasses the norm is at least supported by experiments like the God Helmet. It seems our brain IS privy to information in the EM spectrum that is NOT limited to our usual sensory system. It calls into question the AUTOMATIC dismissal of such things as hallucinations, illusions, etc. and IMO places dreams into the same category of POTENTIAL actual experiences of that aspect of our Reality. The different susceptibility the experiences display to conscious control in my meditation experiences certainly supports the view that some of them (the uncontrollable) are real aspects of our Reality.
There is little doubt in my mind that most "experiencers" experience what they say they experience, but one very prevalent aspect of these experiences that gives me significant reason to be skeptical about the nature or explanation behind these experiences is their individual, always very personal nature. Always by themselves with no one to verify the experience. No one who shared the experience. No witnesses. No way to validate in any convincing way what happened beyond say so. Why?
Wouldn't it stand to reason that if there really was a supernatural force, spirit or being of any sort making contact with humans, it would make contact with more than one person at a time? Why not an entire classroom of university students who can all verify they saw Jesus at the podium? Why not an entire room of scientists who can verify they saw water inexplicably turned into wine? Why not an entire congregation of worshippers on any given Sunday in church? All who see or even hear the same thing? Something worthy of headline news? Why never any such thing?
Why instead always the one person claiming they had such an experience that no one else can verify?
How do we know these experiences are any different than those I too experienced when I was young? Experiences I now chock up to being young. Might it be that ability or inclination to have those experiences as young people simply stays the same for some adults while other adults grow less inclined, no longer "able?"
Long as it always boils down to whatever someone wants to claim THEY experienced as opposed to at least a group of people who can claim to be witness to the same thing, are we not with good reason to be skeptical and very skeptical at that? Put another way, are we supposed to believe everything everyone claims along these lines? Who yes, who no and why?
here you curse the religious poor..and sins that all do..
and here ....
SO why is it wrong.. to vote for politicians that create jobs!? ! instead of the left who creates more charity that they count against the poor and the left judges them for using !
the reason the Bible endures is because there is Hope there.....that it calls on men equally on all their hypocrisy.. both the poor and the rich.. and all will be judged by the same laws.. accordingly..
ps a man and woman who created a child and have not had sex with anyone else is married in the sight of God.. if they have a papers ok'd by the state or not..
as long as they do not break up and mate with others there is no sin/death created to reap!
You have truly only proved they do what they believe in .. even if they fail .. they tried .. and Our God has mercy on failures..
Let's just take these one at a time since you are a little slow on the uptake.
TEEN PREGNANCIES are "more" in the Bible Belt because they don't allow the "A" word? FALSE
The "A" word in the Bible Belt is so hated that fear and intimidation, which is what you support, keeps them from getting one.
Example, Texas:
Quote:
Women living in Waskom who oppose the ordinance and support the message of the billboards would speak only on the condition of anonymity. They said they feared being “shunned” by their churches and, in some cases, even their own husbands.
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“There are young ladies around here I’ve spoken to whose family don’t believe that an uncle has been raping them. So they’ve been forced to get an abortion. Things get swept under the rug here.
“There are women here who agree with me and a lot who have had abortions but are too afraid to say anything,” she added
In addition, a pregnant teen in no way illustrates it happens because their are fewer A's occurring. It happens because fundamentalist "christians" prevent or limit distribution of birth control while insisting abstinence only is the sole teaching in sex education classes--if they even allow those. The source I used even mentioned religion is a prime reason for higher teen pregnancies in the Bible Belt.
Quote:
For religiosity, the researchers averaged the percentage of respondents who agreed with conservative responses to eight statements, including: ''There is only one way to interpret the teachings of my religion," and ''Scripture should be taken literally, word for word."
They found a strong correlation between statewide conservative religiousness and statewide teen birth rate even when they accounted for income and abortion rates.
For instance, the results showed more abortions among teenagers in the less religious states, which would skew the findings since fewer teens in these states would have births. Buteven after accounting for the abortions, the study team still found a state's level of religiosity could predict their teen birth rate. The higher the religiosity, the higher was the teen birth rate on average.
John Santelli of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University calls the study "well-done," adding that the results are not surprising.
"The index of religiosity is tapping into more fundamentalist religious belief," Santelli said. "I'm sure there are parts of New England that have very low teen birth rates, which have pretty high religious participation, but they're probably less conservative, less fundamentalist type of congregations."
And that same study lists the states with the highest religiosity and those with the higher teen pregnancy rates:
Top 10 states with highest teen birth rates: Mississippi
New Mexico
Texas Arkansas
Arizona Oklahoma
Nevada Tennessee
Kentucky
Georgia
Top 10 most conservatively religious states: Mississippi
Alabama
South Carolina Tennessee
Louisiana
Utah Arkansas
North Carolina Kentucky Oklahoma
See a pattern? Have you removed the scales from your eyes yet?
So your reasoning is specious. YOU are one of the causes of high teen pregnancy rates by the ungodly belief system you hold.
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 08-31-2019 at 07:09 AM..
Reason: quote tag correction
here you curse the religious poor..and sins that all do..
and here ....
SO why is it wrong.. to vote for politicians that create jobs!? ! instead of the left who creates more charity that they count against the poor and the left judges them for using !
the reason the Bible endures is because there is Hope there.....that it calls on men equally on all their hypocrisy.. both the poor and the rich.. and all will be judged by the same laws.. accordingly..
ps a man and woman who created a child and have not had sex with anyone else is married in the sight of God.. if they have a papers ok'd by the state or not..
as long as they do not break up and mate with others there is no sin/death created to reap!
You have truly only proved they do what they believe in .. even if they fail .. they tried .. and Our God has mercy on failures..
Crime including longer incarcerations.
Yes, every state has crime and puts people in prison. But why does the Bible Belt have more?
Quote:
High rates of belief in God and church attendance do not lead to low crime rates. The God-fearing Deep South and Bible Belt suffer from the highest crime rates – while relatively atheistic New England enjoys the lowest. And Utah – despite its large Mormon population – has a high incidence of rape.
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Murder is most common in the South, least common in New England. By state, the worst is 1. Louisiana 2. Mississippi 3. Alabama, 4. Michigan 5. Missouri 6. Maryland 7. Delaware 8. Tennessee.
--------
Property crime is highest in the South and lowest in the Mid-Atlantic. By state 1. South Carolina 2. Arkansas 3. Washington 4. New Mexico 5. Arizona 6. Louisiana 7. Alabama.
While watching the NFL, I used to think they were praying about winning the game, but now it seems they're praying not to get a concussion. The fans that pray the hardest are the ones who placed the biggest bets...
So you don't think any of the players were praying for a win? You've never heard sports figures say out loud that they are praying to god for a win?
I thought to dig a little deeper into what you are arguing here, and though I tend to agree with your direction, again I have to believe there is more to these numbers than just religion. Without getting into those details, simply consider for example that according to the information provided here...
Alabama ranks #1 with 90% of people who consider religion very important or somewhat important.
California is far lower down the line but still with 73% who feel the same way.
I think the difference in terms of these problems you note is partly due to more people who more strongly adhere to their religious beliefs but also where state politics and other circumstances (like income, education, access to public services) help religious people in other states to better avoid some of these problems.
Some even go as far to argue that if it weren't for religion, we'd have lots more people committing crimes and such in all the states. Keeps them honest apparently. Not sure to what extent to believe that either, but I've heard it enough times to think maybe true for lots of religious people. Another case of both good and bad to consider in any case, and plenty of ugly too...
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 08-31-2019 at 07:11 AM..
Reason: quote tag correction
here you curse the religious poor..and sins that all do..
and here ....
SO why is it wrong.. to vote for politicians that create jobs!? ! instead of the left who creates more charity that they count against the poor and the left judges them for using !
the reason the Bible endures is because there is Hope there.....that it calls on men equally on all their hypocrisy.. both the poor and the rich.. and all will be judged by the same laws.. accordingly..
ps a man and woman who created a child and have not had sex with anyone else is married in the sight of God.. if they have a papers ok'd by the state or not..
as long as they do not break up and mate with others there is no sin/death created to reap!
You have truly only proved they do what they believe in .. even if they fail .. they tried .. and Our God has mercy on failures..
So the question is Are the least educated states because of fundamentalist religion OR is the lack of education the reason for higher concentration of fundamentalist religion?
Common denominator --- YOUR ugly religion.
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 08-31-2019 at 07:12 AM..
Reason: quote tag correction
So the question is Are the least educated states because of fundamentalist religion OR is the lack of education the reason for higher concentration of fundamentalist religion?
Common denominator --- YOUR ugly religion.
Might also note that according to conservatives, these problems, like homelessness too, are most prevalent in states where liberals tend to hold office...
Moderator cut: gratuitous remarks about R&S forum rules. None so far from the OP in any case. So maybe we're cool...
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 08-31-2019 at 07:14 AM..
Reason: It's the forum rule on R&S and you know it. Stop with the snarky remarks.
How can you on the one hand discount all that so many people believe they are feeling and experiencing with God or Jesus while at the same time seemingly totally accepting the existence of supernatural forces and spirits? Or am I misunderstanding you again?
I knew you'd come up with a good post sooner or later.
Let's start here: The title of this thread is "The reason the bible has endured". Why couldn't a similar thread be "The reason the Tipitka has endured"? Or "The reason the Vedas and the Upanishads have endured"? Or even, "The reason that fortune telling, psychics, tarot, and the like have endured"? Because all of those things -- and more -- have endured. And guess what, various types of fortune telling persist across cultures.
Next, let me point out that -- if you looked to some posts I probably couldn't even find myself now -- you'll see that a number of times I have said that there may be a god, but I don't see a god as described in christianity. There may be a heaven or heaven(s), but I don't see the evidence that they are as described in the bible. There may be hells...same thinking. There may be spirits...same thinking. I'm not crossing out much of anything. But I am saying that before I will believe in the christian god, or the christian heaven or hell, or phii (go figure it out), or spirit houses, or the Buddhist heavens and hells, then I have to see some actual evidence.
Next, an awful lot of christians seem to believe -- and are willing to say -- that if you don't accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, then you're going to hell. Have I ever said that if you don't believe in Buddhism that you're going to hell? Have I ever said that if you don't believe in Tarot that you're going to hell. Or psychics? Or any of the like?
In either this thread or another, in regard to psychics, I have simply stated what I have personally experienced. I have not asked anyone else to accept what I have said. They can accept it or reject it. Their choice.
here you curse the religious poor..and sins that all do..
and here ....
SO why is it wrong.. to vote for politicians that create jobs!? ! instead of the left who creates more charity that they count against the poor and the left judges them for using !
the reason the Bible endures is because there is Hope there.....that it calls on men equally on all their hypocrisy.. both the poor and the rich.. and all will be judged by the same laws.. accordingly..
ps a man and woman who created a child and have not had sex with anyone else is married in the sight of God.. if they have a papers ok'd by the state or not..
as long as they do not break up and mate with others there is no sin/death created to reap!
You have truly only proved they do what they believe in .. even if they fail .. they tried .. and Our God has mercy on failures..
Poverty:
Quote:
Southern states [Bible Belt] are hostile to organized labor, five states have no state minimum wage, most are “right to work for less” states, and the 10 states with the lowest average incomes are in the former Confederacy including Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia, Alabama, Kentucky, New Mexico, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina and Oklahoma according to the Equality of Economic Opportunity Project. Republicans in Congress promote policies that create poverty across the South and red state voters elect them anyway to subject the entire nation to low wages and the poverty they engender
-----
--religion and guns are powerful motivators for people still holding a grudge over being prevented from owning slaves, restricting women’s rights, and discriminating against Americans according to their religious beliefs. It is no coincidence that the poorest Southern states are also the most religious and have the most firearm violence. In fact, the poorest states have the highest incidence of gun violence to go along with some of the highest gun ownership rates--
The most frequent common denominator --- YOUR ugly religion.
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 08-31-2019 at 07:15 AM..
Reason: quote tag correction
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