Do you believe in God?

[MatskiMonk]

When and if my soul is ever weighed and judged on the basis of how others have seen me, I expect I'll have a few issues to deal with.

I expect that we all will.

Why wait to die to deal with these issues then. Set the scales level while you're alive.

 

[TheCracker]

Many ancient cultures, from the Egyptians to the North American Indians, had belief systems, documented orally and symbolically, that described the afterlife and its immediate journey after death. The near-universal agreement of many world belief systems is that humans have a soul, which after death is weighed and judged on its thoughts and deeds during life, and determines their subsequent path through the stars. I suppose the meaning and purpose of such belief systems were to inform and guide our lives on the Earthly plane, not just for the individual, but for the health and betterment of the family, tribe and civilization. In some modern secular times and societies, such ancient belief seem obsolete and irrelevant, even laughable. Our obvious superiority in technology, economics and politics convinces us that the satisfaction of physical pleasures by the individual is the highest achievement we can ever aspire to. Hence, atheism, postmodernism and libertarianism. Color me guilty. When and if my soul is ever weighed and judged on the basis of how others have seen me, I expect I'll have a few issues to deal with.

That's such a great advertisment for atheism or humanism. You don't have spend your entire existance fearing some form of post-life ethereal judgement based on what you have or haven't done during your short time on earth. You're only judged by your peers and in real time, which is how it should be.

 

[Ghost Lap]

Why wait to die to deal with these issues then. Set the scales level while you're alive.

The point is that none of us are perfect, we all have done things that we know were wrong and will likely continue to do such things from time to time. The whole idea of a life review is that you go over the actions of your life, good and bad, and get to see things from the perspective of others and how they were affected by them so that you gain a greater understanding of yourself.

That's basically the main focal point of spirituality, the idea that essentially we're all here for a short while to learn and grow ourselves, and that this is a gradual process that usually occurs over many lifetimes and reincarnations.

 

[MatskiMonk]

The point is that none of us are perfect, we all have done things that we know were wrong and will likely continue to do such things from time to time. The whole idea of a life review is that you go over the actions of your life, good and bad, and get to see things from the perspective of others and how they were affected by them so that you gain a greater understanding of yourself.

That's basically the main focal point of spirituality, the idea that essentially we're all here for a short while to learn and grow ourselves,

Seems reasonab...

this is a gradual process that usually occurs over many lifetimes and reincarnations

... hmmm, not sure I can get behind that.

 

[TheCracker]

The point is that none of us are perfect, we all have done things that we know were wrong and will likely continue to do such things from time to time. The whole idea of a life review is that you go over the actions of your life, good and bad, and get to see things from the perspective of others and how they were affected by them so that you gain a greater understanding of yourself.

That's basically the main focal point of spirituality, the idea that essentially we're all here for a short while to learn and grow ourselves, and that this is a gradual process that usually occurs over many lifetimes and reincarnations.

Super, smashing, great. Let's look at what you could have won done.

Pointing out wrong doings at a point when you have no chance to right them seems like a silly prize to me. Learning and growing from your pour choices is better done whilst alive, IMO.

 

[Danoff]

Our obvious superiority in technology, economics and politics convinces us that the satisfaction of physical pleasures by the individual is the highest achievement we can ever aspire to. Hence, atheism, postmodernism and libertarianism. Color me guilty.

So much wrong in this short space.

First, no, none of that should convince you that "satisfaction of physical pleasures by the individual is the highest achievement we can ever aspire to". I have no idea how that follows, and it's not correct.

Second, no, atheism and libertarianism do not follow from that notion. Atheism follows from the notion that evidence in support of a supreme being or beings is lacking. Libertarianism follow from rational thought and human rights. I have no idea why you'd think either of those is predicated on physical pleasure being the highest achievement, but it's incorrect. As for postmodernism, I'm not sure anyone can properly capture exactly what that is or why.

Third, you cast satisfaction of physical pleasure as a sin for which you should feel guilt. Also wrong. It presupposes some kind of religious or other moral structure that says that physical pleasure is immoral, and every piece of real evidence and logic that we have points to the contrary, that physical pleasure is not inherently bad or wrong. Don't mistake me for saying that it's the highest achievement we can ever aspire to, but it's not wrong to feel good.

I know that you personally have posted many times here about feeling guilt, thinking that it is proper to suffer, that the human condition is best expressed through suffering or misery, and you seem to revel in the worst of human behavior. As if it somehow absolves you, or validates some kind of notion that human beings cannot choose otherwise. I can only say that not only is this an unnecessary view, it's also a recipe for unhappiness.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Super, smashing, great. Let's look at what you could have won done.

Saint Peter, is that you?

"Well, Bill & Nora from Kidderminster, you almost won this lovely speedboat and trailer, but... you missed the bull, so instead you get, purgatory"

 

[Ghost Lap]

Regardless of whether you believe in God or whether you don't, or even if you're still undecided on the matter. Does anyone else ever just look up at the sky, and just kind of have the realization that I'm just this tiny little thing inside something so much bigger and
so much greater than I myself am, whatever this universe or reality or whatever you want to call it really is. Or is that just me and my weird self?

 

[TexRex]

 

[Imari]

Regardless of whether you believe in God or whether you don't, or even if you're still undecided on the matter. Does anyone else ever just look up at the sky, and just kind of have the realization that I'm just this tiny little thing inside something so much bigger and
so much greater than I myself am, whatever this universe or reality or whatever you want to call it really is. Or is that just me and my weird self?

You paint it like realising that a ~6 foot tall object is relatively small in the scheme of things is somehow mindblowing.

Frankly, anyone over the age of about 10 who hasn't had some form of that thought is profoundly lacking in imagination. "I am small and other things are big" is not magnificent insight. It's the bare minimum of having some sort of awareness of your immediate surroundings.

 

[m76]

It's the bare minimum of having some sort of awareness of your immediate surroundings.

Your immediate surroundings are the buildings and trees around you. Not the galaxies expanding away at increasing speeds.
Like it or not, I doubt most average people can fathom or even contemplated the scale of the universe. I mean we still have flat earthers who daily use technology that wouldn't be possible on a flat earth. So yeah, a great deal of people are really only aware of their immediate surroundings.

 

[Imari]

Your immediate surroundings are the buildings and trees around you. Not the galaxies expanding away at increasing speeds.
Like it or not, I doubt most average people can fathom or even contemplated the scale of the universe. I mean we still have flat earthers who daily use technology that wouldn't be possible on a flat earth. So yeah, a great deal of people are really only aware of their immediate surroundings.

You don't need to contemplate the scale of the entire universe to have the thought that you're a tiny thing surrounded by much bigger things. Standing on top of a decent size hill is enough for most people to get to that thought. Hell, standing at the bottom of a decent size hill even is enough to go "wow, that's quite big and I'm quite small". That's a thought that wouldn't be out of place coming from a moderately intelligent 5 year old.

If you think that your immediate surroundings are only the buildings and trees directly next to you, I think you're missing out on quite a lot. Maybe see an optometrist.

 

[m76]

You don't need to contemplate the scale of the entire universe to have the thought that you're a tiny thing surrounded by much bigger things. Standing on top of a decent size hill is enough for most people to get to that thought. Hell, standing at the bottom of a decent size hill even is enough to go "wow, that's quite big and I'm quite small". That's a thought that wouldn't be out of place coming from a moderately intelligent 5 year old.

You forget that according to religion everything is made for their (humanity's) benefit. They believe they are the center of the world.

If you think that your immediate surroundings are only the buildings and trees directly next to you, I think you're missing out on quite a lot. Maybe see an optometrist.

You can't just say words, then redefine their meaning to whatever suits your needs. A person's immediate surrounding is the area they spend their life in, not the entire universe, which the post you were responding to stated.

The trees and buildings were examples and obviously not the whole extent of one's surroundings. Stop twisting things.

How does an optometrist even come into the picture, when we are contemplating the size of the universe?

 

[UKMikey]

Hell, standing at the bottom of a decent size hill even is enough to go "wow, that's quite big and I'm quite small". That's a thought that wouldn't be out of place coming from a moderately intelligent 5 year old.

 

[Ghost Lap]

@m76 You're wasting your breath here, I have a general belief in God and the supernatural, and the same dude labels me a "Christian" based solely on this.

 

[Famine]

I have a general belief in God and the supernatural, and the same dude labels me a "Christian" based solely on this.

Well... that is the name of the Christian deity...

 

[Ghost Lap]

Well... that is the name of the Christian deity...

That doesn't automatically mean that I'm a church going, bible worshipping Christian though, if that's what he was trying to imply.

The word "God" is just a concept we use anyway, what people refer to as "God" doesn't really have a name. That's just a name or label that people give it, because that's just what people do.

 

[Joey D]

That doesn't automatically mean that I'm a church going, bible worshipping Christian though, if that's what he was trying to imply.

The word "God" is just a concept we use anyway, what people refer to as "God" doesn't really have a name. That's just a name or label that people give it, because that's just what people do.

"God" is the Christian deity. A god refers to a supernatural being. Capitalization is important.

 

[Famine]

The word "God" is just a concept we use anyway, what people refer to as "God" doesn't really have a name.

No, "God" with a capital "G" is specifically the name of the Christian deity, also referred to as Jehovah, Yahweh (actually the name of an earlier Canaanite chief deity who became the sole deity of the Israelites, leading to the "tetragrammaton" YHWH), Elohim and others. Most of which just mean "lord" or "god" but with a capital letter.

The general concept of a deity would be "god" with a lower case "g".

 

[Danoff]

No, "God" with a capital "G" is specifically the name of the Christian deity, also referred to as Jehovah, Yahweh (actually the name of an earlier Canaanite chief deity who became the sole deity of the Israelites, leading to the "tetragrammaton" YHWH), Elohim and others. Most of which just mean "lord" or "god" but with a capital letter.

The general concept of a deity would be "god" with a lower case "g".

A bit arrogant of Christians to co-opt the general terms (like god or he or him) and capitalize it to mean their god. Not cool Christians, makes discussion confusing.

 

[Ghost Lap]

As you can see, like I said, wasting ya breath.

 

[Famine]

As you can see, like I said, wasting ya breath.

More like keystrokes than breath, unless you use a voice-to-text system.

Still, it's intriguing to see it's everyone else's fault that you were misunderstood because you used the wrong word and react badly to being told what the right word is.

Not cool Christians

I know, right? It's easily the worst thing Christians have done...

 

[Danoff]

I know, right? It's easily the worst thing Christians have done...

Amongst the bad things Christians have done we include such elements as... naming their god the same thing as the generic word.

 

[Ghost Lap]

You know I'd probably be offended by all of this, if I were actually a Christian...

 

[UKMikey]

A bit arrogant of Christians to co-opt the general terms (like god or he or him) and capitalize it to mean their god. Not cool Christians, makes discussion confusing.

I suspect this was the idea, to help the Church corner the market on religion by coopting the concept. Not sure if the other two names for the Abrahamic deity (G_d and Allah) quite go this far.

 

[Danoff]

You know I'd probably be offended by all of this, if I were actually a Christian...

I think you're assuming that you're being attacked, and that you're being (incorrectly) attacked for being a Christian. Neither is true.

 

[EmpyreanReapr]

I'm a Christian man, and wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for mine and my mom's faith in God.

 

[UKMikey]

I think you're assuming that you're being attacked, and that you're being (incorrectly) attacked for being a Christian. Neither is true.

The Spanish Inquisition sketch is easily the most offensive thing Monty Python ever made about Christianity...

 

[UKMikey]

Excuse the double post.

I'm a Christian man, and wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for mine and my mom's faith in God.

My mum divorced her physically abusive first husband and the Pope excommunicated her for it. Not long afterwards she met my dad and had me. So I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her lack of faith in His Holiness's decision.

 

[Ghost Lap]

Excuse the double post.
My mum divorced her physically abusive first husband and the Pope excommunicated her for it. Not long afterwards she met my dad and had me. So I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her lack of faith in His Holiness's decision.

The Pope or the Christian church has nothing to do with "god", whatever or however you want to define it. Christianity is simply a religion, and just like many other religions uses the term "god" or "God" as a basic concept or idea that most other religions share, just that other religions may use different words or terms to point to the same basic concept or idea.

The Pope has no real authority to determine what "god's" will is than any of the rest of us do.