| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 7/29/2007 8:55:16 PM | In my particular case, like many of you I don't necessarilybelieve in 'god' itself - I think that its possibily a 'handle' or 'name' that some people need to put on something that allows them them to be more comfortable with the world that we live in today (its definitely not all black and white!).
Saying that I also remember when I was attending a course the topic came up about johari windows (using a kind of a swot analysis to look at yourself and others), religion and deja vue (hope i've spelt this correctly). Once of the theories that resonated with me was Jung's therory of conciousness which explored the theroy of when someone passed away, that their knowledge, skills and experiences went into this kind of 'soul mind' and that elements of these then became part of a baby when they were born - for some people, it may be considered that this possibility could be called 'god')
I have also been exposed to not only the traditional sunday school and normal chuch going, but also spoken with people who would be considered to be 'spiritualists', and hope that I still retain an 'open minded' approach - so you could still call me a fence sitter...lol.
I know that my response was slightly off topic, but in my way of thinking, that we should not feel that we are ever truely 'alone', and maybe if other people felt that way a number of wars and conflicts over the years that have been started by a religious excuse, may have never been started at all
btw - enjoy reading everyones posts | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 7/30/2007 2:34:52 AM | eeeewwwkay!!
I've got a weird story to tell and you can take from it what you want.
First of all for those that need proof that life exists beyond the physical, I am (or was) one of them also. I have an open mind with most things but I have never experienced any joy from organized religions in my life, only fear and some really bad childhood memories from the self esteem shrinking idea's that were obviously put in place to control people many years ago (not in my time of existence at least). Those people that are Christians today, seem to be out of touch with the majority of issues in Western society that help to create a collective consciousness for things that are conscientious, Honorable, lawful, scientifically proven or just plain logical for the betterment of humans well being overall. ( for the sake of arguments here's three examples: Technology in Archeology, Homosexuality, Child sexual Abuse).
Just trying to give you all an incite into my headspace before I tell my weird story and thats just one persons example (mine) of why people need proof, I think it's a fair argument and Bible bashes can try and defend it but it's just the truth. I't my truth...
Anyway, the story..
About 5 years or so ago I started to take an interest in that Crossing Over with John Edward show, now at first I was sort of keen to shoot the guy down in flames thinking he was the worst kind of human to make a living out peoples grief from good guesswork and sideshow trickery.
But.... The more I watched the show the more intrigued I became and then I started to think.."Hey this guy's pretty accurate to the point of scary"... " He obviously believes in what he's doing at least"
Anyway I decided to find out more about the guy and this whole 'life after death' thing was starting to bug me. So i said to myself..
" If it's really that easy, and your dead relatives can here what your thinking or feel what your feeling and are monitoring your life to some degree from beyond the grave"
"Then let it be known that I want to meet this John Edward guy and get him to tell me something that only I could possibly know" Sounds like a longshot of course but a theory is a theory no doubt and with that question/thought my life just went on.
So here I am out shopping one time and I came across John Edwards book, so I bought it. Started reading away not really getting much out of it as it was just case studies of his show with a bit of an Auto biography type thing. Picking it up putting it down over a few days when the phone rings. It's my brother on the phone and he says "Hey Gaz , guess where I've been? The John Edwards down under show in Sydney and I've got something freaky to tell you"
I went white...
Now my brother is the SECOND last person that would end up at his show but so happens that his girlfriend was into it and her father recently passed away so poor old (A) Bro' got roped into going.
He continues....
" The place had thousands of people in the auditorium and there were no seat allocations, so you can imagine the sh!t fight trying to get a seat down the front and in the end we just gave up and headed up the backrow . "Anyway JE is reading away when he stops and looks straight up in our direction, it was like he was looking straight at me"
I said " you didn't get read did you" and he says "Gaz thats not the freaky bit" " So here I am thinking here I am about to get read when he start talking about a rough lady with a J sounding name" " This guy stands up behind me and I was sort of relieved in a way but the sound of his voice was very familiar so I looked around and to my absolute shock standing in the seat directly behind me is (K) our Step Brother"
Edit: Neither of the two knew they were going to be at the same show let alone sitting in the same bloody seats without noticing, and all this without noticing they were there until the reading took place.
Now my step brother is THE LAST person that would ever go to a show like that but his girlfriend made him tag along as well and i think they were going into town afterwards.
It was actually that freaky that they did a whole half hour episode on their A and K's experience in another show
The J lady was K's mum and then they went on to our family and he described my Dad and our relationship down to a tee. The number of brothers I have and where I stand on the pecking order and my role in relation to this whole (extremely freaky) gathering.
The feeling I felt at that time was indescribable and here I was reading his book also.
So to sum it all up .. If you wanted proof then I think I came pretty farkin' close wouldn't you think? Now you may think I made this all up but I can prove it because they made a fricken TV show (and a half hour special also) and there are my two brothers in living colour.
And John Edwards and my amazing story.
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atalia
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Joined: 3/28/2007
Msg: 78 | |
| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 7/30/2007 3:39:42 AM | | Yeah I dont believe in a god, but I believe in some kind of other spirit realm, I read that book, John Edwards is awesome, saw him every day on austar way back when I had money for pay tv, and some of the things he came up with were simply unguessable and no fluke. | |
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| simple answer to the John edwards writer
Posted: 12/20/2007 10:47:47 PM | If John can read the minds of dead people, why oh why can't he read yours? Hmmmm
Think about it. Your sitting right in the room with the man. 'Oh he couldn't read my mind, only the mind of dead person." P/S Not that this has anything to do with the coincidence or sychronised meeting of your family. | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/21/2007 4:01:07 PM | Hmmm..every bit as problematic as asking 'do I believe in marriage?' I believe it exists (marriage that is) - I'm reasonably certain it exists. As to whether any of those that are practitioners of the marriage thing ever achieve (much less maintain) those lofty ideals touted when taking those vows is another thing altogether. Do I subscribe to the marriage thing; will I get married? Probably not (in the state endorsed, or witnessed by ' God' sense), especially since the terms of what marriage is and isn't was thrashed out in the gay civil union debate and it seems even Kevy is letting the God botherers and hetero community lay claim to that most venerable of institutions, 'marriage'. Which brings me to your 'simple' question; 'God' (the word / concept) seems to have been colonised (maybe even invented) by those that subscribe to one or other of the Christian denominations / sects / cults (take your pick) and it seems the word itself comes with baggage of all varieties. If a Pentacostal or a Catholic asks me 'do you believe in God' they are going to hear two entirely different responses from me even though the same words ('yes' or 'no') had passed through my lips. Phillip Adams claims to be an atheist but says he 'believes' (another problematic word) in the 'numinous' (refer to any of Carl Jung's writings for a good definition); I'm in agreement with him on that. Yes I am struck by the awe and majesty, the wonders and mysteries, the beauty and seemingly inexplicable qualities of nature, but I ain't no Christian (though it sounds like Christ was a pretty cool dude - not so sure of his miraculous tendencies - refer to the gospels of Saint Thomas for a paucity of any such references to the miraculous). Maybe, since God is a 'word', we could ask ourselves 'do we believe in 'words'. It's no small irony that the first words of the bible are 'In the beginning, there was the word' John 1.1...ask a semi-retired post-structuralist a silly question!
....and another thing, if one does believe in 'God' does it follow that they automatically believe in Allah or Buddha or Satan for that matter? Didn't all Christians once believe in 'the devil', i.e. his existence? | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/21/2007 4:39:18 PM | I have read most of the responses to this question, including the fanatically religious and fanatically anti religious and most in between. My view of this is simple.
Do I believe in a God - No
Do I hope there is someone with the master plan in action - yes,
Realistically i think we are simply either blaming someone or something for what we find inconceivable (the untimely death of a loved one) or justifying our own actions and decisions due to a higher authority approving it (fanatical religious groups of all faiths).
We as individuals and collectively as a society are responsible for what we do.
So, people take responsibility for your actions because they are all your decisions that effect people and the world we all share. We all live and we all die what we do between is what makes us who we are. | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/21/2007 10:01:16 PM | Hi,
Sorry to hear of your losses. I too lost my younger brother, father and nephew,So I empatize completely. I believe in something, some greater power maybe it is only the highest power of other human beings to love one another and show compassion and careing, I don't really believe that somebody sits above us all judgeing and decideing who lives and who dies and when, where and how. You see God &/or Goddess to me is unconditional love, therefore it cannot judge,and make such decisions. Do you get my point, maybe we are all on this earth for our own spiritual reasons and when we have done all that we have come to do in that time we move on. Good luck to you friend with cancer if she is open to trying unorthodox therapies there is a tape available at the Theosophical bookstore you can oder it over the phone if you like I forget the name of the person that does the tape but I am sure the bookstore can guide you wisely, this particular person has had a 98% success rate in cureing cancer he instructs the subconcious to remove all negative programming. Don't lose heart remember fopr the time they are with us or have spent with us this we can be gratefull for.
Christine | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 1:43:37 AM | I don't 'believe' in God, I have a personal knowledge of God.
not something I expect everyone else to have either, because it is personal,
# Our Soul is God given,
# Religion in man made. | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 2:48:23 AM |
Well the word God means Good, so if you dont belive in God, then you dont belive in good. ^^^what a load of codswhallop.
An atheist can't be a do-gooder?
That's like saying all people who believe in god are good, even Hitler.
Maybe you were just being sarcastic | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 3:03:42 AM | If they are unaware that god means good, its not saying they are bad Its just their unaware its also not saying they are good. Theirs good and bad in every one of us. Im not asking you to belive it, its just fact. Keep your shirt on.
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 3:23:47 AM |
its just fact It's not a fact at all, it sounds like your interpretation.
so if you dont belive in God, then you dont belive in good. So if they don't believe in good, then you believe in, er, um, bad. Is that it? | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 6:03:45 PM |
Yes it is a fact and you have no idea what i mean so get off it
Fact according to who? dizzydel, you insinuated if a person doesn't believe in god then they are no good.
I might have a better idea of what you mean, if you were able to convey your message in plain English.
Telling me to "keep my shirt on" & "get off it" just shows how intolerant you are of others.
It's my absolute right to respond to your ridiculousness comment in the way I see fit, as long as it conforms to the rules set out by pof. | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 8:10:23 PM | I believe in god, but the god I believe in created the universe. I think this says it best:
About God, I cannot accept any concept based on the authority of the Church. As long as I can remember, I have resented mass indocrination. I do not believe in the fear of life, in the fear of death, in blind faith. I cannot prove to you that there is no personal God, but if I were to speak of him, I would be a liar. I do not believe in the God of theology who rewards good and punishes evil. My God created laws that take care of that. His universe is not ruled by wishful thinking, but by immutable laws.
Albert Einstein
When I want a spiritual experience I log onto this website and browse the gallery.
http://hubblesite.org/ | |
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Naamah
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Joined: 11/22/2007
Msg: 92 | |
| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 9:59:54 PM | ^^ You have said that you believe in god, and presented that quote as saying it best for you...but that quote from Einstein is saying that he does not believe in god. It says that although he cannot prove the non-existence of god, he would be a liar to speak of god...(because he doesn't believe god exists.)
The reference he then makes to "his god" is in fact science. Science is his god.
Einstein was often misquoted in this regard, or rather excerpts of what he said are used to imply that he believes in god. He did not.
More from Einstein...
It was of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal god and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.
I am a deeply religious non believer. This is a somewhat new kind of religion.
I have never imputed to nature a purpose or goal, or anything that could be understood as anthropomorphic. What I see in nature is a magnificent structure that we can comprehend only very imperfectly, and that must fill a thinking person with a feeling of humility. This is a genuinely religious feeling that has nothing to do with mysticism.
The idea of a personal god is quite alien to me and seems even naive. | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 10:20:23 PM | I often find it amusing that many non-believers are quite happy to accept others beliefs but often the reverse is not true.
Why do religious people feel the need to try and inflict their beliefs on others while non-believers appear more tolerant of others ??
Maybe non-religious people are more comfortable and secure in their convictions and beliefs and dont feel the need to justify what is their truth.
Just a thought!!
Myself,im thinking buddhism is the way to go.....seems to me this is a way of life that has a lot going for it. | |
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Naamah
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Joined: 11/22/2007
Msg: 95 | |
| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 10:40:25 PM | | ^^ Agreed. But when he refers to his god he means those laws (and science being the study of them). He didn't believe a god created the universe as I understood your first post to be indicating. | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 10:44:50 PM | Yes, I believe in God and I feel that is as far as it should go. We are lucky enough to live in a democratic society where we have the right of freedom of speech.
We are able to believe in what we choose and I feel that others trying to force their opinions down anyone elses throat.
Religion causes enough fighting and heartache in this world as it is.
Just believe in whatever it is that makes you happy and don't try and force others to do the same.
Acceptance and tolerance is the key. | |
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Naamah
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Joined: 11/22/2007
Msg: 98 | |
| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/22/2007 11:57:59 PM | | And of course you can and will continue to think that Einstein thought whatever you like, but from all I have read Einstein only ever used the word god in a metaphorical or poetic sense... as a non-supernatural synonym for nature. He clearly stated he did not believe in a personal god and found the very idea naive. In 1940 he was hounded by various heads of relgions to take back what he said in his paper about not believing in a personal god. Doesn't sound like a guy who believes a god created the universe to me. | |
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| simple question - do you believe in a god?
Posted: 12/23/2007 11:27:06 AM | Naamah,
It really doesn't matter that much to me. I posted Einstein's quote because of what he said about theology, and gods that "watch" over us and our actions.
I firmly believe that most of theology is a pile of human fabricated BS. I also believe as Einstein did that everything in the universe, is somehow connected by a grand design, much of which we can't observe yet. I don't believe in anything that I was programmed to believe when I was a child. No matter how hard I try however, I cannot completely erase the programming that my mind was subjected to. I got into trouble once when things went horribly wrong while I was alone 40 miles out in the bush. All of a sudden I was asking god for help. It took me a few seconds to "catch" myself. I got out of trouble when I started to think logically about how to get out of my situation.
Beyond those beliefs that mirror Einstein's , it's really up in the air for me. It's difficult for me to imagine that the universe was not created by someone or something, but it's not a firm belief. We know so little about the universe, matter, anti-matter, energy, gravity, muliple dimensions,etc.. So when I say I believe in god, it's not based on anything really except my very limited knowledge and imagination. It's all more of a feeling than a conviction and my views may well be modified before I die. | |
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