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Let me try to explain. First of all it's not so much a 'belief' as a 'not ruling out' of 'something'.
Whatever that something is, if there is indeed something, is physical, of this universe, and not in any way supernatural.
I've spent a lot of time trying to understand how the universe works. I follow developments in physics as far as I can understand them in theory. I think whatever that something is lies within the physical laws within the universe, same as everything else.
Let's take for example this news story from a couple of days ago: https://phys.org/news/2023-12-physic...hastening.html
Here's a quote from it.
150 years ago, nobody would have even contemplated or conceived of such a development.
If this is possible and beginning to be understood why should it not be possible that other things that we don't understand or even begin to contemplate have some explanation that lies within the physical laws of the universe?
Why do I rule out a god? Because 'God did it' is too easy. There's no version of god that fits as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't answer anything or explain anything. I'm not anti god, but the concept of god just doesn't provide any answers for me. It's superfluous in a way. The universe is more amazing without imagining some being came before it and invented it.
There are lots of things that we currently don't think too hard about how they work. Consciousness is the big one but there are all the other things that go alongside that like intuition and instinct. Or why a heart spontaneously beats for the first time and doesn't stop for it's hosts entire lifetime. Or why some people have extraordinary savant abilities that the rest of us can't begin to contemplate, like knowing instantly what day of the week any given date is in the past or future, or being able to draw an entire cityscape accurately from memory having only seen it once.
There are many things that defy explanation. But whatever they are are physical and of this universe even if I don't know how to explain them.
That is because God is not some separate supernatural entity that created everything. God IS everything that exists and we perceive and experience God's "life processes" (physical laws, etc.) from inside as burgeoning "fetal Spirits" of God's consciousness. There is nothing supernatural about anything. Many things defy explanation because they exist at the higher energy level of quanta (where our consciousness resides), but are beyond the reach of our macro-level measures. I liked CCCyou's analogy of trying to describe or explain an "instantaneous" quantum experience using morse code at 30 baud!
this man got a sign when a lot of books fell from the shelf
and one of them was The Holy Quran and it was open
and when he picked The Holy Quran up his thumb was on a verse and when he read that verse he knew his problem
I'm starting this thread to ask people what experiences they have had that they would consider a manifestation of God. Curious, because I've had some experiences I could describe as manifestations of God. Especially when I was younger and a believer, I would associate certain experiences and/or feelings as a result of God's presence. Then later in life, as I became an atheist, I no longer experienced anything I could conclude was such a manifestation or sign from God. Not for a good many decades now. Not even when I was more "inviting" of such a thing. I'll let this thread be yet another request to see if maybe I get a sign. We'll see. I'll let you know. While meanwhile, what signs have you received? Past or present? Thanks!
This is exactly why I did not care to speak with you any longer. You talk out of both sides of your mouth. You don't sound much like an atheist, you seem confused.
What kind of "sign" are you looking for? Or are you being facetious and playing games? I don't think you are being honest with yourself or anyone else.
What kind of sign would you accept if you were to receive what you thought was a sign? It may be nothing more than delusion or wishful thinking to others, real to you. That's not evidence of a god, that is a personal experience, albeit delusional.
I've had what I thought were signs or experiences, which now that I'm an atheist I know exactly what they were......things that were planted in my head to think that certain signs were of god. Dreams, daydreams, wildly unexplainable happenings (which were also manifestations of what was taught) when in fact, most everything has an explanation.
There are huge mysteries, like the mystery of life. The bible is not the answer to life. It's a joke. What is logical and reasonable are not signs of anything other than the fact that we do have answers. Just not the kind of magical fairy-n-the-sky type of answers or beliefs.
This is exactly why I did not care to speak with you any longer. You talk out of both sides of your mouth. You don't sound much like an atheist, you seem confused.
What kind of "sign" are you looking for? Or are you being facetious and playing games? I don't think you are being honest with yourself or anyone else.
What kind of sign would you accept if you were to receive what you thought was a sign? It may be nothing more than delusion or wishful thinking to others, real to you. That's not evidence of a god, that is a personal experience, albeit delusional.
I've had what I thought were signs or experiences, which now that I'm an atheist I know exactly what they were......things that were planted in my head to think that certain signs were of god. Dreams, daydreams, wildly unexplainable happenings (which were also manifestations of what was taught) when in fact, most everything has an explanation.
There are huge mysteries, like the mystery of life. The bible is not the answer to life. It's a joke. What is logical and reasonable are not signs of anything other than the fact that we do have answers. Just not the kind of magical fairy-n-the-sky type of answers or beliefs.
Don't feed the imaginary bears.
What happened? The feeling of someone slipping a ring on my finger was a type of hallucination similar to the one I had during grief when I felt someone grab my arm and hold it the same way I held Brittany's arm as she passed. It has to do with disruptions in neurotransmitters or along those lines.
No and funny you mention this because my wife suggested the same thing. To go to a "reputable" psychic if I were to go to any. How do you find a reputable psychic? Most of the places where I've seen them hang their shingle don't look all that reputable to me. Perhaps this is why, no, I've never had a session with one.
No and funny you mention this because my wife suggested the same thing. To go to a "reputable" psychic if I were to go to any. How do you find a reputable psychic? Most of the places where I've seen them hang their shingle don't look all that reputable to me. Perhaps this is why, no, I've never had a session with one.
That's a good question.
My first experience was with a fellow teacher in Maryland, who was a psychic but I guess none of us knew that. Then a colleague in another state (after I moved) made the connection.
But that's sort of the way it is done best...word of mouth, which I know doesn't help you.
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That is because God is not some separate supernatural entity that created everything. God IS everything that exists and we perceive and experience God's "life processes" (physical laws, etc.) from inside as burgeoning "fetal Spirits" of God's consciousness. There is nothing supernatural about anything. Many things defy explanation because they exist at the higher energy level of quanta (where our consciousness resides), but are beyond the reach of our macro-level measures. I liked CCCyou's analogy of trying to describe or explain an "instantaneous" quantum experience using morse code at 30 baud!
