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Phets "more lengthy" posts usually have substance relating to the forum topic.
With only relying on memory, I'd say the largest percentage of yours are admonishing others about HOW they should post and/or encouraging not much more than longer version of the simpler request of "Can't we all just all be nice?"
I guess that means that you're denying the bible and/or you're afraid of the answer.
Brilliant, as usual.
The point is that so many atheist arguments and questions have so much nonsense behind them. It's like each word is a floodgate holding back a torrential deluge of nonsense. A Christian doesn't even know where to begin. So it's not even worth trying to respond.
No. I refuse to respond to any nonsense like that.
The point is that so many atheist arguments and questions have so much nonsense behind them. It's like each word is a floodgate holding back a torrential deluge of nonsense. A Christian doesn't even know where to begin. So it's not even worth trying to respond.
No. I refuse to respond to any nonsense like that.
I'll take it that you deny the bible.
And that you're afraid of the answer.
Either way, or both, you consistently refuse to counter the actual question.
No, that isn't what Phet is asking or proposing, although I can see why you might think I was being a literalist in that way of phrasing it. So let me start with that. Even the way that god is portrayed in different religions is not just nominally different, it is often drastically different. Christians think of god as being like a human in appearance. Hindus certainly don't. Some Hindu divinites are portrayed as animals (Ganesha, Hanuman, the Nagas, the vahanas, and several of Vishnu’s incarnations. And then, of course, we have Buddhism where there is generally thought of as having no god. These aren't slight variations in the perception of god; they are drastic variations in the perception of god. Even in christianity, I've been in homes and churches where Jesus is depicted a white as driven snow, and other homes and churches where Jesus is depicted as African. Well, he was a real man (wasn't he?), so it does matter.
Now you can say that these differences are merely superficial, if you wish, but do Hindus essentially believe the same thing as christians? Do christians essentially believe the same thing as Buddhists? The only place I see any commonality at all regarding beliefs is among Jews, christians, and muslims, and even there the differences are so drastically different that people have fought wars over those differences, and continue to die over those differences on an almost daily basis.
Do I miss or ignore that spirit has no physical form. Not at all. *****(I will come back to this). But these difference religions have clearly assigned drastically different physical forms to go along with drastically different religious beliefs. For example, to christians, god is god. To Hindus, the various gods have different personas that relate to what they do. That's not a minor difference in perception.
Having spent a great deal of time in Buddhist temples throughout much of Southeast Asia, I am fully aware of what various Buddhist artwork says about symbolization. Having visited Hindu temples in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, I have seen a great deal of symbolization of religious beliefs. But I've yet to hear a single Buddhist or Hindu say, "Oh we believe in the same thing you christians do" (since they automatically tend to assume that white Westerners are christians).
What I wanted to get back to is this: When I speak out against religion, I am speaking out against religions as they are practiced. If you wanted to search, you could find -- for example -- a number of posts where I have said that I disbelieve in the theistic god, but that there may be a deistic god. There very well may be a spiritual force out there. But as a person with a science background, before I'm going to say "I believe that"...you gotta show it to me. Because until you can provide firm evidence of such a force, you're just guessing. Guessing is not a bad thing, but it's also not a convincing argument. And I say this as person who believes in "something beyond" what man understands.
You seem to try to portray me as the one person who doesn't believe this. The one bad guy. Grow up. You've got a whole body of most christians out there who believe in "one god, the father almighty, the maker of heaven and earth...", who also believe (when you pin them down) that if you don't believe in Jesus Christ as your personal savior that you're going to hell. And after you convince all of them, then you can start on the Muslims, who believe similarly...except not the Jesus part.
In my view, if there is a unifying spiritual entity, "it" hasn't done a very good job with the unifying aspect. If there is a god, I would think he/she/it would be the god of all people he created. I see almost no religionists who believe that. Most all people hunker down in their own little spiritual tribe.
You said, "a "literalist" may give a superficial surface reading of something. but unless (or until) there is a conceptual understanding as well, there is no depth to the grasp of the material. [and beyond that, beyond the conceptual understanding, the next deeper level is the experiential, actually putting it into practice.]" I would counter by saying that a -- well, let's see, what are you in comparison to a literalist -- seem to want to deny the reality of the thinking of almost all of mankind. I don't see that attitude as being particularly "deep".
"If there is a god, I would think he/she/it would be the god of all people he created. "
yes
one Creator.
that's what the Creator is.
you seem to be very bothered that there are different paths of "religion and spirituality" and somehow see this as problematic. these paths are a relationship with spirit, they nourish the spirit and are forms and processes to facilitate that. in the same way food nourishes the body, and there are many varieties of food and different cuisines. in the same way art nourishes our emotions with its beauty, and there are many forms and varieties of art. iin the same way learning nourishes our intellect and there are many fields of study. yes there are regional varieties that have different names on the menu, in the course catalog, on the gallery, but they have a common purpose, that of nourishment.
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 09-28-2019 at 01:21 PM..
"If there is a god, I would think he/she/it would be the god of all people he created. "
yes
one Creator.
that's what the Creator is.
you seem to be very bothered that there are different paths of "religion and spirituality" and somehow see this as problematic. these paths are a relationship with spirit, they nourish the spirit and are forms and processes to facilitate that. in the same way food nourishes the body, and there are many varieties of food and different cuisines. in the same way art nourishes our emotions with its beauty, and there are many forms and varieties of art. there are regional varieties that have different names on the menu but they have a common purpose.
And they sometimes fight each other to the death. Seems to not be working very well.
Absolutely!! Just divorce any influence from pubic/political policy.
Uh, remember Blue Laws?
Once that type of crap is completely gone, I doubt if "you'd" hear from 'us"
phet its not about anyone convincing you of anything.
your walk with spirit is yours. your path is yours.
nobody can walk it for you.
it is about participation. not demanding to be convinced.
That's just about the first post of yours that I've agreed with.
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