How do you "just know?"

[Katzndogz]

Not a trick question - I'm being sincere. Me and the guy who hooked up my Verizon Fios were talking about this.

I was telling him that I'm just agnostic - I don't believe everything came from nothing but at the same time I'm not at all Religious.

He began to get into the Forgiveness thing.

I was like - well, I do my best (and even when noone's looking) to be a good person.....but if I continue down that path and can never get over the mental block of not having "faith," then I guess I'm doomed eh?

But the mental block won't ever go away. I know this because I know myself. I'd have to see some sort of miracle, and be able to somehow attribute that miracle to a Religion or whatever. I don't see this happening. How do you "just know?"

For me, "you don't."

I'm sure it's different for others.

I had a friend that was an atheist since she was a teenager. She suffered from severe debilitating headaches as a girl. She went to doctor after doctor and no one could find the cause or the cure. So she prayed. She prayed for hours. Her prayers were not answered, not one time. She concluded that there was no God because her prayers were never answered and her headaches didn't go away.

I had to ask her what happened since I had never known her to have a headache at all. She said that it wasn't God, they just got less and less, further and further apart until she just didn't get them anymore.

That's why she was an atheist.

 

[syrenn]

Perfect question to ask Republicans.

They either "just know" or had a "gut feeling".

Idiot.. you are worse then liesmatters...

what on earth does this this discussion have to do with Republicans?

 

[hortysir]

Not a trick question - I'm being sincere. Me and the guy who hooked up my Verizon Fios were talking about this.

I was telling him that I'm just agnostic - I don't believe everything came from nothing but at the same time I'm not at all Religious.

He began to get into the Forgiveness thing.

I was like - well, I do my best (and even when noone's looking) to be a good person.....but if I continue down that path and can never get over the mental block of not having "faith," then I guess I'm doomed eh?

But the mental block won't ever go away. I know this because I know myself. I'd have to see some sort of miracle, and be able to somehow attribute that miracle to a Religion or whatever. I don't see this happening. How do you "just know?"

For me, "you don't."

I'm sure it's different for others.

Your opening post isn't what I was expecting when I read the title but I think my original thought as to what it meant can help to answer a little bit....

I thought the question was meant to ask, "How do you explain instinct?"

It made me think of a deer, when I'm out hunting.
I'm sitting in a tree with my rifle against my shoulder. I haven't made a noise or even so much as taken a breath out of anticipation.
The wind hasn't changed and this big buck isn't looking my direction.
All of a sudden his ears perk up and ZOOM!! he's off like a rabbit!!

We always call it 'instinct', right?

I call it 'God's whisper'.
Ya ever get that feeling, sometimes, like you shouldn't be somewhere so you leave and find out later that (for instance) a car swerved up on to that curb shortly after you left....or something similar????

Again, 'God's whisper'.

That's how you "just know" when something isn't right, or that you should do something, or that you shouldn't be doing what you're doing.

So, as an agnostic, you might call it instinct or conscience.
I call it God's voice!!

When you start to call it what it is, you'll more easily recognize it for what it is when you hear it.

 

[xotoxi]

Not a trick question - I'm being sincere. Me and the guy who hooked up my Verizon Fios were talking about this.

I was telling him that I'm just agnostic - I don't believe everything came from nothing but at the same time I'm not at all Religious.

He began to get into the Forgiveness thing.

I was like - well, I do my best (and even when noone's looking) to be a good person.....but if I continue down that path and can never get over the mental block of not having "faith," then I guess I'm doomed eh?

But the mental block won't ever go away. I know this because I know myself. I'd have to see some sort of miracle, and be able to somehow attribute that miracle to a Religion or whatever. I don't see this happening. How do you "just know?"

For me, "you don't."

I'm sure it's different for others.

"How do you prove you love someone"?

Easy. All you have to think of is how you would feel if they were suddenly gone from your life.

If the answer is "utter despair", then you love them.

 

[Sherry]

You can't force yourself to believe, and you can't force yourself to stop believing...and I have tried to reject God a few times in my life. While I don't feel that I need to be part of a religion to have a relationship with God, the fellowship with other people who have faith can be nice. I've also been lucky to have pastors who never made me feel bad for all of my questions, and even encouraged me to challenge the teachings of the church. In fact, within our Synod, pastors disagree and debate about all sorts of issues. I have not felt forced to blindly accept anything, and I will never stop questioning. I've also never felt compelled to convince anyone that they should reconsider their own beliefs.

 

[peach174]

Then you will never find it, because God does not work that way. You have been showen many ways, but you won't accept it long as you keep using the excuse of rationale.
The very fact of miracles is not rational, that is why they are called miracles.
That is why Dr.'s always say the person's recovery is a miracle because there is no rational explanation. It defies any explanation.
You can see it all around you and Revelation is happing right before our eyes.
But it is up to you to decide.

 

[peach174]

How do you rationalize anything that has no explanation?

 

[Newby]

Then you will never find it, because God does not work that way. You have been showen many ways, but you won't accept it long as you keep using the excuse of rationale.
The very fact of miracles is not rational, that is why they are called miracles.
That is why Dr.'s always say the person's recovery is a miracle because there is no rational explanation. It defies any explanation.
You can see it all around you and Revelation is happing right before our eyes.
But it is up to you to decide.

I have a major problem with that - and any Religion that purports that.

Yeah, but at the same time you're making a huge assumption that your 'rationale' can explain or understand everything in a logical/rational way that makes sense to the human mind. Maybe it can't?

 

[peach174]

You have the proof G.T.

You refuse to accept it.
If you use rational thinking. You would come to the conclusion that there is most defiantly a designer who created this universe and everything that is in it.
Humans who try to explain the perfection of the workings in this universe and this world does not cut it.
By no means or way, was the Universe or Earth a random or accidental way of how it works or came into being.
Everything points to a designer and the designer is God.
How do I know there is a God?
Because he has answered me with every prayer and every question and has guided me throughout my whole life.A lot of times I did not like the answer, but I found out latter why.
Even when I didn't seek for or look for him in my younger days. He was always with me.
Like I said it's up to you to decide.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Not a trick question - I'm being sincere. Me and the guy who hooked up my Verizon Fios were talking about this.

I was telling him that I'm just agnostic - I don't believe everything came from nothing but at the same time I'm not at all Religious.

He began to get into the Forgiveness thing.

I was like - well, I do my best (and even when noone's looking) to be a good person.....but if I continue down that path and can never get over the mental block of not having "faith," then I guess I'm doomed eh?

But the mental block won't ever go away. I know this because I know myself. I'd have to see some sort of miracle, and be able to somehow attribute that miracle to a Religion or whatever. I don't see this happening. How do you "just know?"

For me, "you don't."

I'm sure it's different for others.

Self-Reliance

Try that.

Can you stick a C# on a C tonality? You just know, right?

 

[peach174]

No one who believes , believes blindly G.T.
An no one is asking you to blindly believe.