Personal Experiences with the Divine

[Coyote]

Religion is a funny thing for me as is my relationship with God and something I rarely open up on because it leaves one open to attack. My extended family holds representatives of a variety of faiths - Episcopal, Russian Orthodox, Morman, Jewish, Baptist, Unitarian, Agnotistic, Buddhist... and I've learned that there are many pathways to God if we open up our eyes to him. But I am very stubborn and resistant. God is very patient though. Every time I think I'm closer to the Divine, some religious jerk says or does something that makes me want to totally repudiate that path and anything to do with organized religion. But then, God does something or shows me something that makes me think. I'm incredibly fortunate and blessed. My problems are usually of my own making. Doors closed but God keeps leaving the windows unlatched. That has happened many times to me. The process of growing has been a process of growing closer to god. I don't know which god or who's brand - but it's the god that created the incredible beauty all around me, that exists in the spark of life in every living thing, that gave us a mind and soul, and granted us the gift to hear his voice in music, dance, and love. One of these days I'll spiral in closer and closer...and be trapped. But it may not be a bad thing

 

[Coyote]

I think EVERYTHING has a scientific explanation.

OK, Sport. Explain how the universe got here. And don't sidestep it with the big bang. Science doesn't know how it started or how life started. Theories aren't proof.

Who knows? Do you? To put GOD in the blank is what you guys have always historically done when you can't explain something. Over the centuries we have filled in those gaps where once we thought it was god, science filled in that gap and each time your god gets smaller and smaller.

But no matter how many things we prove aren't god, it's never enough.

The fact that Christians had to make up an unbelievable story and brainwash Christians with it is my proof god is made up.

The fact that Muslims had to make up an unbelievable story and brainwash Muslims with it is my proof god is made up.

The fact the Greek Gods and Mormons did it too.

Without all their lies, what proof do you have? None. So don't ask me how it happened. I admit I don't know. It is you who claims knowledge in something that imo doesn't even exist.

Maybe it's not brainwashing. Maybe those are the stories that are needed at the time to help the people of the time understand the message.

 

[Coyote]

I think EVERYTHING has a scientific explanation.

OK, Sport. Explain how the universe got here. And don't sidestep it with the big bang. Science doesn't know how it started or how life started. Theories aren't proof.

If I was ancient man and sitting around a camp fire with a bunch of other primitive men, the creation story is what I would come up with .

Unless you believe God talked to people and told them the 7 day story? Come on! Really?

Maybe the story God told was too vast for understanding and got translated into the 7 day story?

Kind of like the story of a little kid being ask to draw Christmas scene. He drew a Mary and Joseph and a baby and next to them this roly poly jolly man. The teacher asked him who the man was and the kid answered - "why that's Round John Virgin"....

 

[sealybobo]

1. God is the universe/love/laws of physics/energy source.
   We already have names for these things. Redefining something as ‘god’ tells us nothing. To use the word ‘god’ implies a host of other attributes and if you don’t intend to apply those attributes, using the word is misleading.
   
   “To call the world God is not to explain it; it is only to enrich our language with a superfluous synonym for the word ‘world’.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

Why there is no god

Number 17.

Love? I didn't say anything about it. You don't know where energy comes from, there is no "re-definition". PLUS you are the one that needs to find someone else's thoughts to cling to. Let's not let that slide by.

I know you didn't say love. Some theists do. So now do you understand the argument? In other words, fill in the ******* blank. You just happened to say after GOD IS the energy source that made us instead of love.

So instead of you saying "God is Love" like some theists do, you say, "God is the energy source...."

We don't even know what the energy source that created us is yet.

So redefining something as ‘god’ tells us nothing. To use the word ‘god’ implies a host of other attributes and if you don’t intend to apply those attributes, using the word is misleading.

 

[Iceweasel]

I don't know which god or who's brand - but it's the god that created the incredible beauty all around me, that exists in the spark of life in every living thing, that gave us a mind and soul, and granted us the gift to hear his voice in music, dance, and love.

I don't think God is very religious. People create the version they want because those things are important to them. Man creates God in his image sort of thing. I don't have much tolerance for people selling their brand these days.

 

[sealybobo]

I think EVERYTHING has a scientific explanation.

OK, Sport. Explain how the universe got here. And don't sidestep it with the big bang. Science doesn't know how it started or how life started. Theories aren't proof.

Who knows? Do you? To put GOD in the blank is what you guys have always historically done when you can't explain something. Over the centuries we have filled in those gaps where once we thought it was god, science filled in that gap and each time your god gets smaller and smaller.

But no matter how many things we prove aren't god, it's never enough.

The fact that Christians had to make up an unbelievable story and brainwash Christians with it is my proof god is made up.

The fact that Muslims had to make up an unbelievable story and brainwash Muslims with it is my proof god is made up.

The fact the Greek Gods and Mormons did it too.

Without all their lies, what proof do you have? None. So don't ask me how it happened. I admit I don't know. It is you who claims knowledge in something that imo doesn't even exist.

Maybe it's not brainwashing. Maybe those are the stories that are needed at the time to help the people of the time understand the message.

So you're saying they/we need to be lied to in order to be good. Well I look around and see that this lie is doing a horrible job. Horrible at recruiting new members, horrible at setting a good example and horrible at solving our problems. In fact I think its holding us back.

 

[Dan Daly]

Back in the 80s I used to have a beer with Jesus every night...does that count?

 

[sealybobo]

Back in the 80s I used to have a beer with Jesus every night...does that count?

Was he Spanish? Then it doesn't count.

 

[Iceweasel]

I know you didn't say love. Some theists do. So now do you understand the argument? In other words, fill in the ******* blank. You just happened to say after GOD IS the energy source that made us instead of love.

So instead of you saying "God is Love" like some theists do, you say, "God is the energy source...."

We don't even know what the energy source that created us is yet.

So redefining something as ‘god’ tells us nothing. To use the word ‘god’ implies a host of other attributes and if you don’t intend to apply those attributes, using the word is misleading.

What's all this love shit? You brought it up, like you did with the bible. I said what I meant, nothing more.

Matter is the manifestation of energy. The matter we interact with comes from an energy source. I believe that the energy source is god/creator/big guy/whatever. That's my belief, it isn't a word game and I have no invested interest in selling something to anybody.

 

[Iceweasel]

Back in the 80s I used to have a beer with Jesus every night...does that count?

It depends on what the beer spoke unto you.

 

[Dan Daly]

Back in the 80s I used to have a beer with Jesus every night...does that count?

Was he Spanish? Then it doesn't count.

I always suspected he was just a lying Mexican scamming me for free beer!

 

[Coyote]

Back in the 80s I used to have a beer with Jesus every night...does that count?

It depends on what the beer spoke unto you.

I think EVERYTHING has a scientific explanation.

OK, Sport. Explain how the universe got here. And don't sidestep it with the big bang. Science doesn't know how it started or how life started. Theories aren't proof.

Who knows? Do you? To put GOD in the blank is what you guys have always historically done when you can't explain something. Over the centuries we have filled in those gaps where once we thought it was god, science filled in that gap and each time your god gets smaller and smaller.

But no matter how many things we prove aren't god, it's never enough.

The fact that Christians had to make up an unbelievable story and brainwash Christians with it is my proof god is made up.

The fact that Muslims had to make up an unbelievable story and brainwash Muslims with it is my proof god is made up.

The fact the Greek Gods and Mormons did it too.

Without all their lies, what proof do you have? None. So don't ask me how it happened. I admit I don't know. It is you who claims knowledge in something that imo doesn't even exist.

Maybe it's not brainwashing. Maybe those are the stories that are needed at the time to help the people of the time understand the message.

So you're saying they/we need to be lied to in order to be good. Well I look around and see that this lie is doing a horrible job. Horrible at recruiting new members, horrible at setting a good example and horrible at solving our problems. In fact I think its holding us back.

No.

What I'm saying is - the stories of the time represent how we understood the world at that time. It has nothing to do with being lied to. If you still believe the literal wording of the messages, that is your choice. But I think there are a lot of layers of meaning beyond the literal.

 

[mudwhistle]

a few years back, I was at a meeting of the church council......someone came in to tell us that a member had been diagnosed with cancer and was going to have surgery the following morning.....over the previous couple of years we had lost several members to cancer and we had become known in the community for a congregation that provided a lot of care and support for cancer victims and their survivors.......we were praying and someone said, "Lord, we are getting tired of having people say we know how to deal with death......this time, let us be known for celebrating life......you said that if we ask for bread, you won't give us stones"......as we were praying the temperature in the room dropped about ten degrees and the hair on my arms stood up......I opened my eyes and it was obvious the other twenty people in the room had experienced it as well......

the next day when she went through surgery they couldn't find any cancer......

Malpractice lawsuit.

 

[Where_r_my_Keys]

When I was in my 20s, after a straight through cross country trip, I died, left my body and returned several times.

The experience is nearly impossible to relate, as most of it defies relationship with anything we otherwise experience.

Suffice it to say that time, is different; or 'more' than our perception of it. Death, is moving from this moment, into the next, with no distinction or angst attached to it... this life is sort of akin to a distant memory... we're aware of it, but its place in the consciousness on that side, is part of an understanding which we vaguely, if at all recognize here.

The experience was a game changer, to say the least. Which in my case, left me with an understanding of our 'universe' that the kids in the Quantum Physics dept. get closer to understanding every day; this universe is one sliver or membrane within the whole of time, which we've little means to understand. This thing we call 'time', is only one otherwise imperceptible slice of whatever time actually is ... and the larger or more complete being(s) are perfectly capable of transitioning from one dimension to the next; or their reality is comprised of time on the whole, it's impossible to understand it, despite having experienced it; but within the sum of the respective verses, is the one of which we count as our 'universe'; we 'believe' that space is a 'place', albeit a large one, but it's closer to a moment or 'time', than a place.

Rest assured, everything the Left thinks that they 'understand' about life, is the antithesis of what life actually is.

Which all by itself, makes it kinda cool... .

 

[Coyote]

When I was in my 20s, after a straight through cross country trip, I died, left my body and returned several times.

The experience is nearly impossible to relate, as most of it defies relationship with anything we otherwise experience.

Suffice it to say that time, is different; or 'more' than our perception of it. Death, is moving from this moment, into the next, with no distinction or angst attached to it... this life is sort of akin to a distant memory... we're aware of it, but its place in the consciousness on that side, is part of an understanding which we vaguely, if at all recognize here.

The experience was a game changer, to say the least. Which in my case, left with an understanding of our 'universe' that the kids int he Quantum Physics dept. get closer to understanding every day; this universe is one sliver or membrane within a whole which we've little means to understand. The time we perceive is only one otherwise imperceptible slice of time... and the larger or more complete being(s) are perfectly able; or their reality is comprised of time on the whole; the sum of the verses, one of which we count as our 'universe'.

Rest assured, everything the Left 'understands' about life, is the antithesis of what life literally is.

Which is kinda cool... .

Oh really?

 

[Where_r_my_Keys]

When I was in my 20s, after a straight through cross country trip, I died, left my body and returned several times.

The experience is nearly impossible to relate, as most of it defies relationship with anything we otherwise experience.

Suffice it to say that time, is different; or 'more' than our perception of it. Death, is moving from this moment, into the next, with no distinction or angst attached to it... this life is sort of akin to a distant memory... we're aware of it, but its place in the consciousness on that side, is part of an understanding which we vaguely, if at all recognize here.

The experience was a game changer, to say the least. Which in my case, left with an understanding of our 'universe' that the kids int he Quantum Physics dept. get closer to understanding every day; this universe is one sliver or membrane within a whole which we've little means to understand. The time we perceive is only one otherwise imperceptible slice of time... and the larger or more complete being(s) are perfectly able; or their reality is comprised of time on the whole; the sum of the verses, one of which we count as our 'universe'.

Rest assured, everything the Left 'understands' about life, is the antithesis of what life literally is.

Which is kinda cool... .

Oh really?

Yeah huh, really.

 

[sealybobo]

I know you didn't say love. Some theists do. So now do you understand the argument? In other words, fill in the ******* blank. You just happened to say after GOD IS the energy source that made us instead of love.

So instead of you saying "God is Love" like some theists do, you say, "God is the energy source...."

We don't even know what the energy source that created us is yet.

So redefining something as ‘god’ tells us nothing. To use the word ‘god’ implies a host of other attributes and if you don’t intend to apply those attributes, using the word is misleading.

What's all this love shit? You brought it up, like you did with the bible. I said what I meant, nothing more.

Matter is the manifestation of energy. The matter we interact with comes from an energy source. I believe that the energy source is god/creator/big guy/whatever. That's my belief, it isn't a word game and I have no invested interest in selling something to anybody.

I'm just telling you what you did. I'm pointing out your mistake when you say god are these things. You say god is energy, emily says it's love, blablabla.

It's point number 17 on my favorite site on all the reasons there is no god.

God is the universe/love/laws of physics.
We already have names for these things. Redefining something as ‘god’ tells us nothing. To use the word ‘god’ implies a host of other attributes and if you don’t intend to apply those attributes, using the word is intentionally misleading.

Why there is no god

 

[sealybobo]

Back in the 80s I used to have a beer with Jesus every night...does that count?

It depends on what the beer spoke unto you.

I think EVERYTHING has a scientific explanation.

OK, Sport. Explain how the universe got here. And don't sidestep it with the big bang. Science doesn't know how it started or how life started. Theories aren't proof.

Who knows? Do you? To put GOD in the blank is what you guys have always historically done when you can't explain something. Over the centuries we have filled in those gaps where once we thought it was god, science filled in that gap and each time your god gets smaller and smaller.

But no matter how many things we prove aren't god, it's never enough.

The fact that Christians had to make up an unbelievable story and brainwash Christians with it is my proof god is made up.

The fact that Muslims had to make up an unbelievable story and brainwash Muslims with it is my proof god is made up.

The fact the Greek Gods and Mormons did it too.

Without all their lies, what proof do you have? None. So don't ask me how it happened. I admit I don't know. It is you who claims knowledge in something that imo doesn't even exist.

Maybe it's not brainwashing. Maybe those are the stories that are needed at the time to help the people of the time understand the message.

So you're saying they/we need to be lied to in order to be good. Well I look around and see that this lie is doing a horrible job. Horrible at recruiting new members, horrible at setting a good example and horrible at solving our problems. In fact I think its holding us back.

No.

What I'm saying is - the stories of the time represent how we understood the world at that time. It has nothing to do with being lied to. If you still believe the literal wording of the messages, that is your choice. But I think there are a lot of layers of meaning beyond the literal.

At what point do the stories stop and reality start? A lot of Christians today seem to be able to understand Noah didn't really happen but then they still believe in virgin births and rising from the dead after 3 days of being dead. Impossible.

Now, if the book of Genesis is an allegory, then sin is an allegory, the Fall is an allegory and the need for a Savior is an allegory – but if we are all descendants of an allegory, where does that leave us? It destroys the foundation of all Christian doctrine—it destroys the foundation of the gospel.” - Ken Ham

 

[Where_r_my_Keys]

I know you didn't say love. Some theists do. So now do you understand the argument? In other words, fill in the ******* blank. You just happened to say after GOD IS the energy source that made us instead of love.

So instead of you saying "God is Love" like some theists do, you say, "God is the energy source...."

We don't even know what the energy source that created us is yet.

So redefining something as ‘god’ tells us nothing. To use the word ‘god’ implies a host of other attributes and if you don’t intend to apply those attributes, using the word is misleading.

What's all this love shit? You brought it up, like you did with the bible. I said what I meant, nothing more.

Matter is the manifestation of energy. The matter we interact with comes from an energy source. I believe that the energy source is god/creator/big guy/whatever. That's my belief, it isn't a word game and I have no invested interest in selling something to anybody.

I'm just telling you what you did. I'm pointing out your mistake when you say god are these things. You say god is energy, emily says it's love, blablabla.

It's point number 17 on my favorite site on all the reasons there is no god.

God is the universe/love/laws of physics.
We already have names for these things. Redefining something as ‘god’ tells us nothing. To use the word ‘god’ implies a host of other attributes and if you don’t intend to apply those attributes, using the word is intentionally misleading.

Why there is no god

Oh! I LOVE this one.

So, where something is recognized from multiple perspectives and identified through each perspective as different things, then the premise holds that only one of those things is valid.

Of course, in reality, that premise is logically invalid, because the thing is what it is, and that may or may not BE what it was defined as from any of the aforementioned perspectives.

God is nature... this is all we CAN know, except what God wants us to know, which we know such is set forth in the scriptures.


The Left rejects the scriptures... fine. So what?
The Left rejects God. GREAT! So what?
The Left rejects the laws of nature which govern human behavior. Wonderful... So what?

The Left also rejects the idea that if you pay someone what they're prepared to accept for nothing, that you're unlikely to get much more, if anything, beyond nothing. They're wrong. We know this... Why does it matter?

Well, from one perspective, it doesn't matter because everyone is entitled to their opinion. From another it matters because the Left is a political organism, designed for the acquisition of power; much like a virus.

And from the perspective that counts, 'you shall know them by their fruit...', therefore because they produce nothing but chaos, calamity and catastrophe, we know that they're animated by a force in nature which counters 'good' (God) therefore we know them to be evil.

Counter evil or be consumed by it. That's why it matters. Look around at the culture of the United States. Do you see any evidence that anyone has spent anywhere near enough time countering evil?

If so, what would that evidence be?

If not... welcome to the club.

 

[Where_r_my_Keys]

Back in the 80s I used to have a beer with Jesus every night...does that count?

It depends on what the beer spoke unto you.

OK, Sport. Explain how the universe got here. And don't sidestep it with the big bang. Science doesn't know how it started or how life started. Theories aren't proof.

Who knows? Do you? To put GOD in the blank is what you guys have always historically done when you can't explain something. Over the centuries we have filled in those gaps where once we thought it was god, science filled in that gap and each time your god gets smaller and smaller.

But no matter how many things we prove aren't god, it's never enough.

The fact that Christians had to make up an unbelievable story and brainwash Christians with it is my proof god is made up.

The fact that Muslims had to make up an unbelievable story and brainwash Muslims with it is my proof god is made up.

The fact the Greek Gods and Mormons did it too.

Without all their lies, what proof do you have? None. So don't ask me how it happened. I admit I don't know. It is you who claims knowledge in something that imo doesn't even exist.

Maybe it's not brainwashing. Maybe those are the stories that are needed at the time to help the people of the time understand the message.

So you're saying they/we need to be lied to in order to be good. Well I look around and see that this lie is doing a horrible job. Horrible at recruiting new members, horrible at setting a good example and horrible at solving our problems. In fact I think its holding us back.

No.

What I'm saying is - the stories of the time represent how we understood the world at that time. It has nothing to do with being lied to. If you still believe the literal wording of the messages, that is your choice. But I think there are a lot of layers of meaning beyond the literal.

At what point do the stories stop and reality start? A lot of Christians today seem to be able to understand Noah didn't really happen but then they still believe in virgin births and rising from the dead after 3 days of being dead. Impossible.

Now, if the book of Genesis is an allegory, then sin is an allegory, the Fall is an allegory and the need for a Savior is an allegory – but if we are all descendants of an allegory, where does that leave us? It destroys the foundation of all Christian doctrine—it destroys the foundation of the gospel.” - Ken Ham

Actually, "Noah" literally did happen. As did Sodom and Gomorrah... The tower of Babble... and (this is my personal fave... The genesis, wherein the universe began with a great explosion of light... . I like it as much as I do, because Genesis, written many many thousands of years ago... describes the origin of the universe in accurate terms, where the theorist of the "Big Bang", described such in inaccurate terms, assigning an aural quality to that which occurred where there was no medium essential to propagate an aurally relevant wave; thus: No BANG. I forget his name, 7th grade science was a long time ago... but the thesis rested upon the premise that space was filled with aether... which is how the scientists of most the the scientific human history believed that light waves were propagated, enabling light to travel through space. "The Big Bang Theory" being among the last of examples relevant to that misunderstanding of "SCIENCE!"

What's hard to believe about the virgin birth? Matter is merely the shifting of subatomic particles into whatever elements lead to whatever organism... and time is 'alterable', thus all one needs to do to establish a virgin birth is alter time sufficiently to setup the appropriate elements necessary to fertilize an egg and presto... virgin birth.

Where's the mystery?