We've been over this...you're much smarter than I am.
If we could leave it at that and never interact again I'd die happy.
Multiverse - Higgs boson - String - Anthropic Principle
- Thread starter Dr. Jones
- Start date
We've been over this...you're much smarter than I am.
If we could leave it at that and never interact again I'd die happy.
Mine is simple. I was taught that my religion was true because its holy book is superior, and its confirmation most genuinely felt. I was told that nobody feels the truth of god in their heart as do Muslims, and that others who THINK they do, do so because of a sort of divine left over that affect all those who seek god. Once I moved to Utah and started attending BYU, I was shocked to see that Mormons use a very similar argument to support the truth of their religion. Since I was convinced Islam was the truth at first, everything about the Mormon faith struck me as outrageously irrational and far fetched.
However, when I started debating Mormons, I realized they used the same strategy I used to defend the Quran. Horses are metaphors. Absurd historical claims can only be understood through a massive esoteric historical and theological backgrounds that very few can hope to attain. And so on. So I started reading the Quran and Hadith independently, and within a few months it became as apparently untrue to me as Mormonism was. To make things worse, I learned to induce the "spirit" feeling that I used to get reading the Quran or contemplating god.
It was scary at first. I'd alienate friends and family with my unorthodox questions and views. I would sometimes be worried about being wrong and paying an afterlife price. And I had a general fear of losing "who I am". But all of that passed, and several hundred books later, I am MUCH more contented with my worldview. I am more comfortable with my opinion. I am very indifferent to being right, and very willing to openly change any perspective that proves less-than-thoroughly-examined. So in retrospect, meeting the Mormons was the most significant moment in my life.
LOL.. no I don't consider having it changed, simply because I want to challenge people not to judge a book by its cover.
So what, if I'm white, I have KKK in my name, I must be a freakin' racist redneck?
I spend my days concerned with what's gonna bring peace to this world... and to me that's true "selflessness" and a key ingredient to that is to "love for one another". World peace is available to all of us if only we want to search and reach for it.
MVP
Well-Known Member
I can tell you how I turn atheist. My parents where roman catholics and forced catholicism on me since I was 6-7 years old. Made me to observe all their traditions and go to church every Sunday instead of letting me go fishing with friends. They loved me a lot and thought ( and I bet still think) that they were doing the best for me. It is not their fault that growing up I was reading like crazy about biology, astronomy and medicine and formed by own opinions and views about world, religion and science. I became free from God's delusion at about 22 years of age just before graduating from university and never looked back. Freedom is such a great feeling.
Going off on a tangent... (don't read if you don't want to).
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I'm a new Christian. And to me I personally believe that God = Love. And that's consistent with what the Bible said (1 John 4:8) and it's also consistent with what Jesus did on the cross.. he died so that we can live. It's also consistent with the message to "turn away from sins".
I meditate a lot on the concept of God = Love. Can that be true? Then I look around at the world today, then I realized that the only thing that will bring about world peace is Love. I'm not talking about "puppy love" or "sexual lust". None of those things. I'm talking about the kind of love that a mother has for a child. That pure love and forgiveness that's inherent in all of us. If we're honest with ourselves, we do have it in us to bring out that love. I feel that it's "built in us".
Imagine if everyone on earth has this kind of Love:
- Love
- Forgiveness
- Self-sacrifice
- Understanding
- Compassion
What would the world look like? I personally think this world would be peaceful. It would be what "God" had intended to begin with when creation began.
I would challenge anyone to meditate on the concept of God = Love, and see what they can gather from that.
Forget for the minute about what's in the scriptures, what other Christians/Catholics/Mormon say to you/enforce on you. Just consider it for yourself.
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I'm a new Christian. And to me I personally believe that God = Love. And that's consistent with what the Bible said (1 John 4:8) and it's also consistent with what Jesus did on the cross.. he died so that we can live. It's also consistent with the message to "turn away from sins".
I meditate a lot on the concept of God = Love. Can that be true? Then I look around at the world today, then I realized that the only thing that will bring about world peace is Love. I'm not talking about "puppy love" or "sexual lust". None of those things. I'm talking about the kind of love that a mother has for a child. That pure love and forgiveness that's inherent in all of us. If we're honest with ourselves, we do have it in us to bring out that love. I feel that it's "built in us".
Imagine if everyone on earth has this kind of Love:
- Love
- Forgiveness
- Self-sacrifice
- Understanding
- Compassion
What would the world look like? I personally think this world would be peaceful. It would be what "God" had intended to begin with when creation began.
I would challenge anyone to meditate on the concept of God = Love, and see what they can gather from that.
Forget for the minute about what's in the scriptures, what other Christians/Catholics/Mormon say to you/enforce on you. Just consider it for yourself.
I find it amazing that your style of belief is actually common nowadays. That's not how religion generally was throughout the ages. It is one more sign that we are living in humanity's golden age. I hope we continue to grow.
Yes, and I do believe in my heart that it doesn't matter what your religion is. Christian/Catholics/Mormon/Muslim/Hindu/Buddhist...
If you have "Love" central in your heart, then there is no way a "God" who created all the creation, will refuse you when it comes to the judgement day. How could he?
If God = Love and you have Love, then it follows that he would accept you.
Wow, douchbags, take your religious crap elsewhere.
On topic, I am a fan of all this type of crap, with one obvious caveat: I'm a moron, and most of what I know I pick up from science shows like "Through the Wormhole" and "How The Universe Works", along with science fiction books like "The Dark Tower" (it is shocking how in the last few years all of the wild ideas in stories like that are suddenly scientifically plausible). I am intrigued by the idea of multiple universes, other dimensions, "other people", time travel/inter-dimensional travel, etc. there are gobs of dumbed down youtube videos on those subjects, although you have to wade through a lot of psycho fanatics to find the decent ones. I'm in a city council meeting at the moment, but I'll try to link a few winners.
I wish you **** dicks would stay on topic, because this is a fun one.
On topic, I am a fan of all this type of crap, with one obvious caveat: I'm a moron, and most of what I know I pick up from science shows like "Through the Wormhole" and "How The Universe Works", along with science fiction books like "The Dark Tower" (it is shocking how in the last few years all of the wild ideas in stories like that are suddenly scientifically plausible). I am intrigued by the idea of multiple universes, other dimensions, "other people", time travel/inter-dimensional travel, etc. there are gobs of dumbed down youtube videos on those subjects, although you have to wade through a lot of psycho fanatics to find the decent ones. I'm in a city council meeting at the moment, but I'll try to link a few winners.
I wish you **** dicks would stay on topic, because this is a fun one.
I was raised a a Catholic by parents who both later left Catholicism (one for a fundamentalist church, the other as an atheist). In my first year of college, I saw a couple of visions, the usual sort of thing.
If I don't see/acknowledge it, it's not communication. Further, an inability to get me to acknowledge a message is an awfully strange gap in the power of an omnipotent being.
The original post in on the anthropic principle, the notion that the universe was created just for us. That is a faith discussion.
LogGrad98
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♪alt13
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The first page of this thread was a good read. quit reading as soon as religion popped it's head in. Too bad
Multiverse - probably not
Higgs Boson - pretty sure they just found it at cern
Sting- no one knows
Anthropic principal - we do think highly of ourselves don't we(you all seem too)
Multiverse - probably not
Higgs Boson - pretty sure they just found it at cern
Sting- no one knows
Anthropic principal - we do think highly of ourselves don't we(you all seem too)
Well...I'm pretty fantastic.