[quote]nephorm wrote:
theOUTLAW wrote:
I simply thought you were going out of your way to answer something that could’ve been answered simply without paraphrasing philisophy.
I think “What might God be?” is one of the most important questions we can ask as human beings. With all due respect, I don’t believe it admits of a simple answer.
[/quote]
True. To me, it’s the concept of God that matters, and I failed to realize at the moment that not everyone thinks of God in the same manner.
[quote]nephorm wrote:
…
One thing is absolutely clear: it is impossible for a human being to intellect God.[/quote]
I do believe in God, and I do believe neph hit it on the head with the above.
Yes
Agnostic.
Anything else is the definition of arrogant ignorance.
Who cares? The answer to that question will only come after you’re too dead to give a shit anymore. You’ll also be too dead to drink beers and listen to rock music, so you might as well make up for lost time now.
No.
[quote]abcd1234 wrote:
Most atheists are just as dogmatic as their religious counterparts. Agnosticism is the only way to go. Given the limited and clouded view humanity posses towards the universe, no such metaphysical truths can be known to be true or false.
Just accept your limited capacity for truth. [/quote]
I disagree with your statement that “Agnosticism is the only way to go”. To me this line of reasoning doesn’t make sense. Surely “atheist until proven otherwise” is a more accurate expression of that view? You either have faith that there is a god or gods or you say there is no proof there are god/s. Is this not the case?
[quote]gotaknife wrote:
I disagree with your statement that “Agnosticism is the only way to go”. To me this line of reasoning doesn’t make sense. Surely “atheist until proven otherwise” is a more accurate expression of that view? You either have faith that there is a god or gods or you say there is no proof there are god/s. Is this not the case?[/quote]
The latter is pretty much the agnostic’s belief; there is no proof of existence or non-existence, so it’s impossible to know if God exists or not. An atheist is allready convinced that god does not exist.
why yes i do believe in anderson silva
[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
why yes i do believe in anderson silva[/quote]
And in infallibility as well?
Couldn’t resist… 
I do not beleive in God and I think you have to be pretty damn stupid if you do.
Look into the history of all religions, they were created by men, religion was used as a tool to supress the masses.
2000 years ago the bible was revalationary it was such an amazing book written by very clever people, but it has not stood the test of time and we now have the itellegence amongst ourselves to turn it over to history as a load of old bollocks, the more the bible is picked apart and alll its inconsistencies are made clear the more people find new ways to interperet the bible, you either beilive in the whole bible or you don’t as simple as, Christians make so many excuses for things written in the bible it is sad and pathetic
Religion comes and goes and eventually Chritianity will be a thing of the past, look at the religions of the acient Egyptions for example, it was once one of the most prominent religions in the world, now it is history
Why would i want to spend my Sundays sitting in and old cold building having some peadophile telling me how to live my life and that if I do not conform I will be punished in an after life?
If there is a god why the hell do people worship him? He is a nasty cruel bastard to allow so many people suffer?
I am also baffeled at how religious people do not question their religion or their god, for me i would want answers, do not expect me to believe in some 2000 year old fairy tale written by men in sandals if I am not allowed to question it.
I do not know why some people feel they need religion, life is so much better without it, religion causes to much division amongst humans, I think some people need a crutch to make them feel better about themselves which is sad, maybe they have never tried drugs (jking0
Anyway if I am wrong and I one day meet my maker I’ll kick him in the nuts and tell him he is a cunt for letting my 3 year old Niece die in terrible pain and suffering.
Appologies for spelling (hangover)
[quote]okaz wrote:
gotaknife wrote:
I disagree with your statement that “Agnosticism is the only way to go”. To me this line of reasoning doesn’t make sense. Surely “atheist until proven otherwise” is a more accurate expression of that view? You either have faith that there is a god or gods or you say there is no proof there are god/s. Is this not the case?
The latter is pretty much the agnostic’s belief; there is no proof of existence or non-existence, so it’s impossible to know if God exists or not. An atheist is allready convinced that god does not exist. [/quote]
Do you believe in big foot? No, because there’s no proof that he exists, so you revert to the null hypothesis and don’t believe in big foot. You don’t say ‘I don’t know if big foot does or does not exist because not every square inch of the Earth has been checked for every species’. Similarly, when someone tells me there is a god but doesn’t follow it with proof I just don’t believe it. You don’t need to prove a negative.
Joe Rogan (ya know, the fear factor guy and MMA commentator) talks about Dimethyltriptamine aka DMT (google DMT Joe Rogan) an illegal Class 1 drug (per the FDA) and the most powerful psychedelic known to man, but get this…taking actual DMT has no side effects, in fact, we ALL produce DMT naturally every night when we are in REM sleep via the pineal gland located in our brains…so basically every night when you sleep you endogenously or naturally produce an illegal drug, go on a psychedelic trip, and don’t even remember it (damn)!!
You get a DMT flood at birth, produce it every night when you sleep, and when you die, a final flood of DMT goes into your brain. Science has no real explanation as to why humans and pretty much all living things produce DMT but esoteric folk like shamans, indians, and aborigines, believe it’s a pathway to unseen dimensions…a highway to GOD or the creator(s) perhaps???
After, all Rene Descartes describes the pineal gland as the “seat of the soul”…
[quote]forreal08 wrote:
Joe Rogan (ya know, the fear factor guy and MMA commentator) talks about Dimethyltriptamine aka DMT (google DMT Joe Rogan) an illegal Class 1 drug (per the FDA) and the most powerful psychedelic known to man, but get this…taking actual DMT has no side effects, in fact, we ALL produce DMT naturally every night when we are in REM sleep via the pineal gland located in our brains…so basically every night when you sleep you endogenously or naturally produce an illegal drug, go on a psychedelic trip, and don’t even remember it (damn)!! You get a DMT flood at birth, produce it every night when you sleep, and when you die, a final flood of DMT goes into your brain. Science has no real explanation as to why humans and pretty much all living things produce DMT but esoteric folk like shamans, indians, and aborigines, believe it’s a pathway to unseen dimensions…a highway to GOD or the creator(s) perhaps???
After, all Rene Descartes describes the pineal gland as the “seat of the soul”…
[/quote]
Whats your point?
If by the god you mean the Christian god, then definitely no. If by god you mean a divinity ‘beyond’ who - rational, separate and loving - rules over an earthly vale of tears, then no again. That all seems based on human vanity and arrogance. And no to any religion which devalues life by saying life itself, as lived, isn’t the ‘point’.
Best quote on Christianity:
‘They’ll have to sing better songs than that for me to believe in their Redeemer! They’d have to look more redeemed’ - Nietzsche
Best quote on Buddhism:
�??Imagine a cow or a pig which rejected the body for a �??noble eightfold way of self-enlightenment�??. One would feel that the beast had made a false calculation.�?? - Cyril Connoly
Hopefully the current movement towards deep ecology, the celebration of life/nature, respect for all living things etc. will continue and the old religious sentiments will fall away.
[quote]forreal08 wrote:
Rene Descartes describes the pineal gland as the “seat of the soul”…
[/quote]
Descartes said a lot of stupid shit. He really, truly 100% believed that animals were machines.
IMO - God exists because people believe in ‘him’.
Before there was faith there was no God. Then someone came up with the idea of this all powerful being and other people believed in it so it became real.
God doesn’t have to exist as a physical entity or even have it’s own agenda, it is the combined belief of the faithful that creates and shapes God itself.
The more people have faith, the more powerful God becomes. God is shaped by it’s believers, not the other way round.
I actually know a Catholic priest who doesn’t believe in God as a being in any way, but he has more faith than anybody I have ever met.
He has a similar belief to myself - I just don’t go in for organised religion as personally I think that it has very little, if anything, to do with God.
The members of organised religions have faith and that is all that is needed to bring their God into existence. The organisation behind the religion is not necessary.
Just my .02
[quote]Renton wrote:
IMO - God exists because people believe in ‘him’.
Before there was faith there was no God. Then someone came up with the idea of this all powerful being and other people believed in it so it became real.
God doesn’t have to exist as a physical entity or even have it’s own agenda, it is the combined belief of the faithful that creates and shapes God itself.
The more people have faith, the more powerful God becomes. God is shaped by it’s believers, not the other way round.
I actually know a Catholic priest who doesn’t believe in God as a being in any way, but he has more faith than anybody I have ever met.
He has a similar belief to myself - I just don’t go in for organised religion as personally I think that it has very little, if anything, to do with God.
The members of organised religions have faith and that is all that is needed to bring their God into existence. The organisation behind the religion is not necessary.
Just my .02[/quote]
Interesting perspective on that, Renton.
Agree that there is no need for an organisation behind any religion - they are there to make money. I was raised Roman Catholic and always dreaded going to church, literally dragged there by my ears sometimes. I started doing a lot of reading about these sorts of things - evolution and such, and my stance is there is no such thing as a deity of any kind.
It is completely illogical to believe that some invisible power in the sky controls what happens on this planet, but, I do like the way you’ve stated that faith shapes a “god”, not the other way round. This is exactly right IMO, we believe what we want to believe and what others have told us, there never was a “higher power” that “passed knowledge to us”. It sucks though, I wish there was a god. It would be fucking wicked to go somewhere after life on earth and it’s semi-depressing thinking that we are merely just a spec in evolution.
As a side, I find it funny that people pray for a loved one who’s only means of survival is a scientifically engineered life-support machine, not a god.
Ps. I mean no offense to any religious people, these are just my views.
I think many people fail to realize that God (should He exist) and religion are not mutually exclusive.
As such, religion with its many flaws, a direct result from its human conception, does not detract from the possibility of there being a God.
Do I personally believe in God? Yes, I do. Am I religious? No.
The fool has said in his heart “there is no God”.