by still thinking 778 Replies latest jw friends
better yet actually do some of the things you allegedly wrote about in your manifesto, I mean the Bible.
You don't see any Ice Giants around, do you?
I'm not sure I want to know this
It's just Payton Manning. Or boobs. Either way, I finally decided to answer the Bronc's fans prayers. Not saying it was the right move, just...they were desperate.
redvip2000...
This is one thing that has bothered me for some time...I see good people floundering and and being taken advantage of by religion$ worldwide. It is ONE of the many things that made me question if God was real. If he really is the shepherd leading his flock that either means they are not his flock or he isn't a very good shepherd. There are many, many things I can't get my head around when I try to justify to myself that a god exists.
So for now, I will focus on the one question of how others know he is real.
sab
you avoided answering how the egyptian magicians managed to change their sticks into snakes. how did they do it ? did they always carry snakes just in case ? what if moses changed his snakes into jackals?
EntirelyPossible...I had to google who Peyton Manning was....I am not american and don't follow this stuff...for some reason I thought Peyton must be a woman considering your second option...I was surprised to see that you are satisfied worshiping a football star....I'm not sure why I was surprised...but there you go.
mP......Ok...what is the deal with the snakes? I saw bible cut and past and my eyes went out of focus...do I have to go back and read it? Is it relevant to this discussion?
As a JW, there was a period of time when I could not have been more genuine in my desire to "do Jehovah's will". On one particularly long drive for business, when I was alone and "fighting doubts about the truth," I prayed out loud - emotionally - for help distinguishing truth from lies. I poured my heart out in several chunks out of 4 hours and I experienced feelings I'd never felt... such distinct feelings that I quickly attributed it to holy spirit. I never would've done that if I didn't know Jehovah was real.
Now I believe my motives were as altruistic as they could be at that particular moment so if I interpreted those feelings correctly, then maybe I should still be a JW, eh? And if interpreted them wrong, why would holy spirit be so ambiguous that I misunderstood?
FFWD a few years - I've since felt the same thing two or three times when talking to my wife and my family at particularly emotional times, but at those moments, I'd already lost my faith in any deities. Was it holy spirit? A far simpler explanation is that strong emotions can produce physiological effects and that I had misattributed those previous feelings precisely because I was emotional and had already framed my experience to be a spiritual one. I set myself up for deception.
The human psyche is an amazing thing. Faith, to me, is this:
Today, I see no convincing logic or evidence to believe in a personal, intervening god, especially not the ones described in ancient literature. I don't even like using the term "god" since it is nearly inseparable from subjective religious bias. Scientifically untouchable realms may exist all around us but that would lend no credence to the capricious, self-absorbed god described in the Bible.
I'm open to the idea that we are not the highest intelligence in the universe as much as I'm open to the idea that we are an experiment, volunteers in a simulation, or a form of live entertainment for some less-than-benevolent entities. But those hypotheses are unfalsifiable. If and when supporting evidence presents itself for any grand ideas, I'll jump on board. Until then, here's what I do know:
So I refuse to, as Isaac Azimov put it, 'surrender to ignorance and call it God, since that has always been - and remains to be - premature.'
On the bright side, I think we would have more reason to be concerned if we were a reflection of our creator's image than having no designer at all (which, by the way, is a false dichotomy since deism and pantheism are also up for grabs). If a designer possessing the full gamut of human emotion was responsible for our existence - that would be scary. Just look at how we treat less intelligent species.... or even our own.
.I was surprised to see that you are satisfied worshiping a football star
Satisfied? More like ecstatic. As God, I AM THAT I AM, The Supreme Being, Master of Reality, you have to understand I can't throw like that. They worshippers are ALL right, I exist outside of the space-time of your universe. Peyton Manning is the supreme field general of football. I gopt mad respect for that.
On another note, all of the believers are also right. As you read this, you don't hear an audible voice, but you do hear me. Since I exist outside of your space-time, I have a create a quantum tunnel and sync with one of your internet time servers in order to post here, but it's totally worth it.
Really, ask me anything you like. As the First Cause I am happy to share.
And don't forget boobs. I love those things. I mean, after all, I made them. They are pretty awesome.
It is strange that all the SETI efforts have never uncovered a message from god.
"So I ask believers of ALL kinds, not just christian, but those who consider themselves christians are indeed welcome, to share how they KNOW their god is real. ...." OP
Whooops!!!
I was going to post a comment, only I see that the purpose and subject of this thread precludes any comments from atheists...
[Zid backs slowly out of the thread...}
It is strange that all the SETI efforts have never uncovered a message from god.
Not really. I don't spam the universal communication channels just so those guys can have a nerdgasm. I do have other sentient beings, other planets, angels, product updates (you guys quaintly call that "evolution", btw) to make over the airwaves. Everything is encrypted, it just looks like background noise to them.
