All down to random chance...

[Paul of Eugene OR]

No he didn't. He just gave us a lot of god talk. That is never helpful.

Well, my own belief in God is based primarily on experiences I have that i accept, on faith, to be actual interactions with God. You apparently lack such experiences, or at least the faith part in reaction to such experiences.

So we have that divide between us in our religious points of view.

It seems to me that is the essence of what he was saying. It seems to me a valid summary of the state of things in the debate concerning the reality of God.

 

[JGL53]

Well, my own belief in God is based primarily on experiences I have that i accept, on faith, to be actual interactions with God. You apparently lack such experiences, or at least the faith part in reaction to such experiences.

So we have that divide between us in our religious points of view.

It seems to me that is the essence of what he was saying. It seems to me a valid summary of the state of things in the debate concerning the reality of God.

Yeah - it all does come down to strong opinion - I.e., a strong conviction - the religious using terms like "belief" and "faith".

I and many others have no faith or belief regarding entities and realms described as "supernatural". You and yours do. You are rather strongly dualist in your assumptions about ultimate reality. I am more so monist.

That's the thing about non-falsifiable convictions - everyone is entitled to his or her own.

Sometimes this can get rather funny. Take the Australian Aborigines for example. Their animistic belief system lasted over 40,000 years. Compared to this christianity., islam, Hinduism, and all the other modern religions are babes in swaddling clothes. lol. But the "civilized" people over the last few hundred years have killed them off almost entirely. So I guess they were "wrong", in the sense that the Dodo bird was "wrong" - huh?

Plus a last thought - "belief" means "wish" and "faith" means "trust" - etymologically-speaking.

Well, I trust the laws of the universe to be rather deterministic. And I wish for the best, ultimately, for everybody and have no reason to think my wish will not come true.

So we all have faith and belief, I suppose. I just think some of us may want to review and even rethink what they are believing, i.e., what your beliefs are based upon. If it is radically sectarian perhaps you may want to consider something a little more universal. I.e., maybe your tribe's tradition may not be the final word in assumed authority. E.g., maybe the Aborigines were right after all and are all in Heaven now, whereas you and I have only perdition to look forward to, regardless of how we think otherwise. lol.

 

[JGL53]

At least the Greek Orthodox church forbids proselytising. The church believes that one should join of his free will without any influence nor the fear of eternal damnation. In fact it says that one need not necessarily go to hell if one does not believe but it is better to believe. The important thing here is that one leads his life without stealing, lying, hurting people, etc.

This tracts my thinking on the whole subject of religion.

I fall into the monist or pantheist camp. Very universal in outlook.

I disagree with all who hold some other view - by definition. But, at first blush, I consider these others to be technically wrong, but not fatally wrong or in some socially-unacceptable way.

Golden Rule - type religionists - who are not radical sectarians or who believe in a very horrific god - are people I can find common cause with - I only oppose those who worship some moral horror they THINK is god.

BTW, there are two G. Orthodox churches in my locale. My only contact with them is once a year attendance at their Greek festival. It was just last weekend as a matter of fact. They all seem like nice people. I can only assume the god they worship is a nice guy. And you confirm that. So thanks.

 

[Paul of Eugene OR]

So I guess they were "wrong", in the sense that the Dodo bird was "wrong" - huh?

There was nothing wrong with the Dodo bird.

 

[ThinkForYourself]

...

Move along.. Nothing to see that needed to be intelligently designed.

True that.

 

[Heissonear]

.

Precision, exact, superior, totally succeed, totally deceive, bring to pass, promote, overcome, kill, steal, destroy, .............

Such are the things the "Heavens in our midst" bring about every minute of every day on earth, to people and their circumstances.

"Move along, nothing to see" is a where many are towards understanding the continual effects of Eternal Beings in our midst.

Those who propose we are mere physical creatures evolved from processes of dust have a lot to still learn. However, many are on a wheel of ever learning and never able to come to their senses and knowledge of the truth.

Those who are in unbelief think there is no Kingdom of Darkness nor Kingdom of God, and will state this post presents mere claims, unsupported claims, empty claims.

.

 

[JGL53]

.

Precision, exact, superior, totally succeed, totally deceive, bring to pass, promote, overcome, kill, steal, destroy, .............

Such are the things the "Heavens in our midst" bring about every minute of every day on earth, to people and their circumstances.

"Move along, nothing to see" is a where many are towards understanding the continual effects of Eternal Beings in our midst.

Those who propose we are mere physical creatures evolved from processes of dust have a lot to still learn. However, many are on a wheel of ever learning and never able to come to their senses and knowledge of the truth.

Those who are in unbelief think there is no Kingdom of Darkness nor Kingdom of God, and will state this post presents mere claims, unsupported claims, empty claims.

.

You have proof of these invisible immaterial beings doing stuff to us or against us?

No. It is just your belief.

Why should another person take YOUR beliefs seriously?