The Concept of God

cincybearcat

I kinda love and hate religious discussions.  I love it cause it's fascinating and so many different beliefs.  I hate it cause just like politics, those on the extreme sides are so freakin smug.  

One bashing with a bible and the other condescending as can be.  

But then I love it again when they are discussing with each other as each likes to pretend they are being preached at while not being preachy!   

Gern Blansten

cincybearcat said:

I kinda love and hate religious discussions.  I love it cause it's fascinating and so many different beliefs.  I hate it cause just like politics, those on the extreme sides are so freakin smug.  

One bashing with a bible and the other condescending as can be.  

But then I love it again when they are discussing with each other as each likes to pretend they are being preached at while not being preachy!   

Said the preacher.

HesCalledDyer

My friends' kid, who is now 5, said a year ago "How can God be real?  He'd have to have a jetpack to answer that many people."  He just realized last week (on his own, using similar logic) that Santa Claus isn't real.  Kid believed in Santa longer than God, and still saw through the bullshit by age 5 for both.  And yet he doesn't spoil it for his 3 yr old brother (which he also figured out on his own).

Annafalk

Many people say they don't believe in god. But then anyway in some situations, when they get really scared or really want something, they turn to god anyway. 
Why is that? Do some people don't think it's cool to believe in god?

PJfanwillneverleave1

^^^
At what age should people stop believing in the concept of Santa or the tooth fairy?

cincybearcat

Gern Blansten said:

cincybearcat said:

I kinda love and hate religious discussions.  I love it cause it's fascinating and so many different beliefs.  I hate it cause just like politics, those on the extreme sides are so freakin smug.  

One bashing with a bible and the other condescending as can be.  

But then I love it again when they are discussing with each other as each likes to pretend they are being preached at while not being preachy!   

Said the preacher.

Preach on!

rgambs

Annafalk said:

Many people say they don't believe in god. But then anyway in some situations, when they get really scared or really want something, they turn to god anyway. 
Why is that? Do some people don't think it's cool to believe in god?

It's not about being cool.
It's about being right, seeking truth.

In our darkest moments we all wish for deliverance, but wishes aren't worth much, if anything.

PJfanwillneverleave1

cincybearcat said:

I kinda love and hate religious discussions.  I love it cause it's fascinating and so many different beliefs.  I hate it cause just like politics, those on the extreme sides are so freakin smug.  

One bashing with a bible and the other condescending as can be.  

But then I love it again when they are discussing with each other as each likes to pretend they are being preached at while not being preachy!   

I agree.  And I especially love how some always claim they're in the middle (live and let live type people) yet bash both sides.  They don't realize that each side of the fence is holding their weight.

brianlux

Annafalk said:

Many people say they don't believe in god. But then anyway in some situations, when they get really scared or really want something, they turn to god anyway. 
Why is that? Do some people don't think it's cool to believe in god?

LOL  I laugh at myself.  I don't know if there is a god (it's all a mystery to me) so I'm not really a believer BUT if I'm really P.O.'d about something sometime I go out and shake my fist at the skies and yell, "Whhhhhhhhhyyyyy?!" (But this only works at night.)

Annafalk

brianlux said:

Annafalk said:

Many people say they don't believe in god. But then anyway in some situations, when they get really scared or really want something, they turn to god anyway. 
Why is that? Do some people don't think it's cool to believe in god?

LOL  I laugh at myself.  I don't know if there is a god (it's all a mystery to me) so I'm not really a believer BUT if I'm really P.O.'d about something sometime I go out and shake my fist at the skies and yell, "Whhhhhhhhhyyyyy?!" (But this only works at night.)

Lol I can totally picture it in my head.

rgambs said:

Annafalk said:

Many people say they don't believe in god. But then anyway in some situations, when they get really scared or really want something, they turn to god anyway. 
Why is that? Do some people don't think it's cool to believe in god?

It's not about being cool.
It's about being right, seeking truth.

In our darkest moments we all wish for deliverance, but wishes aren't worth much, if anything.

So you are a seeker ? I kind of thought you had your mind made up. This was nice

eddiec

If there is a God his biggest failure is creating humans. 

Annafalk

eddiec said:

If there is a God his biggest failure is creating humans. 

Yep, maybe we've come a bit on the way when we at least admit this. So we are a failure, can we do anything about this? We are here now, living our life's on this earth. 

rgambs

Annafalk said:

brianlux said:

Annafalk said:

Many people say they don't believe in god. But then anyway in some situations, when they get really scared or really want something, they turn to god anyway. 
Why is that? Do some people don't think it's cool to believe in god?

LOL  I laugh at myself.  I don't know if there is a god (it's all a mystery to me) so I'm not really a believer BUT if I'm really P.O.'d about something sometime I go out and shake my fist at the skies and yell, "Whhhhhhhhhyyyyy?!" (But this only works at night.)

Lol I can totally picture it in my head.

rgambs said:

Annafalk said:

Many people say they don't believe in god. But then anyway in some situations, when they get really scared or really want something, they turn to god anyway. 
Why is that? Do some people don't think it's cool to believe in god?

It's not about being cool.
It's about being right, seeking truth.

In our darkest moments we all wish for deliverance, but wishes aren't worth much, if anything.

So you are a seeker ? I kind of thought you had your mind made up. This was nice

Always seeking truth through evidence!

RYME

eddiec said:

If there is a God his biggest failure is creating humans. 

Hmmm,. So there are no good humans? And what if I told you that he created this Earth to be inhabited?  So whether or not we came along by intelligent design or through Evolution baby you're saying that humans are bad.
So everybody here who presumably enjoys the same music, enjoy talking with one another, having friends and family are all God's failures, wow.
 "If there is a god" we are all mistakes? While we have our differences I think that we have a lot of good in common.
There are some bad apples throughout humanity, but I think that there are a lot of spectacular, good and beautiful people through out humanity..  I see a lot of beautiful people when I go to a Pearl Jam show for example.  People that get involved in humanitarian efforts or attend a charity concert to help those in need.
Firefighters that run into burning buildings trying to save people. There are people that like to seek and destroy all that is good.  And then you have people that sacrifice themselves for the good of others.  You don't have to do heroic things to be a value to humanity either it could be as simple as holding the door open at a convenience store for an old lady coming behind you with a walker rather than letting the door shut and letting her fumble bumble and a struggle to get herself in on her own.  And then as mentioned earlier after the bombing at the Ariana Grande concert you had homeless people pulling Nails out of a young girl's face and trying to help in any way they could to me that's awesome Humanity.
The idea that all humans suck is unbelievable.  Some do & some don't.

Gern Blansten

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

^^^
At what age should people stop believing in the concept of Santa or the tooth fairy?

We have 4 kids...now they are 23, 22, 17, 15

I think we pushed the santa/tooth fairy crap for our first two kids but by the time the second two came along we ditched all that stuff.

It's ridiculous to tell kids that there are no ghosts or "boogey men" living in their closets when you push the narrative of an invisible fairy swapping their teeth for money.

I felt like a liar....it's really ridiculous when you think about it.  We teach children to fear upsetting Santa for the same reasons we teach them to fear Jesus

HughFreakingDillon

Gern Blansten said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

^^^
At what age should people stop believing in the concept of Santa or the tooth fairy?

We have 4 kids...now they are 23, 22, 17, 15

I think we pushed the santa/tooth fairy crap for our first two kids but by the time the second two came along we ditched all that stuff.

It's ridiculous to tell kids that there are no ghosts or "boogey men" living in their closets when you push the narrative of an invisible fairy swapping their teeth for money.

I felt like a liar....it's really ridiculous when you think about it.  We teach children to fear upsetting Santa for the same reasons we teach them to fear Jesus

my daughters are 7 and 11. my 11 year old, incredibly, still hasn't found out the truth about santa and the tooth fairy. not looking forward to it. I thought it would have happened by now. my 7 year old might figure it out first! 

Annafalk

RYME said:

eddiec said:

If there is a God his biggest failure is creating humans. 

Hmmm,. So there are no good humans? And what if I told you that he created this Earth to be inhabited?  So whether or not we came along by intelligent design or through Evolution baby you're saying that humans are bad.
So everybody here who presumably enjoys the same music, enjoy talking with one another, having friends and family are all God's failures, wow.
 "If there is a god" we are all mistakes? While we have our differences I think that we have a lot of good in common.
There are some bad apples throughout humanity, but I think that there are a lot of spectacular, good and beautiful people through out humanity..  I see a lot of beautiful people when I go to a Pearl Jam show for example.  People that get involved in humanitarian efforts or attend a charity concert to help those in need.
Firefighters that run into burning buildings trying to save people. There are people that like to seek and destroy all that is good.  And then you have people that sacrifice themselves for the good of others.  You don't have to do heroic things to be a value to humanity either it could be as simple as holding the door open at a convenience store for an old lady coming behind you with a walker rather than letting the door shut and letting her fumble bumble and a struggle to get herself in on her own.  And then as mentioned earlier after the bombing at the Ariana Grande concert you had homeless people pulling Nails out of a young girl's face and trying to help in any way they could to me that's awesome Humanity.
The idea that all humans suck is unbelievable.  Some do & some don't.

Thank you for contributing with a little positive thoughts on this. If we humans didn't have some humanity, I don't think we would have come as far as we have with the building of society's and such.

HughFreakingDillon

Annafalk said:

RYME said:

eddiec said:

If there is a God his biggest failure is creating humans. 

Hmmm,. So there are no good humans? And what if I told you that he created this Earth to be inhabited?  So whether or not we came along by intelligent design or through Evolution baby you're saying that humans are bad.
So everybody here who presumably enjoys the same music, enjoy talking with one another, having friends and family are all God's failures, wow.
 "If there is a god" we are all mistakes? While we have our differences I think that we have a lot of good in common.
There are some bad apples throughout humanity, but I think that there are a lot of spectacular, good and beautiful people through out humanity..  I see a lot of beautiful people when I go to a Pearl Jam show for example.  People that get involved in humanitarian efforts or attend a charity concert to help those in need.
Firefighters that run into burning buildings trying to save people. There are people that like to seek and destroy all that is good.  And then you have people that sacrifice themselves for the good of others.  You don't have to do heroic things to be a value to humanity either it could be as simple as holding the door open at a convenience store for an old lady coming behind you with a walker rather than letting the door shut and letting her fumble bumble and a struggle to get herself in on her own.  And then as mentioned earlier after the bombing at the Ariana Grande concert you had homeless people pulling Nails out of a young girl's face and trying to help in any way they could to me that's awesome Humanity.
The idea that all humans suck is unbelievable.  Some do & some don't.

Thank you for contributing with a little positive thoughts on this. If we humans didn't have some humanity, I don't think we would have come as far as we have with the building of society's and such.

yes, there are good humans. a lot of them. but most of the ones who are in positions of power are not those people, and we are allowing them to destroy the planet and each other. 

I don't think the point was that all humans suck. It was that the acts of our species over time have been negative towards the earth and its other inhabitants. 

eddiec

RYME said:

eddiec said:

If there is a God his biggest failure is creating humans. 

Hmmm,. So there are no good humans? And what if I told you that he created this Earth to be inhabited?  So whether or not we came along by intelligent design or through Evolution baby you're saying that humans are bad.
So everybody here who presumably enjoys the same music, enjoy talking with one another, having friends and family are all God's failures, wow.
 "If there is a god" we are all mistakes? While we have our differences I think that we have a lot of good in common.
There are some bad apples throughout humanity, but I think that there are a lot of spectacular, good and beautiful people through out humanity..  I see a lot of beautiful people when I go to a Pearl Jam show for example.  People that get involved in humanitarian efforts or attend a charity concert to help those in need.
Firefighters that run into burning buildings trying to save people. There are people that like to seek and destroy all that is good.  And then you have people that sacrifice themselves for the good of others.  You don't have to do heroic things to be a value to humanity either it could be as simple as holding the door open at a convenience store for an old lady coming behind you with a walker rather than letting the door shut and letting her fumble bumble and a struggle to get herself in on her own.  And then as mentioned earlier after the bombing at the Ariana Grande concert you had homeless people pulling Nails out of a young girl's face and trying to help in any way they could to me that's awesome Humanity.
The idea that all humans suck is unbelievable.  Some do & some don't.

It's not about good humans vs. bad humans. It's that our species as a whole is the only species on the planet that is destructive to every other living thing, including ourselves. Granted we are a relatively new species in the history of our planet and we do possess an intellect that seems to surpass all other forms of life. The advances we have made in science and other fields is truly astounding. However, if you look at our history thus far I would say our impact has been much more negative than positive. Maybe in 50,000 years humans will look back with astonishment at how barbaric we once were. 

brianlux

HughFreakingDillon said:

Annafalk said:

RYME said:

eddiec said:

If there is a God his biggest failure is creating humans. 

Hmmm,. So there are no good humans? And what if I told you that he created this Earth to be inhabited?  So whether or not we came along by intelligent design or through Evolution baby you're saying that humans are bad.
So everybody here who presumably enjoys the same music, enjoy talking with one another, having friends and family are all God's failures, wow.
 "If there is a god" we are all mistakes? While we have our differences I think that we have a lot of good in common.
There are some bad apples throughout humanity, but I think that there are a lot of spectacular, good and beautiful people through out humanity..  I see a lot of beautiful people when I go to a Pearl Jam show for example.  People that get involved in humanitarian efforts or attend a charity concert to help those in need.
Firefighters that run into burning buildings trying to save people. There are people that like to seek and destroy all that is good.  And then you have people that sacrifice themselves for the good of others.  You don't have to do heroic things to be a value to humanity either it could be as simple as holding the door open at a convenience store for an old lady coming behind you with a walker rather than letting the door shut and letting her fumble bumble and a struggle to get herself in on her own.  And then as mentioned earlier after the bombing at the Ariana Grande concert you had homeless people pulling Nails out of a young girl's face and trying to help in any way they could to me that's awesome Humanity.
The idea that all humans suck is unbelievable.  Some do & some don't.

Thank you for contributing with a little positive thoughts on this. If we humans didn't have some humanity, I don't think we would have come as far as we have with the building of society's and such.

yes, there are good humans. a lot of them. but most of the ones who are in positions of power are not those people, and we are allowing them to destroy the planet and each other. 

I don't think the point was that all humans suck. It was that the acts of our species over time have been negative towards the earth and its other inhabitants. 

HFD, and eddiec, spot on.  This is why I do not find it contradictory for me to say that I love several individuals and like a great many but am basically misanthropic.  There are millions, perhaps billions of wonderful humans on this planet but as a species we are a blight.  I don't say that to be vengeful, nasty or hateful.  I say it because, until we prove otherwise, I consider it to be a fact within the constraints of science.  In studying the science of ecology (not the popular notion, the science) it is plain to see we are a species at odds with the balances of nature.  We despoil and poison our air, water and land base, crap in our own nest, have overreached carrying capacity in our reproduction, over-consume the resources necessary for our survival and alter the climate in ways that, in the not-to-distant future, will be very harmful to our survival.  And we do all this with nary a thought as to how all this affects other life as if it is our God given (speaking of God) right to do so.