There is a god, there is more then one god/there is no god!

[Waddy]

Sounds a bit psychopathic to me...no wait...it sounds a lot psychopathic...

That you alone are in charge of your own decisions. pretty radical all right.

 

[Daisy]

That you alone are in charge of your own decisions. pretty radical all right.

Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. J. C. Watts

 

[Waddy]

Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. J. C. Watts

Who gets to decide what is "the right thing". A God? Man made morality? Or is it up to the individual? I maintain that each of us makes their own decisions. We decide, ultimately, what is right for us, and what is wrong. Ethics and morality are created by man exactly the same way they were created by man historically in his religions. Ethics and morality, then, are as religious an idea as they ever were. Man made ethics and morality is just another belief system.

 

[PleasantValley]

There might be, there might not be. Someday we'll all find out.

...errr on the side of caution?

 

[PleasantValley]

I'm not sure I'm getting you, question 1, Do you believe in god? If you do then there is a god (in your opinion).

Question 2, is there more then one god, implies there is at least 1 god but leaves room for additional gods.

Lefty...with all do respect...that is NOT how question 1 reads.

Syntax-wise, the ???? make all the difference in how it is viewed.

It asks if there is one...with a ???...NO option for those who believe in Allah, Jehovah, Vishnu, Kahli, Jesus, the holy Trinity, the Barracka, or any other belief at all.

There is no option for ANY BELIEVER to check. Believers do not question their faith, they KNOW it and believe it. No question.

 

[PleasantValley]

There is no God. That being the case, there are no constraints on the thoughts and actions of man except for fear of the law. There is no such thing as morality or ethics. They went out the window along with religion. It is now every man for himself.

I wanna party with YOU !!!! :beer:

 

[PleasantValley]

NO, you do not KNOW that there is an omnipotent deity but you do BELIEVE there is such a being - and that's OK but your belief does not say anything about the existence or non-existence of any god.

(not "white knighting" here, but....)

YES, she DOES know He exists. She KNOWS and BELIEVES.
As do millions of others.
Some of their belief is not as strong as others, but once you KNOW God exists and you see the form God reveals to you....you KNOW....beyond any doubt.
Then your belief is unshakable.

...and no internet poster is going to persuade you otherwise.
So why are you trying?

the doubt is all yours. Do not try and force your lack of knowledge and belief on others.
That is all your deal, and your "belief" OK?

God talks to us daily (including you)...if you listen in silence and with an open heart.

 

[Felis Leo]

There is no answer in the poll for me, unfortunately. My answer would be that I do not know, but I certainly do care about the truth. If I find evidence sufficient to convince me that a God (or multiple Gods) exist, my beliefs will change accordingly.

 

[PleasantValley]

Actually, those are The Lord's words, from The Sermon on The Mount.

Before that, He said...

Matthew 5-11: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

apdst, my friend....no matter what you post, this member will somehow bring the discussion to America being the Great Satan and purveyor of all evil done in the world.
It is their only reason for posting here.

 

[PleasantValley]

Then dog almighty knew that there would one day be this band of roving war criminals/terrorists/thieves/..., aka the US, and he wasn't able to do anything about it?? That is just weird. But he kicked A & E out of the garden because they ate an apple.

And you folks can't see the hypocrisy, the lunacy, the desperation, the childishness of pretending there is a dog. And if there was, would he be supporting the USA?

...and I suppose the Mongols, Huns, Vandals and Nazis were merely delivering Girl Scout cookies?

[I apologize to the membership...sometimes he leaves himself pretty open for a good one-liner]

 

[PleasantValley]

Sounds a bit psychopathic to me...no wait...it sounds a lot psychopathic...

No inherent sense of RIGHT and WRONG is common in those that are that way.
I am not saying he is, because i do not know him, and can only go with what he writes and says.
If that is in his heart, then for sure, he has no sense of right and wrong.
Only what he can get away with or get caught doing is his guide.

That is why THE INTERNET is a good indicator of how an individual will behave in a world with no rules.
Their basic personality is what is revealed.

 

[PleasantValley]

Who gets to decide what is "the right thing". A God? Man made morality? Or is it up to the individual? I maintain that each of us makes their own decisions. We decide, ultimately, what is right for us, and what is wrong. Ethics and morality are created by man exactly the same way they were created by man historically in his religions. Ethics and morality, then, are as religious an idea as they ever were. Man made ethics and morality is just another belief system.

If you have to ask, then you do not know.
I hope one day you will learn as you grow more mature, no matter what your chronicled years.
Old souls have already learned this valuable lesson.

I can give you a hint about whether you ever do "the right thing".
You will feel the genuine joy of others in their aura and it will meld with yours.
That is how you will know.
Genuine joy needs no explanation. You will feel it and you will know.

Giving a drug addict $20 for a rock gives them joy, but not GENUINE JOY.
Fixing the reason they want that rock in the first place will give them genuine joy.

 

[PleasantValley]

There is no answer in the poll for me, unfortunately. My answer would be that I do not know, but I certainly do care about the truth. If I find evidence sufficient to convince me that a God (or multiple Gods) exist, my beliefs will change accordingly.

...and this is how most of the people in the world are.
Just keep your ears clear and your eyes open to see it when it comes.
You can already tell there are a select few who have closed theirs and are not going to be receptive, no matter what happens.

Your answer is quite honest.

God will speak to you in whispers and small visions that have a significance in your life and only YOU will recognize them as so.
Those will also follow you in your life to let you know you are making the right decision and are on the right track.
be it a significant number that seems to follow you around, or a word from a stranger that is profound, or a blooming flower in the dead of winter, you never know. But it WILL be there.

Whether you call God, Allah, The Universe, Jesus, Jehovah, or any other name, changes nothing.
The whispers, small significant events, and visions will still be there and apply just to YOU, and no one else.
That is how you are guided.

Now would be a good time to eliminate the word "coincidence" from your vocabulary.

 

[Waddy]

If you have to ask, then you do not know.
I hope one day you will learn as you grow more mature, no matter what your chronicled years.
Old souls have already learned this valuable lesson.

I can give you a hint about whether you ever do "the right thing".
You will feel the genuine joy of others in their aura and it will meld with yours.
That is how you will know.
Genuine joy needs no explanation. You will feel it and you will know.

Giving a drug addict $20 for a rock gives them joy, but not GENUINE JOY.
Fixing the reason they want that rock in the first place will give them genuine joy.

You will feel the genuine joy of others in their aura and it will meld with yours. That may work for you, and it is great when one person's joy is reciprocated by others. But it does not reflect nor prove that there is an intrinsic morality in the world. It may feed your ego but there is nothing moral about it. In fact, it is in some ways a selfish act. A person may make a lot of decisions, for a lot of different reasons, but to suggest there is a rule of morality that we must follow is erroneous. Each person develops their own sense of right and wrong.

 

[PleasantValley]

You will feel the genuine joy of others in their aura and it will meld with yours. That may work for you, and it is great when one person's joy is reciprocated by others. But it does not reflect nor prove that there is an intrinsic morality in the world. It may feed your ego but there is nothing moral about it. In fact, it is in some ways a selfish act. A person may make a lot of decisions, for a lot of different reasons, but to suggest there is a rule of morality that we must follow is erroneous. Each person develops their own sense of right and wrong.

1. It is only genuine joy if there is no ego when presented
2. It is NOT a selfish act if no ego is present when presented.

3. You are correct in that each person must develop their own sense of right and wrong...TO A CERTAIN EXTENT.

It is universally considered WRONG by all peoples everywhere to commit certain acts upon others.
Matters not if the person doing the harm thinks they are doing the right thing.
Those acts will have consequences.
Those cultural consequences are what we derive our cultural laws from.

Let's be cavemen for a minute.
You are welcome to come in my cave and share some meat. We can talk, and the Mrs. might even bring you some sweet berries afterward.
However, if you think it is OK to grab the Mrs. by the ass as she is tending the fire, there will be consequences, no matter if you think it is OK or not.
It is considered rude to grab a man's woman by the ass by MOST cultures. Even those that say it is OK, have their own taboos.

You sense of right & wrong STOP one inch way from my wife's ass, and YOUR BEHAVIOR, not your sense of right & wrong will be what gets you in trouble.
We all think lots of taboo thoughts. It is acting on them that exhibits a person's individual character....legal or not.

Personal Character is what counts. How you act and behave around others.

As a survivalist, I have always said in the first month of "Life Without Rule of Law" those that think the way you do will not last long.
Law may be stopping you now, but Law is also stopping us from stopping you too.

 

[Daisy]

(not "white knighting" here, but....)

YES, she DOES know He exists. She KNOWS and BELIEVES.
As do millions of others.
Some of their belief is not as strong as others, but once you KNOW God exists and you see the form God reveals to you....you KNOW....beyond any doubt.
Then your belief is unshakable.

...and no internet poster is going to persuade you otherwise.
So why are you trying?

the doubt is all yours. Do not try and force your lack of knowledge and belief on others.
That is all your deal, and your "belief" OK?

God talks to us daily (including you)...if you listen in silence and with an open heart.

Amen and Hallelujah! :agree

 

[X Factor]

NO, you do not KNOW that there is an omnipotent deity but you do BELIEVE there is such a being - and that's OK but your belief does not say anything about the existence or non-existence of any god.

How could you possibly know what someone else does or does not know? I know I have a white dog. You going to tell me I don't really know that?

 

[X Factor]

You might try reading some dead philosophers. They addressed these questions in depth. maybe too deep for you.

And I do live among humans; what's that got to do with my choices? And I have a drivers license, passport, and SS card. All by choice; my choice. I could decide not to have them. And they in no way reflect any "morality", "ethics", or lack there of. I have them because they are useful to me.

There no longer exists any "moral" reason I shouldn't commit a crime to get what I want; only the fear of being caught. There is no heaven or hell, no judgement day, no Supreme Being who knows my every move. I am only limited by constraints I may, or may not, impose on myself. That and the constraints society imposes (laws) which I can indeed reject if I am ready to face societal consequences. And so everyday I must weigh the risks, as do we all.

I would think it is an enlightened approach. You, and you alone, are responsible for your actions. Society seeks to erect a bulwark against what they consider poor choices, but the choices are still yours and yours alone. So you might decide to do good because it feeds your ego (as in your example), or you may choose to do bad, if you are willing to risk the consequences. But the decision is yours, free of any contrived religious or man made idea of morality or ethics. Become the Ubermensch.

If there is no God, then everything you say here is absolutely correct and you get a like from me for keeping it real. I think people resist this truth because they either take it personally, like someone's telling them they aren't and can't be a good person or because they object to anything that says, "here's something religion is good for". I think the second is why you see people argue that morality is inherent, because they want to convince others that there would still be just as much charity and charitable giving or people trying to help out others without religion.

 

[apdst]

apdst, my friend....no matter what you post, this member will somehow bring the discussion to America being the Great Satan and purveyor of all evil done in the world.
It is their only reason for posting here.

We have to give them the oppurtunity to expose themselves.

 

[camlok]

...and I suppose the Mongols, Huns, Vandals and Nazis were merely delivering Girl Scout cookies?

[I apologize to the membership...sometimes he leaves himself pretty open for a good one-liner]

Your comparison of the US to those groups you name is apt, PV. Good work. Of those only one was ever subjected to international law. For that one group, the Nazis, they existed for roughly a quarter of a century. They were at war for about 25% of their existence. The US has been at war for 93% of its years in existence.

So why would a god, why would a supposedly god loving/god fearing people support the one country that is worse than the worst of the worst? Did god not smite evil doers in the past? What, has he been asleep for well over 200 years and missed the worst war mongers the world has ever been plagued with?

 

[camlok]

(not "white knighting" here, but....)

YES, she DOES know He exists. She KNOWS and BELIEVES.

God is a he, is he? And your evidence for such a phantasmagorical claim is what?

As do millions of others.
Some of their belief is not as strong as others, but once you KNOW God exists and you see the form God reveals to you....you KNOW....beyond any doubt.
Then your belief is unshakable.

Writing in capital letters doesn't increase the power of one's belief, nor does it make the case for the existence of any gods any stronger. You all know full well that there is no evidence, in the sense that rational people define 'evidence', for the existence of any god.

All believers have, by your own admission, only their "belief", which you note, "is unshakable", and for good solid reasons - because you all desperately want to believe.

...and no internet poster is going to persuade you otherwise.
So why are you trying?

Because it's sad to see people so delusional.

the doubt is all yours. Do not try and force your lack of knowledge and belief on others.
That is all your deal, and your "belief" OK?

God talks to us daily (including you)...if you listen in silence and with an open heart.

The "doubt" is strong because there is zero evidence for any god. It is completely disingenuous to admonish others for trying to force anything. Who is it that has proselytized and forced these fictions upon people, children for centuries upon centuries.

You, the generic 'you' keep on with the same old nonsense, all the while completely ignoring the reality that you never provide the tiniest speck of evidence for the existence of any god.

 

[Risky Thicket]

What are the odds of being born in the right time, right geographical location to know that humanity has solved any of the universe's mysteries, given the changing nature of the universe and interpretations thereof?

Apparently the odds are good as long a you have a creative biographer and a great publisher.

 

[Risky Thicket]

I've done too many evil things in my life to believe in God. there better not be a God or I'm in real trouble.

Naaa, if you pick the right religion and the right denomination you get Mulligans.

 

[Rexedgar]

Apparently the odds are good as long a you have a creative biographer and a great publisher.

You know he can’t hear you?

 

[Risky Thicket]

You know he can’t hear you?

I noticed that after I posted. He can lurk as a non-member but he can't post.