Real fast side note about some of the really recent posts.... first thought that comes to my mind as someone said something about "our primal insticts...." etc is that it's so so true. Once some of those beliefs in god take root, it's as if those people absolutely forget that we do have primal instincts. That we really are creatures like all others on this planet. Sure, quite a bit more advanced with language, reason, etc, but we are still mamals with deep insticts. Why does a male lion kill foreign prides male cubs....instincts. It's not an evil creature...it's doing what is instinct and a survival of the fitist act. Yes, we have primal insticts believe it or not. Sure, so many are far removed, but they are still there. No expert OBVIOUSLY, but I would think, look into that, and ye shall find some good info on why the majority of us know it's not right to kill other humans. Anyway....
I was thinking about this topic of resurrection, and since it was recently brought up a page or so ago as “fact”, I can't help but give my opinion on the matter. In this day and age, with as far as we have come in so many areas of thought and science and exploration and AWAKENING, am I being trolled, or can people really believe in resurrections? I just can't imagine that being something someone could believe today and take serious. I totally see how they did back in the day. I mean in the Catholic church, they used to hound on how bad masturbation was. Bad bad sin guilt guilt. Ever wonder where that came from??? Originally, they thought man only had only so much sperm, so by wasting it, it would limit their ability to reproduce. No joke. Not their fault...you could say it was a good guess back then from something they had no scientific idea about how things really worked. No sex-ed, no planned parenthood, no checking testosterone levels....just a blanket statement to cover the bases of the unknown. Don't do it! Now, that concept and teaching was carried on way after we knew the facts. They just slowly shifted it and it became a huge guilt factor for men and women. So I can see how they bought it back then, but now???? Ghosts and many other supernatural beliefs were common day practice.
I don't know,…… it just seems like the same kind of person perhaps watches the shows on tv about ghosts and actually thinks it's real. A world where exorcisms are true. Or that the awesome magic trick they saw in vegas was real. I can only speak for myself, but if I was to start all over again and someone shared with me about Christianity for the first time....I'm absolutely sure they would lose me when they started talking about parting seas, and burning bushes, and water into wine, and I would ask "are you f-ing with me" when they brought up resurrection. Any other circumstance on the internet where something like this was talked about with such belief would be totally passed off as "oh, they are just trolling". It would be the same silly PSTSSSS and snicker my mom would give a Mormon if they started sharing with her about the Mormon idea of the afterlife. “Oh, no….that can’t possibly be the way it is” she would confidently say as a Christian, and go on to talk about how, instead, it’s about her religion’s dude dying and then being resurrected, how he is the father, son and on top of all that, a holy ghost, etc etc……and THAT is supposed to be the one that isn’t snickered at??? LOL Wow, yeah, burning bushes, resurrections and are way more believable than Telestial, Terrestrial, and Celestial kingdoms. What was I thinking?
I often wonder if instead of church type theology teachings and the like, someone created a church session deal and provided the other components people liked (music, companionship, a place to share about life’s difficulties/struggles and joys/amazements, connections, networking, mates, lovers, just good company and human closeness) all wrapped up with a wonderfully gifted speaker, that passed down meaningful life lessons, that have been known and are tried and true for centuries, that perk you up and get you ready for another tuff week.........wouldn’t that be just as grand?? Seriously, I’ve imagined say a really popular Calvary style church here in Colorado, take out the message of god, and everything that is associated with that, but leave everything else, people would still dig it. I mean as an atheist even, market that up correctly and you would have yourself something there I think.
If Ithink back to my church days, the best part for me was the friends and socialization, and second favorite was the message that some of the sermons taught. Seriously. If you take the idea of a supreme being out of the picture, so many of the sermons would have just as crucial meaning and value to people as a source of morals. Say for instance, the one about: “take the plank out of your eye, before telling me to remove the splinter in mine”. We all can see the value and point to that message. Any reason it has to be based on God? I don’t claim to know the history of that message, but you can be sure it was a thought that’s been on this planet as long as we have been dealing with other humans.
I completely can understand the feeling of being part of a community, family, and perhaps place of support that so many people desire and indeed find in church. I’d guess it’s something we may innately need as humans. I’d also suppose that way back in the day, we had more of this naturally just based on simple-ness of societies. Today, our world, to me at least, seems like it’s just a little out of control in so many areas. No surprise to me people are finding what they are looking for in the extremely warm setting of churches. Change the name, one huge underpinning, and…..wouldn’t people still go? I wonder.
From my experience in the church’s I’ve been a member of, due to the failure rate of any religious dictates in daily lives, about 90% of the reason people go to church is for the above reasons. Being human coming together, and doing the best we can to co-exists. In other words, all the stuff that falls under the religious/god category is easily the part that people fail at. Don’t do these things, they are sins. Next week, find that most couldn’t last 6 days without doing those “bad” things. (which aren’t really bad, just bad to their particular belief doctrine.) Hence heavy guilt, shame, etc etc.
And I know myself for one, would not even care how wealthy the accounting books got because it’s a great service to the masses. A sort of counseling, helping hand, fun place to go. Events and meetings all throughout the week for many interests and whatnot. However, when they call it tithes and offerings, and say god commands the 10% or whatever, I can’t help but get annoyed at the richness of some churches. Snake oil. If I ever did believe in a god, the words money and god would never even be in the same ball park.
But enough of my blithering and annoying people. Again, as an end point, I mean no offence, just sharing my counter arguments to statements made from the other side. Thank you and good day.
how could that not make him a moral authority?
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)? Because we've seen that an infinite series of causes is impossible. We are therefore confronted with the uncaused, first cause. It must transcend space and time, since it created space and time. Therefore it must be immaterial and non-physical. It must be unimaginably powerful, science it created all matter and energy.
