I am an Atheist and always have been.

Warrigal said:
I think a lot depends on whether the thread goes downhill because someone disregarded the rule. Harmony is the goal here.
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Yes, harmony.
I think we're all very much alike. Our angry disagreements stem mostly from misunderstandings or untruths or rephrasing of reasonable ideas to the point of farce, my opinion.
Unfortunately, we also have dishonesty.
 
AutumnGal said:
Touche.

I meant my post as a simple question though.
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😄 I am sorry. The simple answer is that politics are taboo, and I can appreciate that, but I am also obsessive/compulsive, and when something triggers a thought about something I really care about, I feel like I'm going to die if I don't immediately tell the whole world what I think.

Nothing is simple to me. Everything is connected to everything else, and I have such a hard time following the rules. As you said, "It's a difficult subject to avoid w/some topics so I get it." Especially for me.

Hmm, maybe that struggle is part of my spiritual journey that I should reflect upon? At the moment, I am realizing I have a lot of anxiety tied up with this issue of me being political. Especially when we are in a war, I go nuts! The Second World War had a strong impact on me and then Vietnam. It is like being on a terrifying roller coaster as we move in and out of wars. I have worn nothing but black since our most recent war. I will be so glad to stop wearing black when the killing and destruction stops.
 
rbtvgo said:
I reread my post of yesterday and realized that I let emotion overtake me. I do not agree with abortion. Every life is precious. The context was that Gov does not belong in moral issues. Enough said. I need to step away from this topic. To all.........may God bless.
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OMG Morals are the most important part of citizenship and government. We had education in good moral judgment until 1958, when our domestic education was replaced by education for technology. There can not be a democracy with liberty without good moral judgment.
 
Vida May said:
OMG Morals are the most important part of citizenship and government. We had education in good moral judgment until 1958, when our domestic education was replaced by education for technology. There can not be a democracy with liberty without good moral judgment.
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:) I don't think anyone will argue with that.
Not all the institutions in the world, not all the positive intentions can do a speck of good without a foundation of decency.
 
Decency and respect. Compassion, patience and an ability to try and understand the world we live in. The older we get, the harder it is to understand. One can only step back to our own 20's and try to understand what it was like for those in their 60' and 70's to understand us. Now we are THEM. We look at the world with pretty much the same eyes as our parents and grandparents did then. Scary thought.
Will we survive? will we find a way?
I believe we will only because I know God is in charge.
Have a nice evening
 
Decades ago in Brazil or Colombia they went door to door and asked people if they had something they could pray for. The only thing they asked them was to call them if the prayer had been answered, so they knew they could stop praying for it. A woman said: I lost my cat. They prayed. At night they got a call: Guess what? He's back!

I had a colleague. She couldn't get kids and she wanted to adopt, but they said they were too old, so she saw the cat a bit as a replacement for a kid. She just said that. One day the cat was gone. They lived near a big road. Here cats are mostly outside. After 3 days he hadn't come back. I thought he got hit by a car.
I sat in the bus. God said: Pray for that cat. Why? He's dead. Pray for that cat. Okay. I prayed for the cat.

Next morning her husband called her at the office. I heard it. The cat came back. But they were so sad that she had instantly replaced him with 2 others, so now they had 3 lol.
 
rbtvgo said:
Decency and respect. Compassion, patience and an ability to try and understand the world we live in. The older we get, the harder it is to understand. One can only step back to our own 20's and try to understand what it was like for those in their 60' and 70's to understand us. Now we are THEM. We look at the world with pretty much the same eyes as our parents and grandparents did then. Scary thought.
Will we survive? will we find a way?
I believe we will only because I know God is in charge.
Have a nice evening
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That was a beautiful explanation. I think that seeking understanding is important to our life purpose and spiritual growth.

However, the word "God" is problematic for me because religion is so divisive, and I think the mythologies can lead people to harmful notions and bad behaviors, such as burning people and not understanding the importance of cleanliness, slavery, and war. Most of us are not superstitious today but we have too many people denying scientific truths. Like, there are some good reasons for being an atheist.

The science of consciousness is leading us back to an understanding of God, but the new understanding of God is not the humanized God of the bible. Arguing against the existance of God, is like a puppy chasing its own tail, but believing we know God is problematic. AI says...

The Bible presents God as both knowable, through his revelations and personal nature, and fundamentally incomprehensible (or "unknowable") because his infinite nature exceeds finite human understanding.
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If we kept this in mind, perhaps we could be more open-minded and work to find agreements instead of disagreements.
 
Vida May said:
... If we kept this in mind, perhaps we could be more open-minded and work to find agreements instead of disagreements.
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You would force me to adopt your opinions of God, mythology, cleanliness, slavery, war, superstition, and science if you could?
Are you sure that by "working to find agreement" you don't actually mean "working to find agreement with you"?
No offense meant, it's easy to fall into error in that way.
 
Most interesting. I must point out that God has nothing to do with religion. Religion is the creations effort to find meaning.
God is the great "I AM"
No religion can explain God. No religion has the answers. No religion can explain or provide answers.
Just some thoughts
 
IF I could not reach God in my prayers. IF he did not answer me. IF there was no contact with the living God.................I would not be here. I would not waste my time on theology. I would not waste my time on forums discussing Gods existence.
He either is here for me or he is not.
He has been here for me all my life. That's all I know. It is not simply a placebo to get thru life. He has corrected me, made me think. Condemned my actions and praised my efforts. He loves me, forgives me and watches over me. He doesn't accept my reasons for doing something. He doesn't accept my excuses. He holds me accountable always. I can be as human as anyone but God makes it clear what's right and what is wrong. There is always peace in God no matter how bad you feel. Just my thoughts
 
Vida May said:
😄 I am sorry. The simple answer is that politics are taboo, and I can appreciate that, but I am also obsessive/compulsive, and when something triggers a thought about something I really care about, I feel like I'm going to die if I don't immediately tell the whole world what I think.

Nothing is simple to me. Everything is connected to everything else, and I have such a hard time following the rules. As you said, "It's a difficult subject to avoid w/some topics so I get it." Especially for me.

Hmm, maybe that struggle is part of my spiritual journey that I should reflect upon? At the moment, I am realizing I have a lot of anxiety tied up with this issue of me being political. Especially when we are in a war, I go nuts! The Second World War had a strong impact on me and then Vietnam. It is like being on a terrifying roller coaster as we move in and out of wars. I have worn nothing but black since our most recent war. I will be so glad to stop wearing black when the killing and destruction stops.
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I was just looking for the rules lol being new.

I get it. I mean who can talk about some things without politics playing in. They play into so much.

It is also a subject though that people these days can't get along in or get very heated over.

But for me I truly was just wondering about the rules :) And want to abide. I didn't mean anything deeper.

Said not to be allowed or is to a point?
 
AutumnGal said:
I was just looking for the rules lol being new.

I get it. I mean who can talk about some things without politics playing in. They play into so much.

It is also a subject though that people these days can't get along in or get very heated over.

But for me I truly was just wondering about the rules :) And want to abide. I didn't mean anything deeper.

Said not to be allowed or is to a point?
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In my reply, I was laughing at myself. I am the worst violator of the rule. I am also always looking for the deeper meaning. I also stay away from the forum for long periods of time because I want the deeper, more serious discussions. But every once in a while, I lighten up and think it would be fun to be here.

The new thread about peanut butter is light-hearted and fun. I think we should have that in our lives, and that I should not ruin the spirit of this forum by violating the rule.
 
rbtvgo said:
IF I could not reach God in my prayers. IF he did not answer me. IF there was no contact with the living God.................I would not be here. I would not waste my time on theology. I would not waste my time on forums discussing Gods existence.
He either is here for me or he is not.
He has been here for me all my life. That's all I know. It is not simply a placebo to get thru life. He has corrected me, made me think. Condemned my actions and praised my efforts. He loves me, forgives me and watches over me. He doesn't accept my reasons for doing something. He doesn't accept my excuses. He holds me accountable always. I can be as human as anyone but God makes it clear what's right and what is wrong. There is always peace in God no matter how bad you feel. Just my thoughts
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I am in agreement with what you said but I wonder how your understanding of God is not contaminated by religion. Does Jesus play a role in your understanding of God?
 
not all religion contaminates the relationship between a person and God. if you're in a good church with a good preacher you can get a lot from church services. it's not religion that contaminates it's the people and their behaviors that make it miserable for some.
 
RambleTamble said:
Yep, everything is politicized these days -- even a pandemic! :rolleyes:
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Yeah and that was such a shock! We appear to have mass insanity.

I collect old grade school textbooks, and the health book says we should not all drink from the same cup everyone uses but we should each have our own cup. It also explains the importance of wearing a mask when a deadly disease is spreading. Back in the day, people made their own masks. For me, the science of these rules is obvious.

But I know people who are rabid about "they want to control us". How in blazes did that crazy idea get started? I remember the times when the Spirit of America was very different from what it is today. I love that Spirit of America, like some people love God. I think secular government is essential and that we must make the Spirit of America healthy again.
 
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MarciKS said:
not all religion contaminates the relationship between a person and God. if you're in a good church with a good preacher you can get a lot from church services. it's not religion that contaminates it's the people and their behaviors that make it miserable for some.
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I think the big difference is our belief about our relationship with the divine. Are we separate from the divine, or are we part of it?

The Egyptians had a trinity of divine spirit that held as part of our being. One part died with the body. The second part was judged and may or may not go to the good life after death. The third part always returned to the divine.

Catholicism gives a different trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Now the divine is separate from who we are. I look forward to my consciousness no longer holding me separate from the universe. However, it could take several incarnations before I am free of my karma. AI says...

Karma is an ancient Indian principle of cause and effect, where intentional actions (deeds, words, thoughts) shape an individual’s future experiences and rebirths. It acts as a moral law of nature—good actions yield positive consequences, while bad actions yield negative ones. Originating in Vedic tradition, it is central to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism
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For me, morality is a matter of cause and effect, not a god blessing or punishing us based on His laws.
 
Vida May said:
But I know people who are rabid about "they want to control us". How in blazes did that crazy idea get started?
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I'm only half joking when I say this but it started with talk radio!

I remember back in the 90s guys at work and some friends started following the talk radio shows, I remember Glen Beck and Mike Trivisonno specifically but there were others. I swear many who listened went from normal to hateful in weeks, the redunant monologs and brain washing by those programs changed people forever, suddenly anyone in authority was the "evil man" trying to subjugate you. It created such a negitive atmosphere at work I had to ban radios in the shop.
 
according to the bible we are like his children. and children are reprimanded normally when they do something wrong. if i am punished i know it's because i deserve it. sometimes it's the only way i can learn and grow in my walk. i don't see it as a bad thing like most people do. i do not feel separate. i feel like i am part of his family. i feel safe in his love. i don't do church though because the people tend to be too toxic for me.
 
Vida May said:
I am in agreement with what you said but I wonder how your understanding of God is not contaminated by religion. Does Jesus play a role in your understanding of God?
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Interesting question. I had to think back. We were not religious. Didn't go to church. I remember talking to him about things I wanted for Christmas. The best I can recall is I was around 8 or 9. He said not to worry. Didn't think much about it but Christmas was extraordinary that year. I just started to talk to him and he always came back to me. I didn't know about prayer or religion. I just knew that I could talk to him. So I did. I suppose it seems silly but it is all I knew. The years progressed thru Hgh school and military service in Vietnam. I never worried about where I was or what I was doing. God was always there. to talk to.
Religion really didn't enter things till I was in my thirties. Wife and two children. Got involved. Read the bible for the first time. Asked him questions as I read. He always came back the same. Keep reading, keep thinking.
I am 78 years old and I can tell you this without any doubt. Gods answers to me have never deviated from the scriptures. Don't know what to add. He created me, he has me and I know it. I have great peace in that. He doesn't condone my actions. He doesn't excuse me from what I do. I am responsible and the consequences are the same for me as anyone else. He is a loving creator who, for some reason has loved me. Why? I have no clue. My life is in his hands.
Is this emotional? yes. Wasn't meant to be. I believe in a living God who knows me.
There is nothing more to say.
 
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