I do pray for people when asked. I figure that if there really is a God, then my prayers will be heard even though I do not believe in God. I would hope that if he does exists, he would hear my prayers for others.
That seems odd to me. I am not sure if there is a God opr not. But if there is my image/belief of him/she/it is that God would not really need persuading.
Yes, I believe in God, but not one of the religious variety. I believe in a God that exists in all things and of which each of us is a part. As far as heaven/hell...
The Zen master was walking throught the woods and was approached by a fearsome samurai. "Master, tell me the difference between heaven and hell"
"Why should I tell you anything? You do nothing but kill other humans, and for what end? None but your own. You serve no master and have no loyalty to any but yourself. I tell you nothing"
His face contorted in rage the warrior raised his sword to strike down the master. "That is hell" said the master.
Immediately the samurai understood and was enlightened. "Master, I see now. I will hang up my sword and work from now on to help my fellow man."
The master smiled at his former adversary. "That, my son, is Heaven"
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Imagination is given to us to compensate us for what we are not, a sense of humor to console us for what we are.--Sir Francis Bacon
I think there may be a higher power, but I don't believe in the god of any man made religions. Heaven/hell may be different dimensions, or we may simply cease to exit, but there is no moral authority watching your thoughts and determining your worth.
The whole concept of many religions is ludicrous if you consider the logic of the teachings.
__________________ “We are not spared dark nights. They are clearly necessary, so that we can learn through suffering, so that we can acquire freedom and maturity and above all else a capacity for sympathy with others.” Pope Benedict XVI
If there is a God, He would not be playing favorites.
Nor would He look kindly upon those who kill or oppress others of his creation in His name.
Which logically leads me to believe that if He is there, He has created and watched from afar, without interference, perhaps creating some more, somewhere else.
If you were the Almighty, why would you stop creating, and why would you stop to interfere in the lives of one of your miniscule creations? Why would you belittle yourself into entering the chessboard of a billion pieces in the ways of old Greek/Roman mythology?
Either we're one of a plethora of accidentally evolved life forms on a piece of space rock fortunate enough to be orbiting at the optimal distance from its sun, one of many, or a Higher Power stopped His gaze for a moment as He scanned His created universe to bestow intelligence on one life form on this particular chunk of rock, before moving on to His next version on another part of the canvas he had before him.
So whichever way it happened, it is up to us to use the intelligence we have to do the best we can, without the narcissistic facade of knowing that some of us display, to shove our opinion or "faith" onto others. Because the sad truth is, no one knows, nor will ever know in this life for certain, who is right and who is not.
I would like to think there is but, my reality is that I'm agnostic. Not by choice, just how I'm wired I guess. I believe in being a good human being.
ag·nos·tic [ag-nos-tik] Show IPA
noun
1.
a person who holds that the existence of the ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience.
I'm not going to vote, but I will say who knows. People (both religious and atheist alike) love to say that there is definitively a God or there is not. IMO, you can't say this because, as we are now, we can't prove his/her/it's existence one way or the other. All we can say is whether or not we believe God exists. What I do know for certain is that the theistic and atheistic fanatics need to stop shoving this stuff down other people's throats.
Personally I subscribe to the Big Bang Theory as the origin of the universe. Then I go to the Law of Conservation of Energy which states that in an isolated system, energy can neither be created or destroyed. This leans me towards a creator, but I'd rather not speculate. I could do it my entire life and I'd never come up with an answer. So to me there's no point. I'm just going to live my life in line with my own moral code. No more, no less.
If there is a God, He would not be playing favorites.
Nor would He look kindly upon those who kill or oppress others of his creation in His name.
Which logically leads me to believe that if He is there, He has created and watched from afar, without interference, perhaps creating some more, somewhere else.
If you were the Almighty, why would you stop creating, and why would you stop to interfere in the lives of one of your miniscule creations? Why would you belittle yourself into entering the chessboard of a billion pieces in the ways of old Greek/Roman mythology?
Either we're one of a plethora of accidentally evolved life forms on a piece of space rock fortunate enough to be orbiting at the optimal distance from its sun, one of many, or a Higher Power stopped His gaze for a moment as He scanned His created universe to bestow intelligence on one life form on this particular chunk of rock, before moving on to His next version on another part of the canvas he had before him.
So whichever way it happened, it is up to us to use the intelligence we have to do the best we can, without the narcissistic facade of knowing that some of us display, to shove our opinion or "faith" onto others. Because the sad truth is, no knows, nor will ever know in this life for certain, who is right and who is not.
..and physical death is one thing we all have in common-all 6.5 billion of us. Ultimately, the physical body is a vessel which I believe carries the Divine spark alive in us all. That portion of us connected to the Whole, the Earth, the entire Universe.
We can call God Allah, Jahweh, Wakan Tanka, Jehovah, Brahman, or any of a thousand other names but each of us will see a facet of God through our own set of lenses. Even if that facet is a code of ethics/morals.
__________________
Imagination is given to us to compensate us for what we are not, a sense of humor to console us for what we are.--Sir Francis Bacon
There is no doubt in that for sure.
Just look around you and ASK WHO CREATED THAT?
Look at yourself and ASK AGAIN WHO CREATED EVERY PART.
There is one answer is GOD.
Still have doubt, throw your self or some body in a deep sea or lake. The minute you feel the danger and start to panic. By nature you start asking GOD FOR HELP. Believer and dis-believer will Ask for help and calling his mighty name. Try it.
GOD is there watching us and everyone will be judged for whatever he has done. We are in ongoing test to see if we deserve to get to paradise or not.
There is no doubt in that for sure.
Just look around you and ASK WHO CREATED THAT?
Look at yourself and ASK AGAIN WHO CREATED EVERY PART.
There is one answer is GOD.
Well, yes, there can indeed be doubt. Not everyone can believe in something that cannot be touched, seen or heard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fahad
Still have doubt, throw your self or some body in a deep sea or lake. The minute you feel the danger and start to panic. By nature you start asking GOD FOR HELP. Believer and dis-believer will Ask for help and calling his mighty name. Try it.
Not true. Some will rage against the universe. Some will lament their own stupidity for putting themselves in such a situation. Some will accept their fate and become food for the creatures of the deep. Some will use whatever they are feeling and use that to power themselves towards what they consider safety.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fahad
GOD is there watching us and everyone will be judged for whatever he has done. We are in ongoing test to see if we deserve to get to paradise or not
Well, let me ask you this. What are we being judged on? Valor? Honor? Being a good neighbor? A compassionate person? The ability to resist your own nature? Your levels of patience when dealing with a world that doesn't care about anyone? All? None of the above?
I don't ask any of these things to be disrespectful towards your closely held beliefs. I just want to know.
That seems odd to me. I am not sure if there is a God opr not. But if there is my image/belief of him/she/it is that God would not really need persuading.
I do not look at it as God needing persuading. It is more for the moral support f the person needing prayers. I honestly don't think praying for a person will cause God to take special consideration for that person just because BHM said a prayer.
But when a person asks for prayers, they are needing a mental uplift. Knowing a lot of people are concerned and are saying prayers can give that person the emotional boost they need to get through a situation.
It is like when a sports team is down and they put on their rally caps. It will not really make them play with improved skills but it will fire them up emotionally which could improve their game.
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