Greatest Storm in History Coming Today (page 5)

Qcmbr

Gill I was talking about the concept of death not the method.

Gill

Point taken QCMBR AND MY APOLOGIES, BUT SINCE WE DON't KNOW WHAT BEING DEAD INVOLVES FOR SURE, IT'S DIFFICULT TO SAY THAT IT IS A GOOD THING.

jaffacake

I don't understand this either. Perhaps it is just the wrong way to understand God and the Bible?

Perhaps the problem with the kind of thinking behind this thread, is that it represents a complete misunderstanding of how to understand what Scriptures really teach about the nature of God, his purpose, creation, infinity versus temporal etc.

So many Christians seem to believe in a very simplistic notion of God as some kind of super-being who is controlling things from a place somewhere above. You know, the sort of God that is directing things, deciding which prayers to answer, who to let live and die. Perhaps that's the only way our little minds can try to understand.

This seems a severly limited view of God and His purpose, and happens to be at odds with what the Bible actually teaches. Unless of course we are determined to read the Bible on only one level, that being its most superficial and literalistic. This is however what JWs and many other Christians do all the time, and why we end up with a book of rules, and these sort of questions being asked. If we are confused about the rules of the 'game', perhaps we have not even begun to understand that we are not even in a 'game' and everything we have been taught is based on wrong 'magical thinking'.

Such interpretations of Scriptures makes God out to be some kind of localised super hero, who seems only to concern himself with our little planet. I can't believe in a God who creates - as if a game, and provides cryptic clues, with a few winners and many losers. That is a typical view of many religions, and IMHO wholly false.

Are we so proud that we pretend we know what is involved with creating a universe, or what it is like to be God? Those of us who are believers, believe we know how the Eternal Word manifested on our planet 2000 years ago, but who knows how many other countless planets and manifestations of the eternal Word of God have occurred.

Hey, I'm just thinking aloud...that's what can happen when folks don't have doctrines to follow or religious leaders to tell us what to think and believe.

seven006

***Knock out religion and you get the nastiness of unguiged nature and accidental evolution.***

I think you meant, “unguided nature” which is totally a matter of opinion. Same goes with accidental evolution.

If you see it as nasty, I think that maybe that is how you want to see it or have been told to see it. One can see a hurricane as a “nasty” force of nature or they can see it as a force from god for some mysterious higher purpose he/she/it may have.

Others may see it scientifically and say, it’s the result of ocean current activity, fluctuations of water and air temperature and or melting polar ice cap that is influencing them all.

Like most things attributed to god, if it turns out as a benefit for an individual, they say god heard their prayers and saved them from a negative outcome. If it turns out badly, they say it must have been god’s purpose to do what he did and we don’t understand his reasons for doing things all the time.

A Christian could have two of their children involved in the same school bus crash. They both end up in the hospital clinging to life. The parents pray for both if them equally. One dies and one lives. Is that result due to god hearing their parents prayers but choose to take one of the children and let the other one live? Or, do things like the extent of injury that made one live and one die due to each child’s decision about where to sit on the bus influence the different outcomes? What makes more rational sense?

Thinking all things are directly influence by god’s hand will help a person rationalize anything, keep them from having to think too deeply or too much and help them, sleep better at night.

Thinking that we are here all alone and things happen with or without any supreme beings influence forces us to learn about and try to understand what makes certain things tic.

A lot of it breaks down to how much we want to thoroughly investigate certain things in life. Believe it is all in god’s hands and he will do as he pleases, most of our thinking or investigating work is done for us. There is no need to think, only accept.

I think religion and the concept of any of the more popular gods is a good thing for some people. For some, it helps them do good things to help other people in their god’s name.

Of course, depending on how they interpret their particular religious sects take on things, doing good in gods name can range from helping the poor and needy, to burning crosses on peoples front lawns and blowing up choo-hoo trains full of un-believers.

Religion only makes the world make sense to those who don’t take the time to fully investigate other options and consider their possibilities with an open mind. With out religion and it’s influence on how people think, a hurricane, flood, volcano eruption, or meteorite hitting planets would still happen. The only thing that would change is how they are explained and understood.

Dave

jaffacake

Seven006

Many wise words

I am a Christian, but the notion of 'God's will be done' is an excuse for humankind not taking responsibility for learning, researching, and most importantly - doing something about it, real practical involvement for good!

ballistic

Dave, I completely agree.

Someone recently posted an account of the Australian kingdom hall bombing in which only one brother died. The story is now an urban legend based on a true story, a story which is told of how everyone looked down at their bibles at the right moment and "god" protected them.

It happened the same time my father died lying in hospital with no blood. The only sympathiser of the one who died in that kingdom hall bombing I know, was my mother. She asked, "why does god choose one from another? what of the family of that one brother who died?"

seven006

Jeffcake,

Lately, saying you’re a Christian doesn’t seem to be as all encompassing as it use to be. Not in the sense of it being totally negative but more in the sense of it not being precisely exclusive to any one specific ideology except there was a guy who you call Christ involved in your belief system. Same goes with someone saying they are Muslim and a guy named Mohamed.

Both Christian and Muslim religions are broken down to so many sects and sub sects the only real understanding of what an individual really believes is to sit them down and ask them. Saying you’re a Christian leaves the one you are saying it to open to a huge variety of possible implications. Remember, the Aryan Nation as well as the KKK call themselves Christian organizations.

It’s less complex for us non-believers. We can just say we are not a part of any religions ideology or group. Some non-believers don’t believe in any particular religious thought because they do not know anything about anything. Then there are the rest of us.

------------------------------------

*** Someone recently posted an account of the Australian kingdom hall bombing in which only one brother died. The story is now an urban legend based on a true story, a story which is told of how everyone looked down at their bibles at the right moment and "god" protected them.***

Ballistic,

That reminds me of the talking snake and naked lady story. It’s amazing how stories can be believed when people really need to believe them.

jaffacake

Lately, saying you’re a Christian doesn’t seem to be as all encompassing as it use to be. Not in the sense of it being totally negative but more in the sense of it not being precisely exclusive to any one specific ideology except there was a guy who you call Christ involved in your belief system.

Dave, what do you mean - lately? In Mark's gospel when Jesus followers complained of others not of them who were saying and doing things in Christ's name, what was Jesus response? I believe he said something like "anyone not against us, is for us" So less of the lately please, what you describe is closer to the original :)

Saying you’re a Christian leaves the one you are saying it to open to a huge variety of possible implications.

Yes, that's cool. I believe the NT teaching against sectarianism is important.

You know what makes me sad? Believers and non believers who are so sure they are right and everyone else is wrong. Christians who believe only their style of Christianity is right. Yet I believe that very belief is the central trait of false religion.

I feel just as strongly about dogmatic non believers.

I tend to disappoint people because I won't or can't put myself into a specific Christian box. I won't ask which non believer box you belong in.

seven006

***I tend to disappoint people because I won't or can't put myself into a specific Christian box.***

outoftheorg

IN MY MIND WE REALLY DO NOT KNOW "GOD", OR THERE IS NO "GOD".

I WOULD PREFER THAT THERE IS A GOD. IF THERE IS, WE HAVE NOT ENOUGH ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HIM TO UNDERSTAND HIM it or her.

THE BIBLES DESCRIPTION, IS FROM THE TRIBES OF YESTERYEAR AND THEIR PERSPECTIVE OF WHAT A "GOOD" FATHER WOULD BE LIKE.

BASED OF COURSE OF THEIR PERSONAL LIFE EXPERIENCES AND A STRONG YEARNING FOR THE STRONG KIND AND LOVING FATHER THAT FEW OF US HAVE EXPERIENCED.

THE GOD I SUSPECT MIGHT EXIST, IS RATHER UNCONCERNED ABOUT US AS A SPECIES AS WE EXPERIENCE LIFE.

HIS or her's or it's PURPOSE SEEMS TO BE, CAUSE THEIR EXISTANCE AND LETS WATCH AND DETERMINE WHERE THEY MIGHT GO, HOW THEY WILL HANDLE THE UNEXPECTED THE UNWANTED.

HIS or her's or it's ACTIONS SEEM TO BE GUIDED IN THE DIRECTION OF WATCHING AND LEARNING AND THEN ADJUSTING AND WATCH AGAIN AT THE OUTCOMES.

QUITE LIKE A RATHER BUSINESS LIKE, UNCARING UNDISTURBED SCIENTIST IN HIS OFFICE.

IN THE PROCESS OF AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE UNKNOWN.

Outoftheorg

Greatest Storm in History Coming Today

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