sigh
Jehovah is a demon or demi-god (not sure I understand the difference) from a far older mythology.
So, I don't mind using that name like I don't mind using the name Thor or Zeus or Cyclops or Medusa et al.
if you believe in "god" do you avoid using the name "jehovah"?
even if you don't accept a god, does using that name "jehovah" disturb you in any way?.
sigh
Jehovah is a demon or demi-god (not sure I understand the difference) from a far older mythology.
So, I don't mind using that name like I don't mind using the name Thor or Zeus or Cyclops or Medusa et al.
my wife is traveling from new england to the deep south by car (i told her to fly, but nooooo).
she called me earlier today saying that she was in a bad snow storm.
i called the best hotel i could find at the next exit from where she was when she called me.
The place where she is staying is more a resort than a hotel. The manager didn't tell me that the room he gave me for her for $100 is normally $500 per night. LOL
So, my wife is "stuck" in a resort in one of the most beuatiful places in the world, the Shenandoah valley.
Worldly people are so awesome.
i know what the witness response is to this but what do you say now?.
Well the god defenders still have not made any reasonable response to the scenario I posted. They have written numerous multi paragraph exposes on why it is my fault and I need to do something about it. Of course the topic of this thread is not "If Happy Guy truly cared...". The scenario I posted presents a very clear moral question for their god. I will restate the scenario as succinctly as I can and ask the moral question directlly.
1. A worm, Onchocerca volvulus, lives in fast flowing rivers in Africa and South America.
2. According to religionists, "God" created this worm.
3. The black fly ingests the worm, the worm lives in the black fly. The black fly then bites people, the worm then infests the person bitten. According to religionists, "God" created the black fly.
4. The infestation of the worm in the human being causes problems that include blindness. According to religionists, "God" created human beings.
5. According to religionists God is a) love, b) all powerful, c) all knowing, and d) all wise.
6. The behavior of the Onchocerca volvulus and the black fly are out of control of human beings. The humans are not doing anything that contributes to the infestation of humans by the worm. They live in fast moving rivers which are not polluted,so "dirty" water is not the issue. This issue is not related in any way to the "free will" issue, nor is it a matter of the humans not following "Bible counsel", nor is it a matter of the victims being "evil". I don't think the Onchocerca volvulus is evil either, it is what it is.
7. It would be a trivial matter for the creator of the Onchocerca volvulus, the black fly, and the humans to intervene and do something so that humans no longer become blind due to the existence of the Onchocerca volvulus. Since this issue does not involve man's free will or universal sovereignty, or "good" vs "evil", there is no reason why "God" could not resolve this issue if he has the characteristics attributed to him by religionists as listed in #5 above.
8. The fact that God could do something about this but does not proves that either a) he does not care, b) he does not notice, c) he is powerless to act, or d) he is not an individual with consciousness and will as portrayed by the religionists.
I have asked the God defenders repeatedly to address these issues in their arguments with me, and they have refused and isntead put the blame on me and accuse me of being lazyand sitting at home "doing nothing" when they know nothing about me and have no idea what I do or don't do to address suffering in the third world.
So, I offer again to the God defenders. Using the scenario I layed out, answer the question posed as the topic of this thread without attacking me personally or blaming me or blaming the victims or using any other tactic to shift the question away from "If GOD truly Cared About Peple Wouldn't He DO SOMETHING by Now".
I gave a very clear cut example of something that God could easily do that does not involve free will, good vs evil, or universal sovereignty.
I am waiting for a reply which does not insult me or attack me personally or say it is my fault or my responsibility and which does not blame the victims.
on top of that one of my sons is bringing home a girl friend who is flying over from austria.. i'm thinking maybe lasagna.
i'm pretty good at that, but it doesn't seem real traditional.
the beef is so bad around these parts, i don't dare do a crown roast and besides that cost around $60.00.. what is your favorite dinner?.
Captain Crunch French Toast, they will erect a statue in your honor.
do you believe the bible is unfallible, unerring and totally accurate?.
do you believe the bible is a "good book" with much good about it but not something that should be totally believed?.
do you not believe in the bible at all as being "god's word"?.
Here is what I believe.
No man or woman can tell me (or anyone else) what the true nature of the First Cause is. There must be a first cause because the material universe exists and existence cannot spring from non-existence, existence has always been. From Einstein's E=MC2 we can then posit that since the material universe came into existence at a fixed point in time and existence cannot spring from non-existence, then what came before the material universe was the E in Einsteins equation, or energy. At some point in time matter came into existence, this matter sprang from E, or energy by the transposition of E in Einstein's formula M=E/C2.
The bringing into existence of the material universe was a deliberate act. A delberate act by who or by what? We can only call this entity the First Cause. That which caused the material universe to be. No man or woman can describe in detail the true nature of the First Cause for a very simple reason. We live in a material universe, the First Cause exists outside of that universe. Therefore we have no frame of reference to comprehend the true nature of the First Cause. Without a frame of reference we have no language to describe it. We have no imagery with which to imagine it. It isn't must a matter of the First Cause being a higher dimension than us. This cannot be because you would always need a First Cause for the First Cause no matter what number dimension you gave the First Cause. We are 3 dimensional, 4 dimensional if you consider time to be a dimension. If you say that the First Cause is 5 dimensional, then how did the 6th dimension come into being? No, either the First Cause is infinity dimensional or it is zero dimensional. A human being can understand neither concept.
The Bible is an attempt to provide a frame of referenece for the First Cause using familiar language, familiar imagery, familiar constructs, familiar characterists. Because the First Cause existed before our universe existed there is no reason to believe that it possesses characteristics found in our universe.
If the First Cause an "individual"? Does the First Cause have a name? Doe the First Cause love or hate or have feelings or emotions? Is the First Cause happy? Can it know a concept like happiness? Does the First Cause exist at a fixed point in space and time? Does it have thoughts? Can it communicate? Does it want to communicate?
The idea that men could write a book that gives the definitive answer to these and other questions about the First Cause is the height of arrogance and is preposterous, therfore I do not believe that The Bible is the "Holy" book that provides insight into the true nature of First Cause or "god" as some would prefer to call it.
what kind of subjects do you think they taught?.
do you think they are still around in our time...but maybe underground...or a different name?.
what was criteria for acceptance in egyptian mystery school?.
They taught:
sacred geometry,
meta physics,
acoustics,
there isn't an English equivalency of this word, the closest I can get is energy waves, which would be studying things like gravity, photons, electrons, the weak force, etc. Psychic energy is also one of the energy forms studied.
astronomy, astrology, and cosmology
and another one that there is no English equivalency for, closest I can get is design of structures using sacred geometry and development of techniques for building structures using advanced physics and sacred geomotry. For an example of this look up the flying buttress.
here's another one there is no English term for, before the material universe existed, what existed was existence itself which was pure energy, all material things possess this pure energy inside of them and are connected to it. I know the ancient word for this but nothing comes close in English.
there are more but this is a good start.
The most important was sacred geomoetry, all potential students had to prove skills in sacred geometry or they were not admitted to the schools.
my wife is traveling from new england to the deep south by car (i told her to fly, but nooooo).
she called me earlier today saying that she was in a bad snow storm.
i called the best hotel i could find at the next exit from where she was when she called me.
palmtree,
where do you live? north eastern Siberia?
one of the, if not the greatest guitarist ever really influenced modern rock and roll as well !
here are my favorites from him.. 1. all along the watchtower.
2. hey joe.
Star Spangled Banner (Woodstock version)
my wife is traveling from new england to the deep south by car (i told her to fly, but nooooo).
she called me earlier today saying that she was in a bad snow storm.
i called the best hotel i could find at the next exit from where she was when she called me.
My wife is traveling from New England to the deep south by car (I told her to fly, but NOOOOO). She called me earlier today saying that she was in a bad snow storm. I called the best hotel I could find at the next exit from where she was when she called me. She got panicky due to the bad visibility and bad road conditions and exited the interstate at that same exit, this was before I had a chance to call her to let her know where to get off, then her car ran off the road and didn't quite hit a street sign. She called me all frantic, so I said "what does the street sign say?", She replied "countryside lane", I said "my what a coincidence your hotel is on countryside lane". She was a few hundred feet from the hotel, so she got back on the road and turned right and went around the corner and there was the hotel.
Lucky that her car ran off the road.
She wasn't hurt by the way, thanks for asking. And more importantly her car wasn't hurt either.
the other day at wal mart, a hot blonde chick with blue eyes was with a guy, we smiled at each other few times while we were doing some shopping, i could not bring myself to say hi or something like that, i was not sure if she was with his brother or her significant other (bf, hubby???
) i wish i could handle it differently, how can i know that she is with her brother or her husband or bf?.
guys, how would you handle the situation?
You should have said to the guy "Dude, you really scored a hot piece of ass, I bet she puts out REALLY good" and if it wasn't her husband or boyfriend, he would have said "Thanks, but this is my sister".
Then you would have known you were free to ask her for her phone number.