Posts by jamesmahon

473

How do I hear/feel God?

by doinmypart in

jw
friends

this is a serious question.. i know people that hear/feel god (and see postings about people's experiences), but i have not experienced this.

i have never heard anything audibly (or otherwise) nor "felt" anything inwardly.. i've prayed, read, quieted my thoughts, etc...but still nothing..

jamesmahon

You are not even a formidable opponent, but only yet another one to surpass... with love.

Classic quote that one. What makes it so funny is she really believes it.

But that why I keep asking you: who/what are you looking for... and why... if you're not Israel? You do it because something in it DOES call to you. You just don't like the "sound" of it... and so vehemently deny/attack it. Yet, you have not been able to bring it down. Nor will you be. Because it is not FROM us. We really are just "instruments." You don't have to believe that or accept that, truly. "We" truly do not care. We can't care... because you don't WANT us to.

If you don't care, why do you start threads about atheists being religious to try to justify your own position because it annoys you that some people (presumably the 'you' in the above quote) think you are religious? Although having said this I didn't not really have a clue what your last post was about. Clearly this is down to my own stupidity though as you will no doubt point out.

473

How do I hear/feel God?

by doinmypart in

jw
friends

this is a serious question.. i know people that hear/feel god (and see postings about people's experiences), but i have not experienced this.

i have never heard anything audibly (or otherwise) nor "felt" anything inwardly.. i've prayed, read, quieted my thoughts, etc...but still nothing..

jamesmahon

The reason we behave (well some of us) is down to empathy. Most people cannot kill. Well known problem in wars that one. First war they found people would shoot to miss. It is a bugger. Until they killed the first one.

Anyway, if your empathy is normally developed you do not harm other people because you can feel and understand the pain they can. It also drives us to do good. Empathy does not need god to explain it. It has worked from an evolutionary perspective and so we have it. Or at least to different degrees. I feel sorry for those who need a god to give them the notion of what is right and wrong as they must be have pretty low innate empathy.

Maybe religions survival as a meme has resulted in the need for empathy to wain over generations being replaced by genes that code for obedience and selfishness (you behave because god tells you too and you will be rewarded)

Now there is a thought - the presence of religion and belief has acted as a selection agent against genes coding for greater empathy in the population, thus making the religion meme more likely to survive in the population. Ironic indeed. Perhaps as the selection process continues those with genes that predispose them to hearing voices will also have a better chance of passing on their genes? So to answer the original poster, there may be no hope that you will ever hear or feel god but if you have children with some of the luckier ones on this board your future generations will also have that gift.

45

Can Atheists Be "Religious"?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

it appears so (may you all have peace!):.

http://firstchurchofatheism.com/.

http://www.factschurch.com/.

jamesmahon

AGuest - can you just get to your point. This looks like someone taking the michael a little, although a previous poster suggests it is so people can get married who do not believe in god by someone other than a judge.

But let us assume it is true. Nowhere does this say they are religious so you are using the things they describe as meeting your definition of religious, be that from a dictionary or elsewhere. So I could argue well, that does not meet my definition of religious because nowhere does it mention belief in a supernatural god.

As it is, this all seems so utterly pointless. Even if this behaviour could be described as religious and you know, I think it probably could be although maybe for specific legal reasons, then so what? From your previous posts I can only see possibly three points you are trying to make specifically regarding atheists engaging in religious type behaviours:

The apparent human need for ritual to help explain our existence. But this makes no sense given your own disbelief in this.
That the need for religous ritual is no way connected to true worship as you yourself (I think) believe. As an example this may work, granted. It does not prove what you believe is right but I would agree that the fact that both believers and non-believers seem to like a bit of ritual in their lives suggests that this is unconnected to belief itself.
That because some people without a belief can be described as religious it follows that some people who have belief in the supernatural can be described as non-religious. I am afraid your logic is flawed here as the statement is not transitive. It is like saying 'someone who was not born in Britain can be British. Therefore someone who is born in Britain can be non-British.' Both statements might be true but you cannot prove one of the statements by reference to the other. So you might be right and believers may be able to be classed as non-religious. Unfortunately the evidence you present cannot support this.

45

Can Atheists Be "Religious"?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

it appears so (may you all have peace!):.

http://firstchurchofatheism.com/.

http://www.factschurch.com/.

jamesmahon

Would respond but too busy reading Wolverine and Fifty Shades of Grey. Well, I lie. Mr Tickle is about my level I have to admit.

I had no opinion as to whether atheists can be religious, dear one

But in your first post

I say, let's either call "religious" what it truly is... and admit that it can include atheists... and let's recognize that, just like some atheists consider religion anathema, in whatever it's form... so do some believers.

Hmm. Oh well. I guess that isn't an opinion.

Then

LOLOLOLOLOL! And you think that would have made a difference??? This wasn't about "behavior" though. I mean, heck, atheists can engage in say, adultery, philanthropy, crime, ritual, etc., as much as any believer might.

You are using religious as an adjective (although, you know, with only having a rudamentary grasp of English I might be wrong). In which case it is qualifying or describing somebody. Please tell me in which way you would describe someone as religious without discussing their behaviour? I suppose it may change something physically about them, but even then that would have to involve some form of behaviour.

James (of the 'knows full stops occur at the end of sentences and not forty times within a sentence' class)

45

Can Atheists Be "Religious"?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

it appears so (may you all have peace!):.

http://firstchurchofatheism.com/.

http://www.factschurch.com/.

jamesmahon

Now now cofty, leave her alone. And by 'leave' and indeed 'alone' I could of course mean many things. Perhaps the opposite of what I am saying. You will never know.

I think you are religious AGuest. By my definition. Which to me is of course all that matters and to you should matter not one jot. So why does it matter to you that some people think you are religious? I am genuinely surprised you care. I am sure the Lord will suitably punish them for their impudance and reward you for your true non-religousness.

473

How do I hear/feel God?

by doinmypart in

jw
friends

this is a serious question.. i know people that hear/feel god (and see postings about people's experiences), but i have not experienced this.

i have never heard anything audibly (or otherwise) nor "felt" anything inwardly.. i've prayed, read, quieted my thoughts, etc...but still nothing..

jamesmahon

Still off topic

Both of those are absolute rubbish - Giacopazzis once gave me Birds Eye fish (seriously). Unbloody believable. The place is right on the dock. Fact MacKays says 'Best takeaway in Borders' unfortunately says it all.

And no! there is an elder near St Vedas? On the road up to the Haven? Who is he? (I probably know him)

Back on topic

I used to hear people talking to god all the time when I worked in a pub. Usually when I was checking the toilets for some reason. Apparently he hears you best when you are vomiting down the bog when you are pissed.

81

What does faith mean to you?

by exwhyzee in

jw
friends

we all memorized the definition of faith... faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for...yadda yadda.. it seems like more and more as time goes by and our scientific knowledge base grows, we need less and less faith and fewer things can be attributed to god.. do you think we need faith or is faith just a word we use to feel ok about being too lazy to keep looking for the answers ?.

what does faith mean to you now?.

.

jamesmahon

Scientific 'faith' can explode in your face - literally. You have faith the world works a certain way and so test it out, sometimes at the risk to your own life. When you find out you are wrong if you are lucky you get chance to change what you believed. If you are unlucky people don't have 'faith' that what you believed was true and so look for a better explaination or way of doing things.

Religious 'faith' says in the absence of evidence I believe the world is a certain way. And when the evidence stacks up against what I believe I have faith it is wrong, or put more credence in the world as I experience it rather than the world as it can be objectively observed.

I would replace 'something to hope for' with 'something to aim for' or 'something to work towards'. The last two are active and you can do something about. I can hope all I like but it will not get the washing up done.

45

Can Atheists Be "Religious"?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

it appears so (may you all have peace!):.

http://firstchurchofatheism.com/.

http://www.factschurch.com/.

jamesmahon

Agree Megachusen. If the topic had been 'Atheists can show behaviour that is the same or similar to those who have belief' and then given reasons why then it could go somewhere. Perhaps. But probably not. Would just be an argument about semantics.

473

How do I hear/feel God?

by doinmypart in

jw
friends

this is a serious question.. i know people that hear/feel god (and see postings about people's experiences), but i have not experienced this.

i have never heard anything audibly (or otherwise) nor "felt" anything inwardly.. i've prayed, read, quieted my thoughts, etc...but still nothing..

jamesmahon

Chippys up here are crap. Never understood that given the fish comes from here. But then I am spoilt coming from Yorkshire.

Anyway, back on topic.

Indeed - scary to think that if they all had an epiphany at the same time and thought 'wait a minute, this is all crap' (a la Jonathan Edwards) then they would be mass bloodshed on the streets. With only the atheists to clean up after them. Oh well.

45

Can Atheists Be "Religious"?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

it appears so (may you all have peace!):.

http://firstchurchofatheism.com/.

http://www.factschurch.com/.

jamesmahon

Aguest - you start the discussion. If you cannot be bothered with a definition but just lazily put up a few links that I could not give a rats arse at reading through then don't expect people to enter into a proper debate. I might agree with you and your opinions. But if they are just someone elses - you know what, I will go on their site and comment there thanks.