Posts by soft+gentle

140

Is the Universe Conscious?

by still thinking in

jw
friends

does the universe have a collective consciousness?.

at the sub nuclear level of reality...we are all one.

at the core basis of the universe is a single universal field of intelligence.

soft+gentle

thanks ST - it is worth mulling over as I have borrowed from great thinkers.

some people say that the subconscious is structured like language ( including the patterning and rhythyms of language). I find this quite fascinating so long as we don't think of language as a closed system or as generating one meaning. Taking it further, once a language has been mastered it is beautiful and harmonious but gobbledegook when we first hear it spoken or see it written. Moreover native speakers are unconscious of the deeper structures of their language but are able to speak the language fluently and easily.

The universe or phenomena, once we start looking at its codes and rhythyms, have eerie resonances and echoes with what we are made of and it is truly marvellous to consider whether or not the subconscious resonates with external stimuli without our being conscious of it (by conscious I mean able to put into words). In this sense would it be possible to say that the subconscious is more in tune with the universe/phenomena (like native speakers are with their own language - particularly when they can convey a whole paradigm in one word to other native speakers without understanding any of the grammer and rules) than it is possible to articulate or find words for but which generate possibilities for patterns of life changing action nevertheless?

140

Is the Universe Conscious?

by still thinking in

jw
friends

does the universe have a collective consciousness?.

at the sub nuclear level of reality...we are all one.

at the core basis of the universe is a single universal field of intelligence.

soft+gentle

ST, I must watch that video (in your op).

I have mixed views about whether or not the universe is conscious and i don't live my life as if it is. But then on the other hand if we are going to think of the universe as being conscious is it conscious of its own cruelty and terrifying nature and is it terrified and oppressed by these things yet still has the courage to continue on? If it is and does that then for me it would be truly alive and conscious, but then again this would only be true each time it looks at itself in its reflection. So in other words to remain alive and conscious it would need to keep doing so - (that would then make sense to say the universe is alive)

544

FINALLY! Can you prove God exists? If you can I won't ask again!

by punkofnice in

i have seen debates and shizzle about god or not god etc etc.. i was even confronted by an aggressive and trheatening muslim in the street, who was angry that i wanted proof that god existed.

he ranted on a load of old b0110cks about 'hell' and stuff.

finally he yelled at me: 'do you want god to write your name in the sky?

soft+gentle

I'm becoming very muddled after reading tec and Rawe's discussion so have decided to take another look at punkofnice's question Can you prove God exists?

Tec, what i understand from what you are saying is that God exists because he is intelligible (although I may be wrong). If this is the case then this implies that God's existence is proved by reason and rationality to exist in himself and this would further suggest that the believer has an existence in himself which would then give both God and the believer a sense of moral freedom and autonomy.

Rawe you seem to be looking for biological evidence for God in the sense of something that makes psychological sense but your line of reasoning seems to lead also to seek to see God as existing as something in itself and if it can be proved that he doesn't and needs the believer's mind to exist then he is part of a biological process which includes such things as conflict resolution and can therefore be thought of as real and perhaps even as providing a sense of freedom and autonomy but in the end he is constrained by natural biological processes that are intelligible. Tec's God on the other hand isn't part of nature but above it making everything intelligible. Both of you seem to be arguing from reason.

Does this suggest that according to both of you God does exist in reply to Punkofnice's question. (hope I'm not muddying the waters)

edit: Rawe I've just read your latest reply to tec. In order not to give unquestioning obedience to a group of men it is important to keep on reasoning.

6

Children in Danger - Mental Abuse

by Gayle in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjduekxqqo.

.

soft+gentle

didn't like this video - it is overdone imo

edit: whose voices prevail at AAWA?

31

Jesus: The latest Myth in the history of Sun-God Myths

by VivaVegas in

i wanted to share with you all information that you may find helpful in your quest for real truth as it pertains to god and religion.

"jesus" is just the latest sun-god in mankind's long history of sun-gods.

a belief-system which in itself stems from mankinds first true religion, worship of the sun and stars.

soft+gentle

lol chapstick, we live in a strange world - it is all about paying attention at the end of the day...

31

Jesus: The latest Myth in the history of Sun-God Myths

by VivaVegas in

i wanted to share with you all information that you may find helpful in your quest for real truth as it pertains to god and religion.

"jesus" is just the latest sun-god in mankind's long history of sun-gods.

a belief-system which in itself stems from mankinds first true religion, worship of the sun and stars.

soft+gentle

vivaVegas - fascinating but instead of arguing against you I'm going to stick with what my old professor taught me which was to not take a dismissive attitude towards research that looks for and focuses only on similarities (like Frazer whom you cite as source in post 4 above) because I think there is something fascinating and original that can come out of such research. So I'm going to suggest another similarity between the figures and myths you discuss - that of mystery religion. Jesus, Horus, Dionysus and others were prominent in mystery cult/ritual and initiation via divine knowledge to be born again.

edit: in fact I would go even further and suggest that when we adopt science as our medium of communication we are being born again through initiation into divine knowledge- a kind of initiation into mysterious things and even provides a new and enlightening footing for looking at the world. (of course it ceases to be mysterious to us but can be very mysterious to others)

edit: found some interesting research on Horus on wiki which to me highlights some more similarities (although I prefer complementarity over similarity)

Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history, and these are treated as distinct gods by Egypt specialists. [1] These various forms may possibly be different perceptions of the same multi-layered deity in which certain attributes or syncretic relationships are emphasized, not necessarily in opposition but complementary to one another, consistent with how the Ancient Egyptians viewed the multiple facets of reality. [2] He was most often depicted as a falcon, most likely a lanner or peregrine, or as a man with a falcon head. [3]

75

JW family made contact....

by LouBelle in

jw
friends

.....after 8 years of us being disfellowshipped.

the made contact through my aunt who is still 'in' - as in she has faded but is not disfellowshipped and will pop to a meeting now and again - she does this for my grans' sake.. the contact was from my aunt and uncle (he's an elder) these were the 2 witnesses used against me in my judicial case.

they contacted my aunt and said to forward the message onto us.

soft+gentle

the cheek of it

loubelle, glad you are standing your ground.

20

Candace Conti: Her respondent's brief is due on Tuesday

by DNCall in

jw
friends

.

unless an extension is requested..

soft+gentle

looking forward to this

24

This is so difficult

by dissonance_resolved in

jw
friends

so i woke up a few months ago and had no idea what to expect.

at first i was outraged that i had been lied to all these years and so sad that i lost so many years of my life to a cult.

in the past couple of weeks though, i've actually been having second thoughts.

soft+gentle

hi dissonance resolved

relax and breathe when things become difficult and remember you are not responsible for the bad calamities that happen in your household. there are many outside influences that can squeeze the life out of an individual that sometimes other than offering resistance to them, you can do nothing about. I guess what I am saying is learn to accept what you cannot change and try to change what you can. Meanwhile take time to enjoy what nature has to offer.

other things that make life easier are

exercise

massages

shopping

coffee shops

28

John 3:16 - "EXERCISE faith"...??

by EdenOne in

the nwt often uses the expression "exercise", when it comes to the expression of faith.. "a notable use of that is in john 3:16 - for god loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.".

i started to be intrigued by the expression "exercise faith".

it is true that james wrote that "faith without works is dead", meaning that faith must be more than just an inner feeling or an oral statement; it must be evidenced by works.

soft+gentle

imo the society's take on faith is quite pagan (suspiciously like that of Plato's virtue) when compared with the christian viewpoint around them at the time that the WTS came to write their bibles. Check out Plato's Gorgias 527.

of course there are platonic tendencies in the NT but the WTS makes so much of these that they transform both Plato and Christianity in their own extreme ways which then cause actual damage to many people.