If we are to clearly see what is Real, it is advisable to let go of everything, even atheism.
Generally atheist is what we come to identify "self" with after we let go of our god; but what really matters is that we let go of all identifying concepts of "self", that what remains may be realized. So, perhaps atheism is a step, but could just as easily not be. IMO
j
just yesterday i discovered that my cat rutherford has been preparing a manuscript for publication.. it is a real eye-opener..
No doubt a member of the furry and de-clawed slave class.
j
credits to mouthy and a very long string of coincidences for this .
sirona started a thread a while ago which stated that the bible says that jesus is god.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/135662/1.ashx.
No offence meant, Quentin. These questions are not directed specifically at you.
credits to mouthy and a very long string of coincidences for this .
sirona started a thread a while ago which stated that the bible says that jesus is god.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/135662/1.ashx.
Quentin:
I like what Rhienhold Niehbor(sp?) is reported to have said:.."It's just as blasphmous to define God as it is to denie him".
Yes, wise words. But it's what we do with them that counts.
I'm free of the mundane worry of what, or who, God is, or is not...God's there and I'm here,...
Where is this "there" that we have placed God? To what quadrant of space and time have we isolated, confined and thus defined God? To what degree of Lilliputian stature is our mentally engraved image of God?
What gives us the hubris to attribute any limits or absence to God, at all? Why define and fix God into some thing so very small as to be absent? Because desert tribesmen did?
In order to be a Christian, in order to label ourselves after a specific god with a name, our god has to be separate and definable from all the rest of existence. A nameable god is nothing more than an isolated little fragment floating about within the tiny dark spaces between our ears; a false god.
What does all existence, all space and time exist within? What truly has no beginning and no end? What authentically unites every thing and every one? What are we genuinely at our core? I can't say what it is, But I can say what it's not: it is no nameable or definable god.
j
credits to mouthy and a very long string of coincidences for this .
sirona started a thread a while ago which stated that the bible says that jesus is god.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/135662/1.ashx.
After the Witnesses, there were several years in my life that I strongly viewed Jesus Christ as my Master and most beloved. I never, never would have wanted to equate him with the repugnant and vile yahweh tirant found within the pages of the old testament. Why people want to, is beyond me. I mean, with worshipers like that, who needs enemies for christsakes?
j
if any of you have read my first post you know where i am right now... just a re-cap.
i really hate alot of what my witness friends think and do and say and i'm on my way out.
my best friend who i went everywhere with disassociated me.
Miss:
I don't want to live a lie.
Follow your own wisdom.
Live your life with inner integrity, that's all you need to do. How others react to this is beyond your control. Just be true to your heart, and those who appreciate and love you as you are will be true friends. Those who shun you do not love you, but rather love what they want you to be; you don't need them in your life.
It's very simple. Don't live a lie, and let the chips fall where they may.
j
with the global village now teaching evolution as an absolute fact, and the 'creation museum' making a mockery of the bible, any bible study should begin with this question!
however, the biggest hinderence to learning truth is clinging to concepts we've accepted as 'truth' without being willing to take a closer look at other possibilities.. i ask that ridiculers have fun on other postings, so that it might be possible to enjoy comparing what we have learned, how we see things- and also share what we have found to be facts-truth!.
(and i will not "count the time", as promised; that's unimportant to me, anyhow!).
timetochange:
Believe it or not some truly love God. Some here on this board love God.
I would agree that they believe they do. However, those who often boldly profess a "love for God", are the very same ones who worship a very diminutive and vindictive god-image. They unquestionably embrace a blood encrusted idol peddled from the dank and dusty pages of an archaic book; an anthropomorphic hand-me-down. Honestly, is it the unimaginable Source of all existence they love, or a simple minded story character created by tribal fears and nightmares? If their "love" is so great, why is it so easily fooled? Why do they bow to something so small as a deity?
Perhaps those who truly respect the Divine (whatever that word points to), cater to no known god or religion -- for to do so is to bastardize and belittle it. My sense is that many so called "atheists" are noble people who honor truth and life in a way beyond most religious people's grasp.
j
think about this.. go way back...far far back in history.. go back before the internet.
go back farther.. go back before newspapers, tv and radio.. go waaaaay back before there was public education.. return to a time when there were no universities or libraries.. go even farther back in time and return to when it was thousands of years before any modern era.. people got their ideas from their families and neighbors period!.
everything was rumor.
So if there is no God.....Humans have no one to blame but themselves for all the pain and suffering....Is that what we have evolved into and the question is what is worse....Atheist can now stop pointing fingers at God for their sorrows? Evolution is no better than God? Something went wrong in the brain process of evolution in humans?
Dear TopHat, If we have no god, no religious future to reach for, what do we have left? We have this moment of reality. We have an opportunity to be empowered and responsible. We have the opportunity to be kind, gentle and helpful to others, simply because that is what we would like done to us. We can step out of the moment of opportunity and get lost in religious fantasy; we can get lost in blaming for what should or should not be; we can drown in victimization; but we don't have to. We can be the person we wish others to be. Perhaps the Christ is a word which points to the actual peace and beauty which awaits within you this very moment. Perhaps the Christ is not something or someone that gives you something, but is rather what you give the world. Such giving is accomplished only by being present and attentive to those we meet in this moment of reality. The only reality there ever is. This clarity and freedom, is what can remain when we stop foolishly placing our ultimate significance in some other entity, place or time; what can remain when there is no religion or god. It's up to you. j
think about this.. go way back...far far back in history.. go back before the internet.
go back farther.. go back before newspapers, tv and radio.. go waaaaay back before there was public education.. return to a time when there were no universities or libraries.. go even farther back in time and return to when it was thousands of years before any modern era.. people got their ideas from their families and neighbors period!.
everything was rumor.
TopHat:
There will always be War! With or without God.
We can not say what there would be without beliefs in a god; we can, however, definitely say that belief in a god has not ended war, and in fact has been a motivating factor for much of war. A personal god is a machine of division and so strife and animosity.
Perhaps if we were not lost in fantastic promises our god is said to have made, we would be more attentive and present with each-other. Would this be a bad thing?
j
think about this.. go way back...far far back in history.. go back before the internet.
go back farther.. go back before newspapers, tv and radio.. go waaaaay back before there was public education.. return to a time when there were no universities or libraries.. go even farther back in time and return to when it was thousands of years before any modern era.. people got their ideas from their families and neighbors period!.
everything was rumor.
Excellent guidance there, friend. I liked the clear and vivid picture you painted.
However, now that you have taken our god away, what do you have to give us in return? Who am I, without my god?
j
