|
Register | Blogging | Today's Posts | Search |
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
07-26-2009, 03:12 AM | #151 (permalink) | |
;)
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: CA
Posts: 3,503
|
Quote:
when you distinguish between considering yourself spiritual and sensing divine influence you're to me just playing with words. i see them as the same thing. if something is 'spiritual,' that implies a spirit, and if that spirituality is common to all living things that implies a spirit that resides within all living things, and that's all I'm talking about when I say 'God' (although there are other conceptions, of course) in that regard, yes, you would be bereft of your emotions, love of music and compassion if there were no God, because those very things are expressions of God, they are how we know God. you say truth is important, but what is truth? if you think that's a stupid question, then you must not realize there are many different ways of thinking about truth, and that anyone truly concerned with finding out "the Truth" must be ready to attack the notion of Truth itself, to see what it is made of, to explore the different perspectives on it. for this reason it really saddens me to put reading Kierkegaard or Pascal down to a "waste of time." at least then admit that looking for Truth is also a waste of time. you ask, could subjective phenomena exist without God? I believe in God, though I do not know the nature of God. however, the two ways in which I usually think about God is either as the source of subjective phenomena (that is, we experience love because we are indirectly experiencing God) or the totality of subjective phenomena (that is, God is love and hate and beauty and revulsion etc.). so again, no i do not think subjective phenomena would be possible without God. I think subjective phenomena must have a source, and that this source cannot be material objects since the very idea of a 'material object' is simply 'that which we do not recognize as a subject.' for me, the very existence of emotions (the very existence of the universe) is a proof of God, which is nothing but the proof that the Universe wants to exist. another way of saying the same thing is "I have a will, I am part of the Universe, therefore the Universe has will(s), hence the Universe is personal, hence I can call it God, since God is the notion of a personal entity that transcends my boundaries" |
|
07-26-2009, 03:15 AM | #152 (permalink) |
Al Dente
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 4,708
|
The problem with all of this is that too often we boil things down to a question of whether one believes or disbelieves in god. We make it an argument between faith and reason.
In my opinion this is a moot issue. Both faith and reason have their respective places in our lives, but we try to make it an argument of whether or not it is less noble to accept something on the basis of pure faith than it is to demand tangible evidence as a prerequisite of our belief. Both sides have solid arguments and the likelihood of one side objectively winning out over the other is very slim. I think that a more important question is what is god. To me god has become an ambiguous catchall term that serves a lot of different functions to a lot of different people. If we are talking about an anthropomorphic deity that is completely autonomous that exists somewhere far off in the ether of space or an alternate dimension who created the universe and will inevitably judge us for or virtues and transgression when we die and subsequently determine our eternal destiny I say of course that god doesn't exist, never has. But if you are speaking of god as a convenient way of referring to that aspect of individual and collective consciousness that transcends the ego and has the ability the influence and act upon that which is seemingly beyond our reach as far as our ego is concerned, then I say yes, absolutely. But this is not religion. It is psychology, and physics, and yes, a little bit of faith, because we aren't quite at that point where cognitive psychology can show hard evidence of such things, but we are close. By standard definition I am an atheist, but I do use the term god in regard to my beliefs more as a matter of semantic convenience than anything else. Does that mean that I believe in god? Well I don't know. I think it's a question that needs some refinement, but for most people's purposes the answer is No. |
07-26-2009, 03:15 AM | #153 (permalink) | |
****ER OF HOLES
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Butt****, Nebraska
Posts: 1,211
|
Quote:
__________________
“YOU ARE SCUM SLUT.” -John Martyn |
|
07-26-2009, 03:19 AM | #154 (permalink) | |
Account Disabled
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: VAN
Posts: 2,530
|
Quote:
how do you know it isnt an instinctual urge to preserve a member of our species? |
|
07-26-2009, 03:25 AM | #156 (permalink) | |
****ER OF HOLES
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Butt****, Nebraska
Posts: 1,211
|
Quote:
For a complete stranger? Get the **** outta here. Have you ever thrown your life on the line for someone you didn't have any attatchment to before that moment?
__________________
“YOU ARE SCUM SLUT.” -John Martyn |
|
07-26-2009, 03:37 AM | #158 (permalink) | |
****ER OF HOLES
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Butt****, Nebraska
Posts: 1,211
|
Quote:
It seems like evidence because the act is beyond us. Self-preservation has always been first, and when you act for someone for no personal reason, or otherwise future gain you set your only "real" object of worth, being your very temporary existence at stake. For someone you would in any other time not even compose a thought to recognize. It's too random and frankly borders on insanity. Yet it's something we should all be doing. But again, idle thoughts.
__________________
“YOU ARE SCUM SLUT.” -John Martyn Last edited by Terrible Lizard; 07-26-2009 at 12:21 PM. |
|
07-26-2009, 10:57 AM | #159 (permalink) | |||
Music Addict
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 267
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
__________________
rateyourmusic Last edited by streetwaves; 07-26-2009 at 11:05 AM. |
|||
07-26-2009, 12:15 PM | #160 (permalink) | |
Unrepentant Ass-Mod
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 3,921
|
Quote:
__________________
first.am |
|