Our God

[henry quirk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRqijH1dDdI

'nuff said.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Cellar member, tuba player, and blogger Kirk Israel, is the son of two ministers. Both Mom and Dad being long time soldiers in the Salvation Army. He's written an interesting piece about his journey with the faith.

I mean there I was, a literal son of a preacher man (sweet-talkin' optional), trying my darndest to be a good Christian, but if I had been born the son of an Imam, wouldn't I be striving just as hard to be a good Moslem?

[Clodfobble]

Unless a worse malevolence would actually be to have everyone sitting on a beach, relaxing, never doing or feeling anything at all for eternity. I'll take the pain and triumph package over the numbness any day.

The movie is only cliche because it is necessarily short on time and nuance. But if you bring the view up to a grander perspective on humanity as a whole, a person's complete life becomes lazy and cliche. Over the course of our lives almost everyone gets to be a dozen different types of both hero and sacrifice at different times--or at least we are offered the opportunity to be--and anything less would effectively be like being dead anyway.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Over the course of our lives almost everyone gets to be a dozen different types of both hero and sacrifice at different times--or at least we are offered the opportunity to be--and anything less would effectively be like being dead anyway.

Except for those who die young, presumably to keep everyone else's lives eventful.

[Gravdigr]

I just can't get myself to accept the idea that the entirety of the universe, and everything in it, is all just one big coincidence.

YMMV, of course.

[tw]

Originally Posted by Gravdigr

I just can't get myself to accept the idea that the entirety of the universe, and everything in it, is all just one big coincidence.

If the dice are thrown enough times, then it was not a coincidence. It was inevitable.

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by tw

If the dice are thrown enough times, then it was not a coincidence. It was inevitable.

Coincidence and chance are terribly close to the same thing.

Happenstance.

Six of one, a half-dozen of the other.

An accident.

[Undertoad]

I just can't get myself to accept the idea that the entirety of the universe, and everything in it, is all just one big coincidence.

You say you don't know the nature of the universe. Well yeah. It doesn't come with a user manual. But you say you know the nature of God? Are you sure?

How could you know? Do you think you know because of those books humans wrote, where *they* claimed to know the nature of God?

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

You say you don't know the nature of the universe. Well yeah. It doesn't come with a user manual. But you say you know the nature of God? Are you sure?

How could you know? Do you think you know because of those books humans wrote, where *they* claimed to know the nature of God?

I am incapable of understanding the true nature of God, as all men are.

Your making up things I didn't say. I never said I understood the true nature of God.

No one has the right to belittle my faith, just because they have none [/paraphrasing "Broadchurch", somewhat], and I am not belittling anyone's lack thereof.

I responded to a statement that it took an immature mind to conceive of God, as we are speaking of God. If one logically allows that statement to continue, it would follow that anyone who believes in God would therefore have to have an equally, or even more immature mind. Which would lead one to believe that the speaker of that statement obviously believes himself or herself to be of a more mature mind than that of the majority of people who believe in God, which, like it or not, is most of the people on Earth.

Where did I infer that I have an understanding of the true nature of God? Anyone with any knowledge of any religion (that involves God) knows that man cannot understand the true nature of God. If they could, they would know which religion is 'correct', and we would not have all these conflicting ideas.

We also wouldn't have arguments like this one.

[Sheldonrs]

There have been countless deities worshipped over countless centuries and everyone that believed in them were sure their "God" or "Gods" were the only true ones. I'll stick with just being as good a person as I can because it's the right thing to do and, in the words of Iris Dement, "I think I'll just let the mystery be."

[lumberjim]

right. doing the right thing for the wrong reason is not much better than doing the wrong thing.

[glatt]

I gotta disagree there. Doing the right thing is always much better than doing the wrong thing, regardless of motivation. It makes for fewer dickheads in the world, and we all appreciate that.

[lumberjim]

so intent is irrelevant?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Who decides what's the right thing and what's the wrong thing?

Not to mention deciding when it doesn't matter, like trying to decide whether to scratch an itch with the left or right hand.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

Except for those who die young, presumably to keep everyone else's lives eventful.

I thought that "eventful" was equivalent to "evil," in your mind. Doesn't the one who dies young get the better deal, then?

Do you believe in the possibility of a malevolent God?