God Vs. Something Else

[Casper]

Personally I don't believe in God. I don't believe he doesn't exist either. I'm pretty agnostic about religion, if he's there then he's there. If not, oh well. I would rather live MY life doing good because it makes ME feel good. Not because some book written over a thousand years ago in a language that is pretty much lost in time says I should do so.

I also wrote a big long thing down here but decided not to pst it. I reread it and it seemed like a bunch of flame so I'll just leave my post at this.

Ahaha i have to keep watching what i say too, dont wanna piss any1 off :p
Thats how ive always seen things. Id rather live the way that makes me happy, rather than living for someone im not even sure exists. Although, most stories in the bible have been proven true. A lot were majorly exaggerated, like the great flood, that was most likely just a flood in the middle east, in a time when it was below sea level, and a river formed from the ocean into it. (i paraphrased alot, havent seen that history special in a long while)

[SnKMaddog]

Although, most stories in the bible have been proven true. A lot were majorly exaggerated, like the great flood, that was most likely just a flood in the middle east, in a time when it was below sea level, and a river formed from the ocean into it. (i paraphrased alot, havent seen that history special in a long while)

How come over 500 different cultures around the world have old stories of a world-wide flood?  How do you explain the Grand Canyon?  If you would just research things a bit before towing the conventional "scientific" line, you would have better arguments.  Research the Grand Canyon.  Look at topographical maps of the SW US.  Research other cultural confirmations of the great flood.  Research the Mount St Helen's eruption, and the subsequent flooding and rapid layered canyon creation.

[White^lynx]

The church and what were learnign in school about religion has changed recently. The church doesnt actually believe in the adam and eve and the creation story. We are learning its a just a story to show how divine and powerful God is. They are teaching us that God set everything in motion from the beginning to make us who we are today.

Just thought id let you guys in on how the church sees this now a days.

[SnKMaddog]

The church and what were learnign in school about religion has changed recently. The church doesnt actually believe in the adam and eve and the creation story. We are learning its a just a story to show how divine and powerful God is. They are teaching us that God set everything in motion from the beginning to make us who we are today.

Just thought id let you guys in on how the church sees this now a days.

What church are you referring to?  My Christianity is based 100% on the Bible.  The church I'm affiliated with is the same way.  Why?  Because almost everything in the Bible can be proven as factual.  Give it your best shot.  There isn't much that can't be explained or historically verified in there.

[Casper]

Nearly everything with physical proof has some sort of discrepancies. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I know everything, I'm only 16, that would be stupid. But the issue with this argument is that it will never be resolved. People have been adding to and changing religion much longer than science, it's going to have sounder arguments. But look at all the times religion has been wrong: first, the church believed the earth was the center of the universe. It was later proven it wasn't. The church believed in witches, and killed innocent people because of it. I know science hasn't been right 100 percent of the time, but it's newer than religion. The first religions started as just superstitions, like eating the heart of your hunt makes you stronger. Science and religion have both changed, and neither will ever be 100 percent right, no matter if there is or isn't a god.

[SnKQuaKe]

lol

[Casper]

lol

what a compelling argument

[SnKMaddog]

Nearly everything with physical proof has some sort of discrepancies. I'm not going to sit here and pretend I know everything, I'm only 16, that would be stupid. But the issue with this argument is that it will never be resolved. People have been adding to and changing religion much longer than science, it's going to have sounder arguments. But look at all the times religion has been wrong: first, the church believed the earth was the center of the universe. It was later proven it wasn't. The church believed in witches, and killed innocent people because of it. I know science hasn't been right 100 percent of the time, but it's newer than religion. The first religions started as just superstitions, like eating the heart of your hunt makes you stronger. Science and religion have both changed, and neither will ever be 100 percent right, no matter if there is or isn't a god.

Where does the Bible talk about the earth being the center of the Universe? 

The Church (ie: Catholic) have been wrong countless times throughout history.  The Crusades, Witches, believing the earth to be flat, believing the earth to be the center of the universe, oppression of peoples around the world, etc, etc.  But each of those wrongs were not created by referencing the Bible.  They originated from power-hungry men who came into leadership positions withing the Church.  The only reason that they could get away with most of the wrong-doing is because the actually stifled the general populations ability to read the Bible for themselves.  All reading, teaching and interpretation of the Bible was done by the leaders of the Catholic church.

Read about the origin of Christianity, and the subsequent denominational churches.  Its really interesting.  The Catholic church came about because Christianity became the official religion of Rome.  Constantine became a Christian, but because Government was all he knew, the Churches in Rome became very legalistic and organized... very political.  All subsequent denominations have been attempts to get away from all of that and focus only on the Bible. 

Note: if any of you are Catholic, I mean no disrespect.  Just trying to present the facts as they are.

The Bible itself is accurate.  Original manuscripts have been compared with current versions.  Everything matches.  What other document in history is still EXACTLY the same as it was 4,000+ years ago?  Granted, the New Testament was added to the Bible in about 350AD (can't remember exact date), but even it has been compared with what we have now, and can be verified.  Additionally, ancient historians who had no ties to religion of any kind wrote manuscripts that verify much of the Bible's contents.

Casper, you seem to be making very general statements.  You said that much of the bible is false, but can't make a compelling argument as to why that is.  When I replied to that with some actual facts, you decide to talk about the wrongs of the Church, which are not connected with the teachings of the Bible.  Research.  Know what you are talking about. 

[RedRumOnE]

lol i remember when i first commented on this post

[Gemma]

Google "Zeitgeist" and watch it in its entirety.  Then get back to and we can talk about 'god' and the likes.  I've read the bible in its entirety and I won't discuss this without my conversational counter-parts having the same information.

[Casper]

Google "Zeitgeist" and watch it in its entirety.  Then get back to and we can talk about 'god' and the likes.  I've read the bible in its entirety and I won't discuss this without my conversational counter-parts having the same information.

I haven't seen the whole thing, but my older brother told me a lot about it. It brings up some pretty good points, I'm gonna watch it once I find a download

[Gemma]

I feel like I've seen it on youtube, but don't quote me.  I've got a copy, if you want.

[Casper]

Nah, I'll just google it when I get the time. Haha. My older brother probly has a copy I could borrow if google fails me

[Casper]

Alright, I've decided to post basically all my beliefs. They aren't about how life was created, but more of how it works. Not biologically, but the role of consciousness. Nearly everything I believe about consciousness is from my own thinking, not things I've found elsewhere. I believe that nearly everything has a limited amount of consciousness. People, of course, are conscious. Animals are too, because they can feel pain and think. They are, after all, capable of thought, just not to the same extent as us. Then there's lesser animals, like bees and ants. They think, not even close to our capability or animals' capability, but still have a limited sort of consciousness. Then there's, of course, robots and other sorts of artificial intelligence. They do think: they do it through algorithms and the like, but they operate based on sensory input, just like everything mentioned before. The difference is that they have different drives: they don't care about survival or reproduction. They care about giving the output they were programmed to give. I've never seen any reason to dismiss their consciousness, except for their lack of self awareness. Then again, if we wanted to, we could easily mimic the self awareness of lesser creatures. Anyway, my trouble with consciousness is that there is no clearly defined line. My main belief about consciousness is that everything has it. I believe that it is how our universe is run. It is all run by mathematic equations. Taking in input and spitting out the input: that's how robots are run. I know my beliefs are a bit farfetched at this point, but it makes perfect sense to me. I'm open minded to most things, so please post if you find any issues with my beliefs. I have an entire journal full of things like this, and may consider posting a bit more of them eventually. I had to rephrase it all, because I built all the entries off of others, so you wouldn't have understood it copied and pasted from my journal. Lol.

[Gemma]

Casper, I love your thinking.  Please, if you haven't already, please read this book.  There is an entire chapter regarding a study that Princeton students conducted about bee's, collective intelligence, and consciousness.  This is a true story, so if you're easily freaked out, I really wouldn't read it at night.  Honestly, if you can't find a cheap copy, I'll send you mine.  I feel the same way.  When I talk to other people like us, who form their own 'religion' per se, you'll find striking similarities.  I was an anthropology major for a long while, though I never did finish that degree.  When you study religion and belief across the globe, you will always find similarities.  People tend to isolate the differences and concentrate their own beliefs regarding these. . .  My advice: find the similarities.