Do you believe in God and why

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, sirineou said:

It is not a "TV Show" no ladyboys or midgets involved. It is a seminar. But if you have learned all that you need and rather watch the sky as you said, good for you, You are a better man than me. 

Seminars are only as good as the presenter. I've been to seminars where the supposedly expert, great mind was an absolute charlatan.

[Tippaporn]

14 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Don't know why you scorn it so. Seems logical that all the matter that makes up the universe emerged from a singular point and expanded outwards, forming galaxies as it went. Eventually everything falls into a black hole and is reborn as another universe in another big bang, for ever and ever and ever.

For what purpose?

[thaibeachlovers]

10 hours ago, sirineou said:

are you sure you have enough dots? or will you be getting an incomplete picture. 

No human can ever have the complete picture. There is so much information out there that no individual could ever acquire it all even in a century.

We all get by on what we can acquire, however much that may be.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, Tippaporn said:

For what purpose?

Why are you ascribing human characteristics to God? God knows, I don't.

 

[Tippaporn]

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Why are you ascribing human characteristics to God? God knows, I don't.

 

God has no purpose?

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, Tippaporn said:

God has no purpose?

Have you read nothing I've written? God is beyond our understanding.

[Tippaporn]

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No human can ever have the complete picture.  <snip>

Speak for yourself.

[Tippaporn]

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

Have you read nothing I've written? God is beyond our understanding.

Speak for yourself.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

Speak for yourself.

I can only assume you are baiting me so bye.

[Tippaporn]

7 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I can only assume you are baiting me so bye.

Not baiting you at all.  You have, for yourself, arrived at the conclusion that God cannot be known, that the purpose of the universe cannot be known, that no human can ever have the complete picture.  You state your personal conclusions as facts that apply to every other human.  I don't agree whatsoever with your conclusions.  And since you speak of them as absolute fact then I simply ask you to speak for yourself.

 

If you want to argue that your conclusions are indeed fact which apply to all humans then go ahead.  I might say that I'm not taking that bait.  Fair enough?

[thaibeachlovers]

On 2/29/2020 at 10:16 PM, mauGR1 said:

Agree to a certain point, but depends how you define "evil". Violence appears to be a part of the physical world, it exists even without humans involved.

Evil IMO would be the infliction of hurt whether physical or mental intentionally and done when calm and rational.

Ie, ordering the death of millions as Hitler, Mao and Stalin did was evil. When a soldier does horrible things in the heat of battle, that's bad, but not evil, IMO.

[mauGR1]

24 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

To those that are open to the spiritual, the sky is all the "proof" we need that God exists. I went through most of my life not even thinking about the sky, but now it's a temple of wonder. I'm not saying the sky is God, but that God gave me the ability to see the beauty in the sky, and in all nature.

I've yet to see a herd of cows admiring a sunset.

 

One evening i was sitting at some friend's home, and 3 of the friends were playing jazz classics with guitar, sax and drums. Suddenly the home dog started to howl and got the rhythm, and for a couple of long minutes was howling and blending naturally with the music, to everyone amazement.

I would be not surprised to see a happy cow enjoying a sunset, unfortunately in the modern, overpopulated world, animals don't have much to be happy.

[thaibeachlovers]

17 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

 

One evening i was sitting at some friend's home, and 3 of the friends were playing jazz classics with guitar, sax and drums. Suddenly the home dog started to howl and got the rhythm, and for a couple of long minutes was howling and blending naturally with the music, to everyone amazement.

I would be not surprised to see a happy cow enjoying a sunset, unfortunately in the modern, overpopulated world, animals don't have much to be happy.

Beef cows in NZ for the most part ( at least till they get to the works ) are happy ( if we can actually ascribe human emotions to cows ) . Plenty to eat, water, lots of space to roam, but I've never ever seen one enjoying the sky.

If I had to nominate the happiest animal, it would be a cat that owns a human, but I've yet to see one of them watching a sunset.

 

I lived in Antarctica for a year and our base had huskies. I used to hear the husky chorus in the evening when one would start and the others gradually join in, till they all stopped at the same instant. I'd like to believe that they were howling to show appreciation of God's wonder, but somehow I doubt it.

[Sunmaster]

Just now, thaibeachlovers said:

[...]

If I had to nominate the happiest animal, it would be a cat that owns a human, but I've yet to see one of them watching a sunset.

 

[...]

I was slave to a cat that would jump on the roof of my car almost every evening and sit in direction of the setting sun. To me it looked like he enjoyed the sunset, at least I like to think that, but I admit it could have been for a number of other reasons.

Edited March 2, 2020 by Sunmaster

[thaibeachlovers]

4 minutes ago, Sunmaster said:

I was slave to a cat that would jump on the roof of my car almost every evening and sit in direction of the setting sun. To me it looked like he enjoyed the sunset, at least I like to think that, but I admit it could have been for a number of other reasons.

Don't get me wrong, I'd like to ascribe emotions and intelligence to some animals, mainly horses, dogs and cats, but sadly I haven't seen anything that can't be explained for reasons other than emotion.

I do think some animals can "enjoy" certain activities. The huskies I referred to "enjoyed" pulling a sled, though they may just have enjoyed not being chained up, I've seen birds "enjoying" dirt baths, horses like to roll around on the ground, dogs certainly give the impression they enjoy being with the human they own, as do cats when being stroked.

Perhaps one day we will understand if animals are intelligent, or not, but it's not now.

[Tippaporn]

50 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I can only assume you are baiting me so bye.

Not baiting you at all.  You have, for yourself, arrived at the conclusion that God cannot be known, that the purpose of the universe cannot be known, that no human can ever have the complete picture.  You state your personal conclusions as facts that apply to every other human.  I don't agree whatsoever with your conclusions.  And since you speak of them as absolute fact then I simply ask you to speak for yourself.

 

If you want to argue that your conclusions are indeed fact which apply to all humans then go ahead.  I might say that I'm not taking that bait.  Fair enough?

Why do so many posters ignore tough questions?

[Tippaporn]

I've asked before:

 

Belief.  What is it?  Where does it come from?  What are it's sources?  Are your beliefs yours?  Are they someone else's?  Are you your beliefs?  What do they do?  What effects do they have?  Do they have effects?  If so, can they be discerned?  Can they be observed?  Can they be confirmed?  Can you see their effects in others?  In yourself?  Can you recognize a belief?  Is a belief real?  Is it a fantasy?  Can it be confused with reality?  Can it be substituted for reality?  Can beliefs be played with?  Toyed with?  Are they fun?  Can they be changed?  Can they be deliberately, intentionally changed?  Can they be rearranged?  Can they be collected?  Can they litter?  Can they be tossed away?  What are your beliefs?  Do you know?  Are you aware of them?  Do you have contradictory beliefs?  Would you recognize contradictory beliefs within yourself?

 

Beliefs.  What are they?

 

Would an understanding of the nature of beliefs be a prerequisite to a proper understanding of creation?

 

Tough questions.

[mauGR1]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

1 hour ago, Tippaporn said:

For what purpose?

Why are you ascribing human characteristics to God? God knows, I don't.

 

It's easy for me to speculate that the Spirit has a purpose, but i think that my thought has not enough power and speed to go there.

So, yes, ascribing human characteristics to God seems a bit risky.

[thaibeachlovers]

47 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

Suddenly the home dog started to howl and got the rhythm, and for a couple of long minutes was howling and blending naturally with the music, to everyone amazement.

Not amazing to me as Pink Floyd made a track that included a dog howling along with their music. It was in a movie they made back in the 80s.

[thaibeachlovers]

A certain poster should remember which subforum they are reading this on and that it can be assumed that everything on this subforum is an OPINION.

[mauGR1]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Not amazing to me as Pink Floyd made a track that included a dog howling along with their music. It was in a movie they made back in the 80s.

Yes, i remember that song, but it doesn't make it less amazing for me.

I didn't see the movie though.

[ivor bigun]

Still amazed that this is still running ,but lets face it ,until the Jews came along and "invented" the one God and modern religion ,there were so many other Gods ,even the moon was a god at one time.

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, mauGR1 said:

Yes, i remember that song, but it doesn't make it less amazing for me.

I didn't see the movie though.

Sorry, it was indeed amazing to see a dog with the clevers to do that. I shouldn't have said that it wasn't amazing to me.

[mauGR1]

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

A certain poster should remember which subforum they are reading this on and that it can be assumed that everything on this subforum is an OPINION.

Yes, of course we are discussing opinions.

[Tippaporn]

22 minutes ago, mauGR1 said:

It's easy for me to speculate that the Spirit has a purpose, but i think that my thought has not enough power and speed to go there.

So, yes, ascribing human characteristics to God seems a bit risky.

I'll take the risk.  Without hesitation.

 

So it is said that God created us in his own image.  Yet we share no characteristics?  Humans have purpose but God has none?  And if it's not possible to know God then how can we know that he has no purpose?

 

I can't speak for anyone else but myself but for the life of me I can't help but to continually see so many beliefs that when taken together seem to make no sense.  I must be a highly flawed human being.  I ask for pity.

 

Just joking.

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Tippaporn

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, ivor bigun said:

Still amazed that this is still running ,but lets face it ,until the Jews came along and "invented" the one God and modern religion ,there were so many other Gods ,even the moon was a god at one time.

It's evolved into all sorts of directions like meditation, science etc. I'm happy you started it. I'm sure it's given many food for thought even if they don't contribute.

Certainly made me look at the sky differently- hallelujah.

[mauGR1]

1 minute ago, ivor bigun said:

Still amazed that this is still running ,but lets face it ,until the Jews came along and "invented" the one God and modern religion ,there were so many other Gods ,even the moon was a god at one time.

Yes, many Gods, Bacchus is a tricky guy though

[Sunmaster]

Just now, mauGR1 said:

Yes, many Gods, Bacchus is a tricky guy though

My favourite one, by far.

[mauGR1]

3 minutes ago, Tippaporn said:

I'll take the risk.  Without hesitation.

 

So it is said that God created us in his own image.  Yet we share no characteristics?  Humans have purpose but God has none?  And if it not possible to know God then how can we know that he has no purpose?

 

I can't speak for anyone else but myself but for the life of me I can't help but to continually see so many beliefs that when taken together seem to make no sense.  I must be a highly flawed human being.  I ask for pity.

 

Just joking.

I just realised that you are absolutely spot on.

God has everything we can think about and possibly more, thus S/He has a purpose too.

[Tippaporn]

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

A certain poster should remember which subforum they are reading this on and that it can be assumed that everything on this subforum is an OPINION.

You can go ahead and call me out by name.  I won't be offended.  I won't run away.

 

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

<snip> God is beyond our understanding.

 

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No human can ever have the complete picture. <snip>

Your statements are stated as fact.  They weren't prefaced by, "I believe . . . "

 

I disagreed with your conclusions and as they were stated as fact and not your opinion then I simply asked that you speak for yourself.   Clearing it up would be as simple as saying, "O.K., it's what I believe."  But rather I'm made out to be trolling, another conclusion drawn by you, and kissed goodbye.  Am I dealing with adults here or children?