There are many religions on this planet and many of their believers strongly trust that their particular creed is the one and only true faith. As far as I understand it, they all (or at least the vast majority) seem to believe that there is only one God.…
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26 - Al Barger
Alienboy, I must politely object to your description of my "Gimme That Old Time Religion" column as a "rant." Now, I dig a good rant, and I like to think I'm pretty good at ranting, but that's absolutely not what THAT column was doing.
That seems like an unfair manner of dismissing my several points in the column, which I am particularly proud of. Bluntly not buying someone's religious BS (Belief Systems) does not automatically constitute an anti-religious rant.
Note particularly the bemused and even sentimental tone of the piece, which is in a very different emotional spectrum than a "rant."
27 - alienboy
Al, I wasn't aware that a rant had to necesarily to be an explosive venting; it can also be "extravagant speech or writing", "Wild or uproarious merriment" or even "pompous or pretentious talk or writing". I actually thought it was quite funny.
And I would not dismiss a single one of your points in that particular piece, unfairly or otherwise.
28 - billy
"1. God appears to be unique, one of a kind, a genuine singularity, but is there really only one?"
No, there is no god, god is made up by man and not vice-versa. there has never been a shred of evidence god exisats, except people are followers and believe what they are told.
"2. If, as all the current religious writings seem to say, there is only one entity of this omnipotent genre, it lives alone. Sure, it has all of us, and possibly all the known universe, its creations, to care for, but is s/he lonely?"
Not all current religions claim there is one god, just some, and those differ on who that is, christians believe it is a nice white liberal with a hippie beard. buddhists dont believe in god. since man made god and it doesnt exist, it cant be lonely.
"3. One of the problems doubters have is the absence of any physical manifestation. Let's face it, if God turned up in all their terrifying glory, it would instantly squash all questions of existence. If God is alone and possibly lonely, why doesn't s/he hang out more?"
Because something that doesnt exist cant hang out.
"4. On the other hand, perhaps God is not alone, but one of a whole species or race of beings simply way more advanced and evolved than we are. If there are more, where are they? And what are they doing?"
If so, god doesnt exist , but there is a higher life form that we mistook for god. that is more feasible than arguing god exists, although only slightly so.
"5. If God is actually a physical being, s/he must actually be somewhere, even if they are omnipresent and all-knowing. Where is God physically located?"
Yes, hew would have to be somewhere, that is all the more proof he doesnt exist.
"6. As far as we can tell, with our limited understanding, all living things need regular inputs of fuel, what we call food. Does this universal rule also apply to God? And if so, what does s/he eat?"
Of course even "god" is not above the second law of thermodynamics.
"7. As a follow on question, all living things also produce byproducts of the refueling process. If God eats, do they also have waste products and what does s/he do with them?"
Since god is non-existant, he doesnt take a piss.
"8. Similarly, all energetic systems produce heat as another byproduct of existence. If s/he consumes, why can't we detect a heat signature?"
Because it doesnt exist.
"9. And whilst pondering these issues, there seems to be certain universal laws of nature. Does God also obey the laws of nature?"
Of course, if he didnt we could prove he existed.
"10. I, for one, would prefer a universe with active gods that one could call upon for guidance and support - and not only because it would completely change the mostly predictable world in which we live. Does God's infinite patience and indulgence of us, its creations according to dogma, go to such lengths that if it came to it, s/he would actually allow us to blow ourselves out of existence through the development of ever more terrible weapons?"
God isnt out there, its all up to us to avoid that. too bad the believers in god are the ones pushing us toward that cliff.
29 - Al Barger
Alienboy, perhaps I'm a trifle too sensitive.
From dictionary.com:
rant: To speak or write in a angry or violent manner; rave.
v. tr.
To utter or express with violence or extravagance: a dictator who ranted his vitriol onto a captive audience.
n.
Violent or extravagant speech or writing.
A speech or piece of writing that incites anger or violence: “The vast majority [of teenagers logged onto the Internet] did not encounter recipes for pipe bombs or deranged rants about white supremacy” (Daniel Okrent).
Chiefly British. Wild or uproarious merriment.
------------
Most of that sounds angry and violent, but if you mean that in the "chiefly British" sense, I will accept that as a fine compliment.
XOX
30 - alienboy
Well Al, I am chiefly British, though happily living abroad - a compromise that probably suits Britain as well as me!
31 - Al Barger
Like Sting's "Englishman in New York." Maybe he'll write a song about you, too.
32 - alienboy
Yeah, An Englishman in Andalucia, love it
33 - Al Barger
"An Englishman in Andalucia" doesn't seem to naturally SING as well, but I bet Sting could make it work. That's why he makes the big bucks.
34 - alienboy
You just need to get some latin beat going, a little Santana or Shakira maybe.
This thread has gone so off topic
35 - b
Anonymous said...
Actually, I have dumped a large amount of information on you in my previous post so I am not surprised that you are having challenges digesting it. The evidence you seek to follow will be difficult to pinpoint as ultimately the existence of God and and understanding of his nature is something that can't be proven.
As I stated above, God wants his children to undertand his intentions regarding them and has chosen a to share these intentions with us. The way he has always used since the beginning, has been by choosing special witnesses/represenatives called prophets, (Abraham, Moses,John the Baptist, Buddah? Confusius?). These prophets have direct interaction with God, unlike the rest of us, and they teach us about God's plan. The way that we can know whether or not the words of the prophets are true or not is through the power of the holy ghost. The Holy Ghost will personally manifest to us when we are hearing truth so that we can know of its veracity. Heavenly Father did not stop calling Prophets with the death of the Apostles. He has a modern Prophet on the earth today who provides us guidance from God that is specific to our day, just as ancient prophets did for the people of their time.
Most everything I shared with you regarding the nature of God in the above post was revealed to us in modern times through prophets who have actually conversed with God. These Prophets have seen Heavenly Father, and his Resurrected and Perfected Son, Jesus Christ, both heavenly beings, glorified, having bodies like you and me but perfected, with white hair, and white beards. When Heavenly father revealed himself to the modern prophets in our day, he explained that most people have lost their concept of God and do not understand his true nature. He has revealed many truths to us beyond what can be found in the Bible.
The evidence you have is that you can examine the teachings/writings of these modern day prophets, and you can examine it along with the teachings of all the previoius prophets who have been consistent for thousands of years in teaching us about Heavenly Father. With all these eyewitnesses, you can begin to increase your own faith in God and find out whether or not the things I have written are true.
Let me know if you want to know more. B
36 - alienboy
Thanks B,
Without wanting to disrespect your sincere belief, I do find this all rather difficult to accept.
I wanted to try and establish some kind of consensus as to what type of being a "god" might be, to add some clarity to what is often ignored or confused in our current thinking on the topic.
Your input, whilst illuminating, is really not helping the original thrust of my curiosity and the claims you make are simply unsubstantiated. I thank you for them but would prefer to focus on my original line of enquiry...
37 - phil
1.One God ..by definition
2 God was lonely..now he probally wishes he was alone sometimes
3. God "hangs out" only for those who hang In Him
4. N/A
5. God is not a physical being but a form of energy as the Holy Spirit( i prefer Holy Ghost)
6. God made the laws of nature, so he is obviously not bound by them as we are..we are not gods
7.I had a philosophy teacher once who said creation was a form of divine masturbation
8. N/A
9.See Above
10. this literally could happen at any time
38 - reggie von woic
1. God has no plural. god, on the other hand does.
2. God have negative emotions like loneliness? Are you serious?
3. There's this thing called faith, unsatisfactorily outlined in the bible-believing in something you're not quite sure exists, no matter what.
4. Good question there, even if there are others, only The supreme one counts.
5. Now there's a brain chewer.
6,7. um...only physical beings feed, respire and excrete. If anything, i don't think God is physical.
8. Detect God using our earthly inventions? yeah right. Even if we could, i'm sure it would be something other than heat.
9. He made the laws of nature, its up to him. However i believe that if He wants to see you, he won't come through your front door by knocking.
10. I believe he gave us parents, grandparents, teachers, good friends and counselors for that job.
39 - frontier
stop spreading the terrorism of religion fools.
a terrorist who suicide bombs a kindergarden killing 200 innocent children deserves lesser punishment than anyone religious, you got no clue what its doing to the world.