Yes, I think there is only one supreme being. And it is true in the Old Testament that the Supreme Being seemed angry, and desired blood sacrifice. But as I has stated, those writings are not to be taken literally. I believe God may get "angry" in some sense, and I believe he does desire us to sacrifice. But not sacrifice animals or other human beings. I believe he wants us to learn to sacrifice ourselves, as in selflessness. Or sacrificial love, like a parent sacrificing their own desires, for the benefit of their children.
The stories in the Bible are not exactly accurate since they were probably written down on papyrus hundreds of years after the events occurred. The story was verbally told from generation to generation by the clan elders, and it wasn't the details that mattered, it was the point of the story. And the point of the story was often that God cares about us, wants us to make self sacrifices for him and each other, that there will be consequences for our choices.
Ok first, if there is one God, then there is one God. And all the other religions are seeking the same supreme power. It doesn't matter that they refer to him differently.
Next, the Pope never did try to disprove Georges Lemaître's theory. The Catholic church promotes science and education in general. As I said, there really is not conflict between the Catholic church and science. The Catholic church does not teach that the Bible is a document to be understood in a literal manner or sense.
Lastly: Crotalus: " I will tell you why it upsets people it upsets people because a**hole who believe idiotic things try to force their beliefs on people threw various laws and bully boy tactics that include mass murder"
What are you talking about? a**hole who believe idiotic things? Albert Einstein was an idiotic a**hole??
Trying to force their beliefs on people? Who is doing that?
Bully boy tactics that include mass murder??? What are you talking about????
As you know, Zeus, Titan, Apollo were all images created by man to explain the super-natural and natural things man could not explain. So, in a sense, the ancient Greeks were referring to the one God.
I don't believe in the Gods of the Greek mythology. Why? Because to me, intuitively it doesn't add up that there would be many Gods.
Reading all these comments on this thread, I just want to say, the Bible (by the way which comes from the word Library) is obviously an ancient writing. And I do not, nor do many people I know, take it literally at all. In those times, people had such a limited understanding of the world around them. Paper & ink were available only to the wealthy, and most of the writings were recorded on paper centuries after the events unfolded. In those times, history was handed down generation to generation verbally, often with embellishments by the elder of the clan who delivered the story. But what mattered was not the details of the story; what mattered was the point of the story.
People did not know the world was round, that microorganisms existed, the atomic structure of things, and some people would not have believed in it had they been informed of it. But that never changed the truth of the substance of things
Crotalus says I can't compare science to religion- I don't accept that from the standpoint that God created the Universe and the sciences, Physics, and Quantum theory, evolution, and Darwin himself. It was a Jesuit priest, a physicist, who first postulated the Big Bang theory.
So things go. I f you don't want to believe, don't. But many atheists seem angry about the topic. There is really no need to get upset about it, but if it does upset you, consider why.
As I have said Krisma, the fact that there is not proof of HIS existence, does not prove HE does not exist.
We have no proof of life in the universe, other than on earth. And your position is, that proves there is no other life in the universe. And you state I must prove to you there is other life in the universe before you will believe, and the burden is on me to prove to you the existence of life elsewhere. That does not seem as open minded or realistic.
But you must know there is the possibility of life on planets in other galaxies. And I keep my mind open to that possibility, rather than take a negative absolute position that because there is not proof, then life does not exist anywhere else.
Once again, try to keep open the possibility, consider that you might not know everything, because you don't have proof of everything.
That is convenient for the Atheists, I would say. And it was convenient for the people who thought the world was flat too.
As I said Krimsa, there may never be enough proof for you. On a variety of subjects in history, there have been people who have experienced the truth, and still would not believe.
You really want concrete proof of God's existence, and since there is no verifiable proof, you have decided not to believe.
But the fact that you haven't found proof, doesn't mean her doesn't exist. Throughout the ages people didn't believe in all kinds of things until later on when discoveries were made.
So, try to keep open in your mind that God might exist, but you just don't know for SURE. It is possible that he might not choose to reveal himself to you. Maybe because he wants you to voluntarily choose to find him, rather than God beating you over the head with it.
Many of the brightest minds in the history of Humanity have chosen to believe in God, and they didn't have proof positive. But there are clues, and there is intuition.
My faith is not blind, as you can see, I have done a lot of homework on it. I am an analytical person by nature, and I don't "blindly" accept anything. Actually, at my age ( 56 ) and having operated a business for over 30 years, I know I have more than a degree of cynicism.
Try to keep an open mind Crotalus, that's what I do.
When I was about 10 years old, and one again later, when I was in my teens, I saw a super-natural being. It only occurred for a minute or less. Happened in our family house both times, and I didn't experience anything other than the vision. I didn't hear anything, I didn't smell anything, I didn't feel anything, just saw a transparent, white, feminine appearing image. I don't who 'she' was or what the purpose of the appearance was, other than it made clear to me, that there is more to this world than meets the eye.
I believe in the Immaculate Conception. I certainly can't prove it of course, it is just the virtue of Faith. You know, if Jesus was simply a myth, He sure has had an impact on the history of the Human Race.
As you know, in the Bible, there are numerous instances of Prophets who had a special ability to communicate with God. God simply is love, and he created the universe and human beings because of his infinite love, so that we could learn his love and learn how to develop the ability to love, on our own. That pleases God.
Along these lines, I believe God still reaches out to us today, not so much through the Prophets anymore, but through Mary. Mary has appeared (Marian apparitions) in Fatima, Portugal; Garabandal, Spain; Medjugorie, Yugoslavia (longest running & still occurring); Betania, Venezula; Mexico; Ukraine; Eqypt; Belgium; and more.
In each of these apparitions, she tells us about God's love for us. You might think the Catholic church would broadcast these super-natural occurrences from the steeple-tops, because these are truly miraculous events, but the Church does not. Why? Because apparitions can be from God, and they can be Satanic too. If you were a Bishop, and a person in your parish came to you and said, "The Blessed Mary appeared to me and told me......." , you would have to wonder what to think. So, the Church takes a neutral approach initially, which is a plan to " wait and see what the fruit of the message is." The test of time. In time the truth always comes out.So, if the harvest of the message leads people towards Our Lord, then the message was authentic. If it leads towards emptiness, or selfishness, or the Darkness, then we can know it is not from Mary or God.
I guy named Michael H. Brown wrote a book about the Marian apparitions called: "The Final Hour". Brown was born a Catholic, but never really had any faith. He became an investigative journalist (back in the 70's, he exposed an environmental disaster in New York state known as the Love Canal, which ultimately led to the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency) Brown decided to write a book exposing the current Medjugorie apparition for the fraud he believed it to be, and in the process got his Faith and ended up writing "The Final Hour" He developed a theory that wherever there is great Grace and supernatural love, there also tends to be a countering kind of evil around the edges or the perimeter of the supernatural site. He noticed this phenomenon in his research of the various Marion Appartioin sites.
This is all there for you to check out- and that is why we are all here on earth: to learn about God. To seek Him.
But if you choose to not believe, no one can prove it to you. Love is voluntary- it comes from the heart without being forced. God does not force anything on us. It is all up to us.
This thing called separation of church and state is not in the US Constitution, nor is it in the Bill of Rights. It was first written by Thomas Jefferson is a personal letter to another American. And what he was stating was the need for the the Untied States to not embrace any one religion to the exclusion of others.
Thomas Jefferson's idea of 'separation of church and state', was never intended to imply that the United States exclude ALL religions in our system of government. Actually to the contrary, the founders wrote their beliefs in God into many, many of the founding and original documents of this country.
This idea of the sacredness of separation of church and state is largely a myth promoted by secular humanist is this country. It is erroneous in it's factual base. It is kind of funny how many people think it is a historical fact.
I don't understand your question Conrad. I am writing about the United States. And I know it isn't pure free market/capitalism, but it is the closest thing to it in the world. I don't think we really want pure capitalism. Unbridled capitalism is not so great and let to the big Standard Oil and railroad type of monopolies that hurt people near the turn of the century (1800 to 1900). We are in good shape with some regulation to capitalism. But what is the alternative? Do you think Socialism or Communism is a better monopoly??
We jettison the free market capitalistic system only at our own peril. This is the system that made the US the most productive, inventive, innovative, and wealthy country in the history of the world.
No one watches out for, or takes as good care of the things you own, than you do. If something is owned by everyone, or managed by the government, inefficiencies, favoritism, and sloth, or corruption usually result. But when a person is working for themselves, their family, or their friends, they tend to give their all. You ever heard the cliche: "Good enough for government work"?
The CEO's that everyone criticizes, are not royalty. They studied in school and worked their way up. Yes they were lucky to have had good genes and probably loving parents, but we would not have this internet and all our Microsoft desktops if it wasn't for the free market Capitalistic systems and an entrepreneur named Bill Gates, who had an idea, energy, and guts. Bill Gates was a regular nobody in the US, until he worked his way to success. And every American has the possibility of doing the same.
The socialistic systems in the world did not put the first man on the moon, develop air conditioning, mass production, the telephones, x-rays, MRI's cell phones and on and on.
The world itself and Capitalism is not perfect and never will be. There will never be perfect Socialism, Communism, Kingdoms or anything related to humans. There are too many envious, lazy, addicted, ignorant, greedy, angry, proud people in the world for anyting to be perfect.
But there are a hell of a lot more failed socialistic systems than capitalistic systems. I am afraid the US is fading fast because people to often seek the easy way- the path of least resistance. In this country we are free to become whatever we want, and free to become nothing too. It is up to each one of us. As Winston Churchill said: "Never give up.... never, never , never in things of honor, truth, and integrity.
If life is a bike ride, it is a hell of a lot more about the pedaling than it is the coasting, no matter where you live, free or socialistic, or communistic.
I think you guys are over simplifying things. First of all, not everyone believes Darwin's theories explain everything perfectly. So, do you want the schools to teach only one theory, and possibly a flawed theory at that? That is as bad as teaching only one religious belief.
And, to teach to the history of Human Race, you have to teach about the religions that have guided and accompanied Humans down thru the ages. So religion has to be taught, if you want to teach the truth about people. Religion has played a major role in shaping cultures, civilizations, laws and morality, both for the good and the bad.
Besides, who knows for sure about the next life?? You don't, I don't, nobody does. But I do know one thing, there is more to this world than meets the eye. I have seen things and talked with others that have experienced things that neither Darwin, nor modern science, can explain.
How flammable and inflammable mean the same thing.
When people say " I could care less" When they mean "I couldn't care less."
When a package advertises "No trans fats" and the ingredients state "hydrogenated oils."
The late comedian George Carlin had a skit on this same type of question, and he could go on and on about this stuff. In the case of the trans fats, we can credit the lawyers in Washington DC for that one. There is a part of "no" that they do not understand.
I believe it is Hamas (Iran) that does not want any peace. Israel simply want to existing peacefully, and the radical Muslims want to destroy them.
Hamas had been firing rockets into Israel for months before Israel retaliated, and now, after this latest ceasefire, Hamas is again fireing rockets and mortars at Israel.
HELLO! DON'T YOU GET IT? FIRING AT ISRAEL IS NOT SEEKING PEACE!
Some people seem to think that is you repeat the same lie often enough, people will believe it.
You know, I think another characteristic of Europe compared to the US, is a distrust of organized religion. I think that stems partly from the French Revolution, and King Henry the VIII's rebellion against Rome, but I think Americans are more comfortable with their religions and the structure that accompanies them.
On a related note, I wonder how Europeans view the gradual, and steady takeover of their continent by Islam. Several European countries now have such large blocks of practicing Muslims that the politicians are afraid to oppose them. And as the Muslim populations increase, so does the assertions of the Muslims to form their host country to their liking. So I am projecting that in a couple generations, Several European countries will be practicing Sharia law, and women will be treated as property. Especially since the Muslim birth rates in Europe are about 5 to 8 times that of the Europeans themselves.
Quiet? I don't know. Trauma probably manifests itself in a variety of ways. Different families experienced the wars differently. My opinion is that Europeans are more outspoken against war than Americans, in general.
Europe has had 2 'world' wars fought on it's territory, lots of destruction from modern warfare, which I think has made big imprint on the psyche of the people. And I suspect that remains today. My speculation of course, but one reason Europeans are more peace activists than Americans.
lights Forum Posts (504)
RE: How did Mary become pregnant?
Yes, I think there is only one supreme being. And it is true in the Old Testament that the Supreme Being seemed angry, and desired blood sacrifice. But as I has stated, those writings are not to be taken literally. I believe God may get "angry" in some sense, and I believe he does desire us to sacrifice. But not sacrifice animals or other human beings. I believe he wants us to learn to sacrifice ourselves, as in selflessness. Or sacrificial love, like a parent sacrificing their own desires, for the benefit of their children.The stories in the Bible are not exactly accurate since they were probably written down on papyrus hundreds of years after the events occurred. The story was verbally told from generation to generation by the clan elders, and it wasn't the details that mattered, it was the point of the story. And the point of the story was often that God cares about us, wants us to make self sacrifices for him and each other, that there will be consequences for our choices.