Theists who haven't committed to one religion rejoice!

God is, but He has little to do with man's limiting religion. But using he as a way of referring to god is still a common convention, and it tends to make what is an abstract concept into something that actually gets in the way of seeing the truth.

It makes god into some thing, some one, that exists outside of us, when in reality, there is nothing outside of us, least of all god.

Not sure what you mean by Jungian Libido.

 

Basically you guys make shit up in your own heads, then believe it as fact?

 

Not sure what you mean? How do you know "religion" isn't completely wrong?

Since religion is man's definition of who/what God is - wouldn't it make the most sense to go to God directly for answers to those questions?

If religion serves up an "image" of God - I think its best to go to God to ensure you get the correct image.

Especially since God is, you know, invisible. lol

 

I don't see any reason why i should believe in any form of God at all, so i think it even more frivolous to simply compose one from my minds own conjecture. At least Religion has the crutch of antiquity and the shroud of tradition to attempt to defend its injunctions; though of course this remains fallacious. To simply decide upon the nature of the universe based of one's intuitive inclinations is, to me, just about one step away from the nut-house. In fact i believe Nietzsche put it best when he said "A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.”

 

The big bang is made-up in someones head but I suppose that's how you rationalize the creation on the universe. How can you not believe in something creating all you know and are? You didn't come from nothing, you have a father and a mother. Yet you think the grand-scheme follows a different course than your own existence? Why didn't you and I just pop into existence if life can just come from nothing.

 

I really don't think it's all just 'made up bullshit' if tons of people come to same conclusion.


Most people that believe in god and don't follow any religions usually have roughly the same idea of what god is.. simply the creative force behind and within reality.

I personally see god as an artist. In the same sense that people will praise a painter for painting a picture of a sunset, I praise god for creating the actual beauty in the sunset itself.

Nature is amazing and I find bliss in it's beauty as a work of art.

 

let's say religion is 'shit', like you say.

how different is it from a guy who thinks "i want a drink, it's gonna help me chill..." or 'this bitch will make me feel like a thousand bucks" or "if i had this job/gift/amount of money i'd feel on top of the world" etc etc

people make up shit all the time in their head and self-justify it as fact to conform to their wants. why pick on religion? at least it's cheaper than a bottle of jack daniels, which some people choose as their 'guiding light'.

 

So is theism just a hodgepodge of multiple religous teachings and philosophies cramed together in an incomprehensible blob?

 

Here's one:

You are more powerful than you realise. You create your own reality. That reality can be anything you want it to be, literally. By opening to the idea of god (and as thoughtware said

then without deciding you know anything, or letting go of what you already have, you allow this into your life, that is completely, and I mean COMPLETELY not what you think it is.

Whatever god is, whatever anyone says it is, including anyone on here (me included) is not what they think it is. Whatever someone says god is, is only a pointer at best.

Whether they come to feel this through religion or something else, doesn't matter. And it doesn't matter if my god seems different to your god, by the effect it seems to have on me either.

The relationship with this idea will change as you do. You just have to start somewhere. Questioning it shows you already have.

 

Firstly, the big bang isnt just a concept someone made up; the idea is constructed around the evidence we have from the primordial first moments of the universe, and the character of the physical laws (red shift, cosmic background radiations etc)
Secondly, i don't believe we "pop into existence" or that we came from nothing. I believe life has gradually developed and evolved over billions of years and we are the result of the evolutionary process. Just because the genesis of the universe is still under deliberation, does not give the idea of a God any more credence - let alone one that i conjour up for myself. Religion has pseudo-evidence. My imaginings would simply be biased, immodest, wishful thinking.

Actually people wouldn't simply make up that decision, it would be a bio-molecular process and chemical assimilation within the brain which would cajole one into having a drink; a combination of graving, dependence (if alcohol), addicition (if caffeine), circumstance and thirst will influence the decision. The same can be said for any material possession one wishes to own. However, this is more of a question of free-will rather than one about existentialism.

I can create my own reality? I am more powerful than i am?
Sounds like you have a serious superiority complex, my friend. I wouldn't dellude myself with the conceited notion that i have some divine saliency within this universe.

 

You create your own reality all the time. You don't realise how much you actually affect yourself and your life by how you think and what you believe.

That's just something you've decided to believe. I wouldn't want you to delude yourself with any conceited notion, but then, you're the one choosing to see it that way. Looks like you're creating your reality as we speak.

 

I am not altering any reality, i am simply defining a set of principles. However, as i am open to lateral thinking; please share with me some evidence where you have affected a new reality - rather than just a change in perspective.

 

Two people stand side by side, and witness the same set of circumstances. While each may believe the other has seen the same thing, they haven't. Each understands the experience based on who they are, how they think, what they've done, what they believe, their prejudices, etc. as well as just their general state of mind at the time.

This is one moment, one experience, in one situation. Imagine how many times you do this as you go about your life. and you'll get some idea of how subjective reality is.

Two quick examples of creating your own reality.

A hypnotist gives you an apple and tells you it is an onion. You eat the onion as if it is an apple and enjoy its juiciness immensely. What is the reality here? The onion from the hypnotist's perspective, or the apple that you experience?

You have a virulent form of cancer, and are given a new, experimental drug to try. The cancer starts to get smaller. The drug is a placebo. What affected the cancer, the sugar in the pill, or the mind that believed it had taken something that would help?

 

You begin by using Qualia as the notion behind your interpretation of reality, then you give two examples that are completely disparate.
Firstly, the reality remains that the consumable is still an onion - your brain has been deceived into believing it is something else through a simple neurotic phenomenon. The brain is a mechanism, and mechanisms can be perverted. This is merely a result of psychological stimulation, and not some transcendence from physical reality.
Secondly, there is no placebo which will cure cancer - cancer is unregulated cell growth. A placebo will effect an illness which is pathologically enhanced from a psychosis such as hypochondria - it is another form of deception. You cannot take a placebo for a broken arm for instance. Again this is due to the brain being a complex mechanical system, not due to a distortion of reality.

 

Ok, good. You reveal the way you see things - that is your reality. Were you expecting me to change your reality? Would you really want me to do that even if I could?

You will always choose to see whatever I say your own way. Perfectly right. I'm not here to convince you of anything.

 

Even now the Truth is becoming known - as there is only ONE truth. Those who seek to know Truth as it is will find it - because it is here, and it is growing. This is the best way to wake up.

Others who refuse to seek for truth because they believe they already possess it will be awakened with an alarm clock. Not the most comfortable way - but for some it is the only thing that will work.