Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lane3 who wrote (59441)	9/22/2002 5:54:58 PM
From: J. C. Dithers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

Well, of course, to me... it makes perfect sense. What you describe is exactly what I mean by believing in God. I don't come to any religious beliefs through scriptures or any man-made constructs. I may think of myself nominally as a Catholic, and respect part or whole of their doctrine, but only because of a need to belong and because I find their teachings to be uplifting. I find the life and teachings of Jesus to be equally uplifting. But I don't believe in God because of what they teach. I don't necessarily believe in their conception of God, although I think it would be nice if that turned out to be true. But I think the church is only valid in the earthly realm. So I guess my "logic" is God, first; a church, second. And I find God, not from scriptures, but because of my own personal conclusion as to the existence of a benevolent force, a maker, a creator, of whose form and nature I will never be able to understand in this life. The beauty, goodness, and majesty I see all around me in this earthly life is the spiritual basis for my God-belief. Okay --- now does that make sense?

To: Lane3 who wrote (59441)	9/22/2002 7:05:21 PM
From: average joe	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

What do you dread in nature? awe Pronunciation Key (ô) n. The power to inspire dread. Dread. tr.v. awed, aw·ing, awes To inspire with awe.

To: Lane3 who wrote (59441)	9/23/2002 12:29:52 PM
From: one_less	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

"If one experiences awe and wonder and spirituality in nature, does that back door one into an presumed God-belief in whoever or whatever created nature? Something or somebody obviously created nature, which is wonderous and awesome and spiritual to experience. Is acknowledging that tantamount to recognizing God?" I think it depends. We (the believers) get pretty carried away in the how and the wherefore. We complicate it so much that we become divisive and unruly over it. From what I can gather in the various bodies of scripture that claim to be messages from God, the core of the explanation is not complicated. An effortless (and IMO timeless) event that is simply God's Will. Anything more complicated does not make sense to me, because effort implies struggling with some force to make things go your way. The All Powerful aspect of God's character contradicts that. "Something or somebody obviously created nature, which is wonderous and awesome and spiritual to experience. If my only avenue to experience was through my physical senses I would argue with you. It is vastly broader than just having a sensory awareness so I do agree with you. In general, we (the believers) figure that there is purpose and that the condition of our souls is at the heart of the matter. This may be where I would draw a distinction on what a believer is and is not. It seems that one can start at just about any point and through unfettered observation of creation, conscious awareness of its illusive limits/limitlessness, and self awareness; most people can come to believe that the thing is bigger than physics or at least bigger than our understanding of physics. Most open minded people have awareness of the abstractions that impress their experience. Finding a common label for that is difficult. Your choice of the word "spiritual" should work for most but probably not all. And so, for definitional purposes (among others) people who have an awareness of the "awesome and wonderous" nature of their existence can turn to scriptures and find clarification. I consider it oppression to institutionalize the same scriptures and attempt to define the allegiances of another person through them. (note: I do not consider a scholarly approach to study, followed by guiding others to necessarily be the same thing)