This is difficult to answer, as the terms to clarify are "I", "believe", "existence", "God".
The problem with truisms - how to get out of their loop?
- Thread starter wynn
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This is difficult to answer, as the terms to clarify are "I", "believe", "existence", "God".
the simple answer to this..
If god tells yo to do something, and man tells you to do something else, who do you listen to?
when faced with theists contempt, remind them of this, contempt is a human attribute and not from god.
I admire your forthrightness.
"I": the self-referential thinking personality that inhabits your physical body.
"believe": hold to be true regardless of the evidence or lack thereof to support it.
"existence": an actuality other than as a human concept.
"God": well, here I leave the precise definition to you, but along the lines of "creator of the universe" etc. Some would have you accept definitions and thereby proof purely through logic (Godel et al). I say I leave it to you 'cos my next question, if you did believe, was to define the God you believed in - or at least explain what the term "God" means to you.
But let me rephrase the question: do you think there is more to being human than that which humanity creates for itself?
who are these people?! this is your family right, so you can't just tell them to fuck off? i mean if it's anyone else, i don't see what the problem is. some people are so toxic that it's not worth trying to have a relationship with them. some people aren't strong enough to have good relationships. either way, you need to grow a set, and keep in mind that this is the only life you get, as far as you and i can recall anyway.
signal,
tell them you'll believe it when you see it, and then give them "the look" long and hard. and if you don't have a "don't fuck with me look", i suggest you get one. they work well.
The problem is that those who contempt me and those who don't stick together.
This is not the situation for me, as I do not think there is anything I could clearly identify as "God telling me something".
As far as I can see, anything could be from God, or from people.
Or perhaps not; because at least theoretically, there is divine intervention in one form or other, and this would break the believe to believe cycle.
Yes.
Yes, this is why I noted earlier that I might be missing something. In fact, I am quite sure I am missing something, otherwise, I wouldn't be wondering about all this.
Generally, asking questions and asking for explanations is discouraged, or simply one's questions do not get answered.
Interesting view.
A while back, I bought this book: Healing Is a Choice: 10 Decisions That Will Transform Your Life and 10 Lies That Can Prevent You From Making Them. It talks a bit like you do, but it is a lot for me to deal with, so I only read bits here and there every now and then.
I bought it quite deliberately, choosing from several; after I had quite miraculously lost most of my resentment for Christianity. Not that I have any intentions toward Christianity, I just wanted to have a theistic "healing regimen", where there would be lots of reasoning about God, but in a more general sense, like natural theology. That was because the path I have actually been aspiring to had become too triggering and too burdened with negative experiences from the other people on it - so I had to figure out a way around this problem ...
I know. I am torn, though, as it seems like an all-or-nothing choice.
So I've been distracting myself with other things ...
I am sure yours and others' compassion has become fatigued by now.
what burden and what negative experiences?
it sounds like an issue of conformity. and the contempt comes from your lack of conformity? that's a power play that you have to win if you're going to have some fulfillment in life. you don't have to control other people to ensure your freedom, and that's fear-based behavior. it's cult-like, and it's not supported by scripture.
science says that you're an entirely unique individual in the history, and future, of life and mankind. according to religion, god is responsible for making things that way, which really doesn't speak to an appreciation of conformity. life doesn't as a matter of fact; it's speaks to community instead. from what we know, we can say for a fact that communities based on love, trust, and freedom should be desirable over ones based on contempt, fear, and conformity. in fact, that's the message of christ...freedom in communion. that's the premise behind the coming kingdom. i doubt if jesus needs bullies to strong arm people in with intimidation tactics. that just doesn't read "jesus" to me. the bible doesn't say that religion is "the way" but that being born again of the spirit. there's scripture where jesus tells a pharisee, "you're a religious leader and you don't know that?" you would think people who were truly kingdom-minded would realize that in the kingdom there won't be any religion, or politics, or fear, or contempt, control, intimidation...there will be only complete freedom in individuality, trust, and love. you'd think it wise to practice.
the point wasn't that god told you something, the point was to remind the believer to focus on what god wants, not how they feel..
not really. i'm like a pit bull.
you know that you can distract yourself YOUR WHOLE LIFE? from what? your life. i have been very accomplished at this, and i can testify that it is NOT a fulfilling path.
imo it seems more like a choice of being able to look in the mirror every day for the rest of your life and say "i love who you are", or "i hate who you are"..."you're a liar".
everyone struggles with that to some degree because of conditioning, but hopefully you're struggling for more of the former and less of the ladder. taking a stand for something usually isn't easy. it wasn't easy when i was celibate for 8 years during my mid thirties, when the parents want grandchildren and for me to be married, society labeled me a freak, and some men particularly disappointed. and i guess that's where faith comes in. when your desire for what you believe in becomes stronger than your desire to please others who take opposition to that.
does masturbation count as celibate?
um..somewhere in that, is an oral sex joke..:shrug:
i don't know. my ideals created the same negative associations regarding that, as it did sex in general at that time, so i didn't do that much either, and regretted when i did. it made me feel pathetic. i didn't need to remind myself of what i was missing.
i don't get it.