If you could have chosen your religion ?
- Thread starter Francis2004
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Good evening gerryh. I was brought up catholic so I know a little bit about that institution. I have also spent most of my adult life studying comparative religions and philosophies, so I do know something about that. Any yes, I have a lot of strong opinions about the subject, some of them almost as strong as your own, though I doubt we would agree much on the subject. None the less, I do respect your right to believe what you want but I was hoping that you would at least have a counter argument to the views expressed. Please take into consideration, the those views that I express are only my opinion and in no way reflect upon your belief system, just mine. I am open to be proven wrong.
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Sorry.... been through these threads and have already seen what you and your buddies do when it comes to discussion, as a matter of fact, my comments above are right in line with how you guys "discuss" things in the spirituality threads when it comes to Christianity, Islam, and Catholicism in particular.
This is the same old argument; I don’t have to prove you wrong. When somebody makes a positive statement (e.g. there is a God), it is up to him to prove the statement. The burden of proof is upon him, not me.
The positive and negative side in an argument are not on the same footing, as you seem to think. The fact that you cannot prove that God exists and I cannot prove that he doesn’t exist, does not put us on equal footing. Responsibility exists with you to put forth evidence; I only have to shoot it down.
Suppose I tell you that I believe in anthropomorphic God, a God who looks just like me. I cannot prove that statement, you cannot disprove it. Does that mean that we are on equal footing, that a God who look just like me may exist (since we cannot prove one way or other)?
Or let me give the example I gave a while ago. I say that on the dark side of moon, the side we cannot see, there is a three bedroom house made of gingerbread and Swiss cheese, with a pool filled with maple syrup in the backyard (all hermetically sealed).
Now, you cannot disprove that statement, I cannot prove it. Does that put us on equal footing? Does that mean that we just don’t know, such a house may or may not exist?
Noting of the sort, the statement is assumed to be false until I can prove it to be true. It is the same with God. If somebody makes a statement that God exists, it is up to him to prove it; I don’t have to prove that God doesn’t exist. Burden of proof rests with the one who makes a positive statement.
Pretty big brush your using gerryh.. Care to elaborate a bit on that "buddies" and "discuss" subject a bit for all of us so "WE" know we what we all think?
I sure would love to see what I have in my mind lately..
DB, believe it or not, for anyone on here who actually knows me, this statement is quite funny. No - I won't explain it, but, it's still quite funny.
Not all aboriginals had the same beliefs, nor did they all behave civil or humanely. They were as diverse then as we all are now. Our beliefs may not differ that much but I still belive in one Creator who has dominion over "His" creations and delgates dominion in a descending order, (and yes, through spirits or angels), where we as humans, are the lowest order of sentient beings. Just as in the bible there are interpretations, though only through spirituality comes the realisation of what is right and just.
You and I may not be that far apart, but it seems you trust more in what the eye can see than what the heart can feel.
You are right about the beliefs of the aboriginals. Pretty hard to go into any detail here.
As for my trust in spirit, it has more to do with feelings than line of sight. The heart connects us to the wisdom of the soul, the soul is a direct conduit to the Creator. I'm not a purist by any means. I make my spirituality up as I learn new stuff and have new experiences. No dogma stuck to my shoes!
I lived with a Rosicrucian for twelve years. I learned a lot form her. Then one day, out of the blue, her parents, who were high up in the order, became Born Again Christians. My partner was soon converted too and I was deemed to a minion of satan because of my involvement with native spirituality. Thus I lost my wife and child to the lunatic fringe. That is why I think dogma is so dangerous.
*shrugs* You're entitled to your opinion.
So you are saying that only Christians work to better themselves? There aren't any that just do whatever they like and then head for the confessional only to do what they want the next day? Cool. I haven't seen halos bobbing around over anyone's head, though.
*shrugs* You're entitled to your opinion.
So you are saying that only Christians work to better themselves? There aren't any that just do whatever they like and then head for the confessional only to do what they want the next day? Cool. I haven't seen halos bobbing around over anyone's head, though.
nope, didn't say that either, did I. Of corse their are those that do that,
just like there are those that don't "believe" that don't give a sh*t about
anyone but themsves. You don' see me making blanket statements about
athiests though, do you.