If God exists, he expects us to do two things IMO: 1) Always acquire knowledge (with the correct priorities). 2) Act according to the ethics our knowledge has led us to.
He expects me to be cunning and run... <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xutledT-ehM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xutledT-ehM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
sounds like a stifling god... which wouldn't make sense since there's nothing about the universe that promotes or indicates a stifled existence... taking that into consideration... if there was a god... I'm sure he/she/it'd like us to try for, have, do, see, feel, dream, aspire for, live: Spoiler <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_P9B2ZdNC6o&hl=en_US&fs=1&start=256&autoplay=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_P9B2ZdNC6o&hl=en_US&fs=1&start=256&autoplay=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> but I personally don't believe such entity exists... i'm starting to believe all of creation and life as we know it to be the result of nothing more than one colossal absurd accident....
and imagine* left that out... but that's ok... nowadays it's meant to be left out, go ignored... most do...
Hmmmm, Stifling how? If you do your research and decide there's no God, you live on the basis of whatever ethics you establish. Which appears to be what you're doing. Also, there's no reason to believe that the universe is perfect like God, because then the universe would BE God (perfect).
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when you can list exactly what you feel a god expects from your existence to two... and one them consists of an "accordance" to a set system, a set of principles(ethics)... especially a biased one stemming from "correctly prioritized knowledge"... which I think is an absurd concept to begin with when questioning why we're here, why there would be a god, or not be one and what he/she/it'd might expect of/from us... that makes it a stifling existence... also, I never said anything about a perfect universe... otherwise I wouldn't consider it's beginnings to've been no more than one colossal absurd accident...
when you can make a list... period... really... I specified two... to be more applicable to your case...
Ahh I see. I think you're assuming I got that list from somewhere lol. That's just my opinion at this point in my life, what I know for myself. Obviously, the list is probably infinite. That's just what I've been able to come up with. Also, you prioritize based on what YOU think is a priority. I don't think that's stifling at all. It's your choice.
My perspective is off and maybe skewed but I think of God like a parent. 1. They don't expect you to praise them all the time but I don't think he would appreciate you speaking ill of him/her. 2. Some Loyalty is expected I think. . . how would your parents feel about you calling someone else MOM AND DAD? I don't think it is beyond question though. 3. I think your parent want you to live a good life . .and God wants you to live the life he HOPES for you . . . To a 5 year old.. .a parent is a despot. .. JUST DO WHAT I SAY explained the rigors of electricity and current maybe a bit difficult so you simply tell them DON'T STICK THE HAIR PIN IN THE LIGHT SOCKET! as that child grows. . you explain more and order less. I think humanity is growing up . . and can understand more without being ordered to do so . . . . however . .. like know it all teenagers. . we still get quit a bit of ISHT WRONG WRONG WRONG Rocket River
I don't believe in destiny or Omnipotence . . . [God being ALL SEEING is like you thinking you mom has eyes in the back of her head .. . she doesn't but her experience in live. . she knows a bit of what you thinking because once upon a time she was a kid too] Rocket River "No one would but the 24 Suggestions of Acquisition" - The Negas
I always felt the idea of . . Absurd Accident was a bit odd. . in a sense a leap of faith. Look at the computer infront of you Which is more likely. . . it randomly came together in that spot or someone put it together and put it there. I think just because something is beyond human comprehension does not mean it is beyond the comprehension of EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE that seems a bit too much human arrogance to me . . . If I cannot understand it .. it cannot be understood!!! If I cannot do it.. . IT cannot be done!! IT *must* be random luck!! Rocket River
then surely you must agree... the flipside of this, "I can't understand it, therefore, a god must be behind it", is equally arrogant... if not more so... frankly, I find that throughout our little human history here... there's been an ever constant supply of rampant nonsense about us... for there has never been any valid cause... substantial provocation... or really, any damn good reason for... it seems to just simply be there... never ending... with an equally endless supply of those that will partake of, indulge, and live on the basis of that very incomprehensible nonsense... latch on to it like a nervous child to it's mother's leg... almost as if without it we can't make enough sense, ironically, of our existence to live it well enough... which usually just means living life to an extent that's most convinient for us... it's idiotic and illogical... if you really consider god to be a parent... and us it's children... you have to admit he/she/it's the most irresponsible, reckless, negligent, inattentive parent anyone's ever known... with a gene pool that's suffered quite a few bouts of inbreeding... if that's not enough for you to consider the absurdity of such existence... consider that meanwhile, among our nonsense, an animal succumbs to a predator in the wild... same predator succumbs to injury or old age pertinent to it's ecosystem... the prey they always feed on will always be there as long as there's always a supply of an ever growing, dying, growing again food source.. the circle of life... interchangable life... what goes away, is easily replaced with little to no fanfare.. the world under our feet and sky over our heads vents itself/stabilizes itself periodically be it through earthquakes, hurricanes, other forms of storms etc... without the slightest bit of care for it's inhabitants... why would it...? it's not a sentient being with consciousness... all just a natural process that came into being through a slow and steady evolutionary progress that readily gives us the how... without the ever elusive why... noting that the biggest secret to life as we know it... is nothing more than a bit of water... that can also be the main cause for loss of life... if we should ever go for too long a period without.. whose cause for arriving, it's how... heavily theorized... possibly simply brought to any unsuspecting mass floating in space via a sizeable ice-carrying, life-bringing comet/asteroid... that can also snuff out the same life it may've helped bring to fruition, if one should come for a second visit... and we can go on and on about things happening because they simply happen... because all the ingredients, and time came about together just right, just favorable enough for all of it to happen... honestly, all of that doesn't exactly speak of precise selection from a "divine plan", devised by some perfect, infallible, all-powerful entity... otherwise there'd be more planets like ours at a more detectable reach... at the very least, sticking to matters of our own globe, you'd think every animal would have as good as we do in some form or another... instead of some being forced to adapt to sub-freezing, desolate environments of the artic.. or the once concieved uninhabitable deep regions of the abyss... some being only allowed the shortest of lifespans... etc etc... just further pointing out the absurdity of it all... thinking that we're so special... the so-called "children" of some invisible, always watchful creator... it all comes off looking more like the product of a freak accident... that mended on it's own.. as it was best allowed to by time... because, afterall, it's not perfect... it's not even fair, as we know it, and say constantly... there is no balance... there is no equal amounts of good and bad to it... that would be fair... things just are... and now things will simply continue to happen, as they always have, for the sake of happening, because they can... there would've been no evolving, no adapting, no thriving, if the opportunity to do so had ever stopped being there... take the opportunity away, and you might get a clear idea... of just how godless our existence really is... just look at what happens when we, lowly humans, just infringe on that opportunity towards other animals, or hell... our own fellow man...
Are you saying that God is the parent of humanity? Okay. Let's go along with that train of thought. If God is the parent of humanity, why does he not show himself? In this analogy, wouldn't God be the dad who never comes home and never shows his love to his kids directly? Even if you do believe that God has a helping hand in our lives, it's not like we know it. If the kid grows up not knowing what his mom and dad looks like, never given any hint of who his parents are... who should he claim to be his parents? If humanity has grown a little, where are the new prophets coming up with "Bible 2nd edition - New Version for the older humanity". The holy bible still has the same stories and ideals of thousand years ago. So either we haven't grown up at all, or something's fishy. Rocket River
What does this mean? Does it mean that you can't do everything in this lifetime, hence you have to believe in God for a chance at life extension?
I think he means that humans advancing as a species (In the eyes of god?) will take multiple lifetimes. (Hundreds of years) I could be mistaken! :grin:
Probably not. Because if that's the case, then there's no reason to have faith in God. Rather, you should put faith into your children instead. And having faith in your children and future generations is something prevalent in all cultures, whether they're Godless heathens or monotheists or pagans.
If you don't believe in God....why do you care? The whole thread is a critique of a god you claim not to believe in.
