- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
InquiringMind wrote:
…do we fashion a God after own image and choosing because we want to and because it gives us meaning and comfort?
Yes. Yes absolutely I do and I’m not afraid to say so. I choose to define words in ways that let me speak in terms of God because doing so helps me communicate with the people that share my life. I speak authentically using my own definitions, and I realize that everyone has their own unique ways of viewing God, life, the world we live in, etc.
SamBee wrote:I disagree with you Cadence, I wouldn’t presume that God doesn’t speak to people. Maybe God has and does, but how am I to disprove that?
Maybe God talks to all of us, all the time, just there’s just too much static on the line for many of us.
I said he does not speak in a coherent fashion. If he is speaking to people he is not consistent. Therefore I find little value in what people claim god is saying, at least when it comes to rules and regulations. When somehow we get a clear and consistent message across all peoples then I will say god is communicating to the world as a whole.As far as static on the line that is a blame the victim approach and also demeans god. I know lots of people that really need and want heavenly communication but do not get it. Also it makes god small if he has not the power to break through the static.
I love this topic. I love hearing different beliefs and how different we all are. I also enjoy using different beliefs to expand my own ideas and beliefs. Out of what has been mentioned… Nibblers probably comes as close to my beliefs about God.
nibbler wrote:Line up everyone on the planet earth, all 7.142 billion of us. Ask them one by one who is god… then, when everyone has had their say, tell them they are all correct. That’s god. .
We are all so different and even people in the same religion will have different beliefs and views about God. (More than likely because of our childhood and life influences. For instance, I used to believe in a God that couldn’t wait to punish me. My faith was never really sufficient for Him to really heal me. literally waited for the next bad thing to happen so He could “teach me a lesson” that I HAD to rely on Him. I thought he loved me, even knew it, but never really trusted the scary dude.
Since my Faith transition I see God as an intelligence. Not a man or a woman. I see this influence in EVERY THING, good/bad, clean/dirty, lightness and darkness. I don’t think he/she is going to punish me or anyone. (Although I believe in the “Laws of the universe” and doing what creates joy and understanding on what decreases it. ?? I think he just sits back and experiences GOD through US… his creation. I think the highest part of me IS God, or at least is part of God. When I am in full consciousness I feel “GOD”. I am released of fear and full of Love and I am at one with the Universe.
Thanks for sharing your beliefs with me and letting me share mine.
It is obviously not possible to prove or disprove God’s existence. It is a choice to believe in him. It is a choice to disbelieve in him. Because God makes himself impossible to know for sure I am confident that he does not have a list of specific dos and don’ts that are imperative to succeed in this life. Else he would make these clear, which he doesn’t. For me right now God is a mixture of mankind’s desire to be good and kind and loving, a Teddy bear to hug when I’m sad or apprehensive, and an answer to everything I can’t explain about the universe.
The ubiquity of a belief in God(s) now and throughout history points to the fact that this belief in a higher power is good and useful to us humans. It works for us. It provides benefits. So I intend to try to obtain or retain these benefits for myself and my family by keeping my mind and heart open to God.
Here is my public prayer: “God, or Heavenly Father, I am ready and willing to do whatever it is you would like me to do. Just please make it clear so that my scientific mind will accept it. In the meantime, I’m not going to make myself, my family, or others unhappy following an arbitrary set of rules (amongst many to choose from on this earth). I feel that unhappiness for us can’t be your objective. Instead I will devote my life to loving and serving others and try very hard not to hurt anyone. In Jesus’s name, Amen”
My prayers as of recently have been “Dear Heavenly Father/The Universe/The Laws of Physics and Randomness, I feel [insert feelings here] and I want [insert things that I want here]. Please give me wisdom to know what to do, and please help me to accept the outcome of the situation. I release the outcome to you. In the name of the figure who shows us how to live, Jesus Christ, Amen.” I’ve found this to be quite helpful and good for finding solutions to my problems. It’s also helped in relieving some anxiety over things I can’t really control.
InquiringMind wrote:I’ll start at the beginning…I’m confident that there’s a Higher Power, even if that higher power is nothing more than the laws of physics. I’m not really sure what exactly I believe about God…
What do you believe about God?Are there many gods, or only one? What are God’s attributes, if there are any? How did you arrive at your beliefs?I see God as basically being some kind of spirit that is more intelligent and powerful than people; I guess I only abandoned or modified my original Mormon beliefs to the extent that I felt like I had to so that I was still left with what I could honestly defend in my own mind. So, for example, I thought that even if God doesn’t intervene every time I would like to see and eliminate all evil and problems in the world (assuming that he can) that doesn’t necessarily mean that he will never intervene much less that he has never intervened in the natural course of events. Similarly, I thought that even if God doesn’t reveal all the answers we would like to know and has allowed people to come up with their own answers and claim it came directly from him that doesn’t mean there aren’t ever any legitimate revelations whatsoever.
When I first started to believe it was possible that the Church could be wrong in a major way I did seriously consider what I saw as the strongest evidence and philosophical arguments against the idea of God. For example, I thought things like gravity and evolution could adequately explain the appearance of intelligent design without technically requiring an intelligent designer. Also it was easy enough to suppose that it is possible that traditionally accepted scriptures could have been written entirely by people without any need for special divine guidance behind them. However, what was always harder for me to explain using typical atheist assumptions is that people continue to have experiences that basically look like they involve legitimate precognition, spiritual manifestations, out-of-body experiences, etc. I just think there really is more to everything than the elements of the physical universe we see and understand well enough to predict and I also don’t really believe that many things that have already happened up to this point were entirely by coincidence.
Cadence wrote:As far as static on the line that is a blame the victim approach and
also demeans god. I know lots of people that really need and want
heavenly communication but do not get it. Also it makes god small if he
has not the power to break through the static.
No, it’s not a blame the victim approach at all. Static, interference,
call it whatever thou wilt, it’s a general symptom of human
civilization… we fill our world with trivia, and noise, and trash of
all forms, and then wonder where God went. That’s without mentioning
anger, hate, frustration, pride and physical things. Young folk can
barely go anywhere without earphones on their head – it’s not just God
they’re shutting out. We are very easily distracted as a species.
I think God requires people to reach out as well, not just sit there in
the chair and wait, because communication rarely comes that way. Few
people get anywhere with this in a night club, it’s in the wee small
hours when the din is gone, and everyone’s asleep that things happen.
God could do this, but it’s usually a two way process.
This was such a good thread and I’ve been thinking about it almost every day lately, so I thought I’d bump it up. Inquiring Mind said:
Quote:I’ll start at the beginning.
I’m confident that there’s a Higher Power, even if that higher power is nothing more than the laws of physics. I’m not really sure what exactly I believe about God.
What do you believe about God? Are there many gods, or only one? What are God’s attributes, if there are any? How did you arrive at your beliefs?
Sambee said:
Quote:I disagree with you Cadence, I wouldn’t presume that God doesn’t speak to people. Maybe God has and does, but how am I to disprove that?
Maybe God talks to all of us, all the time, just there’s just too much static on the line for many of us.
Cadence said:
Quote:As far as static on the line that is a blame the victim approach and also demeans god. I know lots of people that really need and want heavenly communication but do not get it. Also it makes god small if he has not the power to break through the static.
Sambee said:
Quote:No, it’s not a blame the victim approach at all. Static, interference,
call it whatever thou wilt, it’s a general symptom of human
civilization… we fill our world with trivia, and noise, and trash of
all forms, and then wonder where God went. That’s without mentioning
anger, hate, frustration, pride and physical things. Young folk can
barely go anywhere without earphones on their head – it’s not just God
they’re shutting out. We are very easily distracted as a species.
I think God requires people to reach out as well, not just sit there in
the chair and wait, because communication rarely comes that way. Few
people get anywhere with this in a night club, it’s in the wee small
hours when the din is gone, and everyone’s asleep that things happen.
God could do this, but it’s usually a two way process.
This is part of the line of thought I’ve been having, but the whole thread is good. Regarding Sambee’s late comment, my question is: how does this explain a person like me who, after MANY years of pleading with God in the quiet hours of the night to make himself known to me, of trying to do everything I was supposed to be a “godly” person, of trying to have the best faith I knew how, I got…crickets? I wanted so much for God to be who Joseph Smith and everyone who came after said he is. I want there to be an afterlife, but like IM (and many others here) I’ve never seen anything in all of history that even sort of proves that. If it’s just a matter of cutting out the static, why haven’t I heard a thing?
I came across this site and some of what he says resonates with me. Not everything does, but as I was reading I felt that so much of it feels very enlightening. I’m wondering what others think. Am I an apostate if I agree with some of it? Quote:Am I an apostate if I agree with some of it?
Nope.
This doesnt directly answer the question from the OP, but this experience is one of my memorable moments from BYU. I was taking a physics class and this particular professor gave oral exams instead of traditional written exams. After this exam I asked him what physicists believe about God and he said there are as many opinions about God as there are physicists. We talked about it for several minutes, but this was possibly the first time I realized there may not be “only one right answer” as I supposed.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.