I think you actually go to fundamentalist Christian websites and copy/paste their defense-mechanism “answers” to atheism. If you can’t have empathy without being scared into having empathy, you never really had empathy in the first place. Seriously now, go to any random atheist website, and they’ll have already answered a large majority of the questions you have for us. I can’t even believe people are still parroting the old “without God we might lack morality” argument. It’s such a tired cop-out.
Sigh.
Maybe you just need to get out more. Ever hear of 9/11? Ever hear of the Crusades? Oh, you meant “personally” maybe? “We’re vicious killers–but you, sir, are rude!” I’m sorry if you’re more used to the softcore liberal twits who walk on broken glass not to offend the moral majority and so forth. But it’s disengenuous to believe we all live in our own little bubbles. Quite frankly, every single day of my life I’m getting more and more tired of people’s superstitions affecting me. Every time someone votes for a Republican because they believe unborn babies have something called a soul, every time someone forks over another dollar to the richest industry in the world (Christianity), every time I hear about this religious government doing that to that religious government, I burn a little hotter on the inside. So I truly apologize if sometimes it spills over and I can’t contain my composure. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was ruin someone’s perfectly cheery day with my petty concerns and complaints.
Stranger, I apologize. You personally have never intentionally done anything against me. Ever hear that phrase, the straw that breaks the camel’s back? I lashed out against you on a purely symbolic level–not that that’s an excuse or anything. This is my last post. Message boards seem to bring out the absolute worst in me no matter how hard I try to contain it.
P.S. That “percentage of the brain” factoid is a myth. Humans use about 99.9% of their brains. The only parts of the brain we don’t use are a few neurons used to double-up important tasks. (E.g., you have a stroke and damage the neurons that allow vision–the other set takes over.)
If you think I do this then I can honestly say I don’t believe you’ve been listening to a word I’ve said over our long and detailed conversations (re: the agnosticism debate).
I have empathy with others because I don’t believe I am seperate from others.
The only materialist reason for having empathy is that it evolved as a survival mechanism. If you truly believe that is why you feel sorry for people who get tortured then fair enough.
No. Look:
If I go out tommorow, kill someone, steal their money and live nicely off it, manage to avoid guilt then die… I’ve won, right? I mean Vae, why do you think capitalists are so morally bankrupt!!! They are materialist through and through. ‘Materialistic’ in my view is an insult.
The worldview you are pushing here (materialism) is as destructive as any primitive religion. Look at the world now: capitalism. This is EXACTLY what you get when you tell people they are just their bodies. Capitalism is THE materialistic system. “Oh hey, there’s nothing to life but physical stuff so why don’t you work hard like a good boy and buy some pretty toys and while away your time while we reap the profits and exploit you?”
It is de-humanising. It is on a head-on collision with its oh-so similar cousin (the fundamentalist religious society) and if they don’t BOTH grow up (spiritually) soon we’ll all pay for it.
Oh really?! Well how do you think a spiritual person, someone who doesnt follow any formal religion but is nonetheless in touch with their Soul, feels when you come along and say “oh hey, you don’t have a soul. You are your body”
THAT is your superstition and you push it on other people.
What is the answer then Vae? Materialism/‘Atheism’?
‘Businessmen’ are mostly materialistic/Atheistic and they show this by exploiting people because, at the end of the day, it doesnt really matter to them.
‘Scientists’ are mostly materialistic/Atheistic and they show this by torturing animals because, at the end of the day, it doesnt really matter to them.
YOU are materialistic and you show it by… respecting animals? Respecting other people? This is why I think you are hypocritical: you are too good to really be as materialistic as you say you are!
The answer does not lie in ANY dogma, be it fundamentalist religion or materialism. The answer lies in people realising their true nature, which can’t be found in any brain cell or any page of the Bible. Everyone, deep down, KNOWS their true nature (hence our innate sense of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’) but categorically realising it consciously is a good thing to do, IMO.
I’m telling you now, we aint using a fraction of our potential ability, whether this is explainable via the brain or not.
My memory always used to be pretty bad. Then I learnt about mneumonics. This technique is NOT taught in school and yet it instantly improved my memory for tasks by incredible proportions. Using the imagination (see: Non-Physical aspect of self) is critical to unlocking our potential but do we get taught this stuff? No! Because “imaging” stuff is baby-thought. Proper adults sit down and write in the margin with a ruler…
Ok I’ve got a bit emotional here but… what I’m saying is if you want to change the world, people’s basic beliefs have to change. In my country, most people believe in Darwinism and some kind of ‘Atheism’ (ie that God is a guy and that He probably doesnt exist). I then look at the behaviour and morals of my country, what is going on, and I don’t like it one bit. Now, if people believe they are slaves to a demanding God then the ideal society is one where everybody worships ‘god’ 24/7. If you have a society where people believe themselves to be insignifigant lumps of meat then they will BEHAVE like lumps of meat.
But get people in touch with their true nature as infinite co-creators in this crazy ol’ game we call ‘Life’ then watch the behaviour change. I want to hear my politicians speak about Truth, and Unity and the human spirit! Not ****ing taxation levels and war and debt etc…
Stranger: sorry to rant like this during your thread but honestly, you are part of what is happening. What is happening to you is a microcosm of what is happening on a global scale. 2012…
This feud is pointless, u 2 are barely making sense. have either of u read my post? Mayb it sounds stupid to u, but i’ll be praying that y’all can understand god’s love. i noe right now u guys might think thats dumb or a naive christian ideal, but i hope in the future u’ll get it. i’ll be praying for u guys.
DreamReacher: your post was very heartfelt. Thank you.
This ‘God’ business is bound to cause a lot of disagreement. It’s a shame it had to happen in this thread though… Stranger: I hope all is still going well for you, and I hope Vae is ok.
Congrats with that illuminating experience Stranger! I hope the message from those dreams gave you lots of insight and wisdom you can use in waking life
I don’t understand why the mentioning of “God” always ends up in a pointless discussion about the existence of God whereby every side tries to persuade each other at all cost. At least I get that impression. One’s belief in God should not be imposed by others who think they know the truth. You can only know your own truth, and it’s up to yourself, and only yourself to decide which model you want to accept, be it atheism, scientism, buddhism, whatever… When a person is ready to change his/her model according to new insights, it’s up to that person and that person alone to decide whether he/she will accept other ones beliefs.
You see, life is like a learning process. You get to listen to lots of teachers who display their belief systems. This way you’re accessed to a whole range of different insights, but in the end it’s always you who must choose a path to follow in life. The choice is always influenced by your genetic makeup, mental modelling, education, level of consciousness,… Forcing others to accept a certain belief is just useless because it devaluates the learning aspect. The only way to avoid conflicts between different belief systems and to have constructive instead of destructive discussions, is acceptance of each other’s truths. At least IMO
If you have such amazing faith in your God then it is possible as Mystery says, but it doesn’t have to be a God. You can have amazing faith in the fact that lucid dreams are easy and KNOW you can have them… and then you have them! You just need to know! If you are SURE that God is gonna let you have a lucid dream then chances are you will if you believe enough! Whatever works
sorry for taking so long to reply…ive been away, just got back yesturday from a holiday.
Dream_Reacher: I think you talk sense. All I can say is thankyou for your opinion, it was very beneficial for me!
Vae: I accept your apology and I thank you for your knowledge.
I still believe there is much more to learn about ourselves and our mind, and that we can use a lot more of our brains if we opened them up a little. But I accept your opinion.
Lebowski1: Thankyou also,…All IS going well for me,… I hope also for you.
mystic: thanks for your warm words too.
This has been a positive thread for me, I have laernt alot from all of you…
as Pedro said, if you believe it enough, it is true.
