Is there really a God ?

[Nowler]

I have spent some time considering this awkward problem and have come up with the following.
What if, instead of looking backwards to resolve a problem we start with the Bible, Koran. Old Testament etc. and look forward to let religion evolve from its base. Thus evolving over time and experience all the religions should gradually converge into just 1 philosophy of life.
A major problem solved.

I'm not sure that "solves" the problem of whether there is or isn't a god.
There can never be just one philosophy... unless you kill everyone but one

Whether there is a god or not is either simple or quite complex to answer, depending on your definition of god.
The afterlife however it really simple to answer.
No.
No there is not an afterlife.

It's impossible for there to be.

My answer: Brain damage

We can disrupt parts of the brain so that they do not function.
So clearly the physical matter is vital.

The only way I could see there being a creator of life on this planet is if "god" was an alien.
A super intelligent species from far beyond our observable universe

 

[Pat494]

I'm not sure that "solves" the problem of whether there is or isn't a god.
There can never be just one philosophy... unless you kill everyone but one

Whether there is a god or not is either simple or quite complex to answer, depending on your definition of god.
The afterlife however it really simple to answer.
No.
No there is not an afterlife.

It's impossible for there to be.

My answer: Brain damage

We can disrupt parts of the brain so that they do not function.
So clearly the physical matter is vital.

The only way I could see there being a creator of life on this planet is if "god" was an alien.
A super intelligent species from far beyond our observable universe

No need to wait for ET to arrive. Countries are spending billions on artificial intelligence. Progress towards a super brain is being made. But what it means for the human race I don't know.

 

[trendie]

No need to wait for ET to arrive. Countries are spending billions on artificial intelligence. Progress towards a super brain is being made. But what it means for the human race I don't know.

Problem here is we are also building AI in our image, as with dieties.
If the AI mulls all the data and concludes "Humans should share their resources", humans may decide there is something wrong with the algorithm, rather than some profound truth being revealed.
We seem incapable of accepting personal responsibility for our actions, so we hide behind "cos god said so", "for it is written", "we do this in the name of our country", etc.

 

[Signalcalc]

Problem here is we are also building AI in our image, as with dieties.
If the AI mulls all the data and concludes "Humans should share their resources", humans may decide there is something wrong with the algorithm, rather than some profound truth being revealed.
We seem incapable of accepting personal responsibility for our actions, so we hide behind "cos god said so", "for it is written", "we do this in the name of our country", etc.

He who controls the internet, the bots, the AI, the algorithms, the encryption, the weather, the climate, the money, the military, the judiciary, the police, the narrative, controls the world, so in this context god ends up being implemented by a collection of humans whichever way you look at it.

Therefore yes there is a god, but it is not an ethereal being as we have been indoctrinated into believing, instead it is in all of us, however those that have the ability to use the power provided by humans to exert the control needed, appear to be god (and they also appear to be well hidden, aka Deep State).

 

[Nowler]

DUN DUN DUUUUN!
The plot thickens...

 

[Nowler]

This doesnt exactly fit neatly into what we are discussing, but does relate...

If been listening to the audiobook;
Thinking, Fast & Slow.
Definitely recommend it!

 

[NVP]

This doesnt exactly fit neatly into what we are discussing, but does relate...

If been listening to the audiobook;
Thinking, Fast & Slow.
Definitely recommend it!

yep a little faddish but a good read - respect

 

[NVP]

Whether God exists or not has been vexed question for millennia.
I had 2 Jehovah's Witnesses come to my door a short time ago looking for converts.
Both nice people and sincere in their beliefs but I wasn't ready to be converted from my sceptical
beliefs or lack of them.
I thought I would have a bit of fun with them so I said " could I ask them a question ?"
Oh yes they said suspecting a convert was teetering on the edge of darkness.
My question is I said
" if there is an almighty God why did he allow such dreadful things like World War 1 and 2 to go unchecked ?"
This had them completely stumped. I was expecting the answer of God allows humans to do what they want. But no they had forgotten that one.
Well I said
" was he asleep at the time or perhaps on strike or something ? "
Their fervour had visible shrunk. They muttered they had to be elsewhere and dashed off.

I return to my belief that God is a mental construct of man. Yes many people find comfort in the belief that he loves them and is therefore of some practical use.
What do think after having lived your years on this planet.

i'm a big fan of spirit / universal universe / flow / Vibrations etc ...;and lots of modern science is gradually backing all this side of things - quantum physics etc etc

so I dont worship 1 god as such but I do respect someone is running the shop and we are here to kick butt whilst on earth....so dont scew it up and enjoy it

in terms of all the shit and bad things that happen in life - hey they happen - dont try to work out why as we dont have those answers we are too low in food chain .........just try to prevent its spread by living a good life and be generally kind, compassionate and respectful to others .....

here endeth the lesson according to NVP ...bless you all and go forth and tradify

N

 

[NVP]

Perhaps. Still, what you believe in makes a huge difference in how you perceive the world. I think there is just no right and wrong here. I just finished reading "Of human bondage" and that book makes some very interesting points: what it says is basically in the eyes of the main character, the Christian religion is a collection of moral rules that define good and bad. However, religion can exist without these moral rules just as easily as one can live ones life measuring actions by the same moral rules without being religious.

One person may decide for themselves that the god is real and for them, it really is so. However, somebody may come in and say that there is no god, and for them, this is the truth that they live by. How are we to say who of them is right if they believe equally strongly? There is no compelling evidence in favor of either.

This is kind of a sketchy topic and I am sorry if I said something insensitive. I just think this is very complicated and highly subjective. And, I actually do believe in God though I am not very religious. I don't believe in the concept of heaven and hell as well as eternal punishment or reward.

if someone says there is no god then respect what they say and move on ......life is too short and you have other important things to do i suspect with your time on this planet...like earn money trading !!!

 

[Nowler]

I used to be what I believe some call a militant atheist. I stopped believing in God at around 15 and kept the aggression towards religion up... well... longer than I care to admit.

Now, I'm even more sure of my views, but no longer try to change peoples opinion. I'm always up for a debate of course, but as NVP eluded to... lifes too short.

Even though I am an atheist, I still want to take part in the Muslims pilgrimage. There is a lot to be said for peace of mind. I find comfort in thing such as vibrations and meditation too, though I dont do it often enough.

 

[malaguti]

Peace of mind, and their systematic persecution of hindus throughout history? Im sure they sleep very peacefully
Muslims have also seen persecution sure, generally from other religions but nothing in our history compares to the attrocities that muslims have inflicted over 1000 years against hindus

 

[Nowler]

My peace of mind comment wasnt only in regards to Islam, but religion as a whole.

Religous people - as much as I disagree with them - tend to be happier than non religious people.

Most people struggle with uncertainty. As humans, we crave meaning. Sometimes, we simply dont have a clue.


Plus, we are all d!cks
Whether we are persecuting Hindus, looking down on plebs, farming animals not as smart as ourselves, making crude judgements on others who are not in our group... etc

It's what we do!
We capitalise and force our dominance on those we can. Always have always will. We are a cancer on the planet

 

[trendie]

........
We capitalise and force our dominance on those we can. Always have always will. We are a cancer on the planet

According to Agent Smith we are a virus, a plague, as well as a cancer. So there.
(sorry, quiet day for me, no obvious moves until 2pm)

 

[Nowler]

Good ol' Smithy.
His parents are nice people.

 

[Hellgro56]

Personally I think that if there is a God but he is not one of those who have religions, I think he is someone we have not yet met and we will only know about him in millions of years when technology and science can advance enough to seek origins of everything we know today.

 

[Pat494]

I rather despise those that fall onto their knees pleading with God to save them, in a crisis !
We are alone even with others all around and must get things done ourselves imho.
Waiting for God to intervene could take a millenia or two.
As for those claiming to have a direct line to God ? Absolute confidence tricksters and frauds.
I wish there were but sadly...……….no one there.

 

[J Livermore]

The only way I could see there being a creator of life on this planet is if "god" was an alien.
A super intelligent species from far beyond our observable universe

Nowler,

It doesn’t take superior technology or a being with a lot of powers to create new civilizations. We humans could do it right here and now. All we need to do is drop a group of very young children off on a remote island.

We could raise these children to live in any time period we wish. We could give them the knowledge of Medieval European technology. Or if we wanted to go further back in history we could raise them in the tradition of the Roman empire or even ancient Egypt. Any time period we desire. Even cavemen.

All it would require is to keep ships and aircraft away from the island and for the adults who planted them there to keep their mouths shut (which is a biggie) about the outside world. When the new civilization is self sufficient enough, the adults from the modern world could leave for good and let it grow in it’s own natural way.

The same thing could have happened to us. All it would take is for humans just like us from another planet to deposit young children and voila, you have what we have on Earth today. No need for aliens or little green men to plant us here. Just plain ordinary humans with a spacecraft could have done the job.

 

[Nowler]

Nowler,

It doesn’t take superior technology or a being with a lot of powers to create new civilizations. We humans could do it right here and now. All we need to do is drop a group of very young children off on a remote island.

We could raise these children to live in any time period we wish. We could give them the knowledge of Medieval European technology. Or if we wanted to go further back in history we could raise them in the tradition of the Roman empire or even ancient Egypt. Any time period we desire. Even cavemen.

All it would require is to keep ships and aircraft away from the island and for the adults who planted them there to keep their mouths shut (which is a biggie) about the outside world. When the new civilization is self sufficient enough, the adults from the modern world could leave for good and let it grow in it’s own natural way.

The same thing could have happened to us. All it would take is for humans just like us from another planet to deposit young children and voila, you have what we have on Earth today. No need for aliens or little green men to plant us here. Just plain ordinary humans with a spacecraft could have done the job.

Hey mate

Are you aware of the limitations we are faced with when it comes to space travel? Considering how far we can see, and how long it would take us to get to such reaches, that would in fact take far superior technology.

Also, by definition, if you dont come from earth, you are an alien.

We can see quite far, and we can see that there are no obvious signs of life travelling around, as well as in and out of those planets. So the distance an advanced species would have to travel is immense

 

[Signalcalc]

Asking if there really is a god is like asking 'what is music?', no-one can answer that question, no-one has really defined what god is, therefore we would not know we found what god is, even if we found it

 

[Nowler]

Asking if there really is a god is like asking 'what is music?', no-one can answer that question, no-one has really defined what god is, therefore we would not know we found what god is, even if we found it

Music: rhythmic sound vibrations, typically pleasing, though the latter can be subjective.

There's your definition