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Greetings Infidels

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  • M Offline
    M Offline
    Man_of_Faith
    wrote on last edited by
    #11

    Well jiburl, I believe in a higher power, but that entity is not an object of any kind and my perception is similar to pantheism, although I dislike to use the -ism suffix. This causes any kind of ritual worship or ways to please the god to be redundant, in my view. It has big support from the Arabic scripture that I study.

    And I have grasped enough to understand that higher power does not deal in labels but only attributes, so naming a religion is unnecessary and taking a label for yourself is also unneeded. The prophets did not say they adhered to this or that but only followed the ways of their ancestors. They talked about being one with the higher power, or Elah, i.e. "is that it is", no fancy talk there, and act in asymbiotic way with it, and rather feel "synchronized" with it than treating it as distant from yourself as people do when they have their God as a separate object as in Paganism.

    I suppose you would understand my view if you read other threads where I have posted.

    Be of one with 'is that it is' (God)

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      good_logic
      wrote on last edited by
      #12

      Peace JiburIshman.

      I do not know what the future brings for you or if you will change. I certainly hope so?

      You must have heard of Qoran, have you ever looked at what it is saying?

      At this moment of time ,according to your posts, in my opinion, you do not believe?.
      If you do not believe, here is what Qoran says about disbelievers

      As for those who disbelieve, it is the same for them; whether you warn them, or not warn them, they cannot believe.*

      *26-7 Those who make a decision to reject God are helped in that direction; they are prevented by God from seeing any proof or guidance for as long as they maintain such a decision. The consequences of such a disastrous decision are spelled out in Verse 7.

      God seals their minds and their hearing, and their eyes are veiled. They have incurred severe retribution.

      We control their minds and their hearts. Thus, since their decision is to disbelieve, we leave them in their transgressions, blundering.

      May be you do not believe this? Nevertheless, here is the consequence

      Anyone who opposes God, and His angels, and His messengers, ... should know that God opposes the disbelievers.

      They are the ones who have disbelieved in the scripture, and in the messages we have sent with our messengers. Therefore, they will surely find out.

      Even if we sent down to them a physical book, written on paper, and they touched it with their hands, those who disbelieved would have said, "This is no more than clever magic."

      Maybe we will have a different conversation in the future? Hoping.
      Can I also add, you are entitled to your opinions and decisions.

      GOD bless you anyway.
      Peace.

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        lila
        wrote on last edited by
        #13

        Just bumped across this site accidentally

        About me, Im in 20's from London, raised an an islamic tradition. Had always been indifferent and passive to islam, then looked at it a few years ago and pretty much realised all the supernatural/paranormal claims are complete garbage and nonsensical mumbo jumbo.

        Hello and welcome to the forum! )
        Please when you are in a group discussing ideas I?d recommend to try using "I think that tihs is a lie" "My opinion is this is false" "In my point of view..." because otherwise someone could feel offended.
        Having this said, every human being in this world has the right to have an opinion and to change it or not with time. Feel free to question all the posts you have doubts about and to learn from the forum if you want to.

        I don?t know if you want my advice but I think you should look for your own truth, life will show you and you will learn, that?s a positive attitude, don?t obey people blindly and always respect each others opinions. They may be wrong or bad, or they may not. Maybe they?re right, but everyone has a path to complete. In fact, we are all ignorants trying to find something true in this deceptive life (imo).
        Also, always have a space in your heart for doubts (dont be afraid of being wrong D ) and dont be too pride! And thats my mini-useless guide to life , lol. I hope you didnt fall asleep reading all of this.

        Btw youre very young (and so I am P ) so just give yourself time to learn about life and dont let people or your own mind obsess you about anything/forget the important things as long as you dont harm others.

        Peace! and do good.

        Welcome again! )

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          Shogunsami
          wrote on last edited by
          #14

          I think the problem is in viewing islam as a religion and Allah as a god or deity. What if this is a misconception? Allah as far as I can understand is not a being that exists at some point in space time. Rather understand it as a force which cause everything to exist. Tesla once remarked matter don't have energy on its own rather it draws energy from a all permeating force which cause it to exist. Maybe that's why it is said in the quran east or west everything belongs to Allah. Is the force Allah or is it caused by Allah? I don't have an answer nor will I have an answer conclusively. But when we start thinking out of the box then slowly quran makes sense. Hope this helps!

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            Man_of_Faith
            wrote on last edited by
            #15

            Spiritual wellbeing upon you Shogun,

            Allah is a god per position of power, although one must pay attention to the fact God is also not an object but an omnipresent phenomenon, so you cannot have contact with this "force" like you would with something with form, hence traditional forms of prayer and ritualistic glorification moves would appear out of place. God hears uttered words, but God also knows them before you open your mouth, hence one's prayers do not need to be repeated over and over again, like Pagans and their many words.

            And since God does not take up any space being non-physical you can stand in God's light in symbiosis and right under God without interfering or challenging God in any way. And remember my talk is usually allegorical since it is difficult to explain the phenomenon of God except through them. And since God is also in all locations simultaneously and in non-physical presence meaning you can be in the light of God wherever you are and whoever you are, if you have decided to "be of one" with God. It is easy, do good while fading out that ego, seeking harmony with one's own soul and work towards cleansing out evil parts of it and one will more or less automatically grant "God's favor". And the purer the soul, the easier it will be to continue that path of good, hence one is helped that way. Similarly is for those who do poorly and let their soul get all those negative connotations which are connected to one's ego; they will be helped that opposite way.

            The whole mission could be said to erase as much of the ego as possible, becoming ultimately humble towards everything and not only God, and even treating your enemy good as much as you can, even if evil deeds must be stopped.

            But as a summary can be said that one's whole personal integrity should be filled with the light of God as to the point where one barely no longer exist separate from God but one acts in symbiosis with God. One becomes of God since oneself cease to exist, filled with that spirit.

            This is how I take it that the prophets along the line of the "Abrahamic" faith perceived God, without the sectarian ideologies which more fits the Pagan way of religion. They called God for Elah/Allah, which according to my analysis indicates to mean something like "be that it is", and that was their Rabb (loosely foundation). The Amen and Elah words indicate that they suggested that one walk in the spirit, much because God cannot be treated as an object and hence exists abstractly with no form or shape, is the beginning and the end and can thus not be worshipped using a Pagan mindset.

            Be of one with God

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              JiburIshman
              wrote on last edited by
              #16

              @hawk

              Telling someone who finds no convincing reason to think any deity or satan about is like telling a kid who don't believe in Santa that he won't get no presents for Christmas. It doesn't make a jot of difference!

              @Jafar

              a thinking. perceptable entity is sentient, but go ahead define god as you like. The definition of god to individuals has to remain elastic for belief to persist.

              And you do have faith, you have faith that you will still be alive tomorrow although you don't really know
              whether that's true or not as it can't be proven as of now

              No I don't have faith in being alive tomorrow, I'd say it's very probable that I will be, not certain. IF I was CERTAIN I'd be alive tomorrow then I'd have FAITH.

              You're mistaken, some elements within religion can be validated to be not true..
              And some elements within religion can be validated to be true..

              I'm referring to the supernatural/paranormal claims not being true. Parts of religious scriptures can be true ie places/cities etc, but that's no proof for the supernatural twaddle. Kings Cross Station in the Harry Potter books is a real place, but that doesn't mean all the magic in the Harry Potter books is.

              @good logic

              I don't care about beliefs, I care about demonstrable knowledge for objective claims.

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                Jafar
                wrote on last edited by
                #17

                a thinking. perceptable entity is sentient, but go ahead define god as you like. The definition of god too individuals has too remain elastic for belief to persist.

                The definition of "god" does varies.. that's a fact..

                And you do have faith, you have faith that you will still be alive tomorrow although you don't really know
                whether that's true or not as it can't be proven as of now

                No I don't have faith in being alive tomorrow, I'd say it's very probable that I will be, not certain. IF I was CERTAIN I'd be alive tomorrow then I'd have FAITH.

                Your 'probability' is based on an 'assumption'.
                The 'assumption' is 'faith' and 'faith' doesn't need to be in 100% certainty..
                Faith is a spectrum.. that's why there's a 'weak' faith and 'strong' faith..

                The 'faith' shall then shape your action / deed..
                It's actually the action / deed that's important and not the faith..

                You're mistaken, some elements within religion can be validated to be not true..
                And some elements within religion can be validated to be true..

                I'm referring to the supernatural/paranormal claims not being true. Parts of religious scriptures can be true ie places/cities etc, but that's no proof for the supernatural twaddle. Kings Cross Station in the Harry Potter books is a real place, but that doesn't mean all the magic in is.

                The definition of which phenomenon is "natural" or "supernatural" is dependent on the eye of the beholder.

                During ancient times, such as the times when the Quran was initially being written, even the rain, earthquake, lunar eclipse or sun movement are all 'supernatural' phenomenon.

                The Egyptians used to believe that there's a god, shaped like a centipede who towed the sun to move..
                The Indians used to believe that there's a giant shaped god tried to eat the moon during the lunar eclipse.

                To us, now, the sun movement and the lunar eclipse is all 'natural' phenomenon..
                Why?
                Because now we have gained an understanding / knowledge of such phenomenon.

                Thus, when you've gained an understanding of what "God" is, then "God" shall become "natural"..
                To me "God" is not "supernatural" at all.. to me "God" is natural..

                Thus be specific on which idea do you think that's 'supernatural' within the scripture..

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                  good_logic
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #18

                  Peace JiburIsham.

                  How many scientific theories do you believe in?
                  For example do you believe in the "big bang theory"? How can it be demonstrated?

                  How old is earth? Do you believe there are billions of galaxies? Why?

                  Generally speaking there are two types of scientific knowledge

                  1. Scientific knowledge that is unlikely to change and is thus taken for granted (e.g. Water is composed of Hydrogen and Oxygen, or that gravity exists between any two bodies....etc.).
                  2. Scientific knowledge that is not yet confirmed and is open to change (e.g. What triggered off the 'Big Bang'? What is gravity made of? How many universes are there? Or how did such gigantic energy come to be trapped within the minute space inside the atom?

                  Do you only believe Science as defined in 1.?

                  Do you check everything without having faith in anyone or anything?

                  If you look at what you are saying you will find a lot of "faith" in your beliefs.

                  But when it comes to what you"disagree with/hate/ have prejudice/misunderstand... you call it faith?

                  There may be those who will complain that a certain faith or another is too rigid and does not conform to modern standards, but they must, if they are honest with themselves, stop and question how well do modern standards conform to virtue and morality also.

                  I urge you to look again at GOD s words in Qoran with a clean mind. You will be amazed at what you find if you study it with sincerity and seek the help of the Author to understand it.

                  Try it ,you have nothing to loose but everything to gain.

                  GOD bless you.
                  Peace.

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                    hawk99
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #19

                    @hawk

                    Telling someone who finds no convincing reason to think any deity or satan about is like telling a kid who don't believe in Santa that he won't get no presents for Christmas. It doesn't make a jot of difference!

                    Again thank you for your honesty, I don't care if you believe or not. that's your problem, many people don't believe
                    until they are in need. I find it interesting that you turn to believers for a dialogue ) I also find it interesting that you
                    use the analogy of a kid to make your point.

                    God bless

                    peace

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                    • R Offline
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                      reel
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #20

                      Instead of asking humans about the nature of God, read Quran. Faith is in every way personal. By hearing what others have to say you are just convincing yourself to give into group think.

                      You do sound like someone who came from the arranged group
                      http//www.illuminatigamerevealed.com/images/034-Blinded-By-Science-web.jpg

                      "Science can prove anything" is too 40's. Einstein used to think like that. But now scientists have realized that science has its limits.

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                        Man_of_Faith
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #21

                        One cannot prove God exists, but one cannot prove God does not exist either. Then it comes down to what is the rational inference of what one sees and the question of how it all came into existence, and how a tiny little cell can have enough intelligence to know in which developmental direction to take and many of the wonders of nature. There are many deep questions despite rejecting the fact about the existence of a "higher power". In my opinion it does not add up if one goes by the inference that it is the result of millions of years of development and just a haphazardly generated world with no more sophisticated intelligence behind it and just happened to occur due to conditions that were open to sustain life. Not to mention what kind of triggering mechanism which made all sorts of materia shatter across the universe and then know that if it got in motion then it would rotate around an axis or in an eclipse around the star to avoid being sucked into destruction from it due to gravity. It is quite advanced phenomena we are talking about. And then come saying there is no "higher power" is a bit headstrong in my opinion. "Belief" does not even exist on the map for that higher power, so arguments against it are quite ignorant and deluded.

                        Sure one can still argue against it, but there are lots of contradictory questions that arise when arguing against a "higher power", such as mentioned above. Even if biologically it is possible in a physiological way for cells to mutate into some changed life form, but something still has to sustain it in some way.

                        I have however understanding that the pathetic portrayal of God, particularly with Pagan traditional influence, through the centuries does not appeal to people with better knowledge of science and how the world works. The object "God" must be diminished and the real abstract non-object omnipresent entity much like a powerful energy or force which cannot be encompassed. People have to realize that God is from within and without ourselves and God should not be materialized. The idol-style primitive God a'la Ba'al has to be abandoned at some time in history for the more advanced communities the less people will be fooled by the irrational rituals and practices associated with them. That kind of God which people should serve looks for people wandering in its light and let that reflect through his or her behavior and deeds while that God has no needs that someone satisfy any ego of this God or other things commonly associated with the fallible version of god.

                        Be of one with God

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                        • J Offline
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                          JiburIshman
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #22

                          @jafar

                          If a person of faith has weak faith, then why do they call themselves a believer, it makes them an an assumer. I value sincerity as a virtue. BTW I've heard these banal mental gymnastics before.

                          @Good Knowledge

                          lol at conflating faith and Science.

                          Science is not beliefs, It's provides knowledge with different levels of probabilities. Science is not dependent on an individual subjective confidence to a claim, but the actual testable evidence and experiments.

                          Supernatural is that which violates naturals laws. For any of the thousands of claimed gods to be natural it would require it's existence to palpably demonstrated in the natural world otherwise it's indistinguishable from a belief in leprechauns. I'm pretty sure this hasn't been done yet. Like I said if anybody has sensory data to back up this claim they should bring it, until then they shouldn't be having comversations at the adults table. There's a childrens table for people
                          who believe in spirits, tooth fairies, deities and other spooks and woo woo.

                          If you look at what you are saying you will find a lot of "faith" in your beliefs.

                          I have faith for nothing. I'm not certain about any objective claim that have no evidence, which is what faith is.

                          @hawk99

                          that's because religion is Santa Claus for grown ups !

                          As for reading the quran, literature is a subjective medium. Subjective mediums don't provide evidence for objective claims, particularly in a dead language !

                          @reel

                          Science doen't know everything, it knows alot of things. Religion doesn't know anything

                          I find the the anathema for Science on here astonishingly hypocritical, considering everyone is on here on a laptop/PC, something given to us by applied Science ROLLEYES

                          @Man of Faith

                          Can you prove your not a thief?

                          Think about that then you're realise how fallacious the "you can't prove argument is" )

                          Also Intelligent Design arguments? This is what I'd expect if I accidentally went on to a far right crackpots christian creationists website who believe the world is 6000 years old. These are only things a very Scientifically illiterate person would say.

                          Please tell me where is the intelligence in small helpless children slowly and excruciatingly dying of pneumonia? Where is the intelligence in a mother having a blood haemorrhage when she has to push out her baby through a tunnel which shouldn't be anywhere near as narrow as it is if it was well crafted ? Where is the intelligence in a parasitic worm nourishing on the back of a childs eye in Africa that is torturing him daily and will eventually make him/her go blind ?

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                            hawk99
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #23

                            @hawk99

                            that's because religion is Santa Claus for grown ups !

                            As for reading the quran, literature is a subjective medium. Subjective mediums don't provide evidence for objective claims, particularly in a dead language !

                            Again thank you for your honesty, I don't care if you believe or not. that's your problem, many people don't believe
                            until they are in need. I find it interesting that you turn to believers for a dialogue, why is that, what do you hope
                            to gain, are you jealous of us? I said nothing about you reading Quran, at the moment it is not for you.

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                              good_logic
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #24

                              Peace JiburIshman.

                              Thank you for your "confused" statements.

                              I agree with you, there is no religion. However I disagree with you about the Designer?

                              "... The darkness sacramental of the Eucharist is unfathomable. Besides, if it were intelligible, it would not be divine. If the God we serve could be understood by reason, he would not worth to be served, said Tauler *; ... if the works of God were such that the intelligence of man could easily grasp them, they cease to be wonderful and could not be described as ineffable. "

                              • John Tauler Theoligian

                              You are confused about why you are here in this life and have no idea who you are? That is my understanding according to your latest post.

                              "...We are fortunate to live in an age where scientific and technological advances allow a better understanding of the precise physical and biological laws of this world. Unfortunately, divine grace always exposes the human's ingratitude. Most people are convinced that reason and science prove the in-existence of God rather than His existence. The more they attain knowledge about the laws and systems of the entire universe, the more they incline to believe that the creation of the universe and the repetition of creation they witness every second passes by are accidental! They, thus, conclude that those laws and systems simply exist haphazardly. How irrational and ironic! Laws and systems do not exist without a supreme intelligence and an omnipotent source to establish them. If they were haphazardly set, how would they constantly perform in such sophistication, precision, consistency, coordination and harmony?"

                              Unlike you I take faith and reason(Science/logic...) to go together.

                              Yes I agree with you on bits

                              "...Another irony is that the majority of those who believe in God go to the other extreme and abolish all forms of reason! Their spiritual path becomes illogical and mystical. It is based on superstition and concepts that contradict both common sense and the physical laws of this world. Without questioning or verifying, they repeat their ancestral religious practices or follow their opinions and traditions even if they contradict the scripture they claim to uphold. Thus, they lead a life with a fake spirit and unauthentic identity that has nothing to do with the title of their faith.. They are diverted from the path of God, without knowing, supported by Satan who always promotes idol worship under the guise of monotheism. Faith without reason does not reveal the entire truth. Faith without reason is also flawed and fake since it can not be fully traced, backed up and verified."

                              But unfortunately I disagree with you on a lot!

                              GOD bless you.
                              Peace.

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                                Man_of_Faith
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #25

                                It is a different matter. But the matter of proving God or not is too abstract to be able to prove anything. You cannot prove or disprove God. But you can always try. Go on.

                                More fallacious is the statement that "how can there be a higher power when there is so much mischief in the world". It does not prove anything either.

                                And you can also explain to me how cells can know their direction of evolution and how the universe came into existence and how it just happen to exist. And soon unless you delude yourself you would realize some way or another a sort of "higher power" is needed. And soon you would realize whose the fallible statement is.

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                                • J Offline
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                                  JiburIshman
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #26

                                  @hawk99

                                  I like to have conversations with people who have beliefs in things that I find very peculiar. I am genuinely perplexed as to how some otherwise very intelligent people believe in invisible magical entities with absolute certainty. You have people with PHD's who are supernaturalists. The majority of humans have beliefs which lack evidence, this is not just restricted to religion, ie some people uninfected with the god belief believe that George Bush knocked down the Twin Towers.

                                  If we were to discover concious life in the universe and be able communicate with them in something like a language I'd want to know if they like most people on Earth believe objective claims about reality which have zero evidence.

                                  If anyone can give convincing reasons to me I'd like to think I can change my mind on anything if provided with good arguments. If something is true and can directly effect me I wanna know about it. I want to know how things happen, how they came about. Is the universe infinite or did it have a beginning? What's the origin of life? how did biological conciousness first arise from chemical molecules? etc. Religions have treaded on the feet of Science by making claims in these fields.

                                  @goodlogic

                                  You are confused about why you are here in this life and have no idea who you are? That is my understanding according to your latest post.

                                  If there was a reason completely out of my control that I'm here in this life then I'd be a suppressed individual living in a autocratic dictatorship. It's rather supercilious to assume we have a purpose. You already have the presupposition that there has to be a purpose to life then working from there. We humans aren't special and it's highly unlikely we are eternally immortal as our "selfs". We are just 1.5% smarter than chimps. If there is a species in the universe 1.5% smarter than us, they would look at us humans & think "look at these dumb animals".

                                  There is very probably no ultimate purpose to life and one should realise that no matter how much it hurts our frail egos. One we all accept the mediocrity we are in then we can work on improving the only life we know we'll have.

                                  Your own purpose in life is something you choose for yourself. If it's something you accept is chosen for you, you are accepting you're are a slave who has been designated his/her purpose by his slavemaster. For some their purpose if feminism, veganism yoga etc. The beauty of being a freethinker is that is you get to choose yourself .

                                  Most people are convinced that reason and science prove the in-existence of God rather than His existence

                                  I've not heard any Scientist say this, this is a rather absurd misrepresentation. You can't disprove a negative, that's one of the fundamental basics of critical thinking ie nobody can disprove they are a murderer, nobody can disprove the existence of dragons. What Science can do is show how supernatural explanations are unnecessary.

                                  A lot of the time I hear and see sweeping generalisations and misrepresentations of people who aren't supernaturalists. By many it's assumed they all hold one position on politics, science, philosophy etc. Me not being convinced about the existence of supernatural deities is just an answer of no to that question. It doesn't say anything about my views on anything else. I've never stated for example that the universe came about accidentally. There are speculative possibilities in theoretical Physicists in regards to the origins of the Universe however I don't know how the universe came about or even it was created, and nor does anyone else yet. For me saying "I don't know" is the most sincere and virtuous answer to that question. No amount of armchair philosophy can change that.

                                  sophistication, precision, consistency, coordination and harmony?"

                                  Really? Nature is trying to kill us in so many ways. Aids, wildfires, typhoons, cancer, volcanoes, tornadoes, avalanches, tsunamis, droughts, cyclones, tuberclosis, floods, heatwaves, cholera, polio, ebola, sars, mengingities, malaria etc. I fail to see how this is intelligent work.

                                  @Man of Faith

                                  Wow you really just came out with god of the gaps arguments?

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                                    good_logic
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #27

                                    Peace JiburIshman.

                                    Thanks for your comments.

                                    Many of us at some point or another in our lives start to question where did we come from? Why are we here? What happens to us after we die? Is death the grim end, or is it but a gate that leads into a different kind of existence? We often wonder how did it all come to be? Is there some kind of power responsible for the creation of the vast universe and all that's in it, or did everything around us just happen to be?

                                    Is there a God? But obviously you do not!!!

                                    The French Philosopher Pascal concluded that belief was the wisest bet because the believer will either have bliss if he is right or oblivion if he is wrong, whereas the atheist has the less attractive alternatives of oblivion or damnation. #1 (The case against God, Gerald Priestland, Page 14)

                                    You must have heard/seen many arguments for and against , I will not bore you with them, you are free to choose for yourself.

                                    However, I like to quote Qoran a lot,even though you might say
                                    "Why are you quoting the Qoran when I do not believe in it?"

                                    I will quote anyway,hoping you will read it,you can also ignore if you wish, because I believe Qoran is made easy to learn by its Author, the Most Gracious.

                                    He specifies His mercy for whomever He wills; God possesses unlimited grace.

                                    Those who believe in God, and hold fast to Him, He will admit them into mercy from Him, and grace, and will guide them to Him in a straight path

                                    As for those who repent, reform, and proclaim, I redeem them. I am the Redeemer, Most Merciful.

                                    Exempted are those who repent thereafter, and reform. God is Forgiver, Most Merciful.

                                    ..... Your Lord has decreed that mercy is His attribute. Thus, anyone among you who commits a transgression out of ignorance, and repents thereafter and reforms, then He is Forgiving, Most Merciful."

                                    Anyone who commits evil, or wrongs his soul, then implores God for forgiveness, will find God Forgiving, Most Merciful.

                                    .... "Our Lord, shower us with Your mercy, and bless our affairs with Your guidance."

                                    ... `Our Lord, we have believed, so forgive us and shower us with mercy. Of all the merciful ones, You are the Most Merciful.'

                                    ... "Our Lord, do not condemn us if we forget or make mistakes. Our Lord, and protect us from blaspheming against You, like those before us have done. Our Lord, protect us from sinning until it becomes too late for us to repent. Pardon us, forgive us, and have mercy on us. You are our Lord and Master...

                                    May the Merciful bless you,forgive you and guide you.
                                    Peace.

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                                      Man_of_Faith
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #28

                                      And how about countering the arguments that I wrote rather than trying to act like a wiseguy, jiburl?

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                                        hawk99
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #29

                                        @hawk99

                                        I like to have conversations with people who have beliefs in things that I find very peculiar. I am genuinely perplexed as to how some otherwise very intelligent people believe in invisible magical entities with absolute certainty. You have people with PHD's who are super naturalists.

                                        Peace JiburIshman,

                                        My position on beliefs is quite simple, "we are born with an inclination, and if needed, an access to the
                                        spiritual realm". This statement is not to be taken lightly by someone seeking to understand faith.
                                        Due to the pervading evidence of worship, spiritualism, magic, angels, demons, life after death, and the varying
                                        explanations of the unseen and the human need to find God and there is ample evidence that this phenomenon
                                        has continued throughout the human experience. To be dismissive of this fact actually shows a lack of intelligence,
                                        with all of the anthropological data (the behavioral science branch) one with an unbiased examination can conclude
                                        we humans have a spiritual inclination, like all other cross cultural behaviors like music, love, fear, and all else that
                                        makes us human. For instance Not all people have a belief in the unseen, but cross culturally we do, much
                                        like not all people like music or not all folks fall in love, but our cross cultural behaviors cannot
                                        be dismissed because we personally do not no why such characteristics exist.

                                        If we were to discover conscious life in the universe and be able communicate with them in something like a language I'd want to know if they like most people on Earth believe objective claims about reality which have zero evidence.

                                        Here again, I'm sorry, not to be offensive, but intelligent life in the universe is your Santa Claus
                                        i.e., no proof, no evidence. Scientists would like to believe that there is intelligent life out there
                                        with all the stars etc., they ask "how could we be alone?" again, no proof, no evidence that someone is out there.

                                        If anyone can give convincing reasons to me I'd like to think I can change my mind on anything if provided with good arguments. If something is true and can directly effect me I wanna know about it. I want to know how things happen, how they came about. Is the universe infinite or did it have a beginning? What's the origin of life? how did biological conciousness first arise from chemical molecules? etc. Religions have treaded on the feet of Science by making claims in these fields.

                                        I'd like to know the answers to these same questions! However those things don't directly affect my every day life.

                                        God bless

                                        peace

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                                          JiburIshman
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #30

                                          @goodlogic

                                          I have heard of Pascals Wager many a time before.

                                          It has many problems, for example how would you know you're beelining in the right god and won't face the repercussions of not believing in the right one? If I accept Jesus as my personal saviour and god, I'd go to the islamic hell for shirq(polytheism) if it turns out islam is true. If i I believe in Allah and no other as his equal as islam requires and it turns out Christianity is true i'd get thrown in the christian hell for not accepted Jesus as my personal saviour. I suppose you could worm your way out of that by saying "oohh only god knows who really goes to hell" or "as long as you except any god you won't go to hell".

                                          As for oblivion I like the idea as it means I won't have to know my family forever ;D

                                          @ManOfFaith

                                          Arguments for ignorance, which you made are not a reason to believe in a supernatural sorcerer magician. Not having a Scientific explanation for something yet does prove the existence of anything Deity whether it's Krishna, Ahura Mazdha or Allah.

                                          There is a long list of things which people had(and still do) supernatural/spiritual beliefs for which we have now understood the processes much better with naturalistic Scientific explanations. IE epilepsy, thunder/lightning, origin of species etc. If someone has an epileptic fit no Scientifically literate person will now say "oh it's demonic possession, let's have an exorcism", rather he/she will be given anticonvulsants.

                                          If you believe in a god of the gaps as you have demonstrated who directs evolution, created the universe etc and natural explanations are found for these processes will it lead to you jettisoning that belief?

                                          @Hawk99

                                          That we have evolved to have many superstitious beliefs is not an argument for those beliefs being true.

                                          When I spoke of Intelligent Life in the universe I said "if" it was discovered. I never made a claim with absolute certainty, which is what one is required to do to be a supernatural theist. Please don't distort or misrepresent what I'm saying, if anything it makes you look slimey and duplicitous.

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