I am neither atheist, nor religious. I would like to know what you think of this and what you would do if you were in my situation.

I used to know a guy who claimed to see the Virgin Mary constantly. My family, some other people, Jose(the guy that claims to see Mary), and I all went to a Marian Apparition site. It is called Holy Love, its in Elyria, Ohio. The day we arrived, I was walking around the place when i see a woman faint. A few seconds later she got up and told the guy she was with that she had seen the heart of Jesus. The guy told her that its normal and that those kinds of things happen here. When we were doing the station of the cross, Jose was in pain, 2 men had to carry him out, it looked like as if he was suffering what Jesus suffered before being crucified, or at least thats what people were saying.

Jose told my mom she would feel the presence of Mary. The smell of roses is associated with her presense. My mom was in church, there was no one around nor any roses. She said she experienced the smell of roses, at first she dismissed it saying it was probably her imagination, but a few seconds later she felt the smell again and even stronger than before. Sometimes when we talk about it she cries.

My aunt, whos is a devout Catholic, told me a few months ago that she saw my brother, he passed away 10 years ago. She said she saw him in the air, dressed in white robes, smiling, a few seconds later he vanished.

When I die, and if it turns out that God exists, as described by Abrahamic religions, I dont want to hear something like " You knew it was all real, you had trustworthy testimonies from your own family telling you that Mary, the devil exist, because thats what they saw with their own eyes, Now depart from me, and go into everlasting torment...

My grandmother told my mom, that when she was a little girl, she saw 2 little devils dancing around her parents bed. She says it was because they always used to argue and fight.

This next testimony is less authentic to me i think, since it doesnt come from my family or anything close, but whatever l'll throw it in. A man died in a hospital. 2 nuns were by his side when he died. The first thing they do is try to pray for his soul. For their surprise they couldent... For some unknown reason, both of them could not pray. As if God or satan thoughtblocked them, as if a supernatural forced blocked their thoughts, specificly their prayers towards the man, for a few moments.

I know other tesimonies, but I think this is enough.

I do realize that there are countless of supernatural testimonies from people all over the world. What are we suppose to make of this. In my particular case, should I just forget everything I've heard from my family, or should I do something about it.

Would God want me to be a Catholic based on trustworthy testimonies?

What would you do if for example, your aunt tells you she saw your brother, who died 10 years ago, or your father tells you God showed him hell?

I dont understand why I dont see or experience anything supernatual myself.

I'm so confused please help.

I would turn to the Bible. I know it says that the dead know not anything for they are dead (this for some reason made the Mormon guys stop visiting, when we would confer the Bible instead of their Mormon book).

I will pray for you. You should too. God will communicate with you if you are sincere that you want to know.

Originally posted by 0thetrooth0
I am neither atheist, nor religious. I would like to know what you think of this and what you would do if you were in my situation.

First, don't panic Religion teaches that you need to immediately turn to God or face eternal damnation should you die today. But religion and true spirituality are two completely different things. You won't find God through religious dogma, but he is all around you if you seek him. Pray, meditate, read not just the Bible but multiple religious writings and constantly remind yourself that you are reading men's interpretations of God and that you have to filter the info accordingly.

As for all the apparitions and such, I have no doubt that many of these people believe they are seeing these things. We don't know if it's just their own imagination because they WANT to see these things, or if they're signs from God, or if they are perhaps deception from the devil. But it's important to understand that seeing these things are not a prerequisite to salvation, so if you don't see anything that doesn't mean you should worry about your own state.

Originally posted by 0thetrooth0
Would God want me to be a Catholic based on trustworthy testimonies?

Personally I think the Catholic church is evil. I do not think that those who attend Catholic churches are evil, but I do think that many of them are being decieved and led away from God's true message which is that salvation is available to all, that salvation does not require works, and that you don't float around in purgatory after you die. I would suggest staying away from Catholic churches unless and until you've developed a good sense of discernment through personal study.

I want to elaborate on something that a previous person posted. That is, why do you think that God, or the creator, would want you to be a Christian? Why not another religion?

First, remove your religious language and stigmas. At this time 'God' is not the Christian God, the Muslim God, or any God or deity of any religion. 'God' is just the creator of all. The omniscient spirit. Perhaps all that is. The reason why it is important to view 'God' this way, is because how do you know that one specific text is Gods text? How can we know this, when there have been tons of different religions, some whom have many gods. God is sort of like an emotion. An emotion is a feeling. It is something that we THINK we know, that we think we can just slap a title on, but we know very little of this feeling, that we call love or hate or otherwise. But what I feel is 'love' you may feel something different, and so neither of us can really prove what 'love' is. We can't put our finger on it and say, THIS IS LOVE! God is sort of like this. Furthermore, it is good to view most of life like this. Because, really, ALL that you should believe is what you yourself knows to be true, according to your OWN experience, based off of logic and reasoning. And depending upon where you were born, the language you were taught, the school you went to, and in general the societies influence upon you, you may believe that 'God' is this or that. So just because you were born in 'X' that believes god is 'A', what says that your perception of God is correct over the person born in 'Y' that believes that god is 'B'.

With that said...

Imagine yourself on an island of 100 people, that has had no contact with the 'western world', and in which you have had no dogmatic spiritual/religious text ever introduced to you at all. You yourself have felt a presence, or have seen some sort of energy or being of energy, or perhaps you have heard something or someone speaking to you. You FEEL the presence of what you feel, or perhaps what is in fact 'God.' However, you have nothing but your own experience and logic to guide you in your spiritual path, called life. Over the next 50 years, a more organized 'religion' forms, with specific mantras and rituals, to this 'higher power' that you have felt, and believe to be the creator of all. You and your people call this power 'Eqsha.' Everyday you give your selfless devotion and praise, to Eqsha, sitting in prayer and meditation for hours. Then one day, the western world approaches with the Holy Bible and crosses! They tell you that Jesus is Lord and that this is how God rolls. This is sin. This is correct. And if you DON'T believe it, then you shall BURN in this place called hell, for all of eternity...

Unless they had undeniable FACTS, to prove what their religion said, then you would probably not just give up your beliefs for theirs, just because they said that it was the truth. And this would be the case for all approaching religions. This is not to say that you would not appreciate them and perhaps see their God as your God, understanding that the premise for your religion and theirs is one and the same.. LOVE ALL. Except unfortunately, some religions also include that if you do not believe this (even though their is no proof), because we SAY, then you will burn.

How in the hell would the approaching Christian believers expect the followers of Eqsha to just believe that their God was 'THE god'.. after all, if the Eqsha faith came to the Christians, condemning them of their beliefs and saying 'THIS IS THE TRUTH', the Christians would say 'This is rubbish.'

This is how I see it. Who says God is x, y, or z. Who knows, really. Perhaps 'God' is actually an old idea, an old term that we have created out of limited perception. We do not understand what IS, and the only logical explanation some can throw out is that someone must have created it. Perhaps this is the case. The only way you can know, is from YOU have experienced. And perhaps Jesus is Lord and perhaps the Christians are correct. But if this is the case, and God sent us to HELL, then God is not kind, caring, compassionate or understanding. He would be unkind, because he, of all, should know that you and I are human beings, that have LOGIC and REASONING. How can he condemn us for believing things that make sense to us. That we have seen with our own eyes. That we are following with our own HEARTS... as long as it is through LOVE and COMPASSION.

If you do everything through LOVE, then how can it be in vein?

Originally posted by Keyouse
I want to elaborate on something that a previous person posted. That is, why do you think that God, or the creator, would want you to be a Christian? Why not another religion?

First, remove your religious language and stigmas. At this time 'God' is not the Christian God, the Muslim God, or any God or deity of any religion. 'God' is just the creator of all. The omniscient spirit. Perhaps all that is. The reason why it is important to view 'God' this way, is because how do you know that one specific text is Gods text? How can we know this, when there have been tons of different religions, some whom have many gods. God is sort of like an emotion. An emotion is a feeling. It is something that we THINK we know, that we think we can just slap a title on, but we know very little of this feeling, that we call love or hate or otherwise. But what I feel is 'love' you may feel something different, and so neither of us can really prove what 'love' is. We can't put our finger on it and say, THIS IS LOVE! God is sort of like this. Furthermore, it is good to view most of life like this. Because, really, ALL that you should believe is what you yourself knows to be true, according to your OWN experience, based off of logic and reasoning. And depending upon where you were born, the language you were taught, the school you went to, and in general the societies influence upon you, you may believe that 'God' is this or that. So just because you were born in 'X' that believes god is 'A', what says that your perception of God is correct over the person born in 'Y' that believes that god is 'B'.

With that said...

Imagine yourself on an island of 100 people, that has had no contact with the 'western world', and in which you have had no dogmatic spiritual/religious text ever introduced to you at all. You yourself have felt a presence, or have seen some sort of energy or being of energy, or perhaps you have heard something or someone speaking to you. You FEEL the presence of what you feel, or perhaps what is in fact 'God.' However, you have nothing but your own experience and logic to guide you in your spiritual path, called life. Over the next 50 years, a more organized 'religion' forms, with specific mantras and rituals, to this 'higher power' that you have felt, and believe to be the creator of all. You and your people call this power 'Eqsha.' Everyday you give your selfless devotion and praise, to Eqsha, sitting in prayer and meditation for hours. Then one day, the western world approaches with the Holy Bible and crosses! They tell you that Jesus is Lord and that this is how God rolls. This is sin. This is correct. And if you DON'T believe it, then you shall BURN in this place called hell, for all of eternity...

Unless they had undeniable FACTS, to prove what their religion said, then you would probably not just give up your beliefs for theirs, just because they said that it was the truth. And this would be the case for all approaching religions. This is not to say that you would not appreciate them and perhaps see their God as your God, understanding that the premise for your religion and theirs is one and the same.. LOVE ALL. Except unfortunately, some religions also include that if you do not believe this (even though their is no proof), because we SAY, then you will burn.

How in the hell would the approaching Christian believers expect the followers of Eqsha to just believe that their God was 'THE god'.. after all, if the Eqsha faith came to the Christians, condemning them of their beliefs and saying 'THIS IS THE TRUTH', the Christians would say 'This is rubbish.'

This is how I see it. Who says God is x, y, or z. Who knows, really. Perhaps 'God' is actually an old idea, an old term that we have created out of limited perception. We do not understand what IS, and the only logical explanation some can throw out is that someone must have created it. Perhaps this is the case. The only way you can know, is from YOU have experienced. And perhaps Jesus is Lord and perhaps the Christians are correct. But if this is the case, and God sent us to HELL, then God is not kind, caring, compassionate or understanding. He would be unkind, because he, of all, should know that you and I are human beings, that have LOGIC and REASONING. How can he condemn us for believing things that make sense to us. That we have seen with our own eyes. That we are following with our own HEARTS... as long as it is through LOVE and COMPASSION.

If you do everything through LOVE, then how can it be in vein?

nice post

i agree with what you said

amazing claims require amazing evidence?

but why should we love or have love in our hearts if there is no God teling us 2 have love? if were totaly free then we cud do anything like beating ur wife everyday, ik it sounds cruel n stuff but what stops a human from doing this?

there R no evil or nice people ,were just difrent...?

Originally posted by 0thetrooth0


but why should we love or have love in our hearts if there is no God teling us 2 have love? if were totaly free then we cud do anything like beating ur wife everyday, ik it sounds cruel n stuff but what stops a human from doing this?

there R no evil or nice people ,were just difrent...?

No. We're the same.