Be sure to read this entire post before replying. It is of great importance that you read every word. I can't promise you'll
agree, but if you give me a chance, I might just blow your mind. Keep all discussion civil, please.
There's been a lot of threads lately between atheists and Christians, and I want both of you to listen up, just for the time necessary to read this
post. Christians, you hold to the belief that the Bible holds the true definition of "God". Atheists, you don't agree. In fact, you don't believe
there's a higher power to define. The modern definition is " omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, benevolent, merciful, etc. I don't agree with this,
but wait! Don't reply just yet. Continue reading, and all will be made clear...I hope. Clear your minds of preconceptions and judgments on the tips of
your tongues - forget what you want to say, forget what you think you know, just listen with an open mind. Or read, rather. Whatever.
So that's our definition of a god, right? Oh no, the modern religious have REDEFINED it. I have the same contention with their definition, but just
because someone keep spoiling the stew, doesn't mean there isn't perfectly good stew out there somewhere.
You've missed the definition because you have preconceptions. And those parameters you've set have filtered out the true divinity of the universe. I
can't explain it completely because it would take two and a half threads to connect as many dots as I can, and you would still disagree because you
want the definition to suit your parameters. It doesn't matter how you feel about it, that's how it is.
With that said, both Christians and atheists are fools because they are forcing the world to fit their ideas, instead of allowing the world to shape
their understanding. You are partial. And so you will not understand. A neutral point of view is necessary, otherwise you only understand what you
want to.
My point here being, mankind only defined what already existed using its clumsy intellect. That clumsy intellect is what you see, not the essence
being defined. Give mankind a few thousand years to either get smarter or kill itself off, and you'd see what I'm talking about. Humans have tarnished
your understanding, and all the further communication you get from them will only tarnish it more. I'm doing it even as I type this, and I can only
hope that you can get the impression I'm attempting to convey. Words are an extremely inconvenient medium, because I think in "impressions", ideas
without words.
Again, any communicate idea is man-made. With that communication comes a definition, and that definition is a mobile impression of a explicit
knowledge. It's like pushing your hand in some clay to make a mold. Nothing that comes out of that mold will look exactly like your hand, but someone
looking at it will recognize what it's supposed to be.
When we say "God", we're using that mold which has been reworked in order to achieve someone's ideal of "THIS is what a god should be!" and we ran
with it. Unfortunately, we have no idea what a god should be, and as a species that goes, "GIMME GIMME GIMME GIMME I WANT I WANT I WANT", our deity
reflects our collective nature. Which is why, should I open a dictionary and look up the word 'vanity', I fully expect to see a picture of "God" right
next to it. Self-entitlement, pride, and delusional tyranny.
And it's all based in fear. Recognition of the darkness inside, and fear that if we don't use it first, someone else will and rob us of our happiness.
The darkness has too many expressions to be completely safe from it, and we know that. That's why "God" is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent:
it's a complete loop without flaw, every single possibility of darkness closed out. It's what we wish we could be, and that's why we worship it. We
worship our idea of perfection, the utter lack of fear, and that's why we're fools with the potential to become wise. Unfortunately, we're more intent
on demonizing ourselves for not yet having attained that perfection, than we are on resolving that lack of perfection. Simply put, we're whipping
ourselves for our perceived crimes and doing penitence instead of drawing a plan for resolving the whole issue. That's as close as I can get to
defining the nature of the current deity, and that's as close as I need to get, I think.
Atheist, Christians, all of you who do or do not believe in a higher power: this is the purpose of religion, to help us realize our first and foremost
flaw - vanity, otherwise known as the search for perfection. Perfection that we have labeled 'divinity', because (again) of our clumsy intellect. We
see divinity as perfection, and we see perfection as...well, it differs with everyone. Usually something pleasing, mainly concerned with external
stimuli because that's what we've been taught to focus on. I'll get into that later. But let me put some context in this vanity deal: original sin
wasn't disobeying a deity...it was discovering right and wrong, and allowing ourselves the ability to recognize the idea of perfection. In that
moment, we began that journey. Our first sin was vanity. We kill each other every day because we see things in everyone that remind us that we're not
perfect, and it drives us crazy. We are reminded of how we ourselves are imperfect. That's what "Satan" is - the temptation to give in to the search
for perfection.
But what is perfection? Desire. Wanting. The moment you stop wanting, is the moment you reach perfection. Do you ever wonder why a perfectionist is so
hard to please? Because physical reality is flawed - FOR THAT VERY REASON. To teach us that perfection is not of the flesh, it's of something that is
much more valuable. There are men who sit in caves with a bread crust, wearing a few rags, and they are the most content people on the
planet....because they don't want anything.
"Sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." Who said that? Remind me, please.
What do you think
he was trying to say? If you search for perfection, you'll find it in the most surprising of places, the most surprising of faces. But it's a long and
very difficult road.
All of your little conspiracies surround this idea. THINK ABOUT IT!! Every conspiracy is engineered to remind us of the brevity of life, of the
importance of money, so we need to SPEND SPEND SPEND so we can SURVIVE SURVIVE SURVIVE!!! All the importance is placed on how short life is, so we
forget about the important things and focus on material possessions, on amassing wealth to create status. We are being herded away from the ultimate
truth, and being encouraged to find that perfection.
This is the Dummies version of what I just realized, the great eureka moment that blasted to the front of my mind. This is the truth I have been
looking for, or one of those truths. One of the bigger pieces of the puzzle. It's the missing link. The problem. The reason we are such a flawed
species when we could be so much more.
Now you see. Now you can begin to make the change. BECOME the change. Be what you want to see in the world. You've had a look at the great sin, now
begin to rectify it. Where you go from here, what you choose to believe or choose to take solace in, that's up to you. I just wanted to show you all
what I had realized. I'm not trying to make atheists and theists kiss and make up or anything - if anything, I would make a third camp for those who
are willing to be open, and both the worshipers and nonbelievers can come together and join hands for the cause of healing the world. You don't have
to be exactly the same or have the same reasons, all that's required in the desire to work together for a similar end. it doesn't have to end like
that, but it's a good idea, and if anything, that's what I'd like to see from this eureka moment. Fruit that keeps giving. And somewhere in there, is
a sparkling diamond of truth, I'm certain. Take it or leave it. But just ask yourselves one question: if you reject the premise on which this thread
was constructed, if you say I'm wrong and you, the reader, are right and you know more than I do about such things, ask yourselves: is that vanity
talking?
Think about it.
edit on 6-10-2012 by AfterInfinity because: (no reason given)