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In The Name of God

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posted on May, 15 2004 @ 04:11 PM
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First, I choose to state that on sensitive subjects like spiritual or religious
belief, I am writing off the top of my head opinion and inspiration with care taken to say as that I claim no authority, accuracy or intent but with an objectivity, give my two-bits. Thanks.

Anyway, I feel that one only knows self. For, to speak, think or act upon any and every outside variable is to speculate. Even scientifically accepted truths as considered universal, are STILL generated and agreed upon as observed within the limits of the human condition.

Now, THAT said, for me, if it feels right inside, it is and if it feels wrong it is.
There is a story about God hiding himself in our hearts so as to make us look within ourselves to find him. (If you feel saying him is inappropriate, replace with your own adjective) I agree with this notion as to believe that we all all carry a spark of his flame that is as our spritual essence or soul. If we are acting in the way of our heart and I say this as to TRULY look inside, face and negotiate our position as self and in relation to the good of others for the Golden Rule is one of, if not THE most ultimately true and successful dogma a person can consider.

If I always put others first, remain open and objective and be as fair and considerate of the situation that I can, then what more can I do but to apologize for this attitude if in some way I am wrong about how to treat others and myself with the proper respect, while maintaining the suck it up,
or be the bigger person attitude. (The hardest thing to do sometimes as beings with emotionally motivated causal relationships)

To just ask oneself if they will ever know for sure, to what end and reason do they do as they do and what do they get out of their connectedness to particulars of subject, circumstance and possibility is all anyone could ask of themselves. Thus, to me, as a child who innocently brings home an A grade for something in class make a parent proud and beam with love, not to mention the relief that they are doing their job right as a parent; all to often we forget that as children need encouragement from parents, parents can rely on no one with their own children.

To always realize that no matter what the faith denomination, experiences in spiritual nature or beliefs that one may consider, we are born into a pre-existent world with no assurance as we mirror and copy everything we are exposed to growing up, that anything we have learned ever had, does or will carry relevance to ourselves. THAT is for each of us to decide on our own, No one can tell us who we are, for if they did, after consideration, it still is our own choice alone to make. I believe the things I do but I cannot declare them or I am justifying me to myself, worry about them as to know faoth cannot be proven truth but to self and rather than counter-productive stalemates of conjecture, I guess one determines their level of committment, personal understanding, (you know what you think you know) and willingness to adapt and change self by priority of personally inspired motives to do so.

To answer the main question: I think God wants his children to grow up being successful, happy and mindful of all others as doing the same. what more can we do and dont you think he knows that(no q. mark button)



posted on May, 15 2004 @ 10:07 PM
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Originally posted by AlexKennedy
I appreciate your interest. I strongly reccomend Maimonides' "Guide for the Perplexed," although you must keep in mind that it was written in the middle ages and some sexism may have crept in


Alex-Thank you for your response. I plan on picking up the book this week.

Um Gazz-As for the original point of your thread, I apologize for getting off topic.

I worry, like yourself, about the evil that is done in the name of god. It's probably the reason I became an atheist. It is hard to believe that a supposedly omnipotent being would allow such acts to be committed in his name. I tend to think of religious doctrine as self-serving, controlling and politically motivated.

Instead of subscribing to a specific belief, I have chosen to use the bible, Koran, etc. as philosophy lessons for my two young children, rather than have them indoctrinated into a set of beliefs.

You asked, who is right, who is wrong, who is god and why are so many acts committed in his name? I honestly believe that anyone who takes a life is wrong, regardless of their ideological beliefs and that there is no god. I honestly cannot answer how anyone, especially those having a belief in god, could ever commit the atrocities you noted. It is simply beyond my comprehension.



posted on May, 15 2004 @ 10:13 PM
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there is no god.
he's just an ancient version of "Superman" that we still use to comfort ourselves in times of crisis.



posted on May, 15 2004 @ 10:36 PM
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Originally posted by Bleys

Originally posted by AlexKennedy
I appreciate your interest. I strongly reccomend Maimonides' "Guide for the Perplexed," although you must keep in mind that it was written in the middle ages and some sexism may have crept in


Alex-Thank you for your response. I plan on picking up the book this week.

[deletia]



I am delighted to hear that. Don't give up on the book if the beginning seems dry. Maimonides wants us to learn to walk before we learn to run and fly, so he starts of by talking about the meaning of some words in the Old Testament, and his discussions seem very arcane and pointless. If you keep at it (or, like my sinful self, skip the parts you don't like), you will soon come to talk about the nature of God.



posted on May, 16 2004 @ 03:09 PM
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I think that when people fight wars in the name of their god or faith, they are doing it for one of two reasons.
One:they are using it as an excuse to get many followers so they can obtain land,power,etc, under the guise that they arent doing this for themselves.
Two:they actually believe that what they are doing will help bring more people to their religon.

For the people that use it as an excuse, there is nothing else really to say. Its not about religon to them.

For the people that truely think they are doing it in the name of their god(s), i think they truely have good intentions, just a misunderstanding of the word that they read.

For Muslims, like kinglizard quoted: "Say: 'If your father, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your tribes, the property you have acquired, the commerce in which you fear a decline, the homes in which you love, are dearer to you than God. His Apostle and the striving in his cause (Jihad fi sabilihii), then wait until God shall fulfill his decree. God does not guide the rebellious." (9:24) And obviously people have read into that to mean they must fight for thier religon.

Also, in the Christan Faith, the first verse i could find relating to this topic is Matthew 28:19-20a "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you".-Which, to the not-so-mentally healthy person, could easily mean "take over the world and convert everyone". I'm sure there are verses like this that can be misinterpreted in other religons as well.



posted on May, 17 2004 @ 07:07 AM
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Im afraid that I have to totally disagree that the religions all share the same god.

Although there may only be one god, religions are an interpretation of god. Once those religions have made those interpretations they change the face of God and pass him down to their worshippers.

What you basically have are a series of tribal gods. Nobody can deny that the holy scriptures of religions have been written for specific cultures and groups of people. God gets pigeon-holed in religion and although Islam, Chrisitanity and Judaism claim that they are all worshipping the one God, in my opinion, they are worshipping their own defenition. Defenitions are totally open to error.

And that's basically what the religions fight about - their definitions. Although they each claim that their god is the only god, the other guy is claiming the same for his deity.

Man has given God aspects and characteristics from his own pocket, to suit his own interpretations. Once this started happening the religions started worshipping different gods. Sure, the ideal that they are all worshipping one god is there, but the gods of the religions are now man-made and this negates that ideal.



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