Evidence of God.

[attofishpi]

this is a debate regarding the existence of God and i've still not received one intelligent response.

I wonder why.

Because atheism is akin to being extremely short sighted.

[Obvious Leo]

Don't do it, Leo.Trust me on this.

[attofishpi]

Don't do it, Leo.Trust me on this.

Wise move. I've withered Arising_uk down to the same final conclusion that can only be met when taking me on.

[HexHammer]

Dog! ..don't tell me that you have me on ignore!

[attofishpi]

Dog! ..don't tell me that you have me on ignore!

You're not on ignore, just busy eating my atheist for breakfast.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Yes, insane, completely insane.

I don't think you are insane.

Ok. So what are you exactly attempting to state?

I own you already.

What I am actually saying is this; "
There is s difference between being insane and having insane ideas. The former requires respect and help, the latter can only be met with ridicule."


However, given your last statement, I'm beginning to wonder if you are a little insane.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Don't do it, Hobbes. Just trust me on this.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Dog! ..don't tell me that you have me on ignore!

You're not on ignore, just busy eating my atheist for breakfast.

You might be eating our shit.

[attofishpi]

lol

[Lacewing]

I've read every word of Lacewing's post as i have done in many posts of hers. The fact that it addresses barely one inkling of my OP matters not...for a debate about nothing,

Ah, so you don't connect the dots for everything then.

but this is a debate regarding the existence of God

How do you expect people to debate about something they see as someone's unique fantasy? Do you think we're going to look at the artistic continents and words spelled backwards and pulled apart, and say: "Holy crap! THERE IS A GOD!!!"

To me, it looks nonsensical and contrived (just like religion). But I support you in finding meaning in it for yourself!

and i've still not received one intelligent response.

Well, my response was very thoughtful and respectful and honest -- even though I could not debate something that doesn't resonate for me (in the way it resonates for you). The fact that you don't see intelligence beyond your view, reveals much. Apparently, anything other than your view is invalid or useless? That is exactly what my response was in reference to: intoxication with an idea, the need to have the definitive answer, thinking that the walls/limits of your bubble are reflecting an ultimate reality and ultimate limits, and not accepting the validity of other people's viewpoints. For me, it doesn't matter WHAT the idea is... it's about what you're doing with it. To me it appears that you are demonstrating much of what I was talking about... and yet you don't see the connections. So I guess we are nonsensical to each other! Ah well... we tried.

[The Inglorious One]

Nothing gives me greater comfort than knowing God's presence in my life is my life. Maybe I'm deluded; maybe I need a crutch to get by. But I am comforted and I do get by without alcohol, recreational drugs or finding relief in sexual fantasies. In the face of everything that's going on in the world and in my personal life, that's all the evidence I need to be assured of God's living presence.

When critics compare God to fairies or a flying spaghetti monster, there is little I can do but laugh at their ignorance. There is nothing I can say or do that will convince them that the word "God" designates a living presence that is ontologically distinct from the material universe but not apart from it. It's funny: the designator "God" is unacceptable and incomprehensible to them, but the idea of a quantum field giving birth to infinite universes is both comprehensible and acceptable even though it shares the same characteristics: both are atemporal, both give birth to contingencies, both are immutable and both are without beginning or end.

[Hobbes' Choice]

Nothing gives me greater comfort than knowing God's presence in my life is my life. Maybe I'm deluded; maybe I need a crutch to get by. ...

And you wonder why people laugh at you?

[The Inglorious One]

Nothing gives me greater comfort than knowing God's presence in my life is my life. Maybe I'm deluded; maybe I need a crutch to get by. ...

And you wonder why people laugh at you?

I should care?

[The Inglorious One]

That you would say what you did in a philosophy forum, Hobbes, reflects poorly on both your character and your intelligence.

Do answer my question, though. If “yes,” being a “free thinker” is a vice rather than the virtue so many anti-theists claim it to be; if “no,” then the only reason for your post is to be mean-spirited.

[The Inglorious One]

As long as we are part of this experience, I suspect we are all deluded. We can be so incredibly creative, in so many ways -- creating whole worlds of belief around ourselves. Seeing different or unconventional meanings in words or continents or anything else of this very physical and condensed human reality -- which, to my logic, means that it's all still very physical and condensed.

Creative? Yes.

Fascinating, meaningful, valuable? Perhaps for one who is in relationship with it.

Ultimately true? Highly unlikely, considering ALL of the "ultimate ideas" that humans throw into the ring.

The questions it inspires me to ask are: How does this viewpoint actually change anything? What does it do for the person who believes it? Does it make them a better person... or does it make this world/experience easier for them to navigate or utilize? Are they able to accept that there is a vast range of other experiences and viewpoints that people are having which are JUST AS VALID? Or must a person believe that they've found the holy grail... and that they have uniquely come upon the answer that applies to it all?

Is it possible that there are no ULTIMATE answers because ANYTHING is possible? Do we have to have a flag pole and a flag to identify ourselves and proclaim victory?

Attofishpi, if it's useful to you to see the dots connect this way, that's all that really matters, isn't it? Any of us can share our ideas with other people, and ask "Can you see this too?" I think it's useful to keep checking on ourselves... to see if we've become too intoxicated with one thing/idea or another, such that we no longer see other things/ideas. We might start superimposing our particular intoxication on everything... and we can easily see those patterns everywhere! That doesn't mean they are there more than anything else is there. You know what I mean?

So, from my perspective, it's not what any thing/idea IS, it's how you use it... and what are you doing with it? All of the human stuff... ideas and definitions and words and images... are just human stuff. Does it improve you and your experience? Or is it mental masturbation? Does it need to be MORE than your OWN experience? Do you still accept the validity of other people's "realities"? I ask myself these same questions... because of course I have my own perspectives that flex and change. Yes, I think they have improved me and my experience throughout the course of my life. There has surely been a lot of mental masturbation involved, but I'm not addicted. It does NOT need to be more than my own experience. I think I accept (more than ever) the validity of other people's realities for them.

I do find it baffling when it seems that there are people who are in such a thick-walled bubble, that they really do think it reflects ALL of reality... and that it defines the limits for ALL! I wonder: How can that remain logical to them, if they really consider a broader view... and why wouldn't they want to consider a broader view? I'm guessing that there are bubbles within bubbles within bubbles... and we can keep our view/limits as confined and controlled as we want... or expand... but it's all deluded to one degree or another.

And most surely, none of us can ever have the ultimate answer for ALL. How can we look at the diversity of humans and think that there is some ultimate answer/meaning for all? That would not seem logical or realistic or flexible or accepting to expect or strive for such a thing. Rather, it would seem to be a product of some sort of ego-driven agenda.

As for your particular perspective/ideas, Attofishpi, they do not resonate with me. For me, personally, they seem a bit manic. But I hope they are serving you well. Pretty much everything about our human experience seems (to me) "made up" by us. And there seems to be no limit to what we can create! Fascinating and terrifying and exhilarating, isn't it?!

There is not very much at all in your post with which I can honestly disagree. Human beings are very imaginative whether or not they make the idea of God a part of their lives.