BlameThePixel!

Everybody likes to think there is, thats probably how the idea was invented in the first place, so that death didnt scare people. Men could be brave about going to war etc.



I was watching some day time TV when I was off school once (I think when I had appendicitis, but thats another very interesting story)and there was an interview with a lady who used hypnosis on people to find out what their past life was like. It was actually very convinving. She put a woman into some deep trance and asked her questions about her past life, the woman in te trance answered like she was in a dream. She talked about having a husband and a son, then moving to France and having to come back to England because something had happened to her son. It made me think if we really did have a past life...



Theres a creation arguemant, which goes something like the fact that a watch cant have been made by chance, some mystic inspiration must have happened along the way, probably the same thing as Thnikkaman suggested. Theres also an argument to say that if god had made all this, then why hasnt he left a mark to show us he has, or that he is real? Anything from a big obvious floating rock in the shape of a G to himself in person would be fine for me

Well, there's the Bible He hasn't shown himself because IMO he wants us to believe by faith. It's not about knowing stuff in your head and being able to spit facts out at will, but about believing in our hearts. That's my... *counts* 17 cents.

Well if he does its only worked for a handful of the population. And the bible comes into the arguement that it couldnt be made out of chance.

My belief is he's very subtly said "I'm real cause you got all this good stuff!"

.:EDIT:. Oh by the way the vote for "monkeys rule the world" is unanymously obvious, arnt we monkeys of a sort?

we all know the bible was written in 1952 to try and outsell other books .

This page is a fairly good demonstration of the "blind watchmaker" thing.

http://suhep.phy.syr.edu/courses/mirror/biomorph/

It's saying that randomness followed by selection leads to complicated things. Selecion being survival / mating I guess.

Like selctive breeding? Except this type was made by nature.

It was written over a period of 1800 years, starting circa 1650 BC with Moses and ending in 96 CE with the Apostle John. Over that period, approximately 40 authors (I say approximately because the Psalms and Proverbs have many authors that skew the count) were inspired to write in it. The kings of Israel and Judah were required to write their own personal copy of it and to read it everyday. It is the oldest, most widely circulated book in existence. And probably a few other things, that's just what I can remember off the top of my head.



Exodus 33:17b-20 ""This thing, too, of which you have spoken, I shall do, because you have found favor in my eyes and I know you by name." At this he said: "Cause me to see, please, your glory." But he said: "I myself shall cause all my goodness to pass before your face, and I will declare the name of Jehovah before you; and I will favor the one whom I may favor, and I will show mercy to the one to whom I may show mercy." And he added: "You are not able to see my face, because no man may see me and yet live.



Yeah, that's one. There's another one that I made up myself that refers to believing in what can't be seen (without the arguments of wind, radiation, etc), but it even confuses me when I think about it.

hmmm.......I'm liking the beliefs I see in this thread. I'm surprised to see other people that are open-minded towards religion, instead of just people who dismiss beliefs other than their own as being stupid and immature, as is the case with just about everyone I know.

This is the one disadvantage to that really strict forum I talked about in another thread. Almost everyone there is atheistic, and they all say that everyone that believes in God is a dumbass that should go to hell (rather ironic since hell is steeped in religion). There's a few of us that hold them off, with long rants and stuff, but it's rather depressing that everyone there can get away with bashing religion. Another ironic twist is that if you bash a race you get banned. It's so nice sucks to be held to a double standard.

Yeah I think it's quite possible to know there is a god/something, but perhaps an agnostic could agree and say that it is however impossible to prove that there is a god with current knowledge of science.

You mean like the palestines and that war I really should know about that is going on somewhere
Those people have taken religion to such an extent that theyd rather die..its very depressing. In fact, what if their beliefs are a load of bollucks? Theyd be dieing and fighting for nothing...

I'm agnostic, in that i know i can't know, and that i don't care.

i choose to live as an athiest, because it is simplier.

i suppose an argument coul dbe made that one shoul dlive as if there is one, so if there is (and he judges you) you get in anyway.

however, he's all forgiving. if i found out i was wrong, i'd definately be sorry, heh. and then he'd just forgive me.

so it all works out.

BAM!

Sorry to quote a post from the very first page, but I found that sorta offensive. I admire you for many things, Pope, but I recently found out (about three seconds ago) that you're pretty much a jerk when it comes to freedom of religion. Just because you don't believe in heaven or hell (and they're actually not capitalized), doesn't mean you can make images that piss all over other people's beliefs. So, you're the Pope? Sure...

So, to repond to the thread's subject: yes, I believe in heaven or hell. If people want to make up what's going to happen after death, why does everyone choose the "Nothing" option? Isn't it logical that people who make up something would make it good? It's sort of ironic that you guys think you're going to just be suspended, unable to think or see, but you just wave away the Christaian belief of having a heaven, saying "Pssh, nah." So, you'd rather be stuck, unable to think or see or move, instead of enjoying yourself for eternity?
I believe this because God's power is evident every day. Drazzle, for example, got something on his scan that may have been a tumor, broken blood vessel, or some other desease. But after praying and praying, it went away by itself. Things don't go away BY THEMSELVES! They go away because God has mercy. And he has mercy at the end of your life.

EDIT: btw, shrooms, Glenn's belief (see page 2) IS heaven or hell. In that verse, God speaks of the ressurection at the end of the world. We'll be living in heaven until he coems again at teh end of time, and then he will create a new earth, without all the bad things (bee stings, pain, sickness, spider bites, violence, etc. It's a bit mind-boggling).

Well, that's one way of putting it. I put it like this. In the Bible, it speaks of the "little flock" made up or 144000. These are the anointed ones, which include the apostles and many first century disciples, and that number is still being filled today (no, John the Baptist is NOT annointed, he died before Christ's death). These people go to heaven. It also speaks of a "great crowd" which no man was able to number. These people are the other followers of God, and they will survive Armageddon. When they die, they do to "hell," not a place of torment, but mankind's common grave (ie: everyone goes here) (also known as sheol). Those that have been judged by God and condemned previously, and those judged by God at the Great Tribulation will be hurled into the pit of fire and sulfer, the second, eternal death. Any other unjudged ones (read: already dead), whether they proved faithful to God or not, will be ressurrected and given the chance to serve God, and will be judged after 1000 years, when the Devil is released from his prison. After the Devil has been released for a while, everyone that follows him will perish with him in the pit of fire and sulfur, and everyone left will live in a paridisaic earth for eternity.

You may think it's a little piece of heaven (no pun intended), but I believe in it, and it is described throughout the Bible, most notably in Revelation.