Hi StoneColdTrue. I am not so sure your desire to learn from someone is best made at this site. If you are looking for others to form how you should believe, I say go elsewhere. If you are interested in finding out for yourself, making your own path, then this might then fit the bill. Take a look around the site and then into your personal belief. Ask this simple question of yourself...Do you beleave you are you more than your phyical body? If the answer is yes, or you are open to that possibility...continue on. Pick up a Moen book and read it. I have a feeling that it will connect with you. I hope you find what you are looking for here.
I believe there is more to this world than just chaos and science. I think just by looking deeply at nature and thinking about the universe will reveal that there is so much we do not know, and cannot prove in this life. I am certainly not asking for something to believe in, as I have completely developed my own thoughts and beliefs on my own in my search for truth and reason to our nature and existence. Like the rest of you, I wish only to share my knowledge and experiences and receive the insight of others and their experiences. Our communication is our best source, and learning from one another while keeping an open mind I believe is a substantial way of discovering and finding knowledge.
[StoneCold:] "I hated the idea of "God."
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Suppose you were God's only prophet. What would God be like if your ideal for God were true? What if you could be convinced that your ideal matches the biblical God? Or are you too close-minded to even consider this possibility?
Close-minded isn't exactly the term I would use for someone who has no declared religion. What makes you so certain your religion is above others? What if you were born in China? Would your Christian god be the same? IF our creator just happens to be the biblical God, then I will expect an eternity in Hell. I will not bow to that god, and I will not worship it. I share the "evil one's" view of that god, but honestly...I think the true creator is better than that god. That god is very human, very violent, and very selfish. If I can judge that god, then it is not so great.
It wasn't long before I believed in ghosts. I began to adapt myself to more of an agnostic lifestyle with very open minded beliefs.
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OK, so wbo created the afterlife system that empowers ghosts to exist, if there is no God?
A creator, but NOT your biblical god. Is that so hard to fathom?
"Only your soul acts as judgment to your experience in the world beyond death."
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Precisely the biblical teaching! So what's your beef with the Christian view of the afterlife? Do you even realize that the Bible provides the earliest literary example of the possibility of soul retrievals for hellish planes?
You're welcome to correct me if I'm wrong, but according to what I was always taught (and is continued upon me today) I have already sinned against your god for not believing in it or worshiping, or accepting that Jesus Christ was more than a great man. Despite that I live a good life and practice the morals and values of Christianity. Christianity is a religion of great teachings surrounded in hyperbole, metaphors, and myths developed from religions thousands of years before its inception. It is not literal knowledge of the universe or the creator, but acts better as guidelines to an enlightened soul.
"So here I am, very open minded and eager to learn more so that when my time comes."
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Are you sincere about your open-mindedness? Are you open to the possibility that you have fundamentally misunderstood the Bible and that all your misgivings about God could be answered to your intellectual satisfaction?
If I'm the close-minded one, how come I'm not trying to consider a single belief as the "true" way of life, belief, and knowledge? Come on now. You can't be open minded and have a declared religion. Being open minded is about accepting all possibilities. I think you're confused.
"I was raised as a Christian and confirmed as a Methodist. When I was about 13 years old (I'm 23 now) I decided to become an atheist based on my confusion with much of the hypocrisy I found in the religion."
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This tiresome charge is a mindless excuse to avoid the hard work of exploring more deeply the riches incredible compassion, and incredible paranomal experirences of Methodists. Warren Buffet and Bill Gates go back and forth in their right to the status of America's wealthiest man. After Katrina, Buffet was asked, "What is the most socially helpful organization in times of disaster?" The interviewer was thinking the answer might be, FEMA, the Red Cross, or some other charitable organization. But Buffet replied without hesitation, "The United Methodist Church." My own church sponsors groups like Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, Habitat for Humanity, workshops for abuse problems, Blood Bank, weekly free meals for the poor, free meals for the elderly, a Love Fund for the poor (rental assistance, help with people with shut-off notices), staffing for a new youth center complete with free meals for poor youth, work Sundays when, after church, we go out into the community and perform chores and repairs that the poor and elderly cannot do htemselves, and, most recently, tutoring/ mentoring programs for the poor. That is just the tip of our iceberg.
Yes, we have hypocrites too because we strive for acceptance with pure unconditional love and that makes us a kind of spiritual hospital for people at all levels of spiritual development, including druggies like you used to be. We do all that and much, much more--and we are just a small church of about 120 each Sunday.
Now compare that with the navel gazing New Age online groupies that never pool their resources to do diddly for the needy either as an online group or as individuals.
Look, I'm glad Christianity works for you but it doesn't work for me. My belief is that all religions and what someone believes is exactly what they need to believe to live their life. There is no "best choice" or "I'm right and you're wrong." We're all right, so long as what we believe still allows us to be great human beings. You're just being silly. This is all connected to a great force, and it won't judge us in the end. We will judge ourselves.
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