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it's so much fun to be alive
Topic Started: Oct 17 2009, 04:12 PM (394 Views)
ytteberger
Grasshopper of Grr
[ * ]
I love being in a world that you don't have to have define your life. Its so much fun, because you get to be who you are when ever you want. you can do whatever the heck you want (except for what is illegal) and be able to have a fun life, where you don't have to listen to the demands of those you don't like and/or barely know, (though it is sometime a good idea to listen to them) and you can build yourself on personal beliefs and other such things that you enjoy.

can you imagine yourself after you've died? I can, I imagine myself standing at a booth of sorts looking at a computer that i can use to create the base for a whole new life for myself instead of being a winged angel of god something. i enjoy to much the idea that nothing is set in stone even after death. I honestly don't want to trap myself in the ideas of religion and believing that when i die there is a fixed place that i will go, it just seems to confining.
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Curst Saden
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The Last True Trekkie.........................
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That's an interesting point of view. As an unorthodox Christian I believe that if you lead a good life, you go to heaven. I say that the afterlife looks like Earth before it was developed and messed up by human activity. If you lead a bad life (and by my stadards you've got to be a genocidal maniac or something like that to qualify for this) you go to hell. Whatever that is, it's bad.

But I'm not one to condemn non-christians for not being Christian. Non-christians believe in God in a way they are comfortable with, why harass them for that?

Relating to what you believe, do you believe in reincarnation? It sounds like that belief would fit you. I myself don't know about that, but my dad is sure his dad came back to him as a bird, so I don't know...
"In fact, I've always found that people who try to convince others of their beliefs are usually trying to convince themselves." -Kira Nerys

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ytteberger
Grasshopper of Grr
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Well i believe that reincarnation would be possible though i Do not want to make any assumptions about life after death. i myself am somewhat of a christian though i struggle to put my faith in any religion, just because i can't really find solid ground in something that has no physical proof except for a book that itself is even questionable in areas.
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Curst Saden
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The Last True Trekkie.........................
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I know the feeling. I consider the bible to be a holy book and thus it must be respected and cherished. However, this book was written by people, not God as the fanatics will say. This book has many wonderful stories and morals, but it is by no means meant to be taken literally. I suppose I would interpret the parts with Jesus a bit more literally, but anything in the old testimate like Adam and Eve or Noah's Ark, hey they're cool stories but completly illogical and improbable. Some parts of it are even violent or disturbing, with idiotic rules like killing children that back-talk their parents. I haven't really read much of it. I probably should but I don't know if I will....

I too struggle here and there with the existence of God. I know he's up there, but I don't always know what he wants, which can get rather frustrating...I don't think I have ever "spoken" with God directly, I think he just doesn't work that way. Why? Who knows...but I have had one or two experiances where I felt God was with me.

So, I say keep searching. You'll find God in some form or another, in some faith or another. And even if you don't settle on a religion. well I'm not one of those people who think God'll damn you for personal ideas. You'll be fine. :D
"In fact, I've always found that people who try to convince others of their beliefs are usually trying to convince themselves." -Kira Nerys

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ytteberger
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i know that there is a god up there i am just not sure that the god of christians is the right god. did you know that christians,muslims and jews all follow the same god? the only difference is certain beliefs that are changed between the religions.

to me, a god is something that can't be described named or even really known. i honestly don't trust what religions have to say because there is no solid proof in what is said believed and the events that are supposed to have happened. i've already said this once haven't i...

its not death that i fear so much as i fear how i die. i don't care where i go and i don't care if i just end up rotting in the ground. the most that i care about is how i die. i'm sure everyone prefers a quick and painless death but, just as i am sure of the idea that there may not be a god and we are believing in something blindly without any rationality behind the beliefs.

i came up with this quote and i think that you may enjoy it
-if its a penny for your thoughts and you put in your two cents worth where does the extra penny go?
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Curst Saden
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The Last True Trekkie.........................
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Yes, I know Muslims and Jews and Christians all worship the same God. I agree, God can't be completly explained, that's why there are so many religions! Like I said, everyone believes in God one way or another. I say that hindus interpret God as multiple Gods. But at the same time I am interpreting multiple Gods as one God. It all has to do with what you're comfortable with, what feels right to you. If you feel you have been moved by God, that's great. If you feel you have recieved a sign from Vishnu, that's great too! It's all the same thing when you really get down to it.

A lot of the time I'm like you: I need proof that it exists. But sometimes...you just know it's there, one way or another. It's hard to believe, I know. I could just say just have a little faith but it's not always as easy as that. Sometimes I just don't know. I have considered that I might be wrong (I wish the religious fanatics would think about that once in a while). Perhaps nothing will happen after death, or that Allah will be mad at me for not being Muslim and damn me, or I'll be reincarnated into a different form. But I am sure God is merciful and that I will see him in the afterlife. No way I can prove that or convince you, but that's how I believe. And if you disagree, that's fine. Faith is like a question on an exam that asks for a personal opinion-you get points no matter what your answer is.

As for death, I hope it's quick and painless, and if I can see it coming and I can't beat it (a disease or injury or something) I have time to make peace. I suppose that's the best anyone can hope for. :D

And your quote is interesting. I find it witty. :D
"In fact, I've always found that people who try to convince others of their beliefs are usually trying to convince themselves." -Kira Nerys

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ytteberger
Grasshopper of Grr
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thankyou for not trying to convince me of anything i really appreciate it. i find that for most reasons we don't understand that we have a tendency to let our imaginations get the better of us especially when it comes to ideas such as what happens when we die. its not a bad thing don't get me wrong, however the problem is that we don't leave anything alone. we get so carried away that everything gets pile drived and becomes more of a nuisance than an interesting subject that we can learn about.

if there is one thing that i have learned from being observing the people around me its that we have to find a way to cope with everything. life after death is a great example of this, we try to overcome death by finding meaning in death. "you will go to heaven" or "you will be reincarnated as a dog" we have to find that there is something beyond the grave to make us cope with the idea of death or we go nuts out of fear that we just rot in the ground.

no one can be sure of what happens after we die it just isn't possible to be sure.
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Sui
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The Lord of Loathing and Certified Snuggleslut
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I'll throw my spare change in here...

For a long time I believed in a single, omnipotent God... I believed in LDS Mormon. Then I moved on to atheism, creeping my way back to agnosticism and then to a curious sort of polytheist version of truth I named "elementalism" (gods of the four elements)... this evolved into a more open sort of thing that carried the same (adding "spirit" as a fifth god). Then, I moved on to my Judeo-Christian-Neo-Pagan-Wicca (mouthful) beliefs (Ten gods; Sui (Water), Tei (Air), Tsuchi (Earth), Kasai (Fire), Father, Son, Spirit (Spirit - Light), Baal, Mephistopheles, Satan (Spirit - Darkness) ).

Finally, I've arrived back at my pseudo-Christian beliefs I carry now... "non-denominational" I've heard it called, but... I don't even know if that's correct...

The Bible is chocked full of advice on to how to be a more altruistic, "good", human being (as well as a bit of empowering "pocket-damnation" material... Lev 20:13 is a personal favorite), but I don't believe any of it is actually... true. It's parables, stories with morals, and whether or not such people existed, or if Jesus did so many miracles doesn't really hold any importance to me... the fact that he was a good person, trying to teach goodness in all people and love and tolerance (mostly...) I can get behind that.

What I'm still confused about is this: is God really all powerful and all loving...? Is he still there, does he still care about us? I'm not sure.

But.

I know what I hope for. I hope that God's there, and that he's still listening, caring, and at least trying to nudge us in the right direction with things.


Ah, right, afterlife. As for that I've always believed the existence of something after... I just can't imagine death being the end. I don't really claim to know much about the afterlife, however... I used to believe very deeply in the concepts of Heaven and Hell... now I tend to throw in a third option: Purgatory... Earth, just after death. Stubbing your toe still hurts, but you're not in eternal suffering. You're still in happiness, as you define it, but it's not... paradise... utopia...

Although... to go to Hell in my book, you just have to lead a life full of self-serving motives, throwing others in the way of harm to cover yourself, and essentially using everyone for your own gain... heaven is meant for those who, on the whole lead a life of helping others and spreading happiness and love in whatever form it may take... meanwhile, purgatory is for those who lie somewhere inbetween... not wholly awful and disturbed... hatred of a life, but not necessarily a life that did much, if any, good...

You can "try" as many times as you want to get into Heaven... you just need to ask God for forgiveness for your sins... and forgive yourself for what you've done... then it's up to you to try and lead a better life than before, and maybe (just maybe) you'll find yourself in paradise.

And there's my exact two cents on the matter.. And an interesting thing that might get a few chuckles from some of you; I believe that there's nothing wrong with sex of any kind... it's an act of love, and so long as you're not harming someone by doing it (blackmail, rape, etc), then it's still spreading love and kindness to people you care about.

Eat. F*ck. Love. Drink. Be Merry.
I seek to attain
serenity of water
steadfastness of earth
quickness of air
passion of fire
subtility of dark
vindication of light
and unity of spirit
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Curst Saden
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The Last True Trekkie.........................
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You've certainly got an intereting blend of beliefs going on, Sui! :D But I'm confused, are you still into all the elements and good and evil or are you Christian again?

Non-denominational refers to Christians who are "just by the bible", so to speak. They are people who try to focus on God and only God without any extra beliefs like, for example, Catholicism which worships Saints along with God and Jesus, or any other Christian sect. At first it was an alien concept to me because in my mind you had to be with a specific sect, but I know a lot of non-denominationals up at UNC so it definately counts (what religion doesnt?). It does tend to be a bit fundamentalist though...but I don't think you're a fundamentalist...

One thing that I love about Wicca and Pagan beliefs is that it's all very personalized-you commune with the divine how you are comfortable with. And I think that's what it's all about. ;)

Edited by Curst Saden, Nov 28 2009, 02:36 PM.
"In fact, I've always found that people who try to convince others of their beliefs are usually trying to convince themselves." -Kira Nerys

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Sui
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The Lord of Loathing and Certified Snuggleslut
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Well, I'll keep this simple as I can...

I guess in a sort of way I'm non-denominational, but part of me still feels that I was onto something with the whole elements idea. In the end, it occurs to me that there's no real "good" or "evil" that works only towards one or the other. Every bit of everything will end in causing evil or good actions just by existing, and it seems odd that there would be designated one or the other.

But I do believe that whatever capital g, God there is works towards helping humanity, meanwhile whatever sort of anti-God figure exists, he works in tandem to hurt humanity.

I suppose I cling to the idea of demigods.

I think I've shifted my beliefs to include something along the lines of "the elements are ruled by their own demigods"... although demigods are still mortal, so it's still not entirely what I'm after. Perhaps some sort of lesser god, who only controls and watches over their own element. Then, of course. the Gods (capital G because they're much more powerful) of Light and Dark constantly battling for power...

Hrmmm... but yes, I do believe the that the God (of Light) is trying to be good, and... well, for all intents and purposes IS good, even if he sometimes does do evil for an outweighing good outcome, it still ends in being good overall...

Well, I guess the honest truth is I'm not entirely sure what the specifics of what I believe are... just some of the points... ^^; I'll get back to this once I have my brain sorted and beliefs in line.
I seek to attain
serenity of water
steadfastness of earth
quickness of air
passion of fire
subtility of dark
vindication of light
and unity of spirit
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MasterofBalance
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Well, firstly i'd like to say that i disagree about a few of the ideas put forth in the very first post of this topic.

Secondly, (just because i know i'll be asked) i'm a big fat skeptic about most of this stuff. I endorse the idea that there may be a God. Hell, there may be tons of celestial beings. There also may be none at all. But if there are God(s) out there, i will remain on the fence until i get damn good proof that God(s) are in fact there. As for reincarnation, i did a research project on the subject once and i learned a lot of cool stuff. The thing about it thought is that if it's true basically your soul gets wiped clean then put into a body. I mean, sometimes you'd retain your abilities and whatnot, but you never retain your memories, that part of reincarnation is universal.

I also disagree with the coping thing. I agree we all need to cope, but i don't think an afterlife idea is a coping mechanism for death. I also disagree with the reason people fear death.

As for the Bible thing, i think it's always been best expressed by this quote from Drawn Together "Look, we're not saying your interpretation is wrong. We're just saying that maybe the Bible isn't a set of strict rules, but rather a guide to help everyone define their own, personal relationship with the Lord"

so yeah, there ya go.
Edited by MasterofBalance, Dec 9 2009, 12:15 PM.
MasterofBalance!!!!

(If all else fails, hit the reset button)

"It's a cornucopia of disturbing concepts."

"You are all fools of the highest caliber!!"

"Why ya gotta break ballz?"

"I'll try, but I don't guarantee anything."

".....Did I miss something here?"

"Let me tell you something, a bullet sounds the same in every language, so stick a F***ing sock in it you cow!!!!"
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ytteberger
Grasshopper of Grr
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honestly, these are just thoughts. i am not even sure that i would believe them. i just like to throw out ideas and see what happens when they are confronted.

some of these ideas come in form of beliefs and some come in the form of fantasies. but i honestly even question my own belief in these ideas and fantasies.

I like to think about all of this as an excercise i use to get things started.

hell if you want i could just write inspirational poetry and be done with it. though for now i don't think that i will all of this controversial arguing/discussing is kind of fun.
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