Umm, reaming means to enlarge or widen a hole...

Used synonymously with "assailing" in this case...

Ok, I was reading 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' and they said something about God. It was pretty funny. I don't have the book with me so I can't give you an exact quote, but I'll try my best...

The babblefish is an extrodinary creature, when you stick a babblefish in your ear, it can translate every language in the Universe.

The babblefish is so extrodinary that it's existance almost proves that a God exists.

BUT, poof denies faith, and without faith, God is nothing.

Therefore, God disappeared in a puff of his own logic.

This is in Ch. 7 of the first book somewhere, maybe someone else can find the exact quote. When I first read it i just broke out in laughter.

If I had my copy on hand, I could properly quote it, but there's also the philosophical trilogy of books, Where God Went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes, and Who Is This God Person, Anyway?

And there are more places in the first book alone in which I broke out into laughter than I could count...

:)

IT = a god???
 

You believe that Segway is a worshipful deity? I know Dean believed IT would change the world, but to control the world? Such lofty expectations. Now I've heard Dean Kamen referred to as a god before, but never one of his creations.... Maybe Dean is the Father, IT is the Son, and Woody is the Holy Ghost of the FIRST "religion"? :)

There are some in these forums who would have us believe that Segway isn't really "IT". So are these people correct - are those who put their faith in IT now praying to a false idol, or are these naysayers simply heretics condemning themselves to an eternity of doom with their blasphemous speech? :p

I know you are being facetious, but I used the word ‘IT’ because ‘God’ cannot be specified as a him or a her. In additon, I couldn't use 'they' or 'them' because we all know 'God' is a singular noun. And I thought I hated English.

Alright, here I go... I'm one for religious debates personally.. in fact I did my psychology ISU on religion in society... I even had my survey up here way long ago. This is the part where I say, I don't mean to offend anyone, cause I know my views on religion are a lil messed up due to things that I've had to go thru in life.
Personally, I have some different thoughts on religion, I was raised Roman Catholic, but I greatly disagree with many of the ideas and the contridictions of those ideas, all stemming from one moment, the moment I completely lost that faith. After that I really looked at it, and thought about how there are no true consequences to actions, that there are holes and loopholes everywhere. I also really got offended when I went to a wedding and part of the vows were that you would raise any children you had into Catholisism... I thought that was unfair for the children. I think we should all be able to choose which religion we celebrate, or if we choose to express that aspect of life at all.
When I did my ISU I came across some strange psychological research, it talked about the deprivation of faith.. and how if you have not addressed the concept of religion at all whether it be to express or not to express(ackkkk Hamlet..) then you actually can end up with physical problems.. pretty freaky eh?!
Now me, I'm into Wiccanism and Druidism, I kinda take beliefs from both. I believe in karma, because that makes sense to me. That what you do will come back to you in life, that what you do in this life, matters in this life, not only in the next. I also think that maybe the druids had something when they thought, All the Gods are one God.... in that, maybe no one is wrong, maybe we all see it differently, but it's really the same, I mean, for all the religions in the world, there tend to be a lot of key similarities. I think, that that belief should be one we all think about, that maybe, whatever is there, doesn't care what we believe in, as long as we believe, maybe that's the big message.. I mean, I believe in teh Goddess, in magick.. does that make me wrong or messed up? Not in my eyes, I've seen my faith at work. And really, magick and prayer, are pretty close, both are asking for something to happen, just with magick, you see it happen a lil faster.
Just close your eyes and imagine for one second, what the world would be like if everyone wasn't so caught up in being right about religion, how many wars would have been avoided. How many of the world's problems are rooted in religion? Imagine for just a minute, that we all took that to heart, that no one was concerned with other's beliefs, that they focused on their own.. I for one, would love to see it, a world where we could all accept the practices of others and a world where fundamentalism wasnt so fatal..
Unfortunately I doubt we'll get to see it.
Alright, so I'm rambling again.. but hopefully everyone got something out of that.. I hope... I think by sharing our beliefs and views, we can all learn a lil more, and maybe be better for it. *sigh* I'm really done, promise.. hope I didn't offend anyone, cause that would be counter productive.
*hugz to all as alwayz*
Ann-Marie -team 783
PS. I love talking about religion, and I think it's really healthy to do so... if you ever want to talk, drop me a line, midnightmystic_@hotmail.com ... or ICQ # 162691028 ... and if you want to live chat we can do it off my website.

First off, I'm Catholic, but I don't know what I believe.

Second, I disagree that we KNOW God, if it exists, is a singular entity. I started reading parts of the Bible a little while ago, just to try to get some firsthand knowledge about it instead of hearing about the stories (some of the Bible is messed up from what I've read). And in Genesis (in The New American Bible, which is weird that they would make a specific AMERICAN edition) it says "Then God said 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.'" Now that makes me think either God is multiple entities, or we aren't made in God's own image after all, but a combination of all the creature that it made summed up in one. I guess. I'm still trying to interpret it.

Third, the story of Noah is the most confusing story in the book that I have read. God destroyed all life on earth except Noah because man was all evil. Except Noah. One guy. My question is, if humanity was so corrupted by evil that God was willing to destroy its most precious creation (or at least that's what is sounds like) WHY DIDN'T IT CREATE A DIFFERENT PROTOTYPE HUMAN THAT COULDN'T BE AS CORRUPTED BY EVIL?? I don't get it. It makes me think that if God exists and created us, we are just one of many prototype creatures it created in a grand experiment. Somewhere out in the universe is Human Mark II that is less corruptable. There are probably more out there after that.

Alright, there you are trying to understand the thinking of GOD. If there is a god(i believe there is) than his level of thinking is waaaaaaaaaay beyond our comprehension. Who is anyone to question him? Hes God!

I think that the Bible is a collection of Fictional Stories fabricated to teach moral values. Kinda like one of those 'Don't do what Danny Does' Children's books. Many of them are interesting stories... but that's what they all are, stories.

And they're very poorly written stories too.

I know that this may come accross in a bad way but that is just following blindly. It would be like saying "Don't question Hitler! He is the leader and knows more than we do so we shouldn't wonder if killing jews is wrong." It just kinda seems like an ignorant statement, but nothing personal, just in general.

Well I have been watching this thread, and did not know if I wanted to become involved in such a controversial subject. I am going to just post some random blurbs of my beliefs, and things that I question or don't completely agree with.

First, I must say that I am a Presbyterian, and even deeper as a Christian. I was born into a family who chose this as their religion, and have continued with it my whole life. For the first time ever, within the past 2 years or so, I have really begun to question the different beliefs within religions. My whole life, I always thought that all religions were very different, and none two could ever share a lot of qualities. I do not know if it is because of my family, environment, or my own beliefs, but I used to think that the other religions were not even close or 'equal' to my relgion. However, when my cousin died this past June a few days before his graduation I started to think that religion is just one blur. I went to church that Sunday morning, and eventough I very seldom understand the readings or sermon, I remembered the general content of the sermon from that week. That Wednesday, I went to my cousins funeral at a Baptist church. The sermon that the minister gave had the same context of the sermon I had heard previously. After doing a little research I came to find that the majority of Christian churches have a sermon suggestion list, and a lot of them follow them throughout the year.

More recently I have begun to question why people choose a certain denomination. I am currently trying to find information about Non-denominational churches. My 'friend' goes to a non-denominational church, and I am having trouble grasping the concept of his beliefs. Overall in the long run this will never greatly affect me, and it does not bother me that he choses to do so. However, I am trying to understand how you can believe in God, but not believe in a specific denomination. If anyone cares to discuss this further or would be able to explain this more to me, I would greatly appreciate it.

*I believe in God.
*I believe there is an afterlife.
*I believe in order to truly be accepted into his world after death you must practice his religion and attend church.
*I believe that you have a final destination and you have no control over that. Everything is pre-determined for your time here and whatever happens afterwards.
*I do think people can have karma. This karma will do good for you as you do good for others. However, I think God choses to throw some twists and turns in so we can grow.
*I do not completely believe everything in the bible, I don't know if I just think some things aren't true, or if it's all because I truly do not understand the book.
*I do not believe in atheism. I believe that everyone believes in something, and has faith in something.

In closing, I will try to find the statistic of how many people who say that they are atheists, however, when it comes their time they ask for forgiveness and God's love. There have been an outstanding number of reports of this, and I know there is an overwhelming percentage of people this has applied too.
Also, like I mentioned before if anyone would be able to explain denominations and no deminations to me better, I would greatly appreciate it.

My views on how a person can believe in God and not belong to a certain denomonation may differ from others... but this is how I see it.

One who blieves in ONLY God will walk around, by themselves, appreciating the world around them. Like they would appreciate nature, the sky, the trees, the animals... stuff like that. They may pray to god in their own words, but they will not recite traditional prayers that people in church do.

The 'people' that come AFTER or BELOW God is where religion takes place. Jesus is associated with Christians, Muhammed is associated with Muslims, and Jews don't believe in 'a son of God.' People of religion will celebrate holidays, recognize Saints, recite and do the same prayers, and will gather to worship.

People who ONLY believe in God will do nothing else but KNOW he exists.

That is my view.

There is no such thing as a REAL 'non-denominational' church, that's kind of an oxymoron. This is because if it's a CHURCH, it's a meeting place for some form of religion. In this case, 'non-denominational' is only a name.

However, it's totally OK for people of no denomination to get together in a group and talk about their different views of god, or talk about families, or do whatever. But if they meet in a 'sacred' place like a church or something, and start reciting common prayers, celebrate holidays, or participate in rituals... they are starting a religion.

Well said