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Originally Posted by Tristan Lall
...But since this is a thread about atheism, I'll stop counting the angels dancing on the pinhead, and note that while many people believe in elaborate structures of religious belief, any given set of such beliefs with which I am familiar, taken as a whole, is ultimately unfounded; many beliefs are laughably incorrect, many are hopelessly unprovable, and (I would be remiss to not point out) some are quite reasonable. ...
In the spirit of disbelief as a default position, I wonder what gives anyone the monopoly on determining what it means to be Christian (or another similar religion, as the case may be). I know—let's wait for God to lend an opinion! ...
By conducting your own "spiritual search", you might find something that you like, but who's to say that it is even remotely correct?
When dealing with religious belief, it all comes down to the lack of evidence; much is wholly conjectural, and all is built upon the shakiest of foundations.
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The idea of conducting a spiritual search of your own stems from the fact that we enter this world with no understanding, and are given parents and an environment that we did not choose.
Many people simply accept the beliefs of their parents, or their community. But my experience has been that, by studying the different religions that humanity engages, you come to understand the differences, and the simularities. In the end you see what seems right to you, on your own level - what is external to you that matches what is inside you.
But that is not the end of it. If I can generalize, eastern religions teach that we can ascend, that we are born at one spiritual level, and we can reach a higher level through hard work, study, prayer, mediation, and eventaully you can tap into the shared 'cosmic concouseness' that all living things are a part of. If you follow these teachings, and you learn to mediate and you fast, and you focus on your spiritual growth, you will personally experience things: an inner peace, deep meditation, some people have visions... things actaully happen to you personally
and isnt that what religion is really about? not that there is some distant God out there who created the world and gave it a good spin, then left us to ourselves. Religion is about God interacting with humanity. The bible for example, the Hebrew people hardly ever went more than a generation or two without God interacting with them personally, or sending an angel to communicate a message. They had no doubt that God was real.
So where does that leave us? from your post again:
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By conducting your own "spiritual search", you might find something that you like, but who's to say that it is even remotely correct?
When dealing with religious belief, it all comes down to the lack of evidence; much is wholly conjectural, and all is built upon the shakiest of foundations.
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your spiritual seach leaves you with an understanding of your own nature, what seems to be right for you personally
but do not be too hasty to declare that God no longer interacts with us personally. When I was in college I tried to figure out how I could know if God existed. Could I ask for a sign? Could God somehow prove to me that He was real?
what sign would I accept? What if someone knocked on my door in the next 10 seconds and said "God sent me to talk to you" would that be a perfect sign? or might it happen to be someone going through my neighborhood, saying that to everyone?
The answer I finally came up with, the only way I could know if God existed, would be for God to communicate with me, to reveal Himself to me, personally. It seemed like that would be too much to ask for at the time, but millions of people throughout the world have experienced exactly that. A personal interaction.
In hindsight, that is the only way our freewill can remain intact - we have to decide what is right for us, personally, first. Otherwise, if a 100 foot tall God appeared to everyone on Main street tomorrow, and said "Im God and this is the way its going to be" then what else can we do? listen to Him, or die? No more freewill.
If you got the absolute proof of God's existance that you seem to be demanding, then what will you do afterwards? What meaning would there be to anything you do after that point? What other choice would you have?