whew... this is probably a very bad idea... polotics, religion and abortion are usually my no-no's of conversation. oh well, time to open mouth and insert foot...
Quote:
Originally posted by wysiswyg
Just a quick thought people have found that we are hardwired in the brain for prayer. Monks who have been monitered have been shown to show more brain activity than normal. It's also been proven that it happens with all people who pray.
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i believe i read the same story as you. it said that some activities heighten activity in a certain area the brain. i think they used intense sessions of meditaion as the example for the monks, not everyday prayer. this pattern of brain activity was also found in professional athletes (often called being "in the zone"), tournament chess players, and people who play video games for extended periods of time.
now for a little of my spiritual background. i am italian and irish, so no surprise that i was raised catholic. however, my father also raised me to be very cynical. yeah, i know, i have issues.
i first started questioning my religion when i was still in elementary school. i would ask my sunday school teachers questions, and they would have no answers for me. i was little, so my questions were simple ones. "if noah's family was the only one to survive the flood, does that mean we're all related?" as i got older, i had more questions, most of which remained unanswered. but as my doubt grew, i still went through the motions. i didn't dare voice my doubts to family members... my grandparents and aunts and uncles would have been heartbroken. so i was confirmed. (incidentally, i was confirmed by one of those bishops who got in trouble for diddling little boys... small world, eh?)
so anyway... i dabbled with being an agnostic for a while, 'til i realized that it was indecision that got me into this mess in the first place. so i'm an atheist. i'm pretty sure i'll become worm food when i die. i try to live my life making myself as happy as possible while not screwing up anyone else's happiness in the process. i realize that my actions all have consequences, and i try to weigh them accordingly when i make decisions.
all that being said, i still want my children (but first there's that ever tedious task of finding someone to have children
with... *sigh*... but that's for another post) to be raised with some sort of religion. i really like the value system that religions on a whole posess. i also would encourage them, when they were older, to learn more about all religions and see if there's a better one for them then the one i and my hypothetical wife chose for them.
on a totally separate note, in the course of writing this novella, i stumbled across an idea... the notions of fear, respect, and love are very much related.
--we fear because of what someone has done to us. we respect because we know they could do it again. we love because we know they won't.
think about it for a sec... it's really quite profound...... this could apply to a god, a parent, a significant other...
well, if you've managed to read this whole thing, i thank you. i really didn't mean for it to get this long, but it is a sensitive subject, and i really wanted to make sure i got my view across clearly. this is the point where some people might apologize if they offended anyone. well i won't. if i have offended you, then that means you took notice, and that's a good thing as far as i'm concerned. in debates like these, you can't hope to change anyone's mind, you can only hope to get someone to notice something they hadn't noticed before.
please excuse any spelling or gramatical errors i missed in proofreading... i'm no english major =-]
George
S.P.A.M.
Team 180