<i>Your</i> God
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Alright then, we have all expressed ourselves on the issues of evolution, religion etc. A lot of opinions have been thrown about and a lot of heated debates have been rammed home. Apart from people obviously pro-Christian and those pro-Atheism not much has been mentioned about personal beliefs, or personal gods. Organised religion IMHO is not something I ever want to get back into nor do I recommend it to anyone with an open mind and a strong will (no disrespect to anyone who is part of an organised religion). So what are your personal beliefs? Do you, like Chris, believe that everything came forth from the bellybutton of the goddess Sheba? Do you believe in one almighty power who is all and created all, or do you believe in many gods? I personally am not 100% sure what is out there. My current personal belief though is that of a power which is part of our universe. It came into being along with our universe and is ruled like us by the universes laws and restraints. It is no holy creature but is far evolved past us. Whether it be one or many I am not sure. Beyond that I am still thinking about it. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - Chretien Malesherbes
I beleiver in one God, and the more I learn science / physics wise the more it proves to me that there is a God.
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I can't comprehend time as anything but a timeline. Ah - but it gets even weirder when you realise that there is no one timeline. Any two bodies travelling at different relative velocities measure time differently. Ooh - and then when you go past the event horizon of a black hole time and space go totally insane. Cool thing is you wouldn't notice a thing. Infinity is a concept that no one can truly grasp because we can't experience it. But we can - a circle, the real number system, lying on a hill at midnight on a clear night staring into space (hands up who's done that and got vertigo? Yeah!). You can't wrap your mind around infinity, but you can wrap it around the concept. Ya just gotta let go the need for a picture. Drop the idea that everything must be able to be visualised in the 4 dimensions we are (as soft squishy creatures) aware of and all sorts of cool stuff becomes possible. Trust your mind, not the deceiving universe that your senses perceive. But if time and space isn't infinite, how did it start? A self defeating question. If space/time isn't infinite, then what's outside it? And outside that? The trick is: there is no outside (stop trying to picture it!). physicists and scientists have the answers Not really - they just have a good idea of what rocks to look under. My idea of heaven is to have The Bumper Fun Book of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know. A book that outlines everything in a way (and this is the tricky bit) that is totally understandable. Imagine though that we did know everything - that we had achieved the ultimate level of knowledge and understanding. What would the human race do with nothing further to strive for? cheers, Chris Maunder (CodeProject)
What would the human race do with nothing further to strive for? Try to disprove The Bumper Fun Book of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know. :-D That is true and you know it, us humans are a funny bunch. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - Chretien Malesherbes
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I beleiver in one God, and the more I learn science / physics wise the more it proves to me that there is a God.
Well, could you elaborate a bit more please? You, being a well learned man, and I, a mere neandrathal, would like to hear your theories and proofs of one God. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - Chretien Malesherbes "Give me something better than Windows and I will use it, till then leave me be. Give me soemthing better than Science and I will believe it, till then leave me be." :)
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What would the human race do with nothing further to strive for? Try to disprove The Bumper Fun Book of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know. :-D That is true and you know it, us humans are a funny bunch. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - Chretien Malesherbes
Hehe. Actually come to think of it I could imagine vast and devestating wars being waged over the interpretation of the book. cheers, Chris Maunder (CodeProject)
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Alright then, we have all expressed ourselves on the issues of evolution, religion etc. A lot of opinions have been thrown about and a lot of heated debates have been rammed home. Apart from people obviously pro-Christian and those pro-Atheism not much has been mentioned about personal beliefs, or personal gods. Organised religion IMHO is not something I ever want to get back into nor do I recommend it to anyone with an open mind and a strong will (no disrespect to anyone who is part of an organised religion). So what are your personal beliefs? Do you, like Chris, believe that everything came forth from the bellybutton of the goddess Sheba? Do you believe in one almighty power who is all and created all, or do you believe in many gods? I personally am not 100% sure what is out there. My current personal belief though is that of a power which is part of our universe. It came into being along with our universe and is ruled like us by the universes laws and restraints. It is no holy creature but is far evolved past us. Whether it be one or many I am not sure. Beyond that I am still thinking about it. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - Chretien Malesherbes
I was raised in Cuba for the first 10 years of my life and was influenced by the "There's no God" message instilled by some of my school teachers. At the same time, my grandma or grandpa would take me to Sunday mass almost every week, which I thought was very boring. So, as much as I hated the Cuban government, their no God message made sense to me. Then I came to the US and got to know my uncle, who had become a Catholic priest here in the US. As a priest he was great, everyone loved him and he was a great orator. Outside the church, however, he never mentioned God. I found it kind of odd that someone who had devoted his life to God only referred to Him when he was "at work". Maybe he didn't want to bring it up in case we'd start asking him tough questions, who knows? Much later in life I met a Catholic woman who seemed to have all the answers and was also very attractive.... so I married her. I was still not convinced of God's existence and wasn't thrilled about going to Sunday mass, but I thought she could somehow change that. So there I went... One thing about going to Church that has always struck me is when I kneel down to pray: I get major goose bumps and I feel like there's an energy flowing through me. It's very odd, I feel like I'm connecting with some invisible force, which temporarily paralyzes me. If there's any proof of a God-like presense I've definitely felt it during those moments in Church. It's at those moments when I completely open myself up to the existence of an almighty being that listens to my wishes and can actually make them happen. It's a bit foolish of me because they usually don't, but for those brief moments I believe they can. I don't know... I don't have a strong belief in one thing. Sometimes I feel like we're all just a bunch of animals who are born, live for a while, and then die. The only difference is that our brains allow us to think about all kinds of things, which is why some of us think that something else brought us here and will take us back when we're gone. I don't think the ant crawling next to my mouse right now thinks of God. My ex-wife (yes, I divorced her) had the perception that we all originated from a large force, we would come here to improve ourselves, and then we would go back to that force. She also believed that many of us would then come back and do it all over again, and again, and again until... well until we didn't need to do it anymore. :) The whole heaven/hell concept has never grabbed me. I prefer to believe that w
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It cannot possibly be a VB prototype, we still have to take out the garbage every week and we all know VB does that for you ;P regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - Chretien Malesherbes
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I can't comprehend time as anything but a timeline. Ah - but it gets even weirder when you realise that there is no one timeline. Any two bodies travelling at different relative velocities measure time differently. Ooh - and then when you go past the event horizon of a black hole time and space go totally insane. Cool thing is you wouldn't notice a thing. Infinity is a concept that no one can truly grasp because we can't experience it. But we can - a circle, the real number system, lying on a hill at midnight on a clear night staring into space (hands up who's done that and got vertigo? Yeah!). You can't wrap your mind around infinity, but you can wrap it around the concept. Ya just gotta let go the need for a picture. Drop the idea that everything must be able to be visualised in the 4 dimensions we are (as soft squishy creatures) aware of and all sorts of cool stuff becomes possible. Trust your mind, not the deceiving universe that your senses perceive. But if time and space isn't infinite, how did it start? A self defeating question. If space/time isn't infinite, then what's outside it? And outside that? The trick is: there is no outside (stop trying to picture it!). physicists and scientists have the answers Not really - they just have a good idea of what rocks to look under. My idea of heaven is to have The Bumper Fun Book of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know. A book that outlines everything in a way (and this is the tricky bit) that is totally understandable. Imagine though that we did know everything - that we had achieved the ultimate level of knowledge and understanding. What would the human race do with nothing further to strive for? cheers, Chris Maunder (CodeProject)
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Reality is what you percieve it to be .If that reality includes a god then he is real to you . The problem is that most people think there is only one reality,and therefore their reality is the true one.
as a solipsist, i have to agree with me (in the aspect of you, andrew)... if reality is perception, then god is consciousness. if the thing that calls itself "me" and declares itself as "I" then "I am God" is a true statement... and all of these discussions about religion is a manifestation of my paranoia about schizophrenia :-D -John
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Well considering it only took 6 days to knock up, it's got to be a Visual Basic prototype. That would explain a lot :-) I'd like to see what it is like to live in the proper Visual C++/MFC version though. Perhaps thats heaven :-) Michael :-)
"it's got to be a Visual Basic prototype" LOL LOL :-) Regardz Colin J Davies
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I can't comprehend time as anything but a timeline. Ah - but it gets even weirder when you realise that there is no one timeline. Any two bodies travelling at different relative velocities measure time differently. Ooh - and then when you go past the event horizon of a black hole time and space go totally insane. Cool thing is you wouldn't notice a thing. Infinity is a concept that no one can truly grasp because we can't experience it. But we can - a circle, the real number system, lying on a hill at midnight on a clear night staring into space (hands up who's done that and got vertigo? Yeah!). You can't wrap your mind around infinity, but you can wrap it around the concept. Ya just gotta let go the need for a picture. Drop the idea that everything must be able to be visualised in the 4 dimensions we are (as soft squishy creatures) aware of and all sorts of cool stuff becomes possible. Trust your mind, not the deceiving universe that your senses perceive. But if time and space isn't infinite, how did it start? A self defeating question. If space/time isn't infinite, then what's outside it? And outside that? The trick is: there is no outside (stop trying to picture it!). physicists and scientists have the answers Not really - they just have a good idea of what rocks to look under. My idea of heaven is to have The Bumper Fun Book of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know. A book that outlines everything in a way (and this is the tricky bit) that is totally understandable. Imagine though that we did know everything - that we had achieved the ultimate level of knowledge and understanding. What would the human race do with nothing further to strive for? cheers, Chris Maunder (CodeProject)
"Imagine though that we did know everything - that we had achieved the ultimate level of knowledge and understanding. What would the human race do with nothing further to strive for? " At that point would there be any distinction to be made between the knower and the known? Space/Time finally coming to a clear comprehension of itself. What else could the knower do but return the known to its original unknown state, and play the game again. "I never met anyone I didn't like" Will Rogers.
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Just finished reading this brief "synopsis" of Erik's book. I remember know my dad recommending I read that book, think I will definitley take it up now. Thanks. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - Chretien Malesherbes
Read this also, please http://www.skepdic.com/refuge/bunk2.html Regardz Colin J Davies
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Yup you have. Just curious but was there a "before faith" time for you? As in was there a time in your life where you were not of faith? What was it like and how did you look back on your faithless years after you came to faith? Well, yes. I was brought up nominally Lutheran. I accepted there was a God in the same way I accepted there was a Santa Claus - parents don't lie, right ? (FWIW I'll interject that I tell my daughter about Santa because my explanation of God to her involves proof which I believe will mean she will be able to differentiate between the two concepts if she decides to take God up on the offer. ). Anyhow, I tried to read the Bible and gave up in Leviticus ( the Law ). Eventually I was confirmed ( a process that most churches do but has no place in the Bible ), and told I had the Holy Spirit. I felt no different, and so decided the whole thing was a waste of time, a ritual old people cling to because they will be dead soon. I was about 10 or 12. It was at the age of 20 I lived with two girls and through them started going to church again. I went to a lot of churches in a short time, all told me I was saved, I never felt any different. I had pretty much decided it was all a joke for the second time when a person I worked with told me I could have proof of God in my life, that I would know something had happened when I became a Christian, instead of some priest trying to convince me. What was it like ? Well, I was an accident and neither of my parents ever showed me any affection in my life, so I had no self esteem and was an introverted, lonely child. Add adolescence, and my teenage years basically sucked. The only good things in my life were my computer and my stereo. So in my case, my prior conversion and particularly the period I did not believe in God is also 12-20, I doubt that is fun for many, although it probably sucked more than most for me. Now I regard my life to have begun on Nov 19, 1989, because from that day I became a confident and happy person. As a child my mother would hit me because I never smiled and that made people think she was a bad mother. Even my mother, who refuses to accept any religion, refers to me recieving the Holy Spirit as a physical event that completely changed my life. Christian As I learn the innermost secrets of the around me, they reward me in many ways to keep quiet. Men with pierced ears are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought Jewellery.
Wow that's a wild story Christian :-) Regardz Colin J Davies
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Just finished reading this brief "synopsis" of Erik's book. I remember know my dad recommending I read that book, think I will definitley take it up now. Thanks. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - Chretien Malesherbes
When I was 14, von Daniken was a great read. Then I read his 3rd or 4th book "Gold of the Gods", in which he discovers thousands of miles of "perfectly square tunnels" that run undernieth South America. He concludes that these tunnels are in fact an ancient subway system built by our astronaut visitors many thousands of years ago. These tunnels were als filled with gold plaques - I seem to remember he though these plaques were 'information brochures', or something. He filled his knapsack with many plaques, then headed back to civilization to tell us all about it. On the way back out of the preuvian jungles, he lost his knapsack (and therefore the plaques), then lost his local guide, and now he can't remember where the entrance to the tunnels are. It was at that point I realised that von Daniken is a showman and a liar, and should be read only if you like a good laugh. He has since admitted that the facted many bits of 'evidence' in his books, but justifies this on the grounds that some of it isn't fake!! ----------------------- Reg : "Well, what Jesus blatantly fails to appreciate is that it's the meek who are the problem."
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I can't comprehend time as anything but a timeline. Ah - but it gets even weirder when you realise that there is no one timeline. Any two bodies travelling at different relative velocities measure time differently. Ooh - and then when you go past the event horizon of a black hole time and space go totally insane. Cool thing is you wouldn't notice a thing. Infinity is a concept that no one can truly grasp because we can't experience it. But we can - a circle, the real number system, lying on a hill at midnight on a clear night staring into space (hands up who's done that and got vertigo? Yeah!). You can't wrap your mind around infinity, but you can wrap it around the concept. Ya just gotta let go the need for a picture. Drop the idea that everything must be able to be visualised in the 4 dimensions we are (as soft squishy creatures) aware of and all sorts of cool stuff becomes possible. Trust your mind, not the deceiving universe that your senses perceive. But if time and space isn't infinite, how did it start? A self defeating question. If space/time isn't infinite, then what's outside it? And outside that? The trick is: there is no outside (stop trying to picture it!). physicists and scientists have the answers Not really - they just have a good idea of what rocks to look under. My idea of heaven is to have The Bumper Fun Book of Everything You Ever Wanted to Know. A book that outlines everything in a way (and this is the tricky bit) that is totally understandable. Imagine though that we did know everything - that we had achieved the ultimate level of knowledge and understanding. What would the human race do with nothing further to strive for? cheers, Chris Maunder (CodeProject)
> What would the human race do with nothing further to strive for? Anything human made is a fantasy, even constructions by scientists; reality is only relitive to death and taxes. Fact is - we like to share common fantasies/dreams and even if we knew everything, I'm sure we would have new dreams to continue with. Just like when scientists debate whether the universe will crunch or expand, they forget the human factor - by that time we may have full control over the universe and be chatting away with other sentient universes. Its really a matter of being Optimistic. My idea of heaven is Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream.
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Man, Chris, I want to get drunk with you... What would the human race do with nothing further to strive for? make porno movies and elvis impersonators (like the swedes) :laugh: -John
I want to get drunk with you... :D Just promise you won't let me get up and dance. It's not pretty. cheers, Chris Maunder (CodeProject)
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Alright then, we have all expressed ourselves on the issues of evolution, religion etc. A lot of opinions have been thrown about and a lot of heated debates have been rammed home. Apart from people obviously pro-Christian and those pro-Atheism not much has been mentioned about personal beliefs, or personal gods. Organised religion IMHO is not something I ever want to get back into nor do I recommend it to anyone with an open mind and a strong will (no disrespect to anyone who is part of an organised religion). So what are your personal beliefs? Do you, like Chris, believe that everything came forth from the bellybutton of the goddess Sheba? Do you believe in one almighty power who is all and created all, or do you believe in many gods? I personally am not 100% sure what is out there. My current personal belief though is that of a power which is part of our universe. It came into being along with our universe and is ruled like us by the universes laws and restraints. It is no holy creature but is far evolved past us. Whether it be one or many I am not sure. Beyond that I am still thinking about it. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - Chretien Malesherbes
Recently I have come to consider John Simmons / Outlaw Programmer as my god!! ----------------------- Reg : "Well, what Jesus blatantly fails to appreciate is that it's the meek who are the problem."
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I want to get drunk with you... :D Just promise you won't let me get up and dance. It's not pretty. cheers, Chris Maunder (CodeProject)
Just promise you won't let me get up and dance. It's not pretty. I also hear you spit when you talk. ;P Michael Martin Pegasystems Pty Ltd Australia martm@pegasystems.com +61 413-004-018 "Don't belong. Never join. Think for yourself. Peace" - Victor Stone
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You've being watching too many movies. I've seen a movie (Men in Black, me thinks), where the good guys had to protect a marble because in that marble was a complete universe. The movie ends with the camera leaving earth, solar system, galaxy, etc. until it shows a marble being picked up by a child. --- Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves, for they shall never cease to be amused :laugh:
Galaxy not Universe. Michael Martin Pegasystems Pty Ltd Australia martm@pegasystems.com +61 413-004-018 "Don't belong. Never join. Think for yourself. Peace" - Victor Stone
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Just promise you won't let me get up and dance. It's not pretty. I also hear you spit when you talk. ;P Michael Martin Pegasystems Pty Ltd Australia martm@pegasystems.com +61 413-004-018 "Don't belong. Never join. Think for yourself. Peace" - Victor Stone
I'm so gonna get Dave back for that comment ;) cheers, Chris Maunder (CodeProject)
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Alright then, we have all expressed ourselves on the issues of evolution, religion etc. A lot of opinions have been thrown about and a lot of heated debates have been rammed home. Apart from people obviously pro-Christian and those pro-Atheism not much has been mentioned about personal beliefs, or personal gods. Organised religion IMHO is not something I ever want to get back into nor do I recommend it to anyone with an open mind and a strong will (no disrespect to anyone who is part of an organised religion). So what are your personal beliefs? Do you, like Chris, believe that everything came forth from the bellybutton of the goddess Sheba? Do you believe in one almighty power who is all and created all, or do you believe in many gods? I personally am not 100% sure what is out there. My current personal belief though is that of a power which is part of our universe. It came into being along with our universe and is ruled like us by the universes laws and restraints. It is no holy creature but is far evolved past us. Whether it be one or many I am not sure. Beyond that I am still thinking about it. regards, Paul Watson Bluegrass Cape Town, South Africa "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible." - Chretien Malesherbes
God - Coopers Beer Jesus - Bundaberg Rum Michael Martin Pegasystems Pty Ltd Australia martm@pegasystems.com +61 413-004-018 "Don't belong. Never join. Think for yourself. Peace" - Victor Stone