reply to post by loves a conspiricy
I know yours is an old post, but I wonder do you still hold the same beliefs about people who believe in God as being 'ignorant'..? There are
astrophysicists who believe in God. There are quantum physicists who believe in God. There are neurosurgeons, molecular biologists, chemical
engineers & marine architects who believe in God.
The difference between someone who believes in God, and an atheist, is not always (in fact, quite rarely, considering how young our race is) a person
who holds infantile conceptions of the dynamic of the Human Condition, as relates to the potential that an Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient
Personality exists; and not only exists, but also cares for the Universe, including those realms beyond material reality, which oftentimes we reach
into via various not-yet-understood means. Dreams, visions, ecstasy; a sense of Divine presence during prayer & meditation, and to a lesser extent,
phenomena such as astral projection & remote viewing - all require investigation.
There are regions of our brains which we use often, and others that we rarely (if ever) seem to access. It's something like 90% of our brains that we
do not use. There are some excellent resources out there which delve into the mysteries of Human DNA & consciousness, often concluding that our
physical bodies are literally biomechanical machines, which are activated & primarily operated by the presence of a residing consciousness. Most
processes are naturally subconscious, and will continue so long as the consciousness is still connected to the physical form by some means. A wealth
of testimony (and this is the only form of evidence we can reliably obtain at present) has been gathered concerning similarities in actual death
experiences (followed by resuscitation by medical intervention), or OOBE's, or lucid dreaming, or willful astral projection - seeming to suggest that
some form of conscious survival exists beyond normal 'in-body' life.
The other side of things to consider is that in a majority of cases, a firm conviction in the belief of a Universal Deity not only provides comfort &
optimism in the face of difficult life circumstance, but also encourages social cohesion, and improves the likelihood that a person will obey that
mysterious voice we all know so well - that of conscience, which remains vital to our ethical decision-making processes (so long as we don't cauterise
it by disobedience.) 'Every being in the Universe knows the difference between right & wrong' - but many choose to ignore their conscience, for the
sake of personal temporal gain.
The only thing that we can take with us, with our personality (soul/spirit) - should consciousness survive beyond death - is the love we have for
others, the love they have for us, and the memories of the love we have shared whilst upon the Earth (relationships, duties, charitable endeavour...)
If we hold that God exists, we are bound by the law of conscience, recognising it is a divine mandate to all sentient 'Children of Providence'.
Our highest aim in this life should be to ask for, seek out & knock upon the door which leads us into a relationship with that sovereign Deity whom
we suppose, from reflections upon the nature of Reality, to exist, somewhere beyond (usually) the realm of our immediate sensory inputs.
Keep an open mind, and don't deride those who hold to belief in God as ignorant. Claiming that a belief in God is akin to a belief in 'sky fairies'
is downright disrespectful. God, should He in fact exist, would be no ephemeral or irrelevant little 'sky fairy', but would rather be an infinitely
Wise, infinitely Powerful, infinitely Loving, infinitely Vast LORD of all that exists, of all eternity - the Ancient of Days, no less. He would have
absolute moral & parental authority over all 13 billion years of the universe, over the billions of galaxies, and of course over everything occurring
within this tiny, insignificant little corner of the Universe, in this tiny little galaxy. NB - a galaxy so big (in relation to us, on our tiny 'mote
of dust' planet) that it takes 100,000 years for light to travel, at 186,000 miles a second, to get from one side of the starfield to the other.
The constants of Nature, of physics, suggest that Order, and NOT chaos, is sovereign over the Cosmos. The myriad mysteries of this vast plane of
existence spiral back to a centre which suggests 'unknowability' - leading to a need for direct conscious revelation from the Power above all powers,
when we eventually explore Consciousness & Reality in humility, as we should.
I've many other things to say regarding these sorts of phenomena, and realised as I was writing this reply that I've made enough headway with the
issue to compose a reasonable thread on the subject - I'll be incorporating parts of this post into that thread, at some point soon.
FITO.
edit on 13-1-2013 by FlyInTheOintment because: layout/ grammar