I agree, particularly since people ask (quite justifiably) "How can the perfect, single being that is God allow mass-murderers to escape jail sentences on technicalities of the law, but permit a busload full of children to perish in an avalanche ?".
"God moves in mysterious ways" seems like a pale response in the wake of questions of THAT magnitude and, whilst I do believe that good will out in the end, sometimes I have doubts :redface:.
!?!?! Shadow !?!?!
![[-]](https://gayspeak.com/images/duende_v3_local/collapse.png)
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shadow Wrote:I agree, particularly since people ask (quite justifiably) "How can the perfect, single being that is God allow mass-murderers to escape jail sentences on technicalities of the law, but permit a busload full of children to perish in an avalanche ?".
"God moves in mysterious ways" seems like a pale response in the wake of questions of THAT magnitude and, whilst I do believe that good will out in the end, sometimes I have doubts :redface:.
!?!?! Shadow !?!?!
But thats just it. This world is flawed and so is the universe. I'm not saying that I don't believe that there is good in the world, I just don't believe in a perfect entity. I like to think of powers higher than myself that also make mistakes.
My parents always say that we are non-practicing druids:tongue:
I do like to think of nature being a divine creation, because you can see the most amazing things if you look, but also you can see many strange and scary things as well.
So in short, I like to think that there is more than one omnipotent power controlling the universe. There are many smaller powers that influence the universe, the good and bad. But I have to say that I also believe that human consciousness is not controlled by such powers. Human nature is different and there is no god that can control it. Circumstances outside of our control are affected by some divine presences, thus things like weather, chance encounters, and other phenomena.
Hmm... religion is such a strange thing isn't it. If only the divine things would just come and say, "Here is how it really works..."
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Indeed !!
I have, as I say, always found polytheistic religion to be very appealing for pretty much the same reasons as you've stipulated ... it seems to make a lot more sense on a logical level, as if you have multiple Gods responsible for different things, that can easily give rise to in-fighting and squabbling, and you do get a better feel for how the Gods, having largely human foibles, have their ups and downs, which can account for many of the otherwise inexplicable goings on in the world ...
... so my views contradict my upbringing (but then that's true of so many things - my parents never envisaged the possibility of me being gay, bless 'em !!).
... and yup, I totally agree - religion is a tough nut to crack, but an interesting one ... :biggrin:.
!?!?! Shadow !?!?!
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shadow Wrote:I agree, particularly since people ask (quite justifiably) "How can the perfect, single being that is God allow mass-murderers to escape jail sentences on technicalities of the law, but permit a busload full of children to perish in an avalanche ?".
"God moves in mysterious ways" seems like a pale response in the wake of questions of THAT magnitude and, whilst I do believe that good will out in the end, sometimes I have doubts :redface:.
!?!?! Shadow !?!?!
but that's just it - there is no god .. or these things wouldn't happen .. there's only us so instead of spending so much energy and money on a God or Gods .. focus on whats around you
ok - I got a bit atheist again .. sorry ....
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Even though this isn't really a monotheism vs. polytheism comment, I want to say that I think the mythology of Heaven and Hell is interesting. The idea of the Underworld, Tartarus and the Elysian Fields is fascinating.
Although, we can't really worry about what to expect, but I find it comforting if there really was an afterlife, rather than eternal nothingness.
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It's ok GayComputerDude - you're perfectly entitled to your opinion  mile: - I just have difficulty accepting that there is nothing more to the world than what we can readily see ... I simply can't accept that there is no higher power at work - I've seen so many magical things in life from that woman that lifted that car off that small child to save it, to people surviving horrific falls, to the most intimate and magical of moments spent with my friends and my lover, that I just can't accept there isn't more to it ...
I think we're too complicated to simply cease to exist when we die, and I think we're too complicated to have simply evolved from lesser creatures ... I really do, but that's just my opinion mile:.
XRIMO - I agree ... I think it does fall on the polytheistic-side though, inasmuch as many of these places had functionality for the Gods, Tartarus being the prison for the nastiest of the nasty and so on ... didn't Sisyphus get put in Tartarus to roll that bleedin' boulder up that hill every day ?
Sound like a CRACKIN' place to be ... not !!
!?!?! Shadow !?!?!
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It shouldn't surpise anyone much that christianity has shadows of earlier religions, Saints and images of heaven and hell.....
Since most of christianity was stolen from or subsumed every religion it encountered. The egyptians, the Romans, the greeks...even the druids and othe pagan religions. Christianity bowled them over and when it couldn't cut certian ideas or ceremonies out, it created on of it's own right next to it and then blended them together.
Christmas, Easter......Halloween are just a few examples. Dante didn't create hell, he just stole aspects of it from other places and then put a christian twist on it. A glorious after life was part of many religions before the christians came around. It took 600 years for the christians to pick and choose and manipulate things until they found a version they could all (vote) agree on.
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I think, and I know this is taking a slight twist away from my original question, that the biggest thing that worries me about the bible is its interpretation ...
... to put it clearly, in the modern age we have lawyers who's job it is, basically, to manipulate words and bend laws to their own ends wherever possible - in short, to flex the system ... and they are working with laws and doctrines and guidelines that are in some cases THOUSANDS of years newer than what is purportedly entered into the bible ...
... so my concern is that what was stated as FACT or LAW in the bible is basically (for the mostpart) good, common sense living ... but how can WE, some 2,000 years on, still be sure that we're getting the meaning that they intended us to get ?
Hitler was able to swing the course of human history by manipulating the sensibilities and prejudices of the Germans ... what's to say that the church isn't exerting the same kind of influence over the masses, to greater or lesser ends, through organised religion ?
Don't get me wrong I'm not ANTI-anything (except paedophilia), it's just something that makes me feel quite cold at times ... and that's not a good thing.
Anyhow - after that rather heavy diatribe, I think I shall retire !!
... well ... maybe just one more post ...  .
!?!?! Shadow !?!?!
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ah shadow - then you're starting to see some of my side
I won't get into my atheist part
but it's all government
government and religion
and everything is interpretation
isn't it?
sigh - so like debating you - why aren't you closer?
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mile:
Whilst it's true that my faith in the accuracy of the bible as a text is periodically in doubt, my faith in there being higher powers, and the existence of some form of judgment based on the way you've lived your life during your life, is absolute mon ami ...
... and yeah - I too do enjoy the cut 'n thrust of debating with
you :biggrin:.
I think it's excellent when two people can have diametrically opposing views, but still remain friends  .
!?!?! Shadow !?!?!
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