Religion (Page 4)

Cenababy: Mama and Momma are quite appropriate, Mother is condescending in most circles j/s

Tatrasu 2: whats even stranger to those only reading the bible is there are more than one God spoken of in ancient writings,the Pyramids didnt get all around the world by human intelligence, since to date this smart society isnt intelligent enought to figure it out, surely you dont believe it was done with hammer and chisel,,LOL,, search for Enki and Enlil,,Thoth the creator of the Giza site also known as Hermies was the son of Ea or Enki who represents the snake as in the medical caduceus? Enlil represents the wings
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus_as_a_symbol_of_medicine

Nicotina: Cena, it wasn't the use of the word "momma" that was pathetic. It was the statement "Did your momma die young?". That's on par with a 5yr old saying "My momma is better than your momma."
Sorry that my previous post was not clear.

Cenababy: Hmmmm i must have seen that differently

Zanjan: Tatrasu: "sorry zanjan but God and our creator are two different entities please look closer"

I've never seen any evidence of that. Perhaps you're referring to the old maxim that "We're a product of our environment". While it's true our environment shapes us in childhood, it's not something we can use as an excuse after age 21. Our environment is a machine, not an entity.

We don't have to play the role of victim - we can change our environment; even a slave can with a few good ideas and persistence. The history books are loaded with stories of those who have. I'm one of those people, myself.

As far as I know "contributionism" isn't a word. Although I'm not one to trust "isms", I'm all for people making a personal contribution towards a better world.

Zanjan: Nicotina: ""Did your momma die young?", where "momma" was implied to be my mother. How pathetic that zanjan has once again resorted to schoolyard bullying tactics."

I can assure you I didn't mean that your momma was your daddy. It was an honest question about your biological parent, meant as stated. I say what I mean and mean what I say. If you didn't want to answer that, you didn't have to reply to it.

On the other hand, if my question left you puzzled, you could have just asked me why I asked you that. Ann Landers would have. She was always the curious type. If the question was too personal she recommended responding " Why in the world would you ask a question like that!?" Personally, I was taught that it's rude to answer a question with a question.

Nicotina: Why do you want to know about my mother?

Zanjan: Tatrasu, we now know how the pyramids were built. Yes, it's curious that many old civilizations had them - peoples, we've thought, had no contact with each other.

We know it happens that individuals who live far apart and, are unknown to each other, can tie into the same idea simultaneously. Certain events can inspire them. That's why the patent office was invented - whoever got to the office on the earliest date got the rights.

The meanings of folk symbols change over time and through different cultures; what ancient symbols have shared in common are animals, because they were tribal peoples, close to nature. However, I find that symbols in texts of the religions of God are of a higher order and tend to retain their meanings.

Polytheism was common in the ancient world due to an immature intellectual capacity. God's Messengers dealt with that misconception as well as with false idols.

Zanjan: Nicotina, to answer your question, it seems to me that what you were taught didn't stick because you didn't have anyone close to you to nurture that. Since you've avoided answering my question, I respect your choice.

Nicotina: Your assumptions do not serve you well, zanjan.

Zanjan: I didn't make any assumptions - I made observations then asked you about them. You speak as if you have attachment disorder, a condition that keeps an individual at arms length because they're afraid to love somebody. Such people tend to hurt others before others can hurt them.

Nicotina: Another assumption, zanjan. That one is also incorrect.

Zanjan: Right.

Nicotina: I see you enjoy playing armchair psychiatrist.

iowagent1956: I'm certainly no armchair psychiatrist, but in my opinion Zanjan makes very insightful and well thought out observations. We are all entitled to speak our minds, and I just happen to think Zanjan has a very good mind. Personal opinion? Yes. Debatable? Of course. Regardless, I do hope you continue to make your sound contributions, Zanjan.

Zanjan: Thanks for your input. You have the mark of a peacemaker, Iowagent - it's communicable.

I'd like to apologize to the OP for that brief diversion from the subject. Perhaps we can get back to regular programming now.

Nicotina: Speaking your mind is very different than speaking the truth.

Zanjan: True; yet they aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. The point is to be honest.

A wisdom about moderation: 'Not everything a man knows can be said, nor is everything he can say be considered as timely, nor can every timely saying be suited to the individual.'

Zanjan: Changing our environment isn't that hard. You know, it goes back to the old "Necessity is the mother of invention". Wherever there is a need, there will be someone to fill it; strange how that works.

The ancients had so few questions and their needs were simple; they were born, lived and died all in the same place. Nobody got culture shock because they never went anywhere, except for the great armies; even then, it wasn't far. Generally, they were up to no good anyway.

Anyone can understand how there was a dearth of opportunity to learn new things.

God was in control of that - He measured out the knowledge, ensuring mankind wouldn't get more than it could handle, since humans tended to abuse whatever powers they had. A rare few were inspired; however great their vision, many of their inventions and ideas never went anywhere only because the people weren't ready for them. We identified such people as 'ahead of their time'.

Times have changed. A great, unprecedented outpouring of knowledge has occurred in a very short period of time. This world-wide flood of information is, historically, matchless, as is the increase in individual awareness.

This wouldn't have happened if God hadn't given mankind the ability to deal with it, accompanied by the guidance we need to rise to the occasion with proper aim, grace and calm.

Zanjan: So, I'd like to point out the importance of our thoughts, especially private thoughts. They have more power than we imagine, sending energies out into the world, which are picked up by others. If we were fully aware of the effect of these thoughts, we'd be almost afraid to think!

The good news is that positive thoughts are far more powerful than negative ones.

When we think about constructive ideas, and pass them on, more people will also do that for themselves because humans are naturally competitive. It follows that when we think in terms of unity, the same thing happens, overcoming divisiveness. With unity as our desire and aim, we'll discover new ideas along those lines to eliminate divisions.

Before long, many are getting on that bandwagon. Our storyminds may set the tone but habitual thought, we develop, deep down.

sisiblackdog: why are these "Simple truths" so complicated. Try to define Faith without using itself to define itself thus creating a circular argument. How does aquire faith except by an act of faith which means you already had what you want to achieve,

Nicotina: Teach a child to love and that child will be capable of overcoming many forms of hate.

Tatrasu 2: Well said Zanjan, for us to realize this simple truth,,an Ascention of vibrational understanding as sympathetic resonance

Zanjan: Sisiblackdog: "How does [one] aquire faith except by an act of faith which means you already had what you want to achieve....."


Not exactly; there are two usages of that word. Those who don't understand how spiritual things work don't have any faith. What happens is they run into it - that is, they run into people who have real faith and are puzzled how this could be. They're stunned by that shine. It might just be their first exposure to it. Quite a few people have said to me, "I wish I had faith like yours".

Now, it would be reasonable to wonder, if they like what they see, why don't they go and get it? Those with genuine faith already know why; they're holding on to something else.

An act of faith, by itself, lacks understanding - it's nothing more than a blind guess. In other words, "I did this because I believe that". When one acts blindly, that act will always be misapplied, often dangerously. True faith is not some personally devised action or some gut feeling that one should go here or there, or make a leap into the unknown.

True faith is trust in God. Trust in God is merely this: obedience to His Law and contentment with His Will. It can't get any simpler.

When God gives commands, He's not asking us to gamble with them. We know exactly what He's asking us to do. He's saying "If you do that, I will give you this". We wouldn't trust that promise if we'd received nothing after we'd thoroughly complied.

It's not faith we want to achieve - it's the fruits of faith we desire. We don't want to be deprived of God's blessings and bounties.

Zanjan: So, the two usages of the word "faith" are applied to:

1. an organized belief system - a religion.
2. one's own determination to be a worthy and useful servant.

It seems a shame that God has had to dangle a carrot to lead us to Him but that's how we are in our crude state. When we demand a trade, we make it all about ourselves. If we don't get our demands met, we walk away. This is the child - show me miracles then I'll believe you. Love is made conditional.

However, in our refined state, we've learned unconditional love. There's no need for rewards because we've fallen in love with the Ancient Beauty. There's no fear of punishment because we see hardship as a blessing from His wisdom. This is the adult - the one who puts God first, before all things, under all conditions - no need to question or doubt that kind of love. This is certitude - God's happiness is our happiness.