1. 30 million for a very solid boost in the game. I'm new to Torn City and I seriously love the game. I'm also very eager for progress. I received a huge boost from selling the goodie bag I received from Torn FB and the resources I got from Karma's newbie package. Anyway, right now one of my immediate main goals is to finish my idea of a "basic combat set" (Flexible Body Armor, normal Combat Gear for the other body parts, an Armalite, a Diamond Bladed Knife and a BT-MP9). So far I've bought everything using the excess money left after following the costly but very rewarding training program detailed in Hank's Power Leveling guide, except for the Armalite and the Flexible Body Armor. However, that huge boost I received from Torn FB and Karma is running low and now I'm carefully budgeting my money for sake of good gym trains. Most of my money right now is going into ensuring a steady supply of ecstasy and renting out a property fully with all of it's upgrades for daily training. So yeah, 30m would be GREAT and would help a lot. It would do so much for my development, speed up my plans and everything. I'm sure the game will be more costly later on but from where I am 30 million is more than enough and I'd be set for quite some time with good management.
2. I plan on getting to level 15 as soon as possible. I don't know what to expect exactly at level 15 or from "travelling" but I've heard that you can start earning a lot of money at that level. In any case, once I hit level 15, I plan to read more guides on the forums for advice and see where to go from there. I'm also employed in a good company that gives 1m every week so I plan to save up also.
3. I spread news about Karma's newbie package in the new player chat box and my company chat box. I also pmed three of my co-workers in the company I'm that I'm working at (which is full of new players) a few days later about Karma's newbie package when I could tell that they didn't see my message I posted.
4. In real life, I think I do a lot of good by being a good friend. I'm loyal, trustworthy and reliable. I'd never betray my friends or try to put one over them. If they have a problem or needed help/support of some kind I'd have their back. And of course, I'll continue to enjoy their company, have fun and mess around with them.
EDIT: Can I change my request to 50m? I just realized that I made a mistake in calculations. I want enough money to for an Armalite, Flexible Body Armor and a good cushion of money to spend on drugs, rent and save up. I can't get the Armalite and the Body Armor with 30m. Thanks!
Who are the people that you look up to? They can be dead or alive.
Personally, my heroes are Kobe Bryant for his mental toughness, St Philip Neri for his joy and wit, Fr Robert Barron for his speaking skills and ability to share his faith well with others and recently, Rodrigo Lara (just finished Narcos) for his honestly and courage, which enabled him to make a big difference.
Actually, I haven't read it yet haha. I was about to start reading it back then but I never got to for different reasons. I was planning on checking out the Stormlight Archive books too but I decided to play conservative and settle with Mistborn for now.
Yeah you should. I'm about 25+ pages in and it's pretty interesting so far. I have yet to get to the meat of the story, his conversion, but I'm sure that it's only going to get better. It's spiritual classic that has been recommended to me by a lot of people. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time for reading these days thanks to school. The plan for now is to read The Seven Story Mountain little by little and save Sanderson's book for the next long holiday.
Ok I just wanted to see/understand where you are coming from. Anyway, I'd love to discuss things more with you but school just started over here and I need focus on my acads. Cheers bro!
"We may even be him...It may be as weird as 'god' is the universe since we are made of the same things, we are essentially god". What does that even mean? What do you mean by god?
You mentioned your "experiences" in your previous posts, I'm interested. What did you experience?
Well then how can you come to know or understand anything about reality? How can you trust your own knowledge? Our senses are generally reliable. Yes, they're fallible and make mistakes but much more often than not, they are correct. Due to this, we can stay confident about our capabilities to know and learn more about reality. And thank God for science.
Fallible does not mean unreliable. My HS history teacher is a very intelligent and well-read person. Since he's human, he's fallible. He makes mistakes, he does not know everything and it is possible that, sometimes, unbeknownst to him, his sources contain errors, outdated views, etc. This does not mean that he's unreliable. In fact, I trust him very much and hold anything that he says on the subject of history in high regard.
Furthermore, we are aware that our senses are fallible. We have studied ourselves and are aware of how our brain and senses work. Due to this, we are able to guard ourselves against this capability of error, to assess even our own experiences with a dose of skepticism when it is warranted.
Alright, I'm not going argue with what you have experienced here. Clearly, we aren't going to change each others views on this issue haha. I have also raised a number of points in my last post which haven't been responded to and without that, the discussion can't progress.
"Psychology studies have shown..." Ok, what is this psychological concept so that we can discuss things? Is it the third man factor you mentioned before? If it is, then I have already shown why it fails as an explanation for man's religious nature. I don't think man wants to believe something else is out there, I think man believes that something is out there. When we look at ourselves and the world around us we see purpose and meaning. When we ponder about questions regarding the ultimate understanding of things (metaphysics), we come to the conclusion of a creator, God. We can tell that there is more to life than just brute existence.
You're begging the question though. You're assuming that all "religious experiences" are the result of natural causes, chemicals in the body, because of your beliefs on the matter. The question that should be asked is, what causes feelings of religious experience? A genuine encounter with the divine or the result of a person reaching a certain mindset through prayer and meditation? You are assuming that all claims of religious experiences are the result of the latter based on your beliefs, it's a circular and close minded way of thinking. Obviously, since a religious experience is an experience (assuming a genuine experience with the divine), we perceive it through our senses and react accordingly. Chemicals are naturally involved.
Moreover, your claim that religious experiences are mindsets that can be attained, fails to explain the phenomenon in its entirety and satisfactorily. There are people who as you have said, have had a "profound experience where they have found God". If there is a person who would be the best judge of a particular experience, it would be the person who experienced it himself. If he believes that he experienced something divine, why should your interpretation of his experience have greater weight than his? These people assess their experiences like everyone else, and everyone has a level of scepticism inside of them. If they feel that they didn't "hype themselves up" during their religious experience, or reach that event through natural means, then it may very well have been a religious experience. There are a lot of people who have had religious experiences when they were not praying or thinking about God (many saints). There are also a lot of people who have had religious experiences that go beyond "a profound religious experience where one feels God". As I've said, Catholic saints have experienced clear apparitions of Jesus, Mary, angels and the saints (conversing with them in most cases), encounters with the devil, and others (visions, locutions, etc). They were also blessed with spiritual gifts (soul-reading, healing, prophecy, stigmata, bilocation, etc) and performed miracles. Many of us have also had religious/spiritual experiences that do not fit the description of "a profound religious experience where one finds God". Some have personal religious experiences of God helping/guiding us in our lives, others may have had spiritual experiences where they felt an evil presence or seen spiritual activity (occult practices and activities).
Furthermore, you mentioned drugs to prove your point. Well, it also shows that a strong catalyst is needed in order to reach "a profound experience of finding God". Yet, these people who have had religious experiences were sober and not wearing a "God helmet". Your explanation that we can get there also, I'm assuming, through prayer, meditation or what not is also severely lacking because I know a lot of people who have a deep spiritual life, including myself and have yet to have such a experience. If your claim is true then a lot more people should be able to experience it as well.
Also, why would our brains want to have something spiritual exist? For me, this is only further proof that the physical world is not all there is. Our brains do not want something spiritual to exist. Our brains are generally very trustworthy, it wouldn't do something irrational like that. Our brains are sensing a world that we cannot perceive. A world consisting of God, angels and demons (look up the term spiritual warfare) and human souls, that interact with our natural world.
1. Not everyone has a religious experience like that. I've had a few personal miracles/religious experiences that I mentioned in this thread were I believed God helped/guided me in my life but nothing close to "a profound religious experience where one finds God" that you describe. There were also times were I felt good, calm and at peace after prayer but I wouldn't call it profound either. I also wouldn't even consider these as religious experiences if someone asked me for personal stories because they stem more from my faith than reason, they aren't clear experiences of the divine and could be seen as natural even by myself. Look, I'm sure that such religious experiences have happened but I bet that the people who did experience such a thing are in a very blessed minority (like the saints). I've hardly come across someone in real life or on the Internet who claimed to have such a "profound religious experience where one finds God" and use that as the basis of their faith in God. Personal miracle stories and small scale religious experiences, yes, I've heard quite a few, but profound religious experiences where one feels the presence of God? Rarely. Moreover, not everyone has had a religious experience and I'm sure a lot of people fall into this category as well. To say that we theists use these experiences as the basis of our faith is a bit insulting (no offense taken at all but I'm just pointing at the implication here). I know a lot of very devout Catholics in my life and their faith, like mine, is rooted in reason. We are convinced by the truth of Christianity because of the evidence, and many other great men and women, who are way above ourselves intellectually, have reached the same conclusion.
2. Drugs have never been a part of the tradition of the Church. Our saints, men and women of great virtue, who have had religious experiences, were blessed with spiritual gifts and performed miracles were not under the influence of DMT or any kind of drug. They were sober.
3. Yes, many saints have had a profound religious experience where they felt the presence of God but they have also had religious experiences that are much more than that such as clear apparitions of Jesus, Mary, angels and the saints, encounters with the devil, and others (visions, locutions, etc).
For points 2 and 3, the saints, you can take a look at Padre Pio, Genma Galangi, Anna Maria Taigi, Anne Catherine Emmerich, Francis of Assisi, Ignatius of Loyola, John Vianney, Don Bosco, Anthony of Padua, Joan of Arc, Therese Neumann, Bernadette Soubirous, Lucia dos Santos, etc. There are many.
You misunderstand me. I was talking about my understanding of drugs and how they affect us. How they don't enable us to see higher dimensions or interact with the spiritual world. I was explaining why they don't classify as religious/spiritual experiences because of this. I did not comment yet on how religious/spiritual experiences affect us. Anyway, as I said, when we do drugs, what we perceive isn't an encounter with the divine or spiritual realm, it's a hallucination of the mind, and feelings of euphoria caused by chemicals - all thanks to the drug. On the other hand, genuine religious/spiritual experiences are not the result of drugs, but actual encounters with the divine or spiritual world.
But given what you say of DMT and what I have briefly researched on it, it does seem strange drug, different from any other, that we need to learn more about. EDIT: Changing my position here from I have no idea what to think to let me clarify, isn't DMT a hallucinogenic? If it is, what makes you think it allows us to interact with the spiritual realm? Wouldn't whatever you see or experience after taking the drug be a hallucination in the mind and the result of chemicals?
As for the spiritual realm, I believe in the existence of God, angels, demons and human souls but there is a lot that we don't know about it. How it works, how it interacts with the physical world, etc. In any case, it's very real. The Church condemns engaging in the occult practices and other forms of superstition not only because they are against the 1st commandment but also because they open the door to demonic spirits and influences. In fact, many cases of demonic possession, oppression and infestation have been the result of engaging in such activities. The devil is also capable of preternatural acts. I heard stories from a local guide when I visited Palawan (an island in Visayas) of how local shamans practice black magic and are capable of casting curses on people (and this conversation struck me because of the conviction of the man who said it, he really believed what he was talking about and he didnt strike me as someone who was obviously gullible). Also, people who engage in occult practices, and you can find these people on the Internet, claim to have certain powers or experience freaky spiritual stuff (which explains why they really believe and are fascinated in their occult practices). Now, I don't know which stories are true or not but I believe that the spiritual realm is real, and that genuine cases of these do exist, and that their sources are demonic.
Now as for how we are affected by religious experiences, of course I believe that our bodies are affected, and chemicals are released. As a duality of body and spirit, I believe that God touches us, body and soul, during religious experiences. If he doesn't reveal himself to us or make his presence known to us through our senses, how can we experience him? God reaches us through our senses and we perceive, respond and experience him accordingly. Marc Barnes actually has a great article on this. He also argues that a simulation helps prove a thing: But the same false assumption is made nonetheless: Because a thing can be simulated, it can only ever be a simulation. This is ridiculous. We can chemically simulate every emotion under the sun; does this mean emotions dont exist as anything but simulations? We can simulate hunger, flying, love, courage, drowning, dreaming, and dying; do these things become unrealities as a result? Of course not. This much seems apparent, that a simulation does not disprove a thing it rather helps prove it. We have parts of our brain that, when stimulated, can make us nervous. Well, there is such a thing as being nervous. We have parts of our brain that, when stimulated, make us believe that there is a world beyond what we can perceive. Well then, it would seem to follow that there is a world we cannot perceive. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/badcatholic/2011/12/atheists-disprove-gods-existence-again.html
Does this explanation by philosopher Terence McKenna have enough backing from historians? What about enough backing from scientists? Do we have good evidence that our ancestors in Africa used magic mushrooms on a regular basis? Do we have enough evidence to establish a link between the use of magic shrooms and man's religious nature? Or is it just speculation? We also have to explain why every human society around the world believed in God and an afterlife until very recently. Why has humanity universally engaged in worship, prayer and ritual throughout history? I doubt that the use of magic mushrooms, assuming McKenna's theory were true, could have continued in all of these societies around the world for many generations, and have such a profound effect on us that we would still be affected by it long after such practices stopped. If the frequent use of magic mushrooms is purported as the cause for Man's religiosity, then it follows that its effect on us (religiosity) would decline over time after its use stopped. However, once again, assuming that his theory were true, this is not the case. It does not fit the evidence.
It says that the third man syndrome occurs only during traumatic experiences. I don't see how this can account for, even a bit, man's religious nature.
I see, that's interesting. I've never tried drugs outside of Torn lol so I wouldn't know but I don't think any experience that you get from drugs would classify as a religious/spiritual experience. Drugs don't make you capable of seeing other dimensions. They affect your perception of things, heighten your senses, but it's all the product of your mind and chemicals. That's my understanding of drugs and how they affect us at least. An underlying connection between everything? Interesting. Well, there is a lot about the spiritual world that we don't know for sure. Hmm, yes we are infants on a cosmic scale but I dont see how that matters with regard to God. In the same way, I don't see how us not existing for almost 13.6 billion years does matter.
Given that whatever caused our universe to exist is independent from it (and resides outside the universe), science will never be able to answer that question (since science can only observe the natural world, its non-verifiable). Its a question for metaphysics, not science. Well, we can already know a lot about God given the universe, that's what we theists have been doing for quite some time now. However, if you're expecting to find God in the universe as we discover more about it then that wont happen. God is not the universe and he is not an object in it either (one distinction between the concept of God and god). We wont find God in the universe he created in the same way that we wont find an architect in the house he designed. What do you mean by universal consciousness? Higher dimensional beings? We Christians believe in angels (and fallen ones as well) haha but yeah if they did exist, they wouldn't be God either. The age old question of why is there something rather nothing still remains. The existence of these higher dimensional beings would still need to be explained.
Well as a Christian, I believe that although we cannot know or understand everything, there is a lot that we do know (thanks to revelation) and can know (thanks to reason) about God. God revealed himself to us after all. He came down to earth, founded a Church on his apostles, and died for our sins. I believe that God continues to guide and protect this Church, the Catholic Church, so that people may come to know him, the Truth and seek aid in the sacraments. I also believe that God has blessed us with countless saints and miracles to give us faith, inspiration and to remind us that he is always with us. Moreover, even without the Church or revelation, I believe that it is possible to know quite a bit about God. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the God of classical theism, or the God of the philosophers, was reasoned initially by ancient Greek thinkers like Plato and Aristotle. They reasoned that in order to explain all of contingent reality, there must exist, by logical necessity, a first cause that must exist by its own nature, and thus be described as being itself. A being that cannot not exist, a being that is pure act. This is what they believed God to be and from this, you can deduce more things about God. St Thomas was able to determine a lot of things about God, his attributes, through reason alone. He details these in his Summa Theologica.
If you have thought about it, studied the issue and really think that we cant know anything for certain, okay. But otherwise, we must seek answers to such important questions. If God does exist, wouldnt we want to know what hes like? If there is an afterlife, what does that mean for us? If there is meaning in our lives, how can we live a meaningful life? On the other hand, if God does not exist and if there is no meaning in our lives, then what does this mean for us as well? Asking these questions and seeking truths about life are important, not only because we become more knowledgeable about reality and the world we live in but also because we would know how to act and what to do in response to these truths? If God does not exist and if life has no meaning, then we are free to do as we wish and live for ourselves. However, if God does exist and if life does have meaning, then we are called to strive for something greater than ourselves.
Contrary to atheism, I believe that we are not an accident, we are here for a reason. I also believe that life has meaning and purpose. The Big Bang theory hints towards the idea of creation and the fine-tuning of our universe suggests that it is the product of a designer. I see the grandeur of the universe and I believe that it must be created by some supreme power. I see the great intelligibility of the universe and I believe that it must be created by a rational mind. As a species, we humans are inherently religious. By far, the great majority of humans who have lived so far have believed in and sought the divine. Since our earliest days, we have had a thing for worship, prayer and ritual. We see purpose in the world around us. We constantly seek for the truth of things and appreciate beauty. We have an inner sense of right and wrong that tells us what we ought to do and not do. We feel fulfilled and happy when we do good and help others, even when we have nothing to gain from it, and even when it is contrary to our well-being. Similarly, we feel terrible and empty when we do bad things, even if we have everything to gain from it. We recognize the existence of justice. Borrowing from Leah Libresco, when we see a boy kick a puppy for no reason or see someone defraud an old lady, we are outraged and cry foul. Why? Is life really meaningless and purposeless? To me, atheists argue that this is the case in a world full of meaning and purpose. We are called to do something, we were created for a purpose and our lives do have meaning. This is what I believe as a Christian.
Lastly, if life is meaningless and purposeless as atheists claim then they must bravely confront the consequences of their world view. I've seen many atheists say that if life is meaningless, then it is up to them to make meaning out of it. Now, that sounds poetic and wonderful but it's an empty statement. If life is meaningless, then you cannot make meaning out of it. To try to do so and believe it would be deluding yourself. You cannot make meaning out of a meaningless rubble of rocks. If you'd try to, that would only be you telling and convincing yourself. No matter what you say, it would still be a meaningless rubble of rocks. :P
I see. Well this is good perspective. I come from a Catholic country (the Philippines) so your insight on how atheists think is much needed. Personally, I always believed in Catholicism ever since I was little. Its not that I didn't question or assess my religion in my mind when I was young, I did (ages 7-14). I didn't question or look into my faith that deeply of course then (that came in first year HS, when I was 15), but I took in what my religion teachers said, what my parents said and listened to what priests would say at mass during their homilies and everything seemed reasonable and good to me. It made sense, it was believable and it seemed good (my Catholic HS is known for values formation among other things, and growing up I greatly appreciated how they were forming me). Although my family is Catholic, only my mother is devout. Although she raised me up well in the Catholic faith, I didn't feel forced or restricted. She taught me (mostly about Christian living) and guided me very well. G.K. Chesterton resonates deeply with my upbringing and education growing up, "Catholic doctrine and discipline may be walls; but they are the walls of a playground". I definitely agree but in a large part, I think I owe a lot to my school, my teachers and my parents, they just did it right. It was a great, nurturing and fun but it was also Orthodox, well-guided and disciplined. That was the Catholic environment I grew up in. When I was in 1st year HS I started studying my faith deeply questioning, assessing and looking at other faiths (or lack thereof), and then related them back to my own religion. I took a very good look at atheism, and considered if it was possible that God did not exist (if my faith wasn't true then I thought atheism probably was). I also took a good look at Islam and Protestant Christianity. In the end, I came out a stronger Catholic and that faith would only deepen as I began to read and learn more over the years.
Okay, I see where you're coming from. Speaking as a Catholic, Catholicism doesn't claim to have all the answers, it admits that we cannot know everything, especially about how the divine mind or how God works: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8). The Trinity for example is a mystery that we cannot fully grasp or understand as humans but we take it on faith. Although we can give good answers to the problem of evil, I don't think we can answer it completely (once again, we don't know the mind of God). It's still something that we have to ponder on and think about. We can't know or understand everything. We can't even see God or perceive him through the senses, not in this life (unless he chooses to reveal himself to us like the saints). And like everyone else, there is still a lot we don't know about the natural world but since this falls outside the scope of faith, we leave that to science to determine. Faith and reason, religion and science, are key from the Catholic perspective. The two are necessary in order to better and fully understand reality (the material and the spiritual). At the same time, although God himself entered into history and revealed himself to us, there was still a lot that needed to be known among the first Christians. The Catholic Church did not start out like how it is today. The Church today with its teachings, doctrine, theology, philosophy, etc is the result of 2000 years of study, pondering and discussion. Its the result of the discussion and verdicts of many Church councils, its dealings with various heresies (in which they clarified their positions through theological debate), and the writings and thoughts of several great Christian thinkers (like Aquinas and the scholastics in the Middle Ages for example, or more recently, Pope John Paul II's "Theology of the Body") which have contributed to the Church's great intellectual and philosophical tradition, as it exists, today.
I suppose you live in the United States? Evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity is prominent over there, which holds a strict literal interpretation of the Bible (this is also why the creationism vs evolution debate is big thing over there). Over here in the Philippines, it isn't even an issue. Catholic Schools, which are the majority of schools, have always taught evolution in science classes. We have a few evangelical Christians here as well but they are usually home schooled or have small specialized schools to cater to their audience. This is not what Orthodox Christianity teaches though be it Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, etc.
How would you identify yourself by the way? An atheist or? I thought you were an atheist in our previous discussions but you seem to separate yourself from them in your post.
The meaning of life is for us to prepare to be with God in heaven (which is our final end), and to aid others towards this goal. As for my philosophy in life it's simple - to do good and love others as Christ commanded us. Yes, we humans do seek happiness and there are many things in this world that can make us very happy but in the end we can only find complete happiness in God, who we were created by and for. I believe that it is only in the end, when we die and if by God's grace, we are able to attain salvation and be with him in Heaven after living a good and virtuous life on earth, will we be truly and totally happy. As St Augustine said, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in you".
Now how am I living my life?
1. By rooting myself in virtue and character. This means striving to be honest, selfness, kind, generous, loving, charitable, patient and diligent. This also means thinking positively, being happy and grateful, seeking greater discipline and self-control over oneself and doing one's work well. It entails naturally steering one's life towards what's good. To put Christ at the center of one's life. To do good and become good (because our actions are self-transformative).
2. By being the best possible influence to the people around me. To help others, support others, serve others, to be a great friend, a great son or daughter, to have a great time with your loved ones and enjoy life together, etc. I believe that, when you become an abundant source of good to those around you - when you cause positive change, help those in need, help your friends and family become better persons, help others overcome their problems and make others happy through your actions and company, you become happy too. You also get a strong sense of fulfilment by living a life like this.
3. Striving for self-actualization and becoming the best possible version of myself. This means embarking on a path of self-discovery and learning more about yourself and understanding who you are. It also means building on one's strengths (honing my skills, talents and putting my physical and mental gifts into good use) and working on my weaknesses (attempting to become a better and more well-rounded person).
4. Enjoy life. You only live once (on this earth), so make the most out of it. However, contrary to what the term "YOLO" usually implies, seek fun and enjoyment in accordance to what is good and right. This world is for us to enjoy and celebrate but there is a right way to do it. Drink and get a good hit but don't get drunk. Party but don't do drugs or sleep around. As a college student, I have given these things up and it's hard initially but trust me, it's worth it. You will benefit a lot and you'll come to realize that this is how we should live (at least I did). It's a better, clean, more responsible, healthy and fulfilling life that still embraces the world and all the good that it has to offer. You can definitely have fun without vice. Seek great relationships and experiences. Meet new people, mess around with your friends, enjoy good food and drink, party, travel, get into sports, exercise, fall in love, get married, have children, etc.
The Christian ideal, although difficult and challenging, is definitely rewarding. I'm glad I decided to take my faith seriously and put God at the center of my life two years ago. I plan to continue living my life in this manner and I hope to be a source of inspiration to those around me. That yes, it is possible to be a faithful Christian and enjoy this life. Life right now is great and I'm happy...and after getting to know my faith more, I'm just in love with it. I'm in love with Christ and his Church and I'm driven to share my faith with those around me. And of course, on my death bed, I'm sure I'd be one of the happiest men alive - fulfilled, with no regrets and eager in anticipation for my final destiny. I also want to add that I was further inspired by a few of my friends (3 of them) who started living their faith much earlier than I did (and since then I've met a few more people like them). Despite being young devout Christians, they were still able to excel in school, have fun and enjoy the world. They also didn't have that "holier than thou" attitude or were judgemental of others (unlike a number of teachers at my Catholic HS). They continue to live their faith well and I'm sure, continue to convert others through example.
I don't blame an atheist for not believing in God either. I just wanted to get their perspective of things and the question which really puzzled me more than anything, and which made me write my previous post was that, if they really thought that there was no evidence for the existence of a God. Many times, I see atheists on the net saying that and I can't help but say, really, none?
Thanks for the post. I understand that the problem of evil poses a challenge for a lot of people. I wouldn't agree that atheists operate under a mindset of "proving what is wrong" though. They just don't see enough evidence for them to believe in a God (and if they concede that there is evidence but not enough to convince them, I would find this very understandable...many atheists though do not). Atheists, like everyone else, follow the evidence wherever it leads them. They still are searching for the truth and are open to the evidence.
Atheists honestly fascinate me with their non-belief. In the same way, I'm sure we fascinate them with our belief. But anyway, like you, I really think that the evidence is there and I can't understand how these people can continue to assert that there is "no evidence" when there clearly is. I've laid my case in this thread a few pages back and presented the evidence that convinced me. I don't think that what convinced me is "nothing". So to the atheists out there who believe that there is "no evidence", is there really zero evidence? Or is there a bit of evidence, it's just that it's lacking? Because I can understand the latter view even if I disagree with it but the former really puzzles me and I've seen a lot of atheists take up the former view. Also, what is the main stumbling block for you guys in believing that there is a God? Lastly, are you honestly open to the evidence? I know that there are Christians who cling to their belief because they want God to exist but at the same time I also know that there are atheists out there who do not assess the evidence honestly because they do not want God to exist either. Likewise, feel free to ask me questions as well if you're curious.
Yeah faith is important and essential but so is reason. Being a Christian doesn't mean that you have to put aside your rational faculties. On the contrary, the Christian faith is highly rational. And as for evidence, there is a lot. The question is if you are honestly open to that evidence and if that evidence is enough to convince you. Personally, I was drawn closer to my faith through reason. I studied my faith earnestly in first year HS, wondering if what I believed in was really true. In the end, I found no serious problem that caused be to doubt or lead to me to crisis in faith and instead, found countless reasons to reinforce my faith. I fell in love with Christ and his Church and I'd be glad to serve him and give him glory through my life and actions.
What...your mom was really lucky. Thank God indeed.
Yeah miracles happen all the time. I'm going through a rough period in my life at the moment and I've had God clearly help me out twice. Maybe even more but these two experiences stood out. The first one was when I was dwelling BIG TIME on a problem and it was killing me because I didn't know who else to tell. I was flipping through the contacts on my phone, looking for someone to call, because I was really spiralling. Then, I felt a "pinch" at the back of my head. All of a sudden, my dwelling completely stopped and there was a "tinggg" (like what you hear when someone slaps both of your ears) inside of my head. I just stood there in silence, obviously in shock, still trying to process everything and when I tried speaking to "test things" my voice barely found its way out of my mouth initially. The second time was when again I was dwelling again...and I was at one of the lowest poinst in my life at that time. Just so confused and lost, I asked God to give me a sign, to make me understand my situation and shed light on this problem which I couldn't figure out. The next day, I received his answer through a pm from a friend on steam. My friend sent me this link and was just "curious as to what I thought of it". Even today, I still consider that message from that friend of mine crucial in my journey to set things right.
It's funny because for the longest time, even if I strongly believed in God, I was always skeptical about the small miracles he'd work in my lives..or those really close to me, like my parents. Whenever anyone else would share their personal stories of miracles in their lives, like a teacher, an uncle or an aunt, for example, I'd be fine believing them for some reason. If the miracle seemed clear of course and not something that seemed like it would lean more towards a coincidence. Anyway, I remember one time my mother was telling me (this was after the first miracle I mentioned earlier happened and around the time where the second miracle happened), how her novena to Our Lady of Knots worked and helped her solve one her problems. And I remember making a face of disbelief and responding sarcastically with "reaally". Well, throughout this journey of mine, God has helped me out big time and now I'm sorry I even doubted lol. In time, he made me believe. He's there for sure..and when I look back in my life I can see his hand working - guiding me, helping me, preparing and molding me into becoming the person he wants me to be. I know he has a plan for me, like he does for all of us...and I plan on following his will in my life. And right now, things are honestly starting falling into place. Thanks God, seriously!