Im not convinced it took a long time. The biblical account of creation only took a literal week starting with the heavens and the Earth and then progressing through the creation of man and animals.. what if that synopsis is completely, as written, true? Even if the Bible was man made mumble jumble, I think archeological evidence has a lot to say on the subject of man and animals going back to the beginning of "time" whether you believe in a 7 day creation or the Earth, or it being billions and trillions of years old stemming from a evolutional theory.
There are millions upon millions of years between the first signs of life on earth and the appearance of bipedal apes that eventually became humans.
If the heavens and earth were created on the 1st day, then how long was that first day? A day, as we know it, consists of one revolution of the earth relative to the sun. If either of those weren't fully in place, then how does one measure the length of a day?
Those answers are perfect in the sense of that's what I was referring to when I mentioned 'free will'. You perceive and believe and think what you will... and all others have that freedom of choice also. I may differ in what I believe tho, but I don't disrespect or carry on about it when others may be of a different belief. Im glad we are not cookie cutter people, but beings with the power and freedom to choose what we might believe in.
Who's to say the time and existence of a 24 hour day didn't exist BEFORE this little world of the known trillions and trillions became into existence?
I don't want to turn this thread into a crap on religion thread or a religious debate so I won't. I love mocking religion but there's too much other good talk here to do that. So I'll just leave this part of the discussion with one of my favorite quotes and if you want to pick up the god talk on another thread I'm certainly cool with that.... Opinions don't change facts. But facts should change opinions...if you're rational. - Ricky Gervais
This conversation is really interesting because it opens so many new doors for thought and discussion. I have always felt very strongly about my connection to nature. Since my father marched my mother, my 4 siblings and I out of a Roman Catholic mass one Sunday, outraged by the priest's comments about French Canadians I have made my own way through the world of beliefs. I literally feel myself spiritually, emotionally and physically uplifted when I hike, or spend time outdoors. Every flower that blooms or the sound of birdsong lifts me up so high, it's like I am transported by something bigger than me and bigger than the universe. I do not believe in God but I do believe in a power. I recognize that power as coming from nature. In terms of there being a multiverse; that sounds as believable to me as there only being one. I believe (I have zero science or math sense) that what takes place in our universe or outside of it is purely randomly-generated. Things crash, they explode, planets disintegrate and for me these are all random acts of atoms being atoms. I'm probably so dead wrong about all of this but it's how I feel. I also feel a sense of having zero control when it comes to how and why. I think that man's ego has led him to believe that he actually matters in the bigger picture but I think the reverse is true. We just evolved and got to a point where we think we actually have some kind of power over things. Weather? We can't do anything about tornadoes, earthquakes, floods or tsunamis because they happen regardless of what we do. Truth is I think we are directly responsible for some of the worst weather ravages that have taken place on and around the earth. Random thought; look at how much trash has been left on Mount Everest or look at how many species are dying off, or how clogged our oceans have become due to plastics etc being dumped. Someone or something handed us this beautiful planet and what have we done? Have we ever even had any power over our own actions? I don't think so. I could never believe in an entity like God. All the bs that is written about him makes me sick. What kind of entity is he if he allows millions of people to suffer and die? That's my biggest problem with the idea. I believe in something which allows us all free will. It's what we do with that free will that dictates the kind of human being we are, not whether we follow a number of rules or attend worship regularly. As humans we have really fucked up our stay on this earth. Maybe this is some kind of cosmic joke or lesson, I don't know. I can totally relate to what you have said about your own life's purpose; loving and supporting your families. I really get that. When that can be accomplished without hurting or negatively impacting on anyone else's life I think that's as close you can come to godliness. I have always felt the rightness of the Buddhist core values despite not believing in a single entity. These resonate in me and I feel that they represent a better direction for man. No better place to start then the Three Universal Truths: 1. Nothing is lost in the universe 2. Everything Changes 3. The Law of Cause and Effect And then to look towards the three trainings: 1. Sila: Virtue, good conduct, morality. This is based on two fundamental principles: The principle of equality: that all living entities are equal. The principle of reciprocity: This is the "Golden Rule" in Christianity - to do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you. It is found in all major religions. 2. Samadhi: Concentration, meditation, mental development. Developing one's mind is the path to wisdom which, in turn, leads to personal freedom. Mental development also strengthens and controls our mind; this helps us maintain good conduct. 3. Prajna: Discernment, insight, wisdom, enlightenment. This is the real heart of Buddhism. Wisdom will emerge if your mind is pure and calm. These are important because humans are idiots. And then you have the Eightfold Path: The Buddha's Eightfold Path consists of: Panna: Discernment, wisdom: 1. Samma ditthi: Right Understanding of the Four Noble Truths. Right View is the true understanding of the four noble truths. 2. Samma sankappa: Right thinking; following the right path in life. Right Aspiration is the true desire to free oneself from attachment, ignorance, and hatefulness. These two are referred to as Prajna, or Wisdom. Sila: Virtue, morality: 3. Samma vaca: Right speech: No lying, criticism, condemning, gossip, harsh language. Right Speech involves abstaining from lying, gossiping, or hurtful talk. 4. Samma kammanta Right conduct or Right Action involves abstaining from hurtful behaviors, such as killing, stealing, and careless sex. These are called the Five Precepts. 5. Samma ajiva: Right livelihood: Support yourself without harming others. Right Livelihood means making your living in such a way as to avoid dishonesty and hurting others, including animals. These three are referred to as Shila, or Morality. Samadhi: Concentration, meditation: 6. Samma vayama: Right Effort: Promote good thoughts; conquer evil thoughts. Right Effort is a matter of exerting oneself in regards to the content of one's mind: Bad qualities should be abandoned and prevented from arising again. Good qualities should be enacted and nurtured. 7. Samma sati: Right Mindfulness: Become aware of your body, mind and feelings. Right Mindfulness is the focusing of one's attention on one's body, feelings, thoughts, and consciousness in such a way as to overcome craving, hatred, and ignorance. 8. Samma samadhi: Right Concentration: Meditate to achieve a higher state of consciousness. Right Concentration is meditating in such a way as to progressively realize a true understanding of imperfection, impermanence, and non-separateness And for me this really boils down to a simple precept of being a person of good and rightful intention. The purpose of life for me is to live a good life without hurting others. As to there being some kind of life after death? I have difficulty with the idea of everything going black at the end but since I also believe in the manifestation of energy I think there's a strong possibility that our spark of humanity; that bit of energy that belongs only to us continues.
Didn't quite understand that comment about 'God talk', but that's ok. I already said what I felt I wanted to anyway. C ya.
True and if you are right none of us will care or even know but if your wrong and I'm right (and I also like to think I am) well then one of us wont be happy (or truth be told both of us may not be happy).
If you're right I still die and fade to black because only the worthy go through the pearly gates. Unless you believe in the whole hell and damnation thing.....which wasn't part of many early religions that predate Christianity and wasn't a part of Christianity until many years after the religion was founded. Eternal torment didn't become a thing until like 500 years after Jesus supposedly ascended to heaven. Like many things in religion....it was just man made stuff meant to scare people.
He's the invisible guy you believe in but I don't. He supposedly created the world in 7 days then f'ed off and left us to our own inhibitions.
If there’s no supreme being then there’s no purpose for us. If we didn’t have a purpose we probably just would live like animals . Scraping our food together on a daily or close to that. It seems like man was put here to be the man . The only purpose I can see for man is to figure out if they are good or evil. There still time to change the path you’re on but in the long run we’ll find out who’s going to make it.
BWW, have you ever had a real crazy acid trip? Because I was an atheist like you, probably a crazier asshole about than you are. But when you really go through the door in your mind on acid or any other psychedelic substance you know there’s more to this place than just what we see here on earth. The point of what I am trying to say is when you really trip hard on acid is you start to feel like you’re dead or more like believe you are dead. You actually start wondering if you are ready to find out what is on the other side. It’s a very scary place to be, but a place a lot of us choose to go back to quite a few times. Anyways, when you get High like that you seem to know someone or something exists that you can’t explain.
If man were put here to be “the man”....why were we preceded by other animals? We weren’t the first creatures to roam this planet.
No other creatures had the control we have. Other species don’t put a bridle in the mouth of another animal and extract labor from it.
Anything is possible in this life, anything. I had a dream one time that I died and left my body. I was in a big room full of hospital beds from about the time of WW1. I said to myself, "that was easy, they make dying sound like such a big deal." When I did a search for a WW1 veterens hospital, it was identical to the one in my dream. I had never seen one before that dream.
I call bullshit. I hear this all the time from non-atheist folks: “we’ll, if you don’t believe in God or heaven or hell, why don’t you just do what you want all the time, like rob banks or steal other people’s money...?” Never heard such abject stupidity. How about I believe we have a responsibility to each other? To treat each other with kindness and respect, to conduct business deals fairly.
