Tony\'s God (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Monday, November 28, 2011, 13:49 (4745 days ago) @ BBella

part 2

[*]There is a long term plan of corrective action, though the details of such a plan are quite likely beyond our limited comprehension and are at work at a time scale that, because of our limited lifespan, seems to be a burden. However, i speculate that this time frame is not by any means random, but probably is dependent upon certain criteria that must be met for such a thing to be successfully implemented without starting from scratch.

If, you are talking about the afterlife above, or what happens to "souls" after they die, I personally do believe in a type of reincarnation and an afterlife. But my belief has nothing to do with the "gods" who created us, but in the sentient being that we are and our own creative desires which have the ability to manifest an afterlife for our soul.

This statement was not so much geared to the afterlife, though I do suspect that there is some form of reincarnation. This statement is geared towards physical reality. There was an original purpose that was put off track because of humanities choices, and eventually things will be realligned with that original purpose. However, it will be done when the time is right, which probably has its own set of criteria.

[*]We were given an opportunity to learn how to accomplish that task perfectly.

This can be seen from two perspectives: We can look at the scriptures and go by its teachings and say, this was our God teaching us from long ago and our first fathers/ forefathers didn't listen and now we suffer for it. Or, we can recognize, as you've said before and/or since, we see the patterns of ALL THAT IS, given directly to us, and learn from those patterns how things ARE and work within the flow of that framework, or against it.

One way, narrowly looks to those imperfect "gods" of our forefathers in the scriptures and try to decipher or glean from their teaching the best way to look and walk in life that gets us the furthermost or helps us to feel like we are "living" right. The other, recognizes that everything we observe, within and without, is our teacher,

We can also do both :) Many times I have thought of religious texts as the 'hint books' for an extremely complicated puzzle. They don't give straight answers and they were never intended to. They instead give us clues that we can use as a sort of anchor point while examining reality.

..we become limited by any one book or teacher when we focus solely from that one perspective, even if we choose to observe other teachings, but with the eyes of limitation seen from one teachings perspective, we become limited by that perspective.

Agreed

[*]We are accountable for all that has occurred since that time.

I think you mistook what I meant here. We, as indidviduals are only responsible for our own personal actions, but as a species we are responsible for everything that has occurred since the choice was made to do things our own way.(i.e. We can only blame ourselves for the problems that we cause and their consequences.

I do believe that *all* of the original religious texts contain elements of the truth. I also think that there is much more to our existence than we currently understand. One of the reasons that DHW has a hard time pinning down my beliefs is that *I* have a hard time pinning them down. Contrary to what David says, the only holdover belief I have from my childhood is that of a loving creator god. Truth be told, I gave that belief up when I was 15, only to have it quite forcefully brought home to roost as I got older via my own experiences. For the most part, I see all religions as a way of trying to express the same concepts. And, as DHW is always quick to point out, I gladly acknowledge the corruptibility of religion via personal and political motivations on the part of organizations and individuals.

It is not unusual for me to entertain several different theories at once, and discount or refine them as I find new information that subtly shifts my perspective. However, for everything that I have found, nothing has been able to shake my faith in god, and in particular, my faith that God IS Love.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.