(June 18, 2014 at 5:03 am)pocaracas Wrote:(June 17, 2014 at 8:33 pm)zanOTK Wrote: Theists believe that it does.Indeed they do... but do they have good reason for such belief?
Or is it just "gut feeling" and indoctrination?
(June 17, 2014 at 8:33 pm)zanOTK Wrote: Haha, I'm reminded of something that is DEFINETLEY not religious: Futurama. Hilarious show. Ever seen it? In one episode, Bender (robot) meets God who is actually a giant computer/something else that smashed together (I can't remember what it was the computer crashed into...). Anyway, God/The Computer said that if you do things right, it won't look like you did anything at all. This was in response to Bender's own experience "playing god" to a bunch of tiny little aliens that basically colonized his body while he was floating through space. When he helped them, they became too dependent on him and wouldn't do anything themselves. When he didn't help them they destroyed themselves in a tiny (from Bender's perspective) nuclear war.yeah.... why are all claims about any of god's actions always in the past?
Of course, that doesn't prove anything. It's a damn cartoon. But it did make me think. It kind of makes sense, in a way. I mean, I question all the time why God doesn't intervene more. But, if he did, wouldn't we become too reliant on Him? According to my own religion's beliefs, we are here in this world to learn and to develop spiritual attributes. How exactly are we going to learn or develop anything if He steps in whenever we're in trouble? We're not. If that's the case, then we're just not going to know it whenever our lives have been interfered with. There probably won't be any immediate changes. But over time, things will happen. Maybe. Lol.
Maybe, they're just stories, huh? Like the other one I'm reminded of that starts off with "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away"... how can anyone refute that?!
(June 17, 2014 at 8:33 pm)zanOTK Wrote: The simple fact of the matter is, according to my religious beliefs God expects people to get the hell out there and DO something. In fact, service to mankind is considered to be a form of worship in the Baha'i Faith.
Baha'i.... now there's a new religion for me!
Wiki gods, please help!!
Oh, look, they helped!
wiki Wrote:The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. Three core principles establish a basis for Bahá'í teachings and doctrine: the unity of God, that there is only one God who is the source of all creation; the unity of religion, that all major religions have the same spiritual source and come from the same God; and the unity of humanity, that all humans have been created equal, and that diversity of race and culture are seen as worthy of appreciation and acceptance. According to the Bahá'í Faith's teachings, the human purpose is to learn to know and love God through such methods as prayer, reflection and being of service to humanity.
Sounds a lot like present-day catholics... But I guess there are some divergent details.
It's not really a "gut feeling" for me, nor is it indoctrination. It's past experience. Which suck, because personal experience can't really be used as any kind of evidence. But I'm not trying to prove anything, so *shrug*.
As for claims about God's actions: Most of the "major" ones, Baha'is basically believe are myth. They are said to hold metaphorical truths, but are not literally true themselves. That doesn't mean we don't believe in miracles period, it just means we don't believe in MOST of them actually happening.
There are a LOT of "divergent details." Starting with: Catholicism came out of Judaism, the Baha'i Faith came out of Islam. Catholics today believe that the practitioners of other religions -maybe- have a chance of going to heaven due to the "mystery of Christ's sacrifice," Baha'is believe the practitioners of other religions have just as much of a chance as Baha'is do to achieve a good afterlife. Which leads to another: Baha'is don't believe in Heaven and Hell. We believe that these are metaphors for nearness to and distance from God. We also believe that you can continue to draw nearer to God after death (to Catholics that would basically be saying you can get to Heaven from Hell). Also, while Catholics have a powerful priesthood, Baha'is have no clergy. For spiritual matters, we are responsible for ourselves. For administration, we hold elections for the Local, Regional, National, and International administrative bodies. Baha'is also don't believe in the Trinity, or that Jesus resurrected after being crucified.
