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how many of you... (pg. 3)
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| Clovis |
| quote: | Originally posted by Caela
live an empiracle lifestyle...believe only what you've seen for your own eyes. i was baptised catholic and grew up that way...but you know what? you really can only trust what you've experienced yourself. |
I'm willing to believe certain perspectives or things that other people who I trust say. But usually only as a perspective not as fact. |
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| Theresa |
I personally don't have a doubt that Jesus was a man who walked the earth and made a significant impact on people.
Whether he was "gods son" or not, I don't know, and is something I find to be far fetched, but could not be assed to dispute it, since really... who the hell knows? None of us were there 2000 years ago.
With my religious background, I know enough to make an educated judgement when I say that I do not think that the religious sects are truly representative of the core meaning to what they are/were intended.
With that being said, I do not think badly of anyone who believes/participates in their religion... I only think poorly of those who do not understand or agree that there ARE mistakes and errors in the teachings, and in the documentations of such.
Anyone who tells me that they think the bible is word for word the original scripture from when it was written, and should be taken in a *literal* way, is IMO, a bloody nutter, and TOTALLY irrational. |
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| Clovis |
| quote: | Originally posted by Theresa
a bloody nutter, |
That just sounds, I dunno, weird? |
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| Halcyon+On+On |
| quote: | Originally posted by Caela
but you mind as well make your life the best it can be. because when you're dying, you better be happy with the things you have done. because it's gonna suck ass if you have regrets. |
That's one way to look at it...
Assuming you only get one conscious life (or what we know as the
illusion of true consciousness?) perhaps it is each person's own thing
to do whatever they want with it. Some people views of 'living life to
the fullest' are far different than other people's. Of course there is
a somewhat unifying sense of social and moral accomplishment amongst
human beings that is often sought-after...though the specific tenets
of such things rarely correlate amongst individuals, and seem to be
products of mere social and biological drives. Money, fame, selective
reproductive capacity, and the cycle which recycles such concepts and
perpetuates similar individuals to attain similar goals under similar
circumstances...but what does any of it really mean in the end? Some
people see their 'one' life as their 'one chance' to accomplish
something that, frankly, will not last. I say do whatever the hell you
feel like doing. Don't 'live life to the fullest' like it's going to
last forever, because no matter what you do, you cannot affect the
continuum of event - if something was meant to fade into nothingness,
it shall, if something is beautiful enough to last forever, it shall.
Does this mean that we are predestined in some way? Hell if I know.
But one thing I've observed about most every human being is that the
more that they try to prescribe and encapsulate a feeling or an event
of true and significant beauty, there is something lost - much in the
way that energy is lost in every transformation of matter, and in that
same light, the energy is never used again and becomes 'dead'. Try as
we might to create something beautiful, the only things we have
control of are those tainted by our very will to sell and to
assimilate - the only really beautiful thing that humans ever created
was religion and God, and we've pretty well ed that up for the
most part, so it's a good thing it won't last much longer!
I've been thinking a lot about life recently...not the kind of 'life'
that somebody lives, but the kind of terms we could use to describe
something that is living...and subsequently, how can we discern what
is not living from what is? Sometimes, we just sort of 'know', but
humans are pitifully insensitive creatures more often than not - we've
only got 5 sense (or so?) and we're not particularly good at using any
of them, really. So what could we ever really know about life other
than how to keep it perpetuating at a very base level? Maybe we've
reached our peak - who knows? I honestly doubt it, and try not to
descend too far into a pessimistic spiral, but nothing is really
ensured to us at all...nowhere in some universal law-book is it
written that we are as good as it gets or that we will live forever.
We're just lonely creatures, foraging around in our drywall prisons on
a rock at a very lonely part of space, an eternity from anywhere else.
This sounds pretty dead, if you ask me. Speaking of drywall prisons,
it seems to me that one major component of 'life' as we know it is to
replicate those actions of the smaller particles which comprise 'us'.
If you've ever studied the working cell, it's easy to see where/how
parallels within the infiniteness of our cells are imitated in daily
life. We have our walls and our membranes - our spheres and our organs
- our processes and our bridges and our interactions with particles
outside of our prisons. Kind of makes you wonder if cells are just
imitating what they are made of...or if we are just the cells of some
greater consciousness, and our proliferation is the very dependent
lifeforce within the cells of the universe we know. Maybe it might
even make you wonder if cells think to themselves before they rest or
before they die..."God, have I lived a good life?" |
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| Theresa |
| quote: | Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On
That's one way to look at it...
Assuming you only get one conscious life (or what we know as the illusion of true consciousness?) perhaps it is each person's own thing to do whatever they want with it. Some people views of 'living life to the fullest' are far different than other people's. Of course there is a somewhat unifying sense of social and moral accomplishment amongst human beings that is often sought-after...though the specific tenets of such things rarely correlate amongst individuals, and seem to be products of mere social and biological drives. Money, fame, selective reproductive capacity, and the cycle which recycles such concepts and perpetuates similar individuals to attain similar goals under similar circumstances...but what does any of it really mean in the end? Some people see their 'one' life as their 'one chance' to accomplish something that, frankly, will not last. I say do whatever the hell you feel like doing. Don't 'live life to the fullest' like it's going to last forever, because no matter what you do, you cannot affect the continuum of event - if something was meant to fade into nothingness, it shall, if something is beautiful enough to last forever, it shall. Does this mean that we are predestined in some way? Hell if I know. But one thing I've observed about most every human being is that the more that they try to prescribe and encapsulate a feeling or an event of true and significant beauty, there is something lost - much in the way that energy is lost in every transformation of matter, and in that same light, the energy is never used again and becomes 'dead'. Try as we might to create something beautiful, the only things we have control of are those tainted by our very will to sell and to assimilate - the only really beautiful thing that humans ever created was religion and God, and we've pretty well ed that up for the most part, so it's a good thing it won't last much longer!
I've been thinking a lot about life recently...not the kind of 'life' that somebody lives, but the kind of terms we could use to describe something that is living...and subsequently, how can we discern what is not living from what is? Sometimes, we just sort of 'know', but humans are pitifully insensitive creatures more often than not - we've only got 5 sense (or so?) and we're not particularly good at using any of them, really. So what could we ever really know about life other than how to keep it perpetuating at a very base level? Maybe we've reached our peak - who knows? I honestly doubt it, and try not to descend too far into a pessimistic spiral, but nothing is really ensured to us at all...nowhere in some universal law-book is it written that we are as good as it gets or that we will live forever. We're just lonely creatures, foraging around in our drywall prisons on a rock at a very lonely part of space, an eternity from anywhere else. This sounds pretty dead, if you ask me. Speaking of drywall prisons, it seems to me that one major component of 'life' as we know it is to replicate those actions of the smaller particles which comprise 'us'. If you've ever studied the working cell, it's easy to see where/how parallels within the infiniteness of our cells are imitated in daily life. We have our walls and our membranes - our spheres and our organs - our processes and our bridges and our interactions with particles outside of our prisons. Kind of makes you wonder if cells are just imitating what they are made of...or if we are just the cells of some greater consciousness, and our proliferation is the very dependent lifeforce within the cells of the universe we know. Maybe it might even make you wonder if cells think to themselves before they rest or before they die..."God, have I lived a good life?" |
Please seperate into smaller paragraphs.
Clovis... I was watching the UK apprentice, and he said it, so it was fresh in my mind. |
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| mezzir |
| quote: | Originally posted by Clovis
Or maybe think about getting some beliefs you can actually back up. I.E. not based on a work of fiction. |
hah yeah well said
lol and i was just checking who mentioned waking life so i could quote them too, and lo and behold it was you!
anyways, that movie ftmfw
you seen his other stuff of the same genre if you will?
if not, before sunrise and before sunset, two GREAT ing films, both in the same style (not visually, but rather the lack of a plot and just very very interesting conversation)
i'd highly recommend everything he's done |
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| Halcyon+On+On |
| quote: | Originally posted by Theresa
I personally don't have a doubt that Jesus was a man who walked the earth and made a significant impact on people.
Whether he was "gods son" or not, I don't know, and is something I find to be far fetched, but could not be assed to dispute it, since really... who the hell knows? None of us were there 2000 years ago.
With my religious background, I know enough to make an educated judgement when I say that I do not think that the religious sects are truly representative of the core meaning to what they are/were intended.
With that being said, I do not think badly of anyone who believes/participates in their religion... I only think poorly of those who do not understand or agree that there ARE mistakes and errors in the teachings, and in the documentations of such.
Anyone who tells me that they think the bible is word for word the original scripture from when it was written, and should be taken in a *literal* way, is IMO, a bloody nutter, and TOTALLY irrational. |
You know...I was watching that documentary posted here a few weeks ago on "the most hated family in America" - the godhatesamerica.com / Westboro Baptist Church people - and I remember one scene where the interviewer, Louis, asks one of the men holding the 'God Hates Fags' signs what Jesus would have done if he were there. Not surprisingly, the man replied something to the affect of "Oh, Jesus would grab a sign and hold it up right here beside us. He hated fags, too, blah blah blah".
I think this man was right.
I'll certainly not deny that Christianity and several other religions have their merits - they play upon a very, very potent human component - faith - and as such, have the potential to be very powerful forces of positive or negative change within somebody's life. Ultimately, individual decision is the key factor within any choice that somebody makes for themselves or even for others sometimes, but that isn't to wholly discount the impact of religious teachings within people - hope is a very interesting and complex thing, even if it is a vain and futile endeavour, in some cases. It seems to me that Christians, in this case, are just another brand of people who believe, really, whatever they want to believe, and try to justify its correlation towards established religious doctrine. But when *hasn't* this been a primary component of religious belief? People believe in God because they want to - perhaps some cases are far deeper than others, but religion is a personal choice, through and through, despite the great shadow of Christian hegemony we can see only when we question the very nature of established "morality" in western society.
It seems to me that, according to the book, Jesus was no different an authority than much of the gospels, themselves. That is to say, scripture became law merely for the fact that it was scripture. Sort of a 'do as I say or else' mentality that most religions and books speak in the tone of, as though believing in the "evil" deeds of "sodomizers" is justified by nothing more than the words of a text that is so archaic, its only perpetuating source of authority is derived from its mysterious origins and translation errors. As though the sort of "negative space" that the words create - as though the things the bible just forgot to mention, might just be the very things that damn us all in the end.
But what do you think?
Jesus is certainly made out to be a pretty laid-back guy - his most common quotables, I'd say, have to do with loving your enemy as you would your neighbour and turning the other cheek when faced with violence. But what if these are just the results of thousands of years worth of lies? Son of God or not, Jesus is said to have put forth a philosophy which certainly imitated previous frameworks, but took a very revisionist perspective towards the (then) whole of human moral conduct in accordance with religion. It's significance cannot be refuted, only its validity for, despite your very own beliefs, the very fact that you believe or don't believe in something has little to no affect on whether the next person does. So what gives? There are several instances of hatred and wrath from divine sources in the bible - Jesus was even known to lose his temper over things which, frankly, aren't really all that important to people nowadays. Would he be the paragon of serenity and love for his fellow creatures like most of modern Christianity would like you to think (keep their bias in mind) or would he be a total ing **** in sandles, waving his cardboard sign at you on the side of the road, spreading the "good word" of how evil homosexuality is because, according to the "good book", it is an abomination of the Lord, His father?
I'm gonna have to go with #2. |
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| CrazedOut |
Wow, kind of nice to find out that I'm not alone in this... there's always this feeling to bring something like this up, and then I feel I'm gonna sound stupid...
I don't think about this too often, but when I do, I get really down and depressed, sometimes where I think to myself, what the hell is the point of doing certain things, or accomplishing goals, when it's gonna be all over one day... Yeah, I have a really weird way of thinking about something like this, and to be honest I've gotten teary-eyed in bed before just getting into deep thoughts about it. |
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| Theresa |
That is a really awesome video. Kinda makes you realize how small and insignificant you can be...
Not to mention, how we are all a lot like drones/robots.
This thread reminds me of a brilliant book I read called "God's Debris" by Scott Adams. SERIOUSLY one of THE best books I have ever read... |
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| AndreaCKY772 |
hey caela!
actually i do this occassionally... i think "what have i done withb my life"? "what do i really wan to accomplish"? i was just thinking of my life plan yesterday... i was thinking of my professors and i was inspired by some of them. i have a teacher who lived in japan for 9 years and has written a japanese story anthology. i thought it was pretty cool... i also thought about going back to study more chemistry (i'm a science freak...the only thing that stopped me from becoming a science major was the fact that math was heavily needed). my chemistry porfessor is so smart it's nuts and i want to be able to possess that expertise he has on science. my african teacher, he's ridiculously smart and i wish i knew more than two different languages (he knows portugese, spanish, nigerian and i think french). he has a phd and he is just really scholarly...
earlier yesterday, i picked up a flyer that said "teach english in different countries"...i was interested in teaching in japan later on in life aside from going into advertising.
right now, i plan to take a year off after i graduate and then go to grad school. i plan to keep myself disciplined and study more japanese so i can speak it EXTRA fluently in the business world. maybe when i'm 30, i'll take on korean (for interest purposes) or chinese (for business purposes). i want to plan my life so i can be successful. i DO focus on money with jobs...i want a job that wll make me live comfortably...i don't have to be bling blinging, but a good job with good money is something i want. i don't want to make mistakes and regret things i should have done later on in life. i'm glad i realize this now...
edit: and sometimes i do think "what is all this really for? i'm not going to live forever". however, i feel if i think like that, then i will accomplish a lot less. |
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| RJT |
I didn't read through the whole thread, but from what I did read, this seems like a good place to post something I've been meaning to for a bit.
I think ultimate satisfaction in life is returning back to that which gave rise to us. So in that sense, when I become food for worms (or more likely, a tree), it will be one of the most satiisfactory experiences of my life - not because my life is over, but because in many ways I'm returning to that which is most fundamental.
/random. |
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