In reply to this comment by dgandhi:
>> ^shinyblurry:


You might realize that God is an idea deserving of serious philisophical consideration, a subject debated by some of the greatest minds this world has ever known. Is it the question in those circles. It would be laughable if you were to come to a real debate and say "well you don't have any evidence". And you do? Let's get real here..


Okay lets start this Poe/Turing test:

To give God serious philosophical consideration, the word itself must have meaning, so please, while not tipping your hand, explain how we could identify this thing if we were to come upon it. If you want to claim that we can't come upon it, then please explain your definition of the term exists in such a way that you can make the claim "God does exist".

i have been thoroughly impressed with your comments on this thread but this is nails the crux of any argument concerning theology/theosophy/sprituality:define god first THEN discuss.
otherwise it almost always and inevitably spirals into a dogmatic fistfight.

bravo my man.

God is a spritual concept. Does god exist? That's a metaphysical question, best to totally ignore it. Does a river exist as it changes from instant to instant?

Rather when I say to you, "you are against god" "God will protect you" "God will avenge me"
these are spiritual concepts. unbelievers may laugh, but spiritually minded people (who aren't as filled with prejudices as you wish to think) understand the meaning perfectly.

Sorry If I judged all you unbelievers.

i can certainly understand why you aren't religious, with all the various religions trying to keep people from doing stuff and putting rules on other people.

its kind of like politics, you have to search for days just for a person who isn't playing the game exclusively for himself.

still i can recommend christian books by ravi zacharias or charles r. swindoll.
really what we all need is the ability to discern.... to use an auto analogy... discern a pothole in the road, from a personal problem. This is the type of spirituality that everyone needs. the challenges in your life... how to deal effectively with them or even not to try.

The bible aint gonna help with this really . Psychology does, but with the low hanging fruits. Really you get sprituality from dealing with spiritual people. Or god, if you can find him.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

Maybe,

But I suspect that the rational wonder you describe is like decaf coffee. To get the jolt of physiological benefits- you need real faith- to let go and let God. It’s the relinquishing of personal control for the outcomes in your life that brings on the bliss.
>> ^westy:
you can be 100% ratoinal and still utilise the same parts of the brain that religoin uses ,
you can still be very spritual , artistic , optamistic , apeal to woderment. and at the same time not have anny need to arbatreraly chose to belive in 1 of the thousends of sky daddies.
aside from that you can allso indulge parts of the mind in the full knowlage that its not real , but still get the same enjoyment , in the way people enjoy vilolence in films or enjoy ghost films , but would never kill people or beliv ein ghosts for real.
>> ^dag:
My fear is that religion is baked into our minds through evolution as it serves to make cohesive herds/tribes.
To go against the religious instinct is to deny human nature - and possibly suffer the physical downside- depression and a shorter life. I'll pay that price.

you can be 100% ratoinal and still utilise the same parts of the brain that religoin uses ,

you can still be very spritual , artistic , optamistic , apeal to woderment. and at the same time not have anny need to arbatreraly chose to belive in 1 of the thousends of sky daddies.

aside from that you can allso indulge parts of the mind in the full knowlage that its not real , but still get the same enjoyment , in the way people enjoy vilolence in films or enjoy ghost films , but would never kill people or beliv ein ghosts for real.



>> ^dag:

My fear is that religion is baked into our minds through evolution as it serves to make cohesive herds/tribes.
To go against the religious instinct is to deny human nature - and possibly suffer the physical downside- depression and a shorter life. I'll pay that price.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'faith, sprituality, evidence, theism' to 'faith, spirituality, evidence, theism' - edited by mauz15

I would upvote Lord of the Rings, because it is good fantasy, and if this were written as pure fantasy, I would upvote it. But it's sprituality/religion and is indeed a promotion of it, which is a big downvote usually from me. There is, however, and *art factor too, which swings it back up. Maybe the video could spawn a discussion of some kind too.