As I predicted, hearing the alarm go off at 6:50 this morning was terrible. I showed up to work around 8:20 (anywhere between 8:00 and 8:30 is fine, so no problems there) and woke up sometime after getting back from lunch. And so begins another year.
Now, to continue my little discussion (pretty much involving... me) on religion. This is is more for me to clarify what I think it means, but again I'd love any thoughts you have.
First, for this discussion, let us assume there is one universal god. I am also assuming that, for whatever reason, belief in this god is imperative, no matter how it comes about.
I believe that this universal god, in order to bring about the highest number of believers, has manifested himself (gender-neutral) as different gods (or other bases) of what we see are world religions. He is God to Christians, Yahweh to Jews, Buddha to Buddhists, and Nature to Druids (this is most likely over-simplified, but the underlying concept is there). In this way, he is all things to all people, and different peoples from different cultures all have something they can put their faith in.
If this universal god exists, I would also propose he is of a higher plane than we are, and therefore cannot be fully comprehended by us. As an analogy, if god is a three dimensional object, and we lived in two dimensions, all we would see of god would bee the intersections where our planes have intersected him, like this. Coming from different angles, people would see the same god, but from different viewpoints, and may come to different conclusions, and perhaps completely different religions based on what they have seen. Additionally, what if he were shaped like this, for example. And what if a culture saw him as the intersection of a plane and his "fingers," that neatly showed four separate entities. That would mean that what Christians see as God could show up as multiple separate gods according to your viewpoint, right? Couldn't this then explain, say, the Greek pantheon of gods?
This concept, to me anyway, would explain how many religious beliefs have the some of the same underlying values, but have been cast into very different belief systems.
So, while none of this explains what the correct path might be in choosing a religion, it helps me explain (to myself, at least) how there can be so many religions, many of them mutually exclusive, and still have them be right so as not to condemn entire cultures.
I'm not quite sure I explained that well enough, to me or to anyone else who reads this. In my mind, the concepts are clear anyway, and while they may not be believable, they make more sense to me than having one true religion to the damnation of all others.
I'll try not to bore anyone else with this religious rhetoric from now on, although I may revisit it at some point to clear things up, especially if it's clearing things up for me.
With that, go and tell jadednerdgirl how lucky she is to shoot three gorgeous ladies, or loose sleep thinking of Mle's hot lesbian threesome action.
Now, to continue my little discussion (pretty much involving... me) on religion. This is is more for me to clarify what I think it means, but again I'd love any thoughts you have.
First, for this discussion, let us assume there is one universal god. I am also assuming that, for whatever reason, belief in this god is imperative, no matter how it comes about.
I believe that this universal god, in order to bring about the highest number of believers, has manifested himself (gender-neutral) as different gods (or other bases) of what we see are world religions. He is God to Christians, Yahweh to Jews, Buddha to Buddhists, and Nature to Druids (this is most likely over-simplified, but the underlying concept is there). In this way, he is all things to all people, and different peoples from different cultures all have something they can put their faith in.
If this universal god exists, I would also propose he is of a higher plane than we are, and therefore cannot be fully comprehended by us. As an analogy, if god is a three dimensional object, and we lived in two dimensions, all we would see of god would bee the intersections where our planes have intersected him, like this. Coming from different angles, people would see the same god, but from different viewpoints, and may come to different conclusions, and perhaps completely different religions based on what they have seen. Additionally, what if he were shaped like this, for example. And what if a culture saw him as the intersection of a plane and his "fingers," that neatly showed four separate entities. That would mean that what Christians see as God could show up as multiple separate gods according to your viewpoint, right? Couldn't this then explain, say, the Greek pantheon of gods?
This concept, to me anyway, would explain how many religious beliefs have the some of the same underlying values, but have been cast into very different belief systems.
So, while none of this explains what the correct path might be in choosing a religion, it helps me explain (to myself, at least) how there can be so many religions, many of them mutually exclusive, and still have them be right so as not to condemn entire cultures.
I'm not quite sure I explained that well enough, to me or to anyone else who reads this. In my mind, the concepts are clear anyway, and while they may not be believable, they make more sense to me than having one true religion to the damnation of all others.
I'll try not to bore anyone else with this religious rhetoric from now on, although I may revisit it at some point to clear things up, especially if it's clearing things up for me.
With that, go and tell jadednerdgirl how lucky she is to shoot three gorgeous ladies, or loose sleep thinking of Mle's hot lesbian threesome action.
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ps. will you be my friend, even though I'm a lazy assed non-journal comment writing bastard of late?