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depends on what you mean by ‘life’. If you define ‘life’ as including a conscious self awareness of your own existence then, no. If, however, you define ‘life’ as the ongoing prescence of ‘your’ energy within the universe then yes, absolutely, that is an indisputable physical law.
God = Universe = Nature
We are all (animate/inanimate) part of this God and this God is part of us.
Benedict Spinoza:<br>"God: otherwise Nature. Nothing exists but God. God is one, that is, only one substance can be granted to exist in the universe…whatsoever is, is in God, and without God nothing can be, or be conceived"
Walt Whitman:<br>"I hear and behold God in every object…why should I wish to see God better than this day? I see something of God each hour of the twenty four, and each moment then. In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass"
Ralph Waldo Emerson:<br>"In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life – no disgrace, no calamity which nature cannot repair. Standing on the bare ground – my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space – all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing! I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or parcel of God"
Right on. The meaning of life?…no idea but it sure is good
Grasshopper Posted on 9:09 am on Nov. 24, 2006<br>If there is, he’s a bit of a w*nker.
<br>.. not true, indifferent to Man’s plight, IMO.
Thank’s for putting this thread up, Insomniac.
Always wanted to write about Pascals Gambit on the forum as we are all gamblers.:biggrin: ÂÂÂ
Top French philosopher Blaise Pascal, (a student of Game Theory), argued that it is a shrewd decision to believe in God because the expected value of believing that God exists, (i.e. entry into Heaven) is always greater than the expected value resulting from non-belief, (i.e descent into the fires of Hell).
In other words, a wonderful bet to nothing.;)
Cheers
Max
Drone, would you happen to be a Pantheist, perchance? The quotes listed seem consistent with such thought as far as I understand it….
gc<br>
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I’m a big fan of Pascal Max .. him and those that discovered the universal constants.
GH, the notion of that God might be useful is quite a modern one I think.
Quote: from graysonscolumn on 5:06 pm on Nov. 24, 2006[br]Drone, would you happen to be a Pantheist, perchance? The quotes listed seem consistent with such thought as far as I understand it….
Yes, specifically a wishy-washy, undogmatic, non-commital belief in Naturalistic Pantheism.
Goes some way to satisfying those not infrequent idle moments spent pondering the Big Question: ‘what’s it all about then’
If belief in a deity equates to spiritual uplift, a sense of belonging and peace of mind then the great outdoors; the natural world; earth, wind and fire; and the night sky certainly evoke those emotions in me and always have done.
Illicit alkaloids were once the quick fix; pantheism the answer (sort of)
Sadly, I think there’s no such thing as god, and whilst it’s nice, even comforting to think of some kind of existence after we kick the bucket, I fear that’s just wishful thinking.<br>The "one-ness" with nature and the universe angle is nice but even deep thinkers / philosophers can over-egg the pudding. Just because many things in nature and the universe are amazing doesn’tmean they have any great spiritual significance.<br>The belief by the main Christian religions that god made us in his own image always seemed deeply flawed to me. If there is a god and he was omnipotent maker and master of everything, why would he need kidneys, toenails or eyelashes?<br>Another sham Christian line my teachers used to spin was that "god moved in mysterious ways" whenever the idea of a benevolent, loving Christ was questioned in relation to wars, famine, crime and natural disasters.<br>Unfortunately, as much as I’d like there to be an afterlife with a forgiving creator, it’s all just a human "comfort blanket".
There is no god i’m afraid. God is merely a buzz word for those who want to put some kind of ‘Made in Taiwan’ type label on our existence. We all want to understand from whence we came. We can’t understand it, so we simply resort to an all powerful, all knowing being that simply must be the reason for our existence.<br>What we don’t understand, we hypothesise on. Is time travel possible? Is the meaning of life defined by the number ’42’? Who knows? No-one knows is the answer.<br>So why try to put a common denominator on it? <br>What I don’t understand, and could never logically understand, I merely concede that fact and move on. <br>I don’t know what the common denominator is for life and existence. But I can’t believe that it was done in seven days by a guy with a big beard and tangled hair.<br>God was merely a propaganda coup, created by the Romans, to keep the masses in check. Clever people, those Romans. I find the conspiracy theory easier to believe than the legend itself.
Well? Did you expect an uncontroversial answer to a controversial question? ;)
Interesting stuff, RD.
Have you met any hardcore Christians? Particularly of the Born Again variety?
Wouldn’t it be great to trust everything in your life to a higher power! Wouldn’t it be such a blessed relief!
Careers? Leave it to God.<br>Money? He shall sow the field and we shall reap the harvest.<br>Illness? God shall heal the sick.<br>A wife? God shalt provide.<br>Family issues? He shall show us the light.<br>Cornish Rebel? Well, even God makes mistakes.
And they’re always smiling. I’ve never met any group of people who smile so consistently. Maybe they know something us agnostics don’t;) :biggrin:
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