Hi all :)

First off, Justin, I want to thank you so much for reading my essay. That really means a lot to me.

As for your "believe" or "not believe", You come across sounding kind of agnostic, which strikes me odd with your last statement that the spiritual world does "definitely seem to be there". It seems strange to me that you would believe in the spiritual world but possibly not believe in a Creator. Perhaps I misunderstand. If you're willing to elaborate, I'm willing to listen.

I bring this up in particular because to me, faith is the most important virtue one can have. Unlike Christians, I don't believe faith absolves you of your sins, but I do think that believing in a higher power is the only way to get into Heaven.

Now, I'll never tell someone what to believe. I believe a strong person makes decisions for themselves. But if there is one thing I wish to give people, it's a reason to believe.

The reason I think belief is so important is because I believe God knows that even He can't save someone that doesn't want to be saved. By choosing to believe in God, we are telling Him that we believe there is a better way of living our lives than the mockery humanity has made of this Earth, we're telling Him that we trust He knows better when it comes to what is right and wrong for us, and we're telling Him that we want to be a part of it. That's the first necessary requirement to earning a place in Heaven. Only when that is established is it even worth examining the morality with which we have lived our lives.

That's my belief, anyways. Take it or leave it. Your knowledge of history is very impressive. I get your point when you wrote, "I do have a problem with the human history involved because it shows where all of this stuff came from." I agree for the most part, but I do believe that God has been spreading his message throughout human history, sharing with us piece by piece as humanity has grown from our infancy to what I would call the very teenage society we are today.

The problem is, #1 societies never accept new teachings as an expansion of their beliefs, but rather brand new teachings that outweigh the old. We claim a new religion and tell the world that anyone that disagrees with us is wrong. Well, that may be more monotheistic religions than polytheistic, but you get the point.

#2 People have ALWAYS corrupted religious text, usually to justify our own evil ways. The Book of Revelation even warns that of all the books in the Bible, do not in any way alter Revelation. This to me is a clear acknowledgement from God that the Bible has been (or will be depending on the time frame) corrupted by mankind. And yet so many Christians cling to it as if it's the unadulterated word of God.

The reality is that it's hard for people to believe in God when they look at the horrific things man has done in God's name. I don't blame them. I like to say, "Your problem is with people, not with God." But looking at human history, I think it's easy to understand why you might not believe in "some head being also known as 'God'". I wish you would, but that's your decision and I never recommend people adopt beliefs just because someone else told them. Deciding for ourselves what we believe is one of the only true freedoms out there. I always suggest that such decisions are made on sound logic and reason.

Again, thanks for reading! Looking forward to chatting with you more!

Welcome to the site my friend!!

[Justin Case]

As for your "believe" or "not believe", You come across sounding kind of agnostic, which strikes me odd with your last statement that the spiritual world does "definitely seem to be there". It seems strange to me that you would believe in the spiritual world but possibly not believe in a Creator. Perhaps I misunderstand.

OK ... really easy. I go beyond the categories of "believe / don't believe" by creating a third category I just call being a quester. In other words - I want solid hard data answers to show how a particular subject exists. I do not have a problem with there being a "God" out there ... I do have a serious problem with the history of religion that shows HOW this monotheistic "belief" was created. To date - I have not gotten ONE solid answer to disprove the historical picture, so ... I'll wait. I put the topic on a shelf in my head and ... maybe one day it'll come.

In the research I've done over the years, considering the fact that the motivation was "other worldly" ... it was even logical to me to seek out the responses of three different psychologists who had an interest in this "spiritual" subject. I did this in 2012, 2015, and again in 2018 and the last one held a PhD. Bottom line - not "nutz" LOL.

So as far as "God" goes ... until the day comes I can totally verify the subject, I'll just have to wait. And if "God" knows everything ... then what's in my head regarding topic errors should be understood. It's like what you wrote ...

"I get your point when you wrote, "I do have a problem with the human history involved because it shows where all of this stuff came from." I agree for the most part, but I do believe that God has been spreading his message throughout human history, sharing with us piece by piece as humanity has grown from our infancy to what I would call the very teenage society we are today."

This "God" you refer to has only been around a few millennia ... that's not really "throughout human history." Even the earlier monotheistic approaches had different names for their "God." As usual - this is all a constantly changing story. It's like you said: "We claim a new religion and tell the world that anyone that disagrees with us is wrong." From what I've looked at, that's been going on since somewhere around 13,000 BC. As time went on - it just got worse.

Just understand - I don't have a problem with anything that's verifiable. To date - based on what we have as a historical picture ... it ain't there. I still have some time ... maybe it'll pop up soon. :)

Hi from me too,

I 'm Nikos from Greece,
That that you said about consciousness being your personality intrigued my curiosity.
If you can expand on it I would appreciated it.
__
I also wonder, if you really went out of this world, why you chose to come back ?
(For me the driving force of life is learning, but I 'd like, if you wish too of course, to hear your reply)

Thanks,
and welcome.

P.S. My birth data is inaccurate, it was just a quite random dit upon registering .

[Justin Case]

Originally Posted by tadaysgone

Hi from me too,
That that you said about consciousness being your personality intrigued my curiosity.
If you can expand on it I would appreciated it. __
I also wonder, if you really went out of this world, why you chose to come back?

Hi Nikos ...

It's just a matter of words. If this picture is correct regarding the "afterlife" - and it seems to be - it's the "person / personality" that leaves the body. The word generally used is "consciousness" ... but that's what the person is - we are all "consciousness."

As far as why a person would chose to "come back" ... it's an individual's choice. Everyone approaches this picture in their own way ... there may be family they don't want to leave. Then too, there have been people who didn't want to come back, but ... it seems they had to (wasn't their time yet).

We'll all find out one day ... and I have a TON of questions LOL.

I think I see.

I 'm not totally of clear mind at the moment but thanks for your reply.

You know one reason I would never return to this experience is the use and the 'presence', the existence of language ..lol

[Native spirit]

This is a welcome thread it is just for introducing yourselves please put any other topic in the relevant sub forums.


Namaste

[vincentkathleen26]

Hi, I am also new here