Worried We Are Being Deceived

Originally Posted by vulkus

Wow that is very astute of you.

LOL. Hardly astute, but a simple observation of your comment that is below. Nor is it in agreement.

Originally Posted by vulkus
...
The devil never did any of these things, but god did... The devil isn't your enemy.

I don't at all see what I would see as what is called God as the enemy. The God vs Devil stuff is a manufactured duality argument that is the territory of organized religion that really has no relevancy outside of that construct.

Originally Posted by norseman

You said it ! Actually, a bit unkind that. It's the followers of God who are the enemy, the one's who twist and pervert the message.

That was a question, not a statement. It wasn't in agreement at all.

I completely agree that what is problematic is how some have chosen to 'twist' the message.

Originally Posted by Elaine and D

... It is "What if what we are told about the afterlife and the messages we receive from our loved oned through mediums is all a deception of Satan and his demons".
...

You seem to have a substantial fear of satan. Organized religion has worked long & hard for millennia to convince us that contact from departed spirits is problematic. I’ve always thought this was an argument that was really full of holes for them as it is entirely OK when those sanctioned by the church as prophets or such converse w/ these spirits or God. Organized religion acknowledges that we have an immortal spirit that survives the physical body’s death, so the only issue is the communication w/ this spirit.

A deed regarded as evil in one circumstance may not be regarded as such in another.
To kill is regarded as evil. Is it evil to kill to protect loved ones?

Satan represents metaphysically simply the reverse or the polar opposite of everything in nature. He is the "adversary," allegorically, the "murderer," and the great Enemy of all, because there is nothing in the whole universe that has not two sides -- the reverses of the same medal. But in that case, light, goodness, beauty, etc., may be called Satan with as much propriety as the Devil, since they are the adversaries of darkness, badness, and ugliness

Originally Posted by mattie

LOL. Hardly astute, but a simple observation of your comment that is below. Nor is it in agreement.

It is called sarcasm...

Originally Posted by mattie

I don't at all see what I would see as what is called God as the enemy. The God vs Devil stuff is a manufactured duality argument that is the territory of organized religion that really has no relevancy outside of that construct.

Everything has relevance.

The thought of hell is really strange to me. if hell is real it would have to be a way of purifying the soul so it can be recycled not a place of punishment. the reason being is that god is all loving and all forgiving, to send a soul to a place of fire for ETERNITY would be an absolute waste of energy and would make god a petty being. there is just no way god would do that. the reason it is thought to be a place of punishment is a man made way of scaring people into beliving in their morality.

[CSEe]

Originally Posted by Elaine and D

I would like to know if there is anybody that wonders the same thing as myself.
I love the thought that one day we will see our loved ones again and that they can speak to us through mediums etc.
But there is one question that constsntly niggles away at me. It is "What if what we are told about the afterlife and the messages we receive from our loved oned through mediums is all a deception of Satan and his demons".
I have seen it asked befpre but the answers dont remove the doubt from my mind.
One answer was "But why would demons bring such words of comfort to us if they were deceiving us". Well that is exactly what they would do to us, they are out to lie and deceive us and to take us away from God.
Another answer was "Why would they do this, what can they gain from it". Their gain is to take as many with Satan and themselves as they possibly can and maybe people could end up in hell.
I dont mean to offend anybody with this question as it is a genuine fear and doubt I have.

Just sharing , for me in my "life" the MOST IMPORTANT question is to know WHAT AM I , not who I am ..........and I never should bother about others beings......whether how they act , what are they , that is their path as I must discover what am I , the purpose of me , the meaning of mylife , the reason of myself and the end of me .
From many research by scientis on afterlife like the scole experiment is really comforting to me but for me the one which will free me from fear of NOT knowing is own realization of truth......that should be my focus , my search.
Thks
CSEe

God spoke to 'prophets' in the Bible. Angels also spoke to certain people in the Bible too. Those people were, or acted as 'mediums' between 'spirits' and 'people'.
So does that mean that the Bible is the work of Satan?

Any medium, spiritualist, psychic etc worth their salt will tell you to be sceptical. That it is healthy to be, as no guarantee can be given of results, even though the motives are pure. They/we are after all just people and are fallible.

Nowhere in the Bible will you be told to be sceptical! You are TOLD to have faith no matter what. You MUST accept Jesus as your saviour, or you will go to Hell.

False prophets are warned against. You are to QUESTION them only to repel them. You are NOT to question the Bible. You are to 'have faith' that it's 'true'.
That IMO only serves to retard any attempt at progress of understanding. It hasn't worked. Many factions have broken off from all religions to form sects with slightly different beliefs. New beliefs have risen, and also disbeliefs.
Scepticism within the same beliefs. That is HEALTHY.
We get new perspectives, revamps of old ones, and have the freedom to evolve one of our very own.

The Bible does not allow that. It doesn't allow you to be Human, free nor live without fear. It actually creates fear, as a specific punishment for a specific sin: SCEPTICISM.

Now if such a thing as a high-grade trickster such as Satan exists, I'd say he'd most likely hijack something that had your soul for ransom, that offered you love but inspired fear, confused with contradictions within simplicity, and made you your own warden.

Originally Posted by Elaine and D

I love the thought that one day we will see our loved ones again and that they can speak to us through mediums etc.
But there is one question that constsntly niggles away at me. It is "What if what we are told about the afterlife and the messages we receive from our loved oned through mediums is all a deception of Satan and his demons".
I have seen it asked befpre but the answers dont remove the doubt from my mind.

Why don't you belief in the thought which comfort you and leave the medium stuff alone?

[Chrysaetos]

I'm more worried about the fact that we can delude ourselves and think our mystical experiences are really spiritual, than I'm worried about Satan and his ilk. They are mere cultural anthropomorphic phenomena, used to fear and convince people about some belief. People can convince themselves of all sorts of beings who reflect their culture and interests. I've yet to see a rainforest shaman believing in the second coming of Christ or an Islamic fundamentalist believing in a polar bear deity.