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does God speak to us- From Louis .... In other words, does "divine inspiration" EVER really happen ? Or do some people just NEED to think it happens ? If it really does, how do we recognise it ? If there really is an omnipotent God, then he would obviously be CAPABLE of speaking to...

illusionary From Louis... "Nothing more than illusionary" .... Yes, that IS what I arrive at when I apply only RATIONAL thought to the question "What am I ?" - as if my body were like a drycell battery and my mind were like the electricity produced by its chemical transfer process...

s-f From Louis... Sorry if I appear to digress, but I've encountered many religeous notions express in the guise of science-fiction - or "speculative fiction", as some call it. A writer (Harlan Ellison) once described the Christian Bible as a work of speculative fiction. Don't forget...

absolutes From Louis .... I happen to think there IS an absolute - or "constant"- or whatever there was before there were any humans to have "subjective experiences" about it and it will still be here after we're gone. Reality is what it IS - not what we happen to THINK it is.

From Louis... I keep hearing how "merciful" God is - how much He loves us. If that's true, why does he allow so many bad things to happen to good people ? Some say it's always our own fault - we must have done something to deserve it. But surely that doesn't apply to innocent children who...

limited From Louis... I've been told many times that human life is sacred because we made in "God's image". Which implies that we RESEMBLE God in some way - that we SHARE some of God's characteristics. But we are LIMITED beings and a God who resembles us in any form would also be...

I've heard other people say many things about God's relationship to Satan. Of course, I'm aware that whatever they say is pure speculation because NO human has certain knowledge of such things. Which means MY speculations are as good as theirs. For example, some speak of God and Satan as if...

God From Louis.... Well... there's "God"... and "the way humans IMAGINE God". Since I have sensory faculties that enable me to examine the actual "God" - whatever or whoever that is - all of my comments refer to products of human imagination. It is no insult to the actual "God" if I...

spiritual conceptualisation From Louis... Can you spell out just what you mean by "spiritual conceptualisation" ? I perceive a "concept" as something invented and produced from the human mind - to be specific : the RATIONAL part of the mind. Yes, the non-rational part produces things...

reductionist From Louis... I'm not familiar with the term "reductionist". Does it mean listening to something expressed in figurative language - which makes it necessary to reduce it to clear, un-adorned information in order to comprehend it's meaning ? If so, that's me through and...

personal experience From Louis... Isn't ALL experience "personal" ? We all experience what our physical senses tell us about the world around us. Some say they experience MORE . They look into their own minds and insist that on some deeper level, they find a connection to things beyond...

intuition From Louis.... Is there really such a thing as "intuitition" ? Or is that just our own subconscious desire for things to turn the way we want. To paraphrase the the song : "We all know what we want - what we really, REALLY want", whether we are consciously aware of it or not...

clubbing From Louis... I happen to see some measure "hypocrisy" in many areas, such as referring to clubbing as "humane" . Seals are clubbed to death because that DOES NO DAMAGE TO THE PELT. A bullet or spiked weapon might make the pelt less valuable. And the animals greatest value...

faith and lies From Louis... Do we really know the difference between truth and lies ? Do we really "know" anything ? Just how does the human mind distinguish "truth" from many things that resemble truth, such as perception or assumption. Science has suggested many methods for...

From Louis... I can't find my way back to your question regarding "divine will v.s. free will", but it is a subject I'd like to address. When I consider the possibility of God, the FIRST thing I want to know is: where does God stop and where do I begin ? If God was here first, then it's...

From Louis... Excellent idea ! When I address ANY question to a believer, all I want is INFORMATION - something expressed in clear, blunt, technical language. But it seems they always reply in language that is poetic, figurative, or metaphorical. I know they "mean well" - I don't doubt...

Can somebody explain just what people mean when they speak of "divine inspiration" ? The phrase would suggest an individual expressing ideas that he CLAIMS are not a product of his own mind but were implanted there by "something else". It seems to apply mostly to people who lived...

sci-fi From Louis.... I just noticed your link to Science Fiction - I happen to be a big fan of that genre. There have been many conventions in my city ( Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada ) where I've had the opportunity to meet people like Theodore Sturgeon, A.E. VanVoght, Frederick Pohl...

magic To CSharp .... I'm intrigued by your reference to "magic".... I don't think there magic is real but I know many peple wish it were real. Maybe that's why they get so much enjoyment out watching a "magic act", even though they know intellectualy that it's a trick. I enjoy such...