agnosticism

Gatekeeper said:
We don't have a choice in the matter do we? I might consider death a gift if I had an option to live in contrast, but as is death is forced upon us all. Perhaps for some death is a merciful thing, but for for others death is not something desired at all. I guess it depends on circumstance, eh? For the mother who dies giving birth to her child, death hardly seems like a gift for the mother or the child. Death is simply a reality of life. It is neither a gift nor curse, just a reality we all face.
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I was in that situation myself. I was prompted that I did have a choice to act proactively or not while I still had a chance to.
 
A Cup Of Tea said:
I guess you could see it like that from a god-mad-things-this-way sort of way. But I'm from an atheist background so I don't think like that. What you are describing is...just weird
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How about this angle, ACOT:

Death itself is not the gift. Knowing that we are going to die, that we are mortal; that is the gift.

We're only here for a fraction of time. We humans happen to measure that time in years; Mother Nature measures it in a few blinks of her patient eyes. She knows and understands that humans arrived on the tail end of this universe's timeline. Life existed on this planet long before human appearance, and the universe itself passed many generations of stars and moons before life began on this tiny planet Earth.

Mortality is bittersweet: mysterious and dreadful yet liberating and empowering. Many people fear death, or are uncomfortable with the finality of life. Most religions address this peace-of-mind dilemma and incorporate some sort of afterlife into their doctrines.

However, our mortality doesn't have to be a downer or source of preoccupation. Use it as motivation to do the things you've thus far postponed for a rainy day. The people that surround us are also mortal - share time with them while you still can and tell them how they enrich your life.

I like to think of mortal life as a summer vacation - knowing it will soon come to an end makes it that much sweeter in the present moment. People who truly comprehend mortality live every day to its absolute fullest, savoring each moment like a melting ice cream cone on a hot summer day.
 
I'll agree to that.
Makes me think of the apple in the garden, and certain death. I guess Thomas wouldn't agree to that interpretation, but perhaps Etu.
 
A Cup Of Tea said:
I'll agree to that.
Makes me think of the apple in the garden, and certain death. I guess Thomas wouldn't agree to that interpretation, but perhaps Etu.
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Indeed, to me the 'gift' was the metaphor for Man's awareness/consciousness of His mortality, something the rest of the Animal Kingdom doesn't have, what makes us 'different' than all other species.
 
radarmark said:
If I have the right to be a CO and G!d gave me that right and (as it has been the case) a government kills me while I express that right, is it a right?
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Yes. You ultimately can't prevent a government or a criminal from killing you. God certainly can, I have witnessed that power, but might not either. People normally have the freedom to murder. I view death as a door. When you leave a room, you are no longer in the room. The people left in the room only believe that you are no longer in the room. I do not know what is on the other side. Do you? I am not talking about suicide, which is deemed the way of the coward. I am certainly not helping anyone or myself by refusing the life that was given to me. If this room is viewed as the only life there is, then I can see why you fear death. If this room is viewed as a prison, then being escorted out is an honor. I have no reason to fear death, and I have no reason to seek it.
 
IowaGuy said:
. . . and the universe itself passed many generations of stars and moons . . .
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Unproven scientific theory - an effort of agnosticism to substantiate something of which it has no proof. Better is "Let there be light." Then, those who argue against it are revealed as being in darkness.
 
Edward Palamar said:
For me to write so against agnosticim and its lying arguments is a conviction against its practice. Agnosticism, like the devil, is heretical from the start, as are any arguments in its defense.
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Oh my! Someone is walking his dogma without a popper-scooper. :eek:
 
Edward Palamar said:
Unproven scientific theory - an effort of agnosticism to substantiate something of which it has no proof.
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Eddie? You seem to have it backwards :rolleyes: Religion is unproven and tries to substantiate something from which there is no rational proof. Agnosticism only questions what it doesn't know.

Better is "Let there be light." Then, those who argue against it are revealed as being in darkness.
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First there was Darkness, then Light (Lucifer) . . . are you trying to say "Let there be Lucifer"? :p
 
IowaGuy said:
Why is a "questioning" or "skeptical" framework of thinking such a threat to your belief system?

I would not characterize agnosticism as coming from an idle mind. Blind faith seems more of an idle-minded activity to me than approaching life with a healthy dose of skepticism. Skepticism requires more thought and therefore a more active mind.

Why do you believe what you do? Do you question anything you have been taught in life?
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I think that Agnosticism derives from an inquisitive mind, while faith stagnates. I take Agnosticism as the middle road between the extremes of Theism and Atheism. IMO, faithfuls and atheists are tormented by the fear of each other, while agnostics constitute the balance between those two concepts.
Ben
 
Edward Palamar said:
Agnosticism is a draconian tyrant which kills all questions.
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Seems exactly opposite.....an agnostic asks questions, where as many a church tells folks not to ask questions, just have faith, believe...yet they've been caught in so many lies who would want to?

At our church our preacher says "We don't teach you what to think, we encourage you to think"
Ben Masada said:
I think that Agnosticism derives from an inquisitive mind, while faith stagnates. I take Agnosticism as the middle road between the extremes of Theism and Atheism. IMO, faithfuls and atheists are tormented by the fear of each other, while agnostics constitute the balance between those two concepts.
Ben
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good post...

Edward Palamar said:
Unproven scientific theory - an effort of agnosticism to substantiate something of which it has no proof. Better is "Let there be light." Then, those who argue against it are revealed as being in darkness.
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So you are a short earther too? I guess that makes sense.

There is plenty of light around Ed, I wish someone would show you where the switch is.
Jayhawker Soule said:
Oh my! Someone is walking his dogma without a popper-scooper. :eek:
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hee hee....
 
wil said:
Seems exactly opposite.....an agnostic asks questions,
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I'll point out as in my previous post here concerning you, wil, while you're putting up quite a room for agnosticism, your very calumny is its fruit.
 
Etu Malku said:
Eddie? You seem to have it backwards :rolleyes: Religion is unproven and tries to substantiate something from which there is no rational proof. Agnosticism only questions what it doesn't know.

First there was Darkness, then Light (Lucifer) . . . are you trying to say "Let there be Lucifer"? :p
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Well if you take black light and white light what do you get.......golden light :rolleyes:
 
seattlegal said:
See your post #150 from this thread. (page 10--you can quickly get there by clicking on the drop down arrow at the far right of the page numbers on any page header of this thread and type in 10 in the go to box)
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That's all about the halo? Wow . . . I never would have got that, but why comment now on a post 10 pages ago? :confused:
 
Etu Malku said:
That's all about the halo? Wow . . . I never would have got that, but why comment now on a post 10 pages ago? :confused:
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Playing connect the dots. (You know how hard it can be for the subconscious and the conscious to communicate and how time is much different to the subconscious than to the conscious mind?)
 
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