Spirituality
03 Jun 15
Originally posted by sonshipI don't know what birth I had last time and actually it doesn't bother me at all not knowing.
Thankyou. They are indeed beautiful poems.
Before you leave this earth I think you should read through [b]Matthew, Mark, Luke, John about Jesus.
[quote] 4) O almighty Lord, I have no desire to accumulate wealth, nor do I desire beautiful women, nor do I want any number of followers. I only want Your causeless devotional service, birth after birth ...[text shortened]... our birth and death has nothing to do with you, of what benefit is reincarnation to YOU - Dasa ?[/b]
I am in this 63 year old body and my life is coming to an end (thank goodness) and my desire is to be born in the family of Hare Krsna devotees who follow the Vedas, because it will give me an excellent opportunity to follow on where I have left off.
The ego that was Stephen in this life has got me to where I am spirituality today, however I know for sure I am not qualified to return back to Godhead at the end of my life, for I am aware of my (spiritual failings)
When I (the soul) enter the womb of my new mother at the time of conception and a fetus grows around me (the soul that I am in truth) will be in a sought of spiritual sleep and the mind and sense will be in control.
I may then be born a man again and be called Bob by my new parents, and the Stephen that I was in my last life is gone and that body will become DUST in the wind.
Now I have a new body and I pray I use it properly to get me to my spiritual destination back to Godhead.
Understand one thing here....................
The soul that I am is going from one body to the next and it has been doing this for maybe hundreds and thousands of times or longer...............and every body that I have had was just a temporary material blob of energy destined to change over and over again.
However the soul is eternal and never changes and it was that same soul (ME) in all those past bodies.
Returning to the spiritual sky means I shall receive a perfect ageless spiritual body.
Originally posted by twhiteheadYes, high Anglican is quite similar to Catholisism. And yes many of the laity do not know what it is their leaders believe. For example, I am fairly certain that it is Catholic doctrine that unless one is a Catholic one cannot get into heaven. They are as exclusive as cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses.
I grew up in an Anglican household, and apart from a the Virgin Mary and one or two other things, the Anglicans and the Catholics are pretty similar. At the time I saw the Anglicans and Catholics as the more sensible versions of Christianity and all the 'born again', 'creationist' and 'speaking in tongues' cults as being way out there.
I must also add t ...[text shortened]... ally pronounced by the higher ups is. That is for bishops / popes and theologians to argue over.
You may not think this a big deal and I would understand that, but from a Christian point of view, of even an academic perspective it is typical of cult culture. The idea being there is no "fringe" you are in or out, and it provides the leadership with the power to drive fear into the members. I am very anti this type of doctrine and behaviour which is one of the reasons I argue with the Jehovah Witness. This type of doctrine leads to emotional manipulation, fear, and even bullying, such as shunning and disfellowshipping.
Having said all that, the Catholics seem to use it less. Leaning instead on strong tradition rooted in the claims that they own all the Christian artefacts, bones of the saints etc.
Originally posted by divegeesterActually I would say that much more important than that is that they claim to be the direct descendant of the original Church. That is why only Catholics have a Pope. Even the Anglicans who have very similar traditions do not have their own Pope.
Leaning instead on strong tradition rooted in the claims that they own all the Christian artefacts, bones of the saints etc.
Originally posted by twhiteheadYes, Catholics actually believe in transubstantiation.
Can you answer the question I asked, or is whining all you know how to do?
Can't you see this is as disrespectful as theists asking "Do atheists really not believe in God? I mean, really, not even a little bit?" Or is it okay just because it's you asking the question? Or is it okay to be disrespectful towards a belief that you personally do not hold?
Would it be equally "okay" to yell "faggot!" at a LBGT conference? What about calling a neighbor child with Down's syndrome "retarded"? Exactly where do you draw the line?
Originally posted by divegeesterI don't mean to speak for GB, but my feeling is that he wonders how your admission that you are "not sure that God exists" affects your belief in Christ's substitutional sacrifice on the cross? Do you think most Christians are really agnostics beneath their faith? And does this reflect your feelings towards "organized religion", specifically Christianity?
What comment are you looking for?
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05 Jun 15
Originally posted by SuzianneNo, twhitehead's question was perfectly reasonable, and not the same as asking if atheists 'really' don't believe in god/s.
Yes, Catholics actually believe in transubstantiation.
Can't you see this is as disrespectful as theists asking "Do atheists really not believe in God? I mean, really, not even a little bit?" Or is it okay just because it's you asking the question? Or is it okay to be disrespectful towards a belief that you personally do not hold?
Woul ...[text shortened]... t calling a neighbor child with Down's syndrome "retarded"? Exactly where do you draw the line?
One difference is that atheists lack a belief in gods is definitional.
If someone says that they are an atheist then they are saying that they lack a belief in gods, and if you
ask if they 'really lack a belief in gods' then you are automatically questioning their honesty.
However, given the vast number of possible beliefs of ~one billion Catholics about one element of their
religion which they may or may not take literally [while still remaining a Catholic] it's perfectly reasonable
to ASK if they all [some/most] take it literally.
Because that gets to the other difference in your analogy...
Generally [frequently] you theists don't ASK if we genuinely don't believe in god/s... You assert or imply that we do secretly
believe in god/s.
ASKING what someone does or does not believe, is not disrespectful.
ASSERTING what someone else believes [particularly when what you assert contradicts what they say] is.
05 Jun 15
Originally posted by divegeesterOriginally posted by divegeester
What comment are you looking for?
"What comment are you looking for?"
A "comment" which contains nothing more or less than the factual statement which you yourself would expect from me or any other Atheist, Agnostic, Theist or Believer in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ who contributes to this online spirituality forum. Christ did the work we couldn't do on our behalf to provide the grace gift of salvation and eternal life. Will you too be in heaven?
05 Jun 15
Originally posted by SuzianneDitto. Thanks, Suzi.
I don't mean to speak for GB, but my feeling is that he wonders how your admission that you are "not sure that God exists" affects your belief in Christ's substitutional sacrifice on the cross? Do you think most Christians are really agnostics beneath their faith? And does this reflect your feelings towards "organized religion", specifically Christianity?
Originally posted by SuzianneNo, not all of them do. My question was what percentage do and in what way. Others have clarified that even those that do believe it do not expect to see physical evidence of it.
Yes, Catholics actually believe in transubstantiation.
Can't you see this is as disrespectful as theists asking "Do atheists really not believe in God? I mean, really, not even a little bit?"
Actually I don't find either to be disrespectful. I have no problem with being asked 'do you really not believe in God'. I do have a problem with people who falsely claim that I secretly do believe in God.
Or is it okay just because it's you asking the question? Or is it okay to be disrespectful towards a belief that you personally do not hold?
Given that you are one of the most disrespectful people on the forum, I wonder why you are even asking that.
But yes, I am often disrespectful to other people on this forum but not merely for believing something different from me. Usually, because I don't respect them or their position.
Would it be equally "okay" to yell "faggot!" at a LBGT conference? What about calling a neighbor child with Down's syndrome "retarded"? Exactly where do you draw the line?
You tell us. You don't seem to have a line, you just complain about anything and everything everyone posts and refuse to engage in reasonable conversation - on the rather lame excuse that you are being persecuted by everyone else.
05 Jun 15
Originally posted by DasaOriginally posted by Dasa
I don't know what birth I had last time and actually it doesn't bother me at all not knowing.
I am in this 63 year old body and my life is coming to an end (thank goodness) and my desire is to be born in the family of Hare Krsna devotees who follow the Vedas, because it will give me an excellent opportunity to follow on where I have left off.
The ego that wa ...[text shortened]... st bodies.
Returning to the spiritual sky means I shall receive a perfect ageless spiritual body.
"I may then be born a man again and be called Bob by my new parents..."
Sorry to inform you, my almost online friend, but that name's already been given by my dear parents to their eldest son at a Date of Birth Registrar's Office near Boston, Massachusetts, decades ago. Dasa, your disclosure that, "I am in this 63 year old body and my life is coming to an end (thank goodness...)" prompts me to ask where your immaterial soul become a resident for eternity?
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05 Jun 15
Originally posted by DasaKids, kids! Just stop it already. This is kindergarten level argumentation; "my dad is stronger than your dad" kind of stuff.
Every wise and uplifting thing that you can find in the Bible....................is also in the Vedas but 100,000 times more.
It is entertaining though.
Okay, as you were.
😀
