Good evil

@kellyjay said
God can speak clearly and we still screw it up, if the universal truth is clearly visible but we view it with a broken hearts and minds we will add and subtract or alter where we should not giving us a corrupted view.

If God is omnipresent, he will speak from all places, and not just through the Bible.

Universal truth is not clearly visible. Actually it's not visible at all to us, while we are in this physical world. But we're allowed, periodically, to peak and catch only quick glimpses of the ultimate truth from here.

You have to see it for yourself. People can tell you what they see, as they share their glimpses, but you have to make up your own mind, if you are willing to consider the viewpoints which are different than yours.

I'm also only sharing with you what I think I see with those glimpses. I don't have God's seal of approval pinned on my chest, to be clear.

@pettytalk said
If God is omnipresent, he will speak from all places, and not just through the Bible.

Universal truth is not clearly visible. Actually it's not visible at all to us, while we are in this physical world. But we're allowed, periodically, to peak and catch only quick glimpses of the ultimate truth from here.

You have to see it for yourself. People can tell you what the ...[text shortened]... hink I see with those glimpses. I don't have God's seal of approval pinned on my chest, to be clear.

It's like the old analogy of an elephant in a dark room with one chap feeling its truck, another its ear, and another its leg. All 'glimpsed' (felt) part of the elephant, but none understood it in its entirety.

@pettytalk said
If you can't still see why, I suggest that you go and splash the water in the shallow part of the pool, because you stand to drown in your own ignorance, not mine. It's too deep for you to understand that you are the one who has attributed personification to nature/universe. I was merely pointing it out to you, since you did not realize that you had. Or to be more gentle an ...[text shortened]... her nature did, when she made us her favorite creation, apparently, by allowing us to speak for her.

Thanks for the "banter".

@pettytalk said
You, a human, are acting the part of nature in your own personification. You will admit that Mother nature made you, yes? Mother nature, expressing herself through humans like you is personification, yes?

I exist because the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology have made it possible.

To suggest that "Mother Nature" has knowingly "made" me is just you obfuscating by projecting a theological narrative onto the mechanics of nature.

I have consciousness and so I speak on my behalf; I do not speak on behalf of nature. No human speaks on behalf of nature or the universe, except in so far as environmentalists seek to protect or manage it.

To suggest that "Mother Nature is expressing herself through humans" is a degree of anthropomorphization that is nothing other than casual simplistic propaganda.

@pettytalk said
Me: Has nature any compassion for the weak, the sick, the needy?
You: Humans acting in a morally sound way do.

Nature does not have "compassion for the weak, the sick, the needy" because it is not a moral agent and it doesn't have a conscience. Humans ARE able to act with "compassion for the weak, the sick, the needy" because we have a conscience and we are moral agents.

@pettytalk said
t's too deep for you to understand that you are the one who has attributed personification to nature/universe. I was merely pointing it out to you, since you did not realize that you had.

You are the one who has attributed personification to nature/ universe

I have done nothing of the sort. In fact, I have done the complete opposite.

You can call the universe "Mother Nature" all you want, you can try putting transitive verbs in its "mouth" as if it is a conscious being, and you can attribute "human traits, emotions, or intentions" to it until the cows come home, but to claim that that is what I am doing suggests that you simply do not understand what my stance is.

@pettytalk said
If God is omnipresent, he will speak from all places, and not just through the Bible.

Universal truth is not clearly visible. Actually it's not visible at all to us, while we are in this physical world. But we're allowed, periodically, to peak and catch only quick glimpses of the ultimate truth from here.

You have to see it for yourself. People can tell you what the ...[text shortened]... hink I see with those glimpses. I don't have God's seal of approval pinned on my chest, to be clear.

Why do you think that? You read a book about what omnipresent gods would act like? It seems to me in a world where there are as many gods as mysteries in the universe to make one’s self unique would be a primary concern.

If you wanted to maintain humanity’s ability to exist without having to fake allegiance to God because we now know He is real by removing all doubt. What is going on now we operate in faith, we act on what we believe is true in our hearts, we can suppress truth if our desires outweigh that! This shows us what kind of people we are truly, now a pinch of almost any justification allows us to act as we will.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
It's like the old analogy of an elephant in a dark room with one chap feeling its truck, another its ear, and another its leg. All 'glimpsed' (felt) part of the elephant, but none understood it in its entirety.

A good analogy. Let's at least hope the elephant knows itself.

It's like that old saying, "Know Thyself." Unless we know it wholly, we don't know it.

@fmf said
You are the one who has attributed personification to nature/ universe

I have done nothing of the sort. In fact, I have done the complete opposite.

You can call the universe "Mother Nature" all you want, you can try putting transitive verbs in its "mouth" as if it is a conscious being, and you can attribute "human traits, emotions, or intentions" to it until the cow ...[text shortened]... to claim that that is what I am doing suggests that you simply do not understand what my stance is.

I know your stance, and I clearly see you standing on all 4. Lift those knuckles off the ground. Which do you prefer, being seen as an ignoramus who does not realize what he's saying, or as being a man of good standing, one humble enough to admit he's wrong?

Think about it some more, and we'll take it up tomorrow.

@pettytalk said
I know your stance, and I clearly see you standing on all 4. Lift those knuckles off the ground. Which do you prefer, being seen as an ignoramus who does not realize what he's saying, or as being a man of good standing, one humble enough to admit he's wrong?

More discussion-sidestepping "banter" from you.

@pettytalk said
If God is omnipresent, he will speak from all places, and not just through the Bible.

How do you know this?

@pettytalk said

Universal truth is not clearly visible. Actually it's not visible at all to us, while we are in this physical world. But we're allowed, periodically, to peak and catch only quick glimpses of the ultimate truth from here.

You have to see it for yourself. People can tell you what they see, as they share their glimpses, but you have to make up your own mind, if you are w ...[text shortened]... hink I see with those glimpses. I don't have God's seal of approval pinned on my chest, to be clear.

On what basis are you making this assertion?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
It's like the old analogy of an elephant in a dark room with one chap feeling its truck, another its ear, and another its leg. All 'glimpsed' (felt) part of the elephant, but none understood it in its entirety.

I used that same analogy recently, only I said "blind men describing an elephant".

@pettytalk said
A good analogy. Let's at least hope the elephant knows itself.

It's like that old saying, "Know Thyself." Unless we know it wholly, we don't know it.

Most people seem to bumble through life without even knowing themselves.

@suzianne said
Most people seem to bumble through life without even knowing themselves.

I would say that "some" people I know "seem to bumble through life without even knowing themselves". Certainly not "most people". Nowhere near "most" of them. Perhaps I have been lucky with the kinds of friends and acquaintances I have had in my life. Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with someone who "bumbles through life without even knowing themselves".