This is not meant to offend & is more sociology than religion...

[alphamale]

And hopefully they will feel the color blue, the color of calm.

i don't think you can "feel" a colour sister...

[amaysngrace]

i don't think you can "feel" a colour sister...

 

When one loses one of the five senses, the others are enhanced. If you are unable to see, you would need to rely on your other four senses to compensate for the one you're missing. How do you know you can't feel a color, if you aren't blind?

[Outcast]

There are, in fact, people who can feel colours. Others can taste them. Other folks do both.

[alphamale]

How do you know you can't feel a color, if you aren't blind?

A "color" is a light reflection that is visually realized. If a totally blind person was feeling colors then it would not be color as we see it visually..

 

There are, in fact, people who can feel colours. Others can taste them. Other folks do both.

oh yeah? where's the documentation?

[Outcast]

All you're talking about is a name that people agree upon to give to a concept. In fact, that which I see and call 'blue' may look like that which you see and call 'yellow'. And none of us will ever know.

[Brittanyjean06]

This was all very interesting to read. Though I have my own beliefs, there is no solid proof of anything. Just faith

 

and unsolved mysteries

 

lol

[JamesM]

And since I didn't get involved with this philosophical discussion, I missed some engaging talk.

 

Hokey, unfortunately/fortunately it DOES matter where we came from. We can talk about if we are actually existing. We can talk as if God exists or doesn't. We can talk about evolving into God. We cam compare God to gravity and love. We can wonder whether whatever we want. Faith and belief are great but we need to find evidences and proofs for a basis for that faith. For if there is not proof, then you can believe that there is no God and I can believe there is. Both of us cannot be right, because our beliefs are diametrically opposed one to the other.

 

But...here is the reason that I believe it is a FACT that where we came from answers most of these questions or at least gives direction to where to search for the answers.

 

Again, if we evolved from some miraculous combination of just the right chemicals coming together and forming life which occurred billions of years after some random Big Bang in the sky to bring about this Universe with no help from any Supreme Being, then all of this talk about there being a God is useless. Then of course, there isn't. We can pretend we are a god or that we will evolve into gods or even that we will come again in another life to become a god. But the fact remains, in this scenario, we came into being as a result of a biological process that happened as a result of some random coupling of two human beings that randomly brought us to this Board at this time in history. When we have died we will no longer exist. Then as alphamale said, God and love will not exist once man has disappeared.

 

And the opposite is true. If we were created as a part of a Plan brought about by a Supreme Being who has a Plan for this world and all of Mankind, then this whole discussion is also a moot point, because then the FACT is that God created the Heavens and the Earth and all that is within it. And then, we should be looking in this direction as to where we will be going and why we are here.

 

There may be some variations of both thoughts above, but either Someone reigns over all of Creation or there is nothing but our life as we live it now.

 

In one case, the fact is that there is no God, and the other case the fact is that there has to be a God. Can either case be proven? That is the question. Or rather, can the proof and evidences be looked at objectively to reveal an answer?

[burning 4 revenge]

i don't think you can "feel" a colour sister...

 

still a bit of the brit in you i see

[burning 4 revenge]

there is no such thing as a soul. there is no such thing as an afterlife. do you remember what life was like before you born?.......case closed

[Pyro]

there is no such thing as a soul. there is no such thing as an afterlife. do you remember what life was like before you born?.......case closed

 

Well I don't know about you, but I have a soul, and I will be going to heaven after my physical death. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean that it is not there.

[burning 4 revenge]

Well I don't know about you, but I have a soul, and I will be going to heaven after my physical death. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean that it is not there.

 

pray for me brother

[Pyro]

pray for me brother

 

I do, each and every night.

[Outcast]

It's called synesthesia, Alf.

[ButtonPusher]

This kind of debate is one of the reasons I was attracted to buddhism. After 5 pages of posts, no one is any the wiser whether god exists or not. I didnt read the 5 pages, and dont need to. The same arguments are always brought up, and people will continue to debate this pointless issue. Pointless because intellect will never find god.

 

3. We are told the universe likely has 9 dimensions. Until you can see into all 9, don't assume that there's no God in any of the other 6.

 

Pfft....why only 9? And who is telling us there are 9?

[Outcast]

Pfft....why only 9? And who is telling us there are 9?

 

 

........................

[JamesM]

BP, I am curious...why did this kind of debate bring you to Buddhism?

[alphamale]

It's called synesthesia, Alf.

synesthesia, anesthesia, who cares?

[konfused]

I would like to snuggle up next to button pusher and say that this debate will never end. It's a philosophical stalemate.

 

When it comes to personal faith and personal belief who really cares what others think? As long as that entire thought system lives in their head no one is affected.

 

When these beliefs manifest themselves in the reality that we call life, these beliefs become subject to analysis and refutation. Let's have an example.

 

When a person has "faith" that birth control is against god's rules than their faith is subject to being proclaimed 'unfounded". The Earth cannot sustain a limitless amount of life and measures should be taken to deal with such issues. This sort of population control has been around a long time with limited results. Mother nature has her own form of population control. It's called mass starvation.

 

When a person has "faith" that abstinence-only education is the only merited means of population control, their faith is subject to refutation.

 

When a person tries to interweave their faith into the workings of my country (USA) then I have a problem. When these people try to include god within my pledge of allegience, my holiday celebrations, and my public schools they must provide a rational other than faith.

 

These are just a few examples of the many.

 

There are longstanding traditions around the world that have existed for thousands of years without the need to provide any means of accountability. Questioning the authority of these traditions has even become taboo. If that is the kind of faith you want then so be it. But when your faith enters into policy making decisions that affect the world, you must be willing to use objective means to validate such faith. That is where science comes in.

 

For all those who think science itself is biased let's have another example. Imagine you are a suspect in a murder. You are on the witness stand and the prosecuting attorney says he has witnesses and evidence that say you committed the murder. Do you take him at his word? Not likely. Probably, and hopefully, you will inquire into what this evidence is and who these witnesses are.

 

Personally, I don't understand why a person would require so much evidence in their Earthly life that amounts to nothing in the long run, and give up their soul for eternity based on zero evidence.

[JamesM]

Zero evidence?

 

Have you ever sat down and tried to figure out how this world could have begun by some random combination of chemicals? And then evolved into you?

 

Special effects in movies can bring about tihis dramatic event, but even billions of years cannot.

 

If you can blindly accept a theory that can no more be proven than can creation, then yes, there is zero evidence.

[alphamale]

If you can blindly accept a theory that can no more be proven than can creation, then yes, there is zero evidence.

Creationism is total bull****.

[Brittanyjean06]

still a bit of the brit in you i see

 

 

 

Very funny. Was there really a necessary point in that:)

 

I dont think so

[JamesM]

Nah, bull**** came after the bull. So, creationism created the bull then the bull made the bull****. So, logically, bull**** cannot be creationism or vice versa. It is only a result of it.

 

Blanket statements with no supporting proof condemning anything are never a good way to debate an issue.

[blind_otter]

oh yeah? where's the documentation?

 

It's called synesthesia.

 

Look it up.

[quankanne]

But I'm not asking for empirical proof - that was just part of the discussion I am having outside of LS and was used to further the discussion of how some *can* believe without such proof – what is it in the human species that requires proof for some and not for others.

 

a quote from a Katrina survivor we recently interviewed pretty much sums up a believer's relationship with God: "Faith is what grounds us. Faith is what keeps us holding on, what allows us to get up every morning and do what has to be done … It's not something in a book or in a document, it's not a grand theological idea, it's not any kind of idea at all. It's the knowledge, the sure and certain knowledge, that God is with us, that Christ sustains us, and that even in our darkest, most difficult hours, we are not alone, and we are not forgotten." (Yvonne Hymel, Metairie, La.)

 

there are millions of people who are capable of doing it themselves, whose faith is grounded in themselves. Their strength is admirable.

 

those millions of believers who place their trust in a higher spiritual authority understand that someone is there backing them up, and it's a good feeling, knowing that we're not alone even as we cannot prove His existence.

[alphamale]

those millions of believers who place their trust in a higher spiritual authority understand that someone is there backing them up, and it's a good feeling, knowing that we're not alone even as we cannot prove His existence.

blind and unquestioned "faith" is generally a bad thing.