God's Behavior

I consider myself agnostic.

Now, I've just been wondering why god, in the traditional sense, would be so ridiculously cruel to punish someone like myself for not giving in to it.

I would never want to choose a god who would reward those who give in to blind faith and ignorance and punish those who use their natural ability to reason.

I believe in an open mind and constantly searching for knowledge, and this aspect of god's behavior ultimately makes it that much harder for me to ever believe it actually exists.

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Now, I've just been wondering why god, in the traditional sense, would be so ridiculously cruel to punish someone like myself for not giving in to it.

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God doesn't punish people for not giving in. If you choose to ignore Him that is your business and you will have to face the consequences of your decision.

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I would never want to choose a god who would reward those who give in to blind faith and ignorance and punish those who use their natural ability to reason.

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Why do you think ignoring God is reasonable? And as stated before it is not so much a punishment as it is the end result of your own choice. Believing in God is not a matter of blind faith I know whom I have believed in.

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I believe in an open mind and constantly searching for knowledge, and this aspect of god's behavior ultimately makes it that much harder for me to ever believe it actually exists.

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Are you saying that your misinformed view of God makes finding knowledge difficult?

etheral.. your fist comeback is contradictory (i wouldnt mean it is if you have two different reasons to for those two opposing ideas) but its contridictory form saying as it is, to me it translates ("god doesn't punish people for not giving in, god does punish people for not giving in" ) .. (had to edit smiley faces come up accedentially)

It's not punishment it is simple cause and effect. God doesn't make people goto Hell people choose to go there by deny that God is who He is.

Etherealmeekle, you have just prooved his point. You exhibit the classic example of blind faith, by not even considering the fact that there may not be a hell. Simply because someone has a set of beleifs that you disagree with doesn't mean that they are going to hell, and it's just intolerant to tell someone that they're going to hell becasue you disagree with them.

its not opinion for people who believe. God Himself said (as did Christ later) that people who don't believe in God (and have the opportunity to believe in Him) will be dealt with accordingly.

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Are you saying that your misinformed view of God makes finding knowledge difficult?

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No, that was not what I meant.

I simply stated I believe in an open mind, and in addition, that those things I mentioned about god make it extremely difficult for me to believe in it's existence.

Of course, there are many other reasons for my choice of agnosticism.

But do you really think that I am "misinformed"? I mean, I used to be a christian as of a few years ago, until I had a massive disillusionment with a lot of things I accepted in life.

Perhaps the "misinformed" individual is the one that cannot look outside of his or her own beliefs and try to see where others are coming from.

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I used to be a christian as of a few years ago, until I had a massive disillusionment with a lot of things I accepted in life.

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Like what exactly? One very common misconceptionis the idea of ceasing to be a Christian it actually doesn't happen. So you more likely than not were never a Christian though you may have borrowed the name.

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Perhaps the "misinformed" individual is the one that cannot look outside of his or her own beliefs and try to see where others are coming from.

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Possibly, but just because one disagrees with an idea does not mean they do not see where another is coming from.

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Like what exactly? One very common misconceptionis the idea of ceasing to be a Christian it actually doesn't happen. So you more likely than not were never a Christian though you may have borrowed the name.

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That's a very good point, and you're probably right. But I was merely bringing that up to say that I'm not an idiot when it comes to the foundational beliefs of Christianity.

God is not a person, this I am quite sure!! However, because we cant express feelings here lets use the personification of God to give the key to the door of feelings.

Imagine a father. This father has all and from this he creates everything. The first seed is given life. This seed has heard the intent of why it was created. With time, the message, in truth the intent, is always there to learn the lesson. We will never know the true message on this mortal coil in which we exist. However, it is always there. We may know what, why, where, when but will we ever know WHY?

It is the thoughts of this action that we must find to learn, truly, and to go back home. If we all knew why things were as they are, which is through ultimate understanding, then we would not only know God, but be of God. This is the oneness or the essence people talk about. I do not know why there is fear, other than that the message is lost through what can be seen as 'chinese whispers'. However, if you let your thinking state rest for a while and 'feel' what is right the answers are there. Inteligence is not merely enough to know. It's character that is most important.

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God is not a person, this I am quite sure

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how?

Logics:

God is not a person. God is all that was, is and ever shall be. God is therefore a person. However, its what you find in the person, or more importantly what they find within them, that is crucial.

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God is not a person. God is all that was, is and ever shall be. God is therefore a person. However, its what you find in the person, or more importantly what they find within them, that is crucial.

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What?

My point is to be concerned with why and not what or surficial things. We know, for example, that spacetime curves under the influence of massive masses like stars due in part to gravity. The man who found fossils in rocks in England and correlated it it to what must be evolution. However, does this find meaning beyond the surface of what is?

"I want ot know God's thoughts...the rest are details".

Albert Einstein.

The answers may be 'out here' and not 'out there' for each person sees (with vision) things differently.

Before you challenge ask this:

Are we physical beings with occasional spiritual moments; or spiritual beings with physical moments?

On this note, do you see time as finite or do you see eternity?

you constantly annoy me with your unending attempts to sound smart. when two people in a row say "what the fuck" speak more clearly.

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Albert Einstein

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another thing. qouting someone, i beleive, gives no more validity to the theory itself, only towards its popularity.

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We know, for example, that spacetime curves under the influence of massive masses like stars due in part to gravity

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and from now on, could you elaborate on your metaphisical statements, like this one. they are confusing by nature, and on porpous, and it isnt helping me understand the qeustion any more.

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However, does this find meaning beyond the surface of what is?

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no, but it does show us new qeustions.

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Are we physical beings with occasional spiritual moments; or spiritual beings with physical moments?

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i have no spirit.. there.

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On this note, do you see time as finite or do you see eternity?

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are these not synonyms?