Originally Posted by reddeath26 (Post 1766102040)

This seems to be where our disagreement stems from, so I will try to focus on this point here. My point in regards to your labeling of certain cultural understandings as being 'religion' is that this is an unfair process which creates a power imbalance between yourself and the cultural understandings you are labeling. In order to demonstrate this imbalance I provided an example from an essay which applied the same labeling to U.S.A culture. In the paragraph I quoted, you may have noticed that they are talking about Dentists.

However by describing it in such a manner they were challenging its very legitimacy. I strongly challenge the legitimacy of some cultural understandings being labeled as religion, while others are not. As it is only because we define them as being religion and actively put them into a separate category to understandings such a science that it becomes so. An observation made by Margaret Trawick which supports my power imbalance assertion is



I would assert that this is what you have been doing this whole time, by so actively labeling specific cultural knowledge and understandings as being religion. If we look at your questions, we notice they are consistently emphasizing a socially defined difference between 'religion' and 'science'. Surely you could ask many of the same questions of science or any other cultural understanding. Why is it that this particular means of culturally understanding the world is so unique that it should be critiqued more strongly that 'western science'?

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766117969)

OH MY GOSH!!! I don't even know where to start. Ok. The thing is. God is not something to get all technical about. You can't perfectly scientifically explain believing in God because he is not a scientific thing. He is real. The fact. Yes the fact, is that God sent his son to save our souls from eternal suffering. It was just an event in history like the Vietnam War, or Christopher Columbus discovering America.

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766117969)

There are so many glitches and problems and gray areas in peoples theories and ideas and explanation of things when they try to say that God doesn't exist.

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766117969)

And Im not trying to force religion on anyone at all. But has anyone read the bible by any chance? Have you see what's going to come? It has told of so many things that would happen and then they do happen! It's all true and when you realize that, your life becomes sooo wonderful and great! (Well unless while reading all this you're still thinking to yourself "yup, it's all in her head")

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766117969)

God loves us!! We're his children. He knows that we're not perfect and make tons of mistakes but he sent us his son so we can be forgiven!! He wants to forgive us. We just need to let him. Please don't be stubborn. Please don't refuse to at least have an open mind and listen. It's like putting together a puzzle. You have a piece that looks just like it could fit into a space (the scientific explanation) but try as you might it's just not right. But then you find another piece (the God piece) and it fits into that space as easily as a glass slipper on Cinderella's heel.

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766117969)

And the picture is revealed. Say what you will but this is not my brain making this up to "survive". I don't need to worry about surviving because I know that god is waiting for me in heaven. He promises us eternal joy and love and peace all for the simple price of believing in him and what he did for us. Why wouldn't you believe?

Originally Posted by Tutela de Xaoc (Post 1766118751)

Why believe in something that cannot be proven to be true?

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766122597)

Well the Bible is partly a collection of writings by people who were living during the time of Jesus's arrival also partly the tellings of other events throughout history. It is, in some ways, like a history book. When you read a book about events in the past do think to yourself "This is ridiculous. This didn't really happen." Do you deny the happening of the Holocaust because you weren't there? We pass down writings and stories from generation to generation so that we remember our histories. The Bible is a history. Why should we question it when we don't question everything else in our history?

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766122597)

As for the Cinderella bit, come on. I just like to write. It was a metaphor. And not even for the God part, just the puzzle part. Unless puzzles are fictional too? :|

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766122597)

And Im not pushing my religion onto anyone. I was just expressing what I believe.

Originally Posted by Tutela de Xaoc (Post 1766122682)

The Bible shows no historical evidence of any events taking place.

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766123110)

Originally Posted by KJV Deuteronomy 13:6-9

6If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;

7Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;

8Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:

9But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766123430)

1) Im coming with that. Hold on. Sorry :D

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766123430)

2) Just like everyone has a different version of God, they also have a different version of his wishes. They may not necessarily be correct in how they're interpreting his meaning but everyone is entitled to their own opinions. For example muslims think that one of the ways to get to their version of Heaven is to destroy Christians taking their own life in the process. I think they're a little confused. But hey, thats my opinion. Even some Christian churches like denominational churches take one idea out of the bible and focus everything they're teaching on that one little piece. They have the same exact God and religion as me but we interpret the information in a completely different way.

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766123653)

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766123741)

Originally Posted by chart and comparison of elements

5. Elemental Magic: Fire - Water - Earth - Air/Wind : Correspondences Chart
Major update nov-07 with better correspondences : Father/Heavens Air/Swords...


It is very difficult to associate elements properly:

Watchtower magic and wicca claim:
Earth Fire Air Water
North South East West
Winter Summer Spring Autumn

Celtic cross tarot claims :
Earth Fire Air Water
South East North West

Chinese acupuncture claims there are five elements:
Elemental correspondences: Fire-Water-Air-Earth, North-South-East-West, Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter Fire Earth Metal Water Wood
South Middle West North East
Summer Late Summer Autumn Winter Spring

Indian tradition uses 5 elements, Fire, Earth, Air, Water and Ether, with variations between Hinduism and Ayurveda, and variable elemental deities and correspondences before and after the Aryan invasion, ...

Plato claims:
Fire Air Water Earth
Brightness Darkness Darkness Darkness
Thinness Thinness Thickness Thickness
Motion Motion Motion Quietness

Note a very important difference between Plato and the other systems: the progression is linear, from fire to earth, from spirit to matter: therefore, Plato correspondences are suitable for linear events, but not for circular ones, just like seasons, ... the other approaches are better in this case.

Aristotle claims :
Elemental correspondences: Fire-Water-Air-Earth, North-South-East-West, Spring-Summer-Autumn-Winter Earth Fire Air Water
Cold,
Female, yin Warm, Male, Yang Cold,
Female, yin
Dry Moist
Autumn Summer Spring Winter

Note this model suits to circular seasonal systems. Since fire is dry and warm, it corresponds to summer, water is cold and moist, it corresponds to winter, air is hot and moist just like the spring, whereas autumn is dry and colder than summer...

Several old texts claim this correspondence:

"The year is divided into four seasons; the first season is of a frigid complexion, and this is Winter; the second is of the complexion of air, and this is Spring; then follows the third, which is summer, and is of the complexion of fire; lastly, there is the fourth, wherein fruits are matured, which is Autumn" The Turba philosophorum

Next step, King Salomon explained to his son (KEY OF SOLOMON):

"Upon the first Series of talismans thou shalt engrave the Letter Yod, symbolized by the Flowering Rod of Aaron.
Upon the second the Letter Hé, symbolized by the Cup of Joseph.
Upon the third the Letter Vau, symbolized by the Sword of David my father.
And upon the fourth the Hé final, symbolized by the Shekel of Gold."

That is to say :
Y Rod of Aaron one makes fire with a rod Fire/Summer Tarot Rods
H Cup of Joseph one drinks Water in a cup Water/Winter Tarot Cups
V Sword of David, my father one fight in the air with a sword Air/Spring/Father Tarot Swords
H. Shekel of Gold the shekel is related to materialism, matter, earth Earth/Autumn Tarot Shekels

Originally Posted by Doodler (Post 1766123970)

Originally Posted by Alchemist of Anarchy (Post 1766128146)

One of the many problems with this topic is that our generation depends on evidence and proof to believe in something. Today there are many historians, archeologists, and high preists that are concerned with only proving or disproving the word of the bible and the possibility of the actual exsistence of the people that wrote it. This is what I see as a huge problem with the people of today... seeing is believeing... whereas people who are heavy in faith as in generations past... believeing is seeing.

Originally Posted by Sho-Shonojo (Post 1766134576)

Originally Posted by Demon_of_the_Sand (Post 1766198215)

Me I do not believe in God in the Christianity form. I believe in multiple from many different cultures. For one all mighty being to create everything in 6 days and took the 7th off doesn't seem possible to me. the one thing I never understood is that according to the Bible God created everything in 6 days taking the Sabbath off. Now The Sabbath refers to Sunday which is also the start of the week. So with that the week should start on Monday and end on Sunday for the Sabbath shouldn't it?