Debate thread.

i dont care if everyone yells at me lol i was just stating it ::ducks head and runs::

 

it's okay. i believe god evolved us, too. i don't think we're an accident, i just don't believe he went "POOF!" gimme grandkids!" there's no blasphemy in that. some prefer to think it was all accidental or inevitable, i like to think the whole thing was guided and nurtured.

 

well then would you think that adam and eve were like neolithic man? or cavemen considering they have proved that civilization evolved out of the middle east messopotamia?

 

sure, i've got no problem with that. i don't see how that would be considered a cut against god or my belief in him. i just think that the original texts were greatly simplified based on the understanding held by the people who passed down the stories, and the degree of detail they would be able to accurately pass along in word until it could be written.

 

yeah thats cool the reason i was saying that is because where i live most of my friends are hardcore baptist and I asked them that and they said they dont belive in evolution or any of my ideas so i was like alrighty

 

yeah, i don't try to push too hard. people have different levels of tolerance. when i first started attending church, by myself when i was 9, i was priveledged to sit in bible studies with doctors, lawyers and philosophers, all of whom had a masters of phd in religious philosophy. it was a sort of club. i didn't really get to understand a lot of the concepts until later. but one of my favorites is that a couple fo the scholars were discussing ancient hebrew texts of the genesis. i guess the word that we translated to mean 'day' was actually pretty much outside of our ken, and could also be translated to mean 'forever' or 'eon.' their argument presented that day was that there's no reason to believe that 7 'days' MUST mean 'one week of our current understanding.' that god created man and animals from the earth could just be a very simplified explanation of evolution, given to the less technically minded children of those days. a mother goose explanation of god's creation.

 

A few points to address:

First, cannabis isn't actually very bad for you. All the health problems associated with it come from smoking it; inhaling smoke isn't really great for you.

Second. Drugs and alcohol in moderation is cool. Dependence is not. However, I say that not because i think it pisses some god off, but because it's bad for the body and the mind, can ruin your life in some cases, and makes it hard to be spiritual in any sense...you're too absorbed looking for your next drink or fix to really be aware of anything else.

Third. I think that all religions are right, and wrong. They all view the divine through a different cultural lens, and thus come up with different ideas on it. Then they add laws and rules and sacraments and rites that fit with their own culture. Thus I adhere to none of them, but take from each what works for me. I have to walk my own path, so if borrowing ideas from Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity works for me, so be it. At their hearts, they all basically say the same thing anyways.

 

i would hasten to add to your second point is that the reason it WOULD piss god off is BECAUSE it's bad for your body and mind.

 

Well, I don't believe in a God that can be pissed off. I don't see god as an entity or as having any qualities. It's sort of an ever-present kind of god, as in, there is no seperation between spirit and matter, the two are one. Thus, I tend not to use the word god, preferring to say "universe." I don't think drug use pisses off the universe. Of course, I realize this is the christianity folder and I'm among people who do see God as an entity or at least as someone or something that can be pissed off. Thus my original phrasing, just saying I don't think I'm pissing any god off (trying to keep things simple).

Anyways, I like the Buddhist idea of the middle path. Total abstinance and total indulgence are equally wrong and detrimental. Peace is found in the middle, where balance exists. In fact, "balance" is key in my spiritual ideas, and I feel it applies to everything: the environment, drug use, relationships, and spirituality.

 

well said, and i agree wholeheartedly. i did apply my concept of god to your argument, sorry to step on it. so i will say, in the christian understanding of god, god only gets mad about that because it IS bad for us. much like your mom will get really annoyed because all you'll eat is sour punch straws and cokes or something like that.