kwakwa's random thought and quotations

How I chose my username

I have a Haitian friend. Her religion is Vodou, the national religion of Haiti.

Vodou has such a sinister public image, but my friend is such a kind, good person. I found this incongruity intriguing.

I incessantly annoyed and annoy her with questions about Vodou -- theological, practical, philosophical questions. She patiently answers and only gets annoyed if I ask too many at once.

One time she referred to someone she knows as a kwakwa. In my ignorance, I thought it was some kind of pejorative comment about that person.

I learned that a kwakwa is an uninitiated practitioner of Vodou, more adept than a follower but less adept than a houngan (Vodou priest) or a mambo (Vodou priestess).

I thought the word sounded cool and chose it as my username.

I’m not a real kwakwa though, or a follower of Vodou.

 

maybe you could help me with my voodoo doll?

*stabs doll repeatedly with pin*

it doesn't seem to be working...

 

Even though I personally don't believe in Vodou, tbh it would be unsettling to learn that a Vodou practitioner was putting hexes on me.

 

All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. Edgar Allan Poe

 

I am an educated person who believes in God. I don’t mean an old man with a beard, but a higher power, a metaphysical entity.

I’m not a Bible thumping, fire and brimstone, finger pointing, people damning believer. I live a libertine lifestyle in a libertine city, Manhattan, and most of my friends are non-believers, atheists or agnostics. But I believe in God. I admit it.

Now, it is fair to challenge me to offer up, if not a scientific explanation, at the very least a rational one, for my belief in God.

To be honest, I cannot scientifically or rationally explain my belief in God. I certainly have no direct evidence that God exists. I’ve never seen God, not even while tripping. So I have no evidence, no rational explanation. Pretty weak, eh?

When we chat about these issues, some of my atheist friends mock me for being so gullible – and I must admit they have an arguable basis for mocking me.

But then I ask them what they believe. They believe in science.

What is the scientific explanation for how the universe began, for how matter – infinite matter – came into being from nothing?

First there was nothing, and then there was an infinite universe. How does science explain that?

Science tells us that it all happened randomly.

Science tells us that a "big bang" occurred randomly and created an infinite universe.

Rationally speaking, I believe that to say the infinite universe came about from nothing owing to a random "big bang" is as far-fetched, if not more so, than believing in God.

How does science explain the complexity and the symmetry of nature, starting with our solar system?

How did the random "big bang" create the symmetrical rings of Saturn?

How did the random "big bang" create gravity?

Randomly? Come on.

And how does science explain the incredible symmetry and complexity of earth itself?

How does science explain the myriad flora and fauna, with their myriad shapes and colors and symmetry?

Evolution? Really? Come on.

How did intelligence come about from no intelligence without intelligence? Science can’t answer that question.

How did human free will come about? By that I mean the choices we all make every day that cannot be attributed to evolution or to a survival instinct – like getting high or posting in this forum. That’s free will. Science can’t explain free will.

How does science identify and quantify love? Science can’t.

In my opinion, it is the height of arrogance to believe that humans on earth are the only or the most intelligent form of life in the infinite universe.

Compared to the random "big bang" and the other explanations science has come up with about the universe and earth, it seems much less far-fetched even to believe that someone was born without sex and came back from the dead.

Just my opinion . . .

 

There is so much intolerance in the name of tolerance.

Genuine tolerance encompasses people and ideas one considers repugnant.

It is not tolerance to accept people and ideas with which one agrees.

 

I like this

 

"How can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state?" Plato

 

Science doesn't try to explain that things happened randomly, it's just not in the habit of making shit up.

 

Science claims the infinite universe came into being from nothing, randomly, by the "big bang."

So first there was nothing, then there was a random "big bang" and from that nothing an infinite universe was created. Please . . .

And if you think that sceince is "just not in the habit of making shit up," I recommend you have a chat with a quantum physicist.

 

Science makes no claims regarding the why of how the universe came into being. We understand the big bang happened because of cosmic background radiation, spectrums of light indicating red shifts. Meaning the universe came from one point, and is growing further away from itself.

If you can't have this be in harmony with your philosophical questions, sorry. But it did happen. randomly and from nothing are your parlence.

If you want to understand quantum mechanics, put on your big boy pants and go to college. If not whatever, but don't make me waste time by reading it.

 

What are you saying?

 

You're asking for science to answer philosophical questions. I'm trying to explain that you're looking in the wrong place. Theres nothing to refute.

Your legal credentials are irrelevant. And I have no bigotry, I just find your method of posing questions somewhat irritating.

 

According to my college-educated atheist and agnostic friends, how the universe began is a scientific matter, not a philosophical one.

If all the mysteries of the universe, of earth and of human existence are not susceptible to being answered by science, then a metaphysical higher power cannot be summarily dismissed.

If humans on earth are not the only or the most intelligent form of life in the infinite universe, then a metaphysical higher power cannot be summarily dismissed.

And that you "find [my] method of posing questions somewhat irritating" is your problem, not mine.

 

I agree with you. Science cannot answer these questions. Science just seems to be a modern religion... people rely on it so heavily.

True, science works... but one must realize that the scientific method is completely flawed. We are so limited to what we can do... out of a billion possible hypothesis we can only test a few... and we base our conclusions based on those results.

It's no solid ground.

 

science doesn't have all the answers but at least there are some facts in science.

not all scientists agree on the big bang theory. it's a theory.

sadly, there are no "facts" to support the existence of god. anyone who thinks they can explain how love came about and such things is a fool. it is the wise person who realises they don't know everything.

 

How the universe began is a physical question.

Why it began, which is your question, is a philosophical one. Why does love exist is something your parents should have explained to you, not your Vassar educated compatriots.

I have no problem. I'm simply giving you a reason I'm being abrasive.

 

The universe did begin as an initial 'big bang', but what caused that big bang, and where the universe will basically fold in upon itself and be taken back into, is God.
"All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream". Edgar Allan Poe
This energy that existance vibrated out from is just one part. That which sustains is the energy, but the energy, which 'can not be created nor destroyed' did not just create itself. Light of creation with the Beginning of Sound brought this energy into existance, and will be the cause of it going backwards, only to be born again.
There is a theory that baby universe pop into and out of existance constantly, and all over the universe, possibly in your living room, that never go anywhere. They are born and they are gone. But some continue to grow, and this 'universe' is not the only one that ever way, is now, or ever will be. Surely there are many universe, uncountable universes, and they are all contained within the 'Dream' God is eternally having. Science can not explain anything because it is based on the ego consciousness, observing that which it is surrounded by and made up of. But science prety much stops beyond the subatomic level at energy. Some believe in the string theory and really they are not terribly far off. We are a cosmic symphony, but and orchestra needs a conductor (Mother Nature) as well as the person who wrote the entire peice of detailed music by themself (God).
It's beyond even metaphysical thought, because that always begins and ends at the limited capability of the mind to comprehend. But God can be felt, and those who feel it dont need a religion, they dont need a middle man, they dont need a scientist to give names and measurements, they dont need friends to agree, and they dont need to explain it. They just know. This knowledge, however, is not the same as subjective reality. It is objective transcendence than can only be realized after you understand all living things to be part of your family. Then you have to be able to let go of the false idea that you have control over absolutley anything. Then just give into it, it's there, but you have to hear it first. I was quoting Kashmir earlier and since this is also a quote thread, why not?
Oh let the sun beat down upon my face, stars to fill my dream
I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been
To sit with elders of the gentle race, this world has seldom seen
They talk of days for which they sit and wait and all will be revealed
Talk and song from tongues of lilting grace, whose sounds caress my ear
But not a word I heard could I relate, the story was quite clear

 

It is only a physcial question when your concept of beginning starts at the premade matieral composition and the energy which was everything that is now, only condensed. But when you question where did this premade happening come from, it then goes above and beyond human comprehension. Even if we were simply born out from another universe, they all have their beginning and none of them are eternal.

 

Relayer I like.

You're not remotley scientific either. But you have your convictions and I admire that.

Word.