| Is there a god? | |
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Jacen Aratan - Student |
I just want to know if we are a religious people here at the JA. So what religion do you belive in if any? Personally I don't belive in it, but what are your opinion, and why do you belive in it if you do so?
One rule: DO NOT USE THIS TOPIC AS A HOLY WAR BETWEEN RELIGIONS, this is stricktly for telling why you belive in that particular religion. This post was edited by Jacen Aratan on Mar 19 2003 02:33am. |
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FaDed - Student 
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and there's nothing wrong with that MoS. the point of this thread is to see why or why not people believe in a god. this is a thread where you can share your opinions and beliefs and learn about others. nothing in here is meant to be offensive. but if you don't like it or can't handle the content, you don't have to read it. |
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MINDofSIN - Student 
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I'd also like to get this thread closed.
I typed up a long, very "defensive" post which I reconsidered and did not post. I like everyone here, but some posts are leaning towards: God does/can't exist because... _______________ Jedi Academy Holocron http://jaholocron.ryanmh.com/ Why should our government send our soldiers to foreign soil to protect freedom of speech, when our freedom of speech is being taking away everyday by the same government. |
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FaDed - Student
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this is a long one, but this is faith.
Alma 32 - A Chapter On Faith 1 And it came to pass that they did go forth, and began to preach the word of God unto the people, entering into their synagouges, and into their houses; yea, and even they did preach the word in their streets. 16 Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe. 17 Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us a sign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe. 18 Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it. 21 And now as I said concerning faith--faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. 26 Now, as I said concerning faith--that it was not a perfect knowledge--even so it is with my words. Ye cannot know of their surety at frist, unto perfection, any more than faith is a perfect knowledge. 27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an expirement upon my words, and excercise a particle of faith, yea, even if you can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. 28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed my be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves--It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. 29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown to a perfect knowledge. 30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow,then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith; for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow. 31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness. 32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away. 33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the expirement, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good. 34 And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand. 35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible, therefore ye must now that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect? 36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only excercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the expirement to know if the seed was good. 37 And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit. 38 But if ye neglect the tree, and take no thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root; and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out. 39 Now, this is not because the seed was not good, neither is it because the fruit thereof would not be desirable; but it is because your ground is barren, and ye will not nourish the tree, therefore ye cannot have the fruit thereof. 40 And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life. 41 But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life. 42 And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, the ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst. 43 Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you. i hope this helps. This comment was edited by FaDed on Mar 28 2003 06:20am. |
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SirBizNatch - Student 
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yea i never got the whole faith thing either. i mean theres not alot of proof. ya got the bible, but we dont know if its true. then peopel say that you dont need proof to believe in god you jus need faith. if religion is based on that, i could believe in the ghostbusters (love thta movie).
my idea is that if god did not give people a clue that he is here, hes not doing such a great job. i read a book in which noah and atlantis are jus stories whose origin is forgotten. noah came from a guy whose village was flooded and only he survived, and his village sank, aka atlantis. religion is sumthing that will mess with ur head. if there is a god he cant give us proof because his whole existence is based on faith, and proof denies faith. but how do we know thta there is no god? very confusing. btw got most of the ideas from hitchhiker's guide to the universe-you should def read. great book. _______________ Personal body guard to teh 1337 Jacen Aratan! Midbie Council Memeber||Member of the Almighty FiZZsters |
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Mistral - Ex-Student 
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Well said!
I too have trouble with the idea of cosmic superheroes watching over us from outer space but I respect others beliefs. Most religions have strong moral values that we can all learn from. Anybody want to comment on that thing called faith? I don't mean to be disrespectful but what's the difference between faith and blind faith? |
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Jake Kainite - Student 
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Right, I could be here all day telling you why you're all wrong, then you'd spend all of tomorrow telling me how I'm wrong about you all being wrong. The fact is, it doesn't really matter what you believe in.
Personally, i'm not religious,but if anyone asks, I say I'm a jedi. The whole idea of one phat force type thing binding everything together does seem pretty kool. The bible and that. Kudos to you people who believe it all and stuff, but don't you find some of the stuff just a tiny bit far fetched ? And how do you know that the whole jesus thing, and noah and that existed ? You're taking someones word for it surely. At the end of the day, everyone feels something, whether they pass it off as deja-vu, they have an itch, or get paranoid and see things happen, or my fave, but scary : hear voices. Its all the same, theres a greater power out there and a reason for existence, the difference of relgions is just how you define, refer and choose to interpret the same thing. some say theres one god, some say theres 5 gods, its not important, all that is, is that you're alive (now we're straying from relgion to phylosophy, and I'm not going there  ). Lifes to short to worry about what other people think. Do your own thing, live free, think free. _______________ Apprenctice of Jedi Master Ascari (deceased) Descended from a line of great Jedi Will argue any point of view from any side
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FaDed - Student
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of course it's a dangerous subject. whenever people are called on to defend their beliefs, there's always potential for conflict. but because the academy is based on respect for one another, and that we have all agreed to abide by the rules, this discussion should be completely safe. |
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Sniya - Student 
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Hmm religion is a beautiful thing which is used for evil things.Never take religion to be a reasonto harm or be anthing but friendly to your fellow man.Trust me religion is half the reason my country is messed up.
First to state my position i believe in God im a christien(no need to be more specific) i believe both evololution and adam an eve tihng are wrong. ok is God cruel if he existed.When abrham asaked who God was at the burning bush he replied "I am" meaning as some have interpeted that he was all of what you would descripe as a human.he is brave,he is happy,he is sad etc.When people use the argument that God is wrong for that he alows suffering this anoys me.ITS OUR BLOODY FAULT.We are why the starving do not have enough to eat,we are why millions die of diseases,we are why peple are killed by people.God gave us free will,he wants us to do what is right. Why do i believe in God because i think he answered my prayers in times of need.Mabey he didnt mabey it was coincidence,but mabey he did. As for evolution-the evolution theory fits but dosnt make sense when it comes down to paper.(Bit of a contradiction )and the bible story dose not only not completely fit but also the bible is full of parables and mabey the creation sotry is just that.To thurther back up my point take the "Tower of bable"[genesis 11] i found this story i had never heard of when looking for abraham for an RE project.It tells of a time shortly after the time of noahs flood that the people all of spoke one language tried to build a tower to the heavens but failed as God who knew those who spoke the same language could not be stopped from completing thier task confused thier languages.Of course the problem is we have reached past the sky and discovered that space is there not the heavens.So that story makes no sense.A lot of people refuse to even contomplate the bible not being strickly what its says on paper.When in first year we did an RE unit on "Evolution".Which was really "Creationist propoganda Sesion".Instead of what i had hoped a disscussion on which side was right mabey starting with learning what the theory of evolution is(i already had a good grasp of it after reding a horrible science book on it) it was disscusion plainly aimed and backed up to support the creationist side.Whatsmore the teacher clearly did not understand the theory and i spent a great deal of my time trying to argue back pro evolution.And the thing that really bugs me was the fact that people dispised my view as if"How dare you question the bible?"Probably the most
useful info i got on the evolutionist side was from my math teacher,a real good man who had a lot of honest and valid opinions when it was mentioned in class.The next day he brought me in a video(very creationist) which had scientific sencible points pro creationist which has got me sitting on the fence now on this argument. The whole holy trinity thing was well explained by saint patrick when he was explaining it to a pagan chieftain.He picked up a shamrock and used it as an example.See it got 3 parts but it is the same plant.(hence the irish shamrocck conection) Personly id prefer this disscusison to be shut down its a dangerous topic. WTF did i just right this much??????? _______________ The real question is not whether machines think but whether men do. Bertrand Russell http://www.thejediacademy.net/forums_detail_page.php?f_id=970 This comment was edited by Sniya on Mar 27 2003 10:25pm. |
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doobie - Jedi Council 
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the holy ghost is part of the Godhead, and is basically the way in which God communicates with us... the holy ghost (or spirit) gives us prompting and acts kind of as the medium through which our prayers reach God.
btw, Lew, you too? that makes three LDSers! _______________ -Academy Leader/Dictator/Defeater of DJ Sith and JACen Solo in the JAK+ Tournament -I do think it (the JA) will help convert dozens, maybe hundreds, to the dork nation... --me |
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Mistral - Ex-Student 
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I believe that Ghostbusters are real!
And since I believe in it, it must be true .
Who ya gonna call... |
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TiTo (inactive) - Student 
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BLADE, plz stop spamming... i'll tell whisper... _______________ Not back yet... I'll come one day, I hope... The madman formerly (and still) known as Tito! Coming to take back my title as "Most insane 'person' in the JA" It's the bizzi, wizza, jizzi, Wizzil, Bizon, wizzay, Wizzat, fizzil ¶°TiTo°¶ - All work and no play makes Tito burn the bacon!  - Officially cured from spamming!!!
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Blade - Ex-Student 
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Conshleberasti shlanderfall blestready.
rhymtheismia, Blademer. |
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Jedi_Wing - Ex-Student 
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Its the same thing. _______________ http://www.thejediacademy.net/forums_detail_page.php?f_id=159 http://www.thejediacademy.net/show_profile.php?f_id=1386 |
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Jacen Aratan - Student |
I am not sure but is it the Holy Spirit? But I am no theologist so don't burn me. |
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Mistral - Ex-Student
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Yeah, lots of stuff written here I've never heard before. Cool .
One question I have is who or what is the "holy ghost"? |
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FaDed - Student 
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interesting Lew...i don't know if i've seen that before  |
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Jacen Aratan - Student |
Thanks for the view into your religion Lew. I can not say i believe in it, but it was interresting to read. |
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Master Lew - Student 
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I hope the following will help you understand and give you enlightenment in what you seek. I’m in no way attempting to preach or shove my religion at anyone. This is just meant to give whoever is interested some information.
Remember that all that is good comes or is inspired from God. All that is evil or bad comes or is inspired from Satan. God allows us our ‘free agency’ to chose for ourselves what actions we make. Mankind causes the suffering here on Earth. It is up to us to resolve the conflicts that we cause. Basic beliefs You may have questions about what members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe. Some of the basic beliefs of the Church are: · God is our Heavenly Father. He loves us and wants us to return to Him. · Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is our Savior. He redeems us from death by providing the Resurrection. He saves us from sin as we repent. · Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can return to live with God if we keep His commandments. · The Holy Ghost helps us to recognize truth. · The first principles and ordinances of the gospel are faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. · The Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth. · The priesthood authority of God exists in His Church today, just as it did in the original Church. · The Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God. · God reveals His will to prophets today, just as He did anciently. · Our life has a sacred purpose. · Families can be together forever. · Through serving others, we can experience joy and draw closer to God. Summary of beliefs Joseph Smith was asked about the basic beliefs of the Church. He summarized the teachings and doctrines in 13 basic points which are known as The Articles of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are: 1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. 2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression. 3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. 4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof. 6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth. 7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth. 8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. 9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. 10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon this the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory. 11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may. 12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. 13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul — We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. _______________ Brick Assassin for Hire Here, have a brick! 
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FaDed - Student
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for my friend MoS -
Alma 12:21-23 21) What does the scripture mean, which saith that God placed cherubim and a flaming sword on the east of the garden of Eden, lest our first parents should enter and partake of the fruit of the tree of life, and live forever? And thus we see that there was no possible chance that they should live forever. 22) Now Alma said unto him: This is the thing which I was about to explain. Now we see that Adam did fall by the partaking of the forbidden fruit, according to the word of God; and thus we see, that by his fall, all mankind became a lost and fallen people. 23) And now behold, I say unto you that if it had been possible for Adam to have partaken of the fruit of the tree of life at that time, there would have been no death, and the word would have been void, making God a liar, for he said: If thou eat though shalt surely die. hope this clears up any confusion. |
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SirBizNatch - Student
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i was baptized protestant, but then crossed over ta catholic early on, but now im deist-borderline-atheist. one thing that gets me bout religoin is if god is everywhere and knows what we do, why do we go to church and need ta be relieved of our sins? he's sposed ta love us and all of this stiff so i dont understand the point of church. then im not sure if i believe in god or not so im jus gonna leave it at thta.
another thing that i dont like is parents raising their children in a certain religion. to me it sounds a bit like brainwashing, or drilling it into childrens heads when they are the most impressionable and hav no free will. i like baptists, cuz they let the children grow up believing in god, and then let them choose their OWN religion when the are old enough. a questiion to ponder: would you be the same religion as you are now if you were not raised that way? so if anything, im a cross between atheism (kinda skeptical), deism(dont understand church), and baptist(people should hav free choice). and i kno thta the atheism kinda contradicts the deism and baptist. _______________ Personal body guard to teh 1337 Jacen Aratan! Midbie Council Memeber||Member of the Almighty FiZZsters |
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NofrikinfuN - Retired 
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I was raised as a christian, but upon growing up and thinking a little about things, I started to make some of my own conclusions about religion.
The main points of religion are these: People want to believe there is something after they die. This is what comforts them in their final moments. People want to believe that someone out there forgives and cares for them. People want something to tell them what is or isn't right, because sometimes, it's hard to tell the difference. It is my belief that no "Bible" *Or whatever texts your religion follows* is to be taken literally. They are merely books of parables, thought problems. Adam and Eve are asked not to eat the fruit and they allow themselves to be coaxed into it. They were wrong for doing it and they were punished. Not to be taken literally, you see. Don't argue religion to hard guys. Any and all of us could be wrong. |
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FaDed - Student
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of course neither one of us is wrong MoS. we are only talking about one set of scripture: the Bible. let me give you an analogy (a favorite mormon past time ).
you take a 2x4 and nail it into another board. just one nail. you can take that 2x4 and turn it in any direction that you like. it will spin in a complete circle. but then, you take another nail and drive it through the 2x4. it doesn't matter where you nail it the second time, because now the 2x4 can not spin. it is held fast in one specific, undeniable direction. analysis: we were given the Bible our god's holy prophets. they were inspired by him and wrote his word for us to have in this day. but because of the wickedness of this world, those prophets disappeared. either by death or by commandment of our lord. but the transfer of light and knowledge from heaven to earth ceased. men, without the spirit of god to help them, took these writings and tried to understand them. each man with his own interpretation of each verse in the Bible. hence thousands of different versions of the Holy Bible. but because god is wise and just, he had other prophets write his word in a seperate book. this book, the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ, was translated, by the power of god, by a man, Joseph Smith. the Book of Mormon's purpose was and still is to supplement and support the teachings contained within the Holy Bible. they compliment each other. they teach the same truths. you have the first nail: Holy Bible. and then the second: Book of Mormon. "We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God." -Articles of Faith No. 8- |
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Fizz of Belouve - Student 
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well, I dont like the thought of a somehow higher entity is able to control all happenings in the universe.
If in any, I believe in physics. _______________ One of the Belouve boys, founder of the mighty FiZZsters Midbie council #20 - Fizz - #1933 - Jan '03 - Aug '04 "Renfield, you idiot!" |
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MINDofSIN - Student
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Directed to Faded:
"It is quite evident that before Adam and Eve sinned theirs was not a physical or sexual relationship. The Forgotten Books of Eden tell us that God, the Father, had desired to bring forth children of Light from both of them (perhaps in the same manner as Eve was brought from Adam). But when they committed sexual sin; they were reduced to a purely physical plane of reproduction (Gen. 3:16); they lost their aura or "glory" and were driven out of Eden. They were no longer children of light, free from toil and pain and death." Yeah, so niether one of us is wrong as scripture is open to various interpretations. _______________ Jedi Academy Holocron http://jaholocron.ryanmh.com/ Why should our government send our soldiers to foreign soil to protect freedom of speech, when our freedom of speech is being taking away everyday by the same government. This comment was edited by MINDofSIN on Mar 22 2003 02:02am. |
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Jacen Aratan - Student |
JW, I have just been wondering for some time now wether people here was as religious as I thought or if they would surprise me and say "we don't belive in him". After the first few replys I was very surprised and didn't thought there were as many religious people here as I thought, until Faded showed up.
Btw I must mention how proud of you all I am. You haven't started a Holy War yet and I take that as a good sign. Mature you are. Or maybe the troublemakers haven't been here yet? Well, Whisper, so far it haven't been a catastrophe like you were afraid it would be. |
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