People who were once non-believers and now believe in God...

[Anonymous]

Some people are more intuitive and have a higher awareness.
I was walking in a wooded park few weeks ago and without trying I had an awareness of the presence of consciousness all around me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some people are more intuitive and have a higher awareness.
I was walking in a wooded park few weeks ago and without trying I had an awareness of the presence of consciousness all around me.

What does any of that mean?

[Anonymous]

I grew up fundamentalist Christian but never had a deep, felt sense belief and as a young adult just let it go and was an atheist.

In middle age, though, I’ve had some experiences that I’ve later come to recognize as spiritual awakenings in which my Christian roots helped frame.

My experiences are real to me, but I wouldn’t classify them as beliefs that I would stand a defend in a literal sense. More I would encourage others to become open and allow in what is available to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I felt that certain things that happened in my life were too coincidental to not be influenced by a higher power.

But all the other things that happen, (good, bad and inconsequential) other than those coincidental things, are attributed to…?

Have not figured that out to my satisfaction. I believe there is a higher power, but am not a fan of organized religion (too much corruption)..Also do not believe in pre-determination.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whether you want to admit it or not, you already believe in lots of things about how the universe works, how people should treat each other, the nature of love, and if you are living in the DMV — very likely — the importance of equality, justice, fairness, respect. And yet, you can’t scientifically “prove” any of these things and many societies across history have had no respect for them at all — including Ancient Rome before Jesus. You have a very strong faith, even if you don’t realize it.

Once you come to grips with the fact that we have all have faith and belief, it becomes easier to investigate what you truly believe, what are the origins of it, and whether or not there is a much deeper meaning and purpose in life.

No, nothing you said is true. Nothing you named is claimed by anyone to be a thinking being or supernatural. Those things you mention are all emergent properties of a brain and none exist without a brain.

So, fail. 100% fail.

From a historical perspective, what the PP said is entirely true. Most Americans such as yourself have no understanding of pre-classical antiquity history, specifically the predominant ethical mores and rules which societies lived by.

No, that is more BS. PP’s primary claim was that everyone has “faith”. And that is false, with anything other than an unreasonably broad definition.

Your pseudo intellectual word salad is designed to obscure the fact that your point is ridiculous.

I’ll use simple words so that you can understand.

PP used the word faith to mean “belief”, which is technically what it means, a belief in truth.

“Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony”

And you, most likely, do have a deep belief (or faith) in things like the importance of fairness, justice, equality, and respect. These are not universally held ethical values as most westerners tend to mistakenly believe, but in fact a historically anomalous morality that evolved from one person, Jesus Christ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people are more intuitive and have a higher awareness.
I was walking in a wooded park few weeks ago and without trying I had an awareness of the presence of consciousness all around me.

What does any of that mean?

It means spiritual people have sixth sense.

[Anonymous]

This topic was the focus of the most recent episode of the podcast How God Works.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/25I4mcSd3LfLmLf8BCFsc1?si=WZJfXgDqTQCRCIsf3ho8Bw

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people are more intuitive and have a higher awareness.
I was walking in a wooded park few weeks ago and without trying I had an awareness of the presence of consciousness all around me.

What does any of that mean?

Some people ascribe deep supernatural meaning to emotions they don't understand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am still an atheist but choose to follow Christian teachings because Christianity is the foundation of western civilization and responsible for the morality and societies that do the most good for humanity.

This! Me too.

Also, I don’t necessarily believe in
a god but I do believe in religion! People have believed in some religion since the beginning of their conscious thought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whether you want to admit it or not, you already believe in lots of things about how the universe works, how people should treat each other, the nature of love, and if you are living in the DMV — very likely — the importance of equality, justice, fairness, respect. And yet, you can’t scientifically “prove” any of these things and many societies across history have had no respect for them at all — including Ancient Rome before Jesus. You have a very strong faith, even if you don’t realize it.

Once you come to grips with the fact that we have all have faith and belief, it becomes easier to investigate what you truly believe, what are the origins of it, and whether or not there is a much deeper meaning and purpose in life.

No, nothing you said is true. Nothing you named is claimed by anyone to be a thinking being or supernatural. Those things you mention are all emergent properties of a brain and none exist without a brain.

So, fail. 100% fail.

From a historical perspective, what the PP said is entirely true. Most Americans such as yourself have no understanding of pre-classical antiquity history, specifically the predominant ethical mores and rules which societies lived by.

No, that is more BS. PP’s primary claim was that everyone has “faith”. And that is false, with anything other than an unreasonably broad definition.

Your pseudo intellectual word salad is designed to obscure the fact that your point is ridiculous.

I’ll use simple words so that you can understand.

PP used the word faith to mean “belief”, which is technically what it means, a belief in truth.

“Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting solely and implicitly on his authority and veracity; reliance on testimony”

And you, most likely, do have a deep belief (or faith) in things like the importance of fairness, justice, equality, and respect. These are not universally held ethical values as most westerners tend to mistakenly believe, but in fact a historically anomalous morality that evolved from one person, Jesus Christ.

Holy cow.

Jesus Christ was a Jew who changed one rule.

1. Sin all you want, as long as you thank me for forgiving you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am still an atheist but choose to follow Christian teachings because Christianity is the foundation of western civilization and responsible for the morality and societies that do the most good for humanity.

This! Me too.

Also, I don’t necessarily believe in
a god but I do believe in religion! People have believed in some religion since the beginning of their conscious thought.

"I believe in believe." - Ted Lasso

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people are more intuitive and have a higher awareness.
I was walking in a wooded park few weeks ago and without trying I had an awareness of the presence of consciousness all around me.

What does any of that mean?

It means spiritual people have sixth sense.

A sense of delusion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a long story. I got extremely lucky connecting with church community, which completely transformed my life and conception of the world. I was raised as an atheist, but changed my ways in early 20s. Even though I had a great childhood and was a happy kid/teen, I have to tell you - atheism is pretty depressing lol. Don't subject your kids to it, it's just sad. There is so much more to life.

What does being "raised as an atheist" mean? I understand being raised as a Catholic, or a Methodist, etc., because there are regular services that you go to and things you learn as a child, but my understanding is that atheism is a lack of that. Thus the question.

It means I was raised without any knowledge of God or religion. I was told by everyone (including my parents) from a very young age that such concepts are false, and obviously as a child didn’t question the validity of such statements.

I doubt the post above is honest. Most people raising kids without religion just say nothing about it at all.

If this was true, those same people wouldn't bother posting on DCUM religion forum.

They aren't posting in a "religion" forum. They are posting in a "Recent topics" forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some people are more intuitive and have a higher awareness.
I was walking in a wooded park few weeks ago and without trying I had an awareness of the presence of consciousness all around me.

What does any of that mean?

Some people ascribe deep supernatural meaning to emotions they don't understand.

No, you are trying to grasp water with your hands.
We have cups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I felt that certain things that happened in my life were too coincidental to not be influenced by a higher power.

Same. When I saw millions of people were murdered I became a Satanist, since that's the only sensible explanation.