Two thoughts that have been bothering me.

[Blue-Hawk]

Disclaimer- this is not meant to insult nor offend anyone. If I have, then I apologize in advance. Please feel free to move this if I post this in the wrong forum.

Now, I don't know if I ever said this, but I don't believe in religion, but I do believe in God. So you can't say I am an Athiest, contradicting as it may sound. I can't explain it.

Now, these two thoughts have been buging me for the past 6 months or so. Random thoughts that just came up and no one has been able to answer them.

1- When you hear or see someone sneeze, what do you say to them is they are an athiest, agnostic or satanists?
2- *This is the one not meant to offend anyone* Why is it that when some people claim to have conversations with God, they are given the roles of priest, rabbi or other leaders of organized and disorganized religion, while other people who claim to have the same comversations with God are labled insane and locked up in asylums never to be seen and/or heard from again?



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Blue-Hawk on 2005-12-23 07:44 ]</font>


<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Blue-Hawk on 2005-12-23 07:45 ]</font>

[Charmander02]

For the # 2 part- i guess its just what religion you are, some people in some places just aren't accepted for their religion, but some are. I guess its a form of discrimination

[ABDUR101]

You're a spiritual person, not a religious one. Simple.

1. You still say 'bless you', atleast I do. It's no different than the myriad of other things we say throughout the day, that are more or less a kind thing to say and hold no religious meaning. And if they get offended, tell em to fuck off if they can't handle someone being nice, regardless of beleifs.

2. It's all due to context and perception. Which I'm not even going to get into, because it's more than just 'oh the priest said God gave him a message' or 'Ah yes, he hears voices, lets lock him up.'

[Blue-Hawk]

On 2005-12-23 08:27, ABDUR101 wrote:
You're a spiritual person, not a religious one. Simple.

I wouldn't go as far as 'Spiritual'. I just get these random and odd thoughts as the day goes by.

[Kent]

I don't say anything to people who sneeze, and I think the people you described in point 2 are one in the same. :/

But eh, it's all too pointless for me to argue over anymore, anyway.

[Sinue_v2]

#1. I still say "Bless you". I don't say it in a spiritual context though, since it's obvious that someone sneezing isn't their souls way of releasing demons. Rather, it's just customary and good manners - like saying Please and Thank You.

#2. Priests talk to god in much the same way I personally talk to god - which generally a one sided conversation, but you can pick up clues as to his answer in the events and emotions which surround you. I guess you could say I don't really talk to god, but I believe he is listening - so I do so anyhow. The crazies are the ones who sit there and talk to god as if he's right next to them.. and yes, some of them are in the clergy. Reminds me of a great Sam Kinnison bit where he makes fun of Pat Roberson because "God" told him to run for President. Or the one about Oral Roberts seeing a 900ft Jesus in Tulsa Oaklahaoma after refusing to take his medicine.

My question is... if the Story of Abraham and Issac were to take place today, would se still see them as biblical heroes - or would Abraham be locked up in an institution as just another crazy who talks to god and reviled by the Church?

[rena-ko]

1: Gesundheit

2: depends on who you're talking to. and how serious / sane you appear.

[Madzozs]

1) I say Bless You. I don't care if they are religious or not. Hell, I don't believe in God but i still say Bless You.


2) A piece of paper is what makes the 2 people different. That is all it is.

[Eihwaz]

On 2005-12-23 11:37, rena-ko wrote:
1: Gesundheit

Yeah, that's pretty much what I say, though I sometimes say "Bless you" anyway.

[Kupi]

My response to #2: This may only be my personal view/experience, but I think that in most cases the phrase "talking to God" is a misnomer. By this I mean that the pray-er does not literally perceive a voice speaking to them, as if something were vibrating the air molecules around them in the same way that the human vocal apparatus does. It's difficult to describe precisely because it doesn't occur as a phenominon that can be quantified in terms of our more immediate senses.

To answer the question more directly: the difference between a man listening to God and a man listening to voices in his head is that the man listening to God is using an entirely different sense (one whose existence is, obviously, disputed), while the man listening to voices in his head has a quantifiable malfunction in a sense whose existence is universally agreed upon.

I hope that didn't obfuscate the issue at all... ^_^()