Rabbit

I believe that everyone has a purpose and they are uniquely suited to accomplish something. Anything. Sure, we can deviate, and I believe we pay in karma for that deviation.

So, I'm not sure what the atheists here, on Yahell Answers, are suited to do other than, from my own observations, encourage people contemplating suicide to commit suicide, tearing down the most benign of beliefs of genuinely thoughtful and seeking people, and acting pretentious, as if they are the only ones who have received any kind of an education.

From where I stand, that's all negative and the suicide encouragent is evil and should be prosecutable.

Carl Jung, the father of analytical psychology, believed that a healthy spiritual life was good for an individual. If atheists were interested in the well being of others (nothing has ever indicated that they are, but I'm just being positively speculative), instead of doing their own soul searching through tearing down others here, they could do productive protests againsts actual deviant religious organizations, and there are too many of those to list. Exodus International, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, the nuts using religion to scare people by saying that it's the end of the world come to mind.

But all that would actually take some willpower and more knowledge than parroting their favorite atheist apologist, so they stay here, doing nothing productive.

Yeah, I am mad at the atheists here. I respect a skeptical mind, and you could actually serve a purpose other than tearing people down.

What's my question?

When will you seek psychological help for your condition? If you were happy, you would leave well seeking people alone.

and you don't think god cares about you?

I have a theory that atheism is not based upon only a logical, knowledge seeking mind, but is actually an emotional choice and demonstrated by a person's compulsive Internet behavior. I believe atheists need a social outlet where they can belittle others so they don't have to face their own demons.

Don't worry. I'm not talking about literal demons.

Now before you go accusing me of not having a job in your defensiveness, I'm just on lunch and about to go work out. Wanted to kick this question out before I left though.

The third eye is thought of in some religions as "gate" to other worlds and higher consciousness.

Hinduism represents this with the dot on the forehead. Taoism represents this by teaching meditation by focusing on the area in the center of the forehead.

Both spots in these religions seem to correspond well with the pineal gland, which controls secretion of melantonin which is used in the body's wakened / sleeping patterns and additionally the gland can release DMT, which is the well known chemical component in near death experiences.

My question is, based on what we know about the pineal gland excreting DMT and potentially causing NDE's and additionally is such a valuable component in sleep, could Hinduism and Taoism be pointing to the place of the human soul?

Or, perhaps, some theorize that the pineal gland just is a biochemical communication tool and sleep and dreaming and dying are just signals being sent elsewhere, and these religions have figured out that the pineal gland did just that.

If not, then how did Hinduism and Taoism hit upon the significant spot where the pineal gland is without knowing that this gland would be so vital in NDE's?

Keep in mind my belief is that NDE's are the best evidence we have of an afterlife and I personally believe that NDE's are actually the basis of all religions.

Why are you choosing to spend time asking and answering questions here?

This is mostly to those of us who have spent days upon days here, if not longer.

Are you actually seeking answers and exploring your own spirituality?

Do you see yourself as a teacher, a prophet, a professor, a guru?

Are you here to convert people?

After answering the above, what is your spiritual or aspiritual story?

This is a judgement free question. I'd just like to hear from people.

All hypothetical. I'm not sure what I really believe so no need to get offended and send hate mail.

Atheists and agnostics and even people who have converted out of Christianity and belong to another religion, say Wicca for example, tend to know and understand the Christian bible better than most bible believing Christians do. They also tend to be more compassionate towards the poor and more tolerant of other people.

I, personally, have never heard of a person leaving Christianity because of the words of Jesus. It is usually because of the words or behavior of Christians or something they find objectionable elsewhere in the bible.

When Jesus was on earth, he said that you would know his followers by their fruits. He also said he was here for those who needed him, not the "holy people" of the day. He also was insulting and outright assaulted the religious people of his day.

Most importantly, Jesus said that the person who did the will of his master was the one who actually followed his master, not the one who just verbally said he followed his master.

Therefore, could it be that Jesus' actual followers and the ones he is actually proud of and will welcome into the kingdom of heaven will be the ones that I have pointed out above (atheists, agnostics, anyone else who does good)?

If not then how do you explain the verbal abuse leveled at the religionists of Jesus' day? And how do you explain him telling them that they will call out to him but he won't acknowledge them?

Could it additionally be true that, as pointed out above, Jesus' words are the most true and the rest of the bible is less than true? Could this be a big ole satanic conspiracy to discredit the wisdom of Jesus' words?

I can back this up with scripture, but i am on lunch.

;)

Universalist scholar Thomas Talbott noted that the Greek word for "forever" is better understood as "that which pertains to an age" . For example, when Jonah was swallowed by the great fish, he "went down to the land whose bars closed on me forever" (Jonah 2:6). However, the story ended when Jonah was released by God from his bondage after just three days. In other instances - his parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:34-35) and his descriptions of a prisoner's fate (Matthew 5:25-26, Luke 12:59) - Jesus indicated that punishment is not eternal but lasts only until one's entire debt is paid (Matthew 18:34).

The following are classic passages supporting Christian Universalism:

"For Christ also suffered for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey." (1 Peter 3:18-20)

"For this reason the Gospel was proclaimed even to the dead, so that though they had been judged in the flesh as everyone is, they might live in the Spirit as God does." (1 Peter 4:6)

"All flesh shall see the salvation of God." (Luke 3:6)

"When all things are subjected to him then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all." (1 Corinthians 15:28)

"For to this end we toil and struggle, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." (1 Timothy 4:10)

"And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, "This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts and I will write them on their minds," he also adds: "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin." (Hebrews 10:15-18)

"He has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on Earth." (Ephesians 1:9-10)

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all." (Titus 2:11)

Aside from this, ask yourself, could you send or could you calmly stand by when your child is sent off to a place of eternal torment? Think about that...forever. Is there anything worth a "forever" torment? Could you subject your own child to that?

And if god is all loving, how can he send people to hell (or create hell or allow people to go to hell) forever?

So my question, given this evidence, why continue to believe in a self defeating idea like hell?

http://www.near-death.com/experiences/origen021.ht...

why would it be unacceptable to make up and follow your own religion, provided it harmed none?

Doesn't seem like something that is normally talked about, probably looked upon as crazy as it sounds, and I highly doubt that anyone verified this before writing it down. Well, never mind, it couldn't be verified in that way since a baby popped out there.

So, how do you think it was made known that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin?

Regardless of your current religion, or lack thereof, did you lose your faith because of hell or the threat of hell?

I would greatly appreciate you sharing your story with me.

I believe the concept of hell is spiritual abuse. I won't get into a discussion of whether or not it's biblical, and I'm not limiting this question to christianity.

Regardless, I know that I was tormented by thoughts of friends and family, and sometimes myself, being placed in hell when I died. I was taught "salvation by faith" but also that if you sinned that probably meant you didn't really believe in Jesus and would likely go to hell.

When I was younger I would read the Chick Tracts, which are horrid pieces of propoganda, and be so scared of the torture of fire and demons torturing me when I died, I would have panic attacks when I was as young as 13.

No child should feel that. I am writing a paper, and perhaps someday a book, about this subject and would dearly love to hear your stories.

Thank you, and I hope everything got better for you.

Lets not waste time debating about what hell is essentially. It's a place of torment.

So, having established that it's a place of torment, would Christians send their children there?

Let's say your child doesn't love you back and doesn't obey you. That is the reason for the majority of the world to go hell, according to Christians. Could you really send your child to a place of torment for all eternity?

I do not kill bugs in my house. I grab them or get a paper towel and take them outside and release them.

However, flies....those bastards can die. I do have fly paper and I don't care if they die slowly trapped and suffocating in sticky sweet death.

Tracking down and swatting flies is an obsession of line if I see they are in the house.

Maybe this is just me making sure my family isn't exposed to the filth that is flies.

Occasionally I feel guilty for my hatred of flies. Has anyone else experienced this?

Theists, what would be definitive, scientific, non-ridiculous proof of God that you would expect to find to prove to everyone that god exists?

Definitive should be scientifically provable, as in repeatable and documented.

Non-ridiculous as in it should not be something such as god writing Jesus saves on a rock on mars before man got there.

I ask because I see a lot of questions saying atheists would never convert even in the face of evidence, but I honestly can't think of any evidence that would overwhelmingly 100% convince anyone that there is a god.

I do believe in god, for the record.

Hi. I'm not quite sure what the answer is that I am looking for, but I need to relay a story and see if anyone has had a similar experience.

Please, no preaching about demons and no rudimentary answers about my situation. I'm very aware that this can be chocked up to mere coincidence.

Last year my wife had a miscarriage. We were devastated, of course, and it wasn't really until this year that I have coped with the loss of our child.

Please keep in mind that I am a skeptic, and was once atheist.

Three experiences have happened leading me to believe my child is in contact with me.

The first one was three years ago (prior to our conception of the child) I dreamed a little girl was next to my bedside and holding my hand. I physically felt her hand holding mine. Since I knew it was only my wife and I in our home, I woke up screaming in terror, but i was not afraid of the girl, more shocked that someone else was there. Seeing as I do now, I believe this was the spirit of my miscarried child.

The second was early on the week I found out my child was not alive, I had a single white butterfly land in front of me and stay for a while, then fly off. I was overcome with emotion and cried at that moment. I now believe that the butterfly was a message from my daughter saying she was ok and still carrying on. This message helped me shrug off a lot of my atheist beliefs.

The third is that this year, I feel like it is proper, especially in the morning when I am waking up, to refer to myself as "we". I have thought such as "we need to wake up" and " we have this chore or work to do today". I've never done or felt like that before and I wonder if this is what others mean when they feel like they are not alone and have a spirit with them.

Any input or feedback about my situation would be greatly appreciated.

I had planned to see a psychic on this matter but found out they are very expensive. Maybe some day, and yet I don't want to do anything to upset my daughter if indeed she is still with me.

By the way, my wife is now pregnant (6 months) and we are expecting our son in July.

Thanks for listening.

Hi. I'm not quite sure what the answer is that I am looking for, but I need to relay a story and see if anyone has had a similar experience.

Last year my wife had a miscarriage. We were devastated, of course, and it wasn't really until this year that I have coped with the loss of our child.

Please keep in mind that I am a skeptic, and was once atheist.

Three experiences have happened leading me to believe my child is in contact with me.

The first one was three years ago (prior to our conception of the child) I dreamed a little girl was next to my bedside and holding my hand. I physically felt her hand holding mine. Since I knew it was only my wife and I in our home, I woke up screaming in terror, but i was not afraid of the girl, more shocked that someone else was there. Seeing as I do now, I believe this was the spirit of my miscarried child.

The second was early on the week I found out my child was not alive, I had a single white butterfly land in front of me and stay for a while, then fly off. I was overcome with emotion and cried at that moment. I now believe that the butterfly was a message from my daughter saying she was ok and still carrying on. This message helped me shrug off a lot of my atheist beliefs.

The third is that this year, I feel like it is proper, especially in the morning when I am waking up, to refer to myself as "we". I have thought such as "we need to wake up" and " we have this chore or work to do today". I've never done or felt like that before and I wonder if this is what others mean when they feel like they are not alone and have a spirit with them.

Any input or feedback about my situation would be greatly appreciated.

I had planned to see a psychic on this matter but found out they are very expensive. Maybe some day, and yet I don't want to do anything to upset my daughter if indeed she is still with me.

By the way, my wife is now pregnant (6 months) and we are expecting our son in July.

Thanks for listening.

Hi. I'm not quite sure what the answer is that I am looking for, but I need to relay a story and see if anyone has had a similar experience.

Last year my wife had a miscarriage. We were devastated, of course, and it wasn't really until this year that I have coped with the loss of our child.

Please keep in mind that I am a skeptic, and was once atheist.

Three experiences have happened leading me to believe my child is in contact with me.

The first one was three years ago (prior to our conception of the child) I dreamed a little girl was next to my bedside and holding my hand. I physically felt her hand holding mine. Since I knew it was only my wife and I in our home, I woke up screaming in terror, but i was not afraid of the girl, more shocked that someone else was there. Seeing as I do now, I believe this was the spirit of my miscarried child.

The second was early on the week I found out my child was not alive, I had a single white butterfly land in front of me and stay for a while, then fly off. I was overcome with emotion and cried at that moment. I now believe that the butterfly was a message from my daughter saying she was ok and still carrying on. This message helped me shrug off a lot of my atheist beliefs.

The third is that this year, I feel like it is proper, especially in the morning when I am waking up, to refer to myself as "we". I have thought such as "we need to wake up" and " we have this chore or work to do today". I've never done or felt like that before and I wonder if this is what others mean when they feel like they are not alone and have a spirit with them.

Any input or feedback about my situation would be greatly appreciated.

I had planned to see a psychic on this matter but found out they are very expensive. Maybe some day, and yet I don't want to do anything to upset my daughter if indeed she is still with me.

By the way, my wife is now pregnant (6 months) and we are expecting our son in July.

Thanks for listening.