http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5015557
I think he's spot on; I only wish I had the brain to say it so eloquently.

ALERT!!! WARNING!!! IMPENDING FLAME WAR!!! ALL TTERS PLEASE EVACUATE THIS THREAD!!! :P

Last edited: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 at 1:39:11 AM

Sorry, I just had to say that. I really don't want any more flame wars. No offense meant.

Amen , in the most spiritual - but non-denominational - sense of the word.

So many good lessons are found in Christianity (and just about every religion). But my gut wrenches at the thought that I could be the most altruistic person on the face of this planet and still need to fear the thought of being "damned to hell" for not owing it all to a singular creator.

@ Tally and GeOrge, I respect your views and disagree. ;)

^ Amen.

I like that he states it as a belief, rather than a fact. He puts it on the same level as those who believe there is a God. I don't believe either way - there may be, or there may not. My saying there is or isn't is like my telling you Schroedinger's cat is alive. There's no way to tell without opening the box, and I have a 50/50 chance of being right.

I believe the ideal of altruism, the basis of most religion, to be the greatest evil mankind has ever known and it's antithesis, individualism, to be the proper ideal for man.

See the second post in this thread.

I believe in me.

I believe in another Jack&Coke and some nice stinky green bud

Anyone every take a probabilities class?

Eloquently written piece, Penn. I disagree, but appreciate his POV. (And you too, Tally)

I believe it's time for some waffles...

Yoko and me.

^^ I concur.

To borrow a thought concept fom Arthur C. Clarke....

There are only two real possibilities, there either is or is not a God. No matter which you believe the answer is sobering.

AC's original quote was spooken when he was asked about life beyond our planet... To which he replied...

"Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering."

Sniper

I believe that there is a God.

When I smell the open field after it has been freshly plowed, I smell God.
When I hear laughter in the midst of a storm-ridden world, I hear God.
When I touch the hand of my wife after we have argued over what steps to take next, I touch God.
When I fly with the scrum over 2 campers on those 2 hills on Cranium Crater, I see God.
When I talk to a new-found friend who has just lost their father after many years of struggling with Alzheimers at age 55, I talk to God.
When I hear the cries of a 16 year old mother and a 17 year old father who have just lost their 2 year old child, I hear the cries of God.
When I see my family gathered together again at my house, after losing both matriarch and patriarch from years of struggling with cancer, I see God again.
When I watch my child play, I watch God.
Whenever I am in the midst of wondering whether or not there is a God,
I know that God feels, God laughs, God cries, God is also perfectly flawed, just like me.
And as I journey onward, as I wonder what it is that I am supposed to do, be or say;
I know that God is all of these things with me, and God tells me,
"look to the things that you love most about life", and it is there that I always see God.

Happy Thanksgiving.
Phiz

Last edited: Wednesday, November 23, 2005 at 7:03:45 PM