Anti-Semitism In France!

[Ron Cusano 0]

Losing someone so close to you is perhaps the hardest thing a person has to endure and my heart goes out to you. I lost both of my parents so I have an idea of what you felt.

As you know, I believe and am convinced that this life is only the doorway into eternity. I think that my Mom became a Christian 2-weeks before her death, and I believe that I will see her again some day in Heaven. My Dad heard the Gospel and from all outward appearance, rejected it, but who knows that happens in the hearts of those who are facing death. My hope is that he came to faith and that I will one day see again too.

If I believed that there was no hope of ever seening my loved ones again, it would make the loss so much harder.

[anonemouse 1]

I have to say that I agree with Weetsin and Alexandra. When I have lost loved ones, I also think that the people who do believe in heaven or an afterlife have it so much easier than we who are atheists. You mourn and remember the loved ones you lost, but you also realize that they are gone and that you will never see them again. You Celebrate the time you had with them and you learn to never waste a single day with the loved ones you have left. In short, you deal with it. It's a part of life, no matter how unpleasant it is.

[Carlene 12]

This always sounds like, "I believe just in case, because I'm afraid of the consequences that might come with not believing."

I didn't say that's WHY I believe, just that the consequences of not believing are potentially much worse.

[Carlene 12]

If I believed that there was no hope of ever seening my loved ones again, it would make the loss so much harder.

You are so right, Ron. The last words my late husband heard were mine. The nurses had been telling me that I needed to give him permission to "go". They urged me to talk to him. They said hearing is the last sense we lose before death. So I told him, "You don't have to stay for me. I'll be alright. I love you and I will see you again." He took one long breath and let it out, like a sigh of relief, and then he was gone.

[Ron Cusano 0]

I didn't come to believe because I was afraid of the consequences of not believeing or because of "blind faith".

Once I started to investigate the claims of the faith, I weighed all the evidence and was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that there was a God and that the Bible we true.

For me, it was an intellectual decision for which I believe God provides real, substancial evidence.

I didn't say that's WHY I believe, just that the consequences of not believing are potentially much worse.

[Sunta 5]

I believe in an afterlife of some kind. Energy can't be created or destroyed, so I believe that the energy does live on in some way we don't understand. It's this belief that helps me through the tragic losses I have endured. I do feel that atheists must have it rougher than people who believe in some sort of higher entity, because they believe that once a person is gone, that's it. I think that must be more difficult to deal with loss as an atheist. While I do believe in some higher power, I also wonder from time to time if I am wrong and that perhaps there is no higher power, and so I can completely relate to atheists. I guess I go back and forth somewhat about it. I guess when it comes down to it, no one really knows for sure, and so all possible scenarios must be examined and thought out. When I examine the evidence, I do think that there are forces more powerful than the human being, but I don't think there is some "thinking" entity who is guiding things. Just by looking at the night sky I can see that there is energy, matter, and activity more powerful than human beings, so in a sense, nature, or the universe, is a higher power in itself. Maybe when we die we become one with the universal energy. That being said, from time to time I do have my doubts, which is why I relate to atheists.

[TommyO 5]

I, like most of you have been faced with the loss of a loved one. Although I do not believe they are in heaven I have no concern that I will never see or be with them again. They continue to live in me, in my memeories and in my heart. I see them on regular basis, in my thoughts, my dreams and my day dreams. We all live on in the people we leave behind. I visit my Sisters grave on a regular basis and I talk to her, not because I think she can hear me but because I can hear me and these moments make her memory more vivid.

I take great comfort in those visits because she exists in me, not believing in God or heaven has no impact on my ability to spend time with my memory of her.

[Alexandra 55]

:nod: :nod: Very nicely said, Sunta.

I'd like a bumpersticker that says: I believe in God, I just spell it N-A-T-U-R-E.

[Ron Cusano 0]

At least you are leaving yourself open to the possibility of there being a "higher power", which is a place that I used to be at.

I reasoned that if God wqas real, then there had to be some real evidence of His existance. For me, when I investigated all the evidence, especially evidence that the Bible is devinely inspired, I became convinced that it not only had merit, but was true and that higher power was God.

I believe in an afterlife of some kind. Energy can't be created or destroyed, so I believe that the energy does live on in some way we don't understand. It's this belief that helps me through the tragic losses I have endured. I do feel that atheists must have it rougher than people who believe in some sort of higher entity, because they believe that once a person is gone, that's it. I think that must be more difficult to deal with loss as an atheist. While I do believe in some higher power, I also wonder from time to time if I am wrong and that perhaps there is no higher power, and so I can completely relate to atheists. I guess I go back and forth somewhat about it. I guess when it comes down to it, no one really knows for sure, and so all possible scenarios must be examined and thought out. When I examine the evidence, I do think that there are forces more powerful than the human being, but I don't think there is some "thinking" entity who is guiding things. Just by looking at the night sky I can see that there is energy, matter, and activity more powerful than human beings, so in a sense, nature, or the universe, is a higher power in itself. Maybe when we die we become one with the universal energy. That being said, from time to time I do have my doubts, which is why I relate to atheists.

[Wheetsin 714]

Sunta - I agree with you. To think that humans are as good as it gets is a bit - unnerving. My husband is a hobby physicist, and all I have to do is hear him talk about quantum theory for 5 minutes and it becomes quite clear that there are some things we just aren't capable of understanding. I've made reference to the Law of Thermodynamics before, and that yes - it could be used to explain a parallel between science and religion. A very different parallel, but parallel nonetheless. But I can completely believe that everything we know is the result of amazing coincidences over almost incomprehensibly long periods of time. As far fetched as that might seem to some, it's much easier to believe than some omnisicent, omnipotent "being". God = space alien would be easier to credit than god = omniscient, omnipotent diety.

[Wheetsin 714]

At least you are leaving yourself open to the possibility of there being a "higher power",

Most atheists contemplate that possibility, and then reject it. As I would suspect some christians contemplate the possibility of "no god", and then reject it. There's no difference there. Noth parties have made considerations and made a decision. It's odd to see "praise" for someone being on the fence, when one side rejects the other's side with equal regard.

[Ron Cusano 0]

The praise for being "on the fence" is because they are open minded enough to consider the possibility of God. From my perspective, it is more positive than being closed minded about it.

I don't think that most Believer start from a place of faith, consider there could be no God, and then reject it. Most that I know started from a place of not believing, or having strong doubts, and then came to believe for various reasons.

Most atheists contemplate that possibility, and then reject it. As I would suspect some christians contemplate the possibility of "no god", and then reject it. There's no difference there. Noth parties have made considerations and made a decision. It's odd to see "praise" for someone being on the fence, when one side rejects the other's side with equal regard.

[TommyO 5]

If considerring the possibility there is a God is more positive than being close minded. Is not being able to consider the possibility that there is no God negative and close minded?

[Wheetsin 714]

I never said non-believers start at a place of faith. I said that at some time they consider the possibility and then reject it. We apparently know very different people.

If you will credit someone for being open-minded enough to consider the possibility of god, would you also credit someone for being open-minded enough to consider the possibility that there is no god?

[Ron Cusano 0]

I think to be open minded enough to consider one position is being open minded enough to consider the opposite position.

I never said non-believers start at a place of faith. I said that at some time they consider the possibility and then reject it. We apparently know very different people.

If you will credit someone for being open-minded enough to consider the possibility of god, would you also credit someone for being open-minded enough to consider the possibility that there is no god?