One of the questions I hate answering is "describe your beliefs", because truth be told, I do not know how to label/quantify them.

I feel like venting here, so get me cranberry juice because I am on my period.

I do not know if there is a god. I will never be learned enough to know if there is, but just because I haven't experienced the knowledge of another entity doesn't mean I think one cannot exist. Same with my thoughts on space, aliens, ghosts, genies. Anything "paranormal". I wonder how people believe in god, but not aliens/ghosts etc. Not saying either or is existing/non-existant, but if possibility allows for one to exist, why not all? What makes one belief system less tangible than the other? Especially for that which has thus far not been proven.

I do find moral standpoints that stem from ideological code as aiding human advancement though, (un)common sense such as "Thou shalt not steal/kill", love thy neighbour - a good code of conduct.

I think alot about speciesism, and how law and rights are in direct conflict with human actions towards other species. I am not a vegetarian, nor do I ever think about "animal rights". I do think, that unnecessary human involvement in the life cycle shows some of us (including myself at times) to be self-serving, egotistical, elitist dicks.

Why is it that when a dog attacks a child, it is "put down", regardless of the injury to the child. Why is it that when a serial killer attacks and murders a child a death penalty is only administered where legal? Didn't law just give the dog the death penalty in a place where humans only get a life sentence?

Why do people care about the welfare and cramped living conditions of battery chickens when the end result is consumption? Since when should welfare become an issue for what we end up killing for food anyway? Do we feel an abstract sense of nobility towards our food or is it another way to make us feel better?

Fuck PETA. Why do we interfere?

I think alot about how to allocate the tag of intelligence, and how, when I generalise, I come to the conclusion that the human race is delusional.

How is intelligence measured? What baromiter?

Because to me, alot of other (NOT ALL) fauna have it correct. Creatures that live out of neccesity. Once again I do not care about "animal welfare", I care about unnecessary human involvement. I don't feel anything about environmental issues but find truth in the abstract to the quote below :-

When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money.

- Cree Nation.

I really want to see what is beyond the human form.

I refuse to believe that "non-believers" are destined for hell fire. I cannot pray to a god that hates queers. I cannot pray to a god that wouldn't realise how difficult the mass of complexes in ideological belief are to navigate.

Fuck war about religion. Prove god exists first, work together to find it, and, do not be afraid to praise aspects of other ideologies.

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Good post. +1

Though, technically, God doesn't hate queers. Some Christians do, alas. But not God. Not even if you buy wholly into the "vengeful God" of the Old Testament (King James Version).

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Hi Wade :-)

Referring to aspects of christianity, the view on homosexuality is hazy dependant on many factors (literal/metaphor translations/biblical version, sub-divisions)

Islam ousts homosexuality as sin and the devil's work, across Sunni, Shiah, Suufi beliefs.

Yet, both ideologies have very similar systems of logic/worship.

:-( It's all so confusing.

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God does NOT "hate queers". He hates SIN, period. And homosexuality (according to the Bible) is a sin.
As a Christian, i have had homosexual friends. But they KNOW how i feel about it. I don't condemn them. That's not my job. My job is to witness to them, and try to help them.
And God has NEVER sent anyone to Hell. EVERYONE will have the chance to accept or deny Him at some time in their lives. In the end you and you alone decide your fate. He provides the way, the bridge you might call it, to Him. YOU choose if you want to cross it or not.
I also believe God wants us to be good stewards to what He has provided for us. That means to not be cruel to other living things. Now, i am a hunter. I kill for food. But i won't take a shot unless i'm as sure as i can be that it will be a fast kill. I do NOT want an animal to suffer. I think organizations like PETA take it WAY too far. they place the same value on animal life as human life. That's NOT right. God gave us the right to take animals for food. He did NOT give us the right to torture them.

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VLS......i do undestand you. To put your faith in God isn't easy. Not if you try to "rationalize" it. That's where "intellegence" sometimes gets in the way.
God says we are to come to Him in childlike faith. What that means is, throw aside what your "intellegence" says, and open your heart and trust Him.
When you do that, you will see how your intellegence will also start to understand and see what He means.
I know.....i have been there.
I scored in the top 5% in the nation in the ACT test to get into college back in 1989. So i'm not a dummy.
One of the problems i think is that sometimes we let our feelings of how we are SO smart get in the way. Not just in discussions about God, either.

And you can NEVER prove to someone else that God exists. Even if you point out all the wonders there are in the world, they STILL can close their eyes to it and say stuff like "It just happened by blind chance."
It takes a step of faith by you, and you alone to believe in God and trust Him. I can NEVER "prove" it to you. All i can do is tell you what it has meant to me, and HOPE that you also take that step.
Now.....i asso believe in spirits. I have seen them. But if you believe in God you have to believe in the devil and his servants too.
I don't know if i believe that the dead can contact us. I know that evil spirits can take various forms, to use against us.
I don't have all the answers. No one on this earht has all the answers.
If you have any specific questions, i will try to answer them as baest as i can.

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Hi Cheesemeister 😃, thanks for answering.

Having seen the visble effect on close friends, I know that to find god is a wonderful and rare thing, and I can never question my friends logic because of the sheer authority of his feeling.

My questions stem from the variety of belief systems with some similar and contradictory values, both which can be seen as good and bad.

For example, Hinduism teaches altruism to all things living in the Sanskrit vedas, yet they follow a caste system which my moral standpoints cannot agree with - level and rating systems between humans.

The Muslim religion teaches generosity to the less fortunate, as evidenced by the fact that it is mandatory to donate 2.5 percent of year earnings to charitable causes - but in some areas gives preference to the masculine, my moral standpoints cannot agree with inequality.

Christianity has many, many postive values yet there are so many branches (Catholic/protestant/Lutheran etc) -

Is what is correct distinguished by your own feelings? Because I think alot can be learned from every ideology and incorporated into your own life, even those things that are conflicting.

I don't believe Science is the end of all discussion, there are some things ,that you rightly pointed out, that none of us will ever understand. I always feel though, when something is beyond my comprehension, not to believe/follow it BUT - I dare not disregard it.

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VLS- ballsy thread.

Staying out of it, but plus one for the cojones.

VLS......it's true that organized religion has made a mess of things. I can point out things in other religions that just don't agree with what the Bible says. And i mean main stream religions, not just the fringe whackos.
I could list some of them here, but it's not my desire to hurt anyone's feelings. I could PM some of what i have found to you if you want.
Thats why i decided years ago not to belong to any certain "church". I call myself a "Biblicist". Meaning i believe the Bible is the word of God, and if ANY religion adds to or takes away from it, they are wrong, period.
Most of what the Bible says is pretty straight forward, but mankind has a way of messing it up when he tries too hard to "overthink" it.
When you first start reading it, you have to remember you are a child. You have to start with the basics, and once you grasp that, THEN go deeper into it. After all, you start a child off with milk. They can't digest meat. If you try to digest meat before you are ready, you will get discouraged and throw it away as being too hard to understand.

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Funny you should say that, because my reason for putting this here is the respect level and reasonable, intelligent debating skill alot of members have on this site :icon_smile:

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I would be mighty grateful if you could PM me some of your findings.

I have studied the bible in light detail, but once again met the punch called confusion when presented with multiple versions with variances.

That isn't to say I do not agree with it.

Anything that makes you a respectable, humble, love-orientated person can only be positive.

My family is a mixture of MesoAmerican(Uruguay)/Choktaw, Indian (Red Dot!) and caucasian - and a lot of my sentiments stem from the teachings and philosophy of my cultures.

I can't agree with not overthinking Cheesey, I don't know, I am inquistive I suppose. I was that annoying kid who had to ask why.

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