Empitness.

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Hypnotoad said:
All = human beings. Serioulsy you were confused by that?
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I know that the referents of “all” are human beings. But I am wondering how a statement of all-ness is related to what I said. Especially since I avoided making any statements of universal totality.
 
ThinkingSapien said:
I know that the referents of “all” are human beings. But I am wondering how a statement of all-ness is related to what I said. Especially since I avoided making any statements of universal totality.
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Wait you’re the Dalai Lama?
 
atheistgirl said:
And from those who believed, and no longer do so, do they feel there is now a void, where previously there was none.
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I am a former believer- first as a Jew, then as a Christian- and yes, for myself, I absolutely do feel a void.
Despite all the questions I had and the answers (or lack of them) I was frustrated with, and the horrible things I have done in rejecting what I didn’t agree with, I find myself searching for more. I have my wonderful family, and I am satisfied with the direction my life has taken in general.
But even though I disagreed with the answers I have received in the past, to the extent that it drove me away… Somehow, I am not satisfied with focusing only on what exists in my physical universe (or anyone else’s).

I want more. And I suspect that the ‘more’ I want cannot be found in all that is good (or not good) in my lifetime.

(Maybe my previous belief was really just a mental process that left an empty place in my synapses? Somewhat like an amputated limb? But that is a subject for another post…)

Does that answer that part of your question?

Peace and blessings,
Yael
 
mgoforth said:
It sort of makes sense. But it also makes me wonder whether perhaps God saw the posts you made here on CAF during your 40 day experiment, professing that He is not real, and decided that you weren’t seriously searching for Him after all?
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:rolleyes:

God doesn’t need to read the internet :rolleyes:

I’ve never professed God is not real. I’ve stated I see no evidence to convince me He is.

You don’t seem to understand the mechanics of doing such an exercise, or that one can be consistent with being honest about one’s current position while being open about other possibilities.

I can’t take this post seriously.
That may be a good thing to add if you try this again in the future - suspend your disbelief completely for 40 days…in nature and online.
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:rolleyes:

Sarah x 🙂
 
YaelQ said:
I am a former believer- first as a Jew, then as a Christian- and yes, for myself, I absolutely do feel a void.

Does that answer that part of your question?

Peace and blessings,
Yael
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Very interesting Yael, thank you.

Sarah x 🙂
 
atheistgirl said:
God doesn’t need to read the internet
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What does that mean? Are you saying he’s not aware of what we’re writing?
I’ve never professed God is not real. I’ve stated I see no evidence to convince me He is.
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What about Jesus Christ? A man who claimed to be God is evidence that I’m sure you’ve at least considered. Why is His life, and especially His death, not convincing? Do you think Jesus was lying or insane?
 
ThinkingSapien said:
With respect to this conversation what I see is that there are some non-believers that are fairly content with their current state. I also see that some believers are telling those that declare themselves non-religious and content that they are deceived by their feelings and they really don’t feel the way they think they do (ignoring the paradox in that for now).
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I think the believers would say that we all can be deceived by our feelings–thats why you will often read on these forums statements to the effect that love is not about a feeling or emotion–as those come and go–but rather love is concern for the well being of the other person. My faith did not spring forth from some emotion or feeling but rather is grounded in my belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ–for which I find more than a shred of evidence.

Peace,
Mark
 
ThinkingSapien said:
I know that the referents of “all” are human beings. But I am wondering how a statement of all-ness is related to what I said. Especially since I avoided making any statements of universal totality.
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I think it was your quote of the Dalai Lama and its reference to people–which I also took to mean all people.

Peace,
Mark
 
atheistgirl said:
This I’m familiar with from my own contemplations. That’s why I like the battery recharge analogy. When there’s no demand for power, the battery’s just there, but when it all goes crazy, the battery kicks in and there’s ample power to deal with whatever is needed…

Strange you should ask this, but yes. :eek:

I made a decision. Quite a significant decision. It’s a decision I’ve been struggling with over the past two years, and one I’ve discussed in great depth with my husband, children and extended family. It’s the sort of decision I need to make now, while I’m still young and full of energy. And over the past 40 days, I found a certain clarity of mind, and stillness of emotion that allowed me to make that decision with confidence.
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I’m going to wait until I read your other thread at the end to comment. I just wanted you to know I heard you.
 
atheistgirl said:
Prompted in part by another posters thread here, and in part by my lifelong continuous reflection on my life to date, what is this feeling of emptiness, or void, that only God can fill, for believers?
It’s also partially prompted as I promised Buffalo I would pray for 40 nights, and I’m keeping my promise. I won’t refer to anything about this here, I’ll start a thread when the 40 days are up, with honest feedback.
I can honestly say, and this is after a lifetime of meditations and reflections so far, there is no part of my life, no layer within a layer, where I have even the slightest hint there might be something missing, and that something is not of this world.
I’d be very interested in hearing stories here of thos who as atheists or agnostics felt this void, and had it filled when they found belief.
I’d also be very interested in hearing from believers what it feels like to have this void filled, and do they ever feel the void inside still, even though they now believe.
And from those who believed, and no longer do so, do they feel there is now a void, where previously there was none.

I’m really interested in peoples real-life experiences here, not so much references to Scripture or Church Fathers, in answers.

Thanks.

Sarah x 🙂
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I’ve seen an angel. It was indeed a real life experience, and someone’s life was saved as a result. I believe it was that person’s guardian angel.
 
MarkInOregon said:
I think it was your quote of the Dalai Lama and its reference to people–which I also took to mean all people.

Peace,
Mark
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Thanks for explaining, Mark. I personally didn’t take it to be applicable to the totality of human beings any more than a statement like “People really like the iPhone.” Of course I don’t have direct access to the Lama to see if he means for it to be applied to all humans. If it helps out any I used the qualifiers “may” and “some” a few times when I expressed the explanation in my own words to limit the applicability of what I was saying.
 
MarkInOregon said:
I think the believers would say that we all can be deceived by our feelings
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I’d agree that it is possible for feelings to contribute to false belief. But to declare that some one’s evaluation of their own feelings is wrong with what seems to be a cursory evaluation comes across as a rather uninformed conclusion. Also it may be a form of not listening or engaging in poor communication.
MarkInOregon said:
My faith did not spring forth from some emotion or feeling but rather is grounded in my belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ–for which I find more than a shred of evidence.
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For what it’s worth I’ve got no intent bring into question your statement of faith or that of any other within this forum. A person would have to go pretty far “outside the lines” for me to not take their statement of faith seriously.
 
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