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lkddav
Guest
You have not given any hints as to what you do for a living in your posts. I have no idea. What do you do for a living?
les
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les
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c659smith
Guest
I am a Security / Safety Director for a major hotel here in Orlando,Florida and lead a security officer force in limiting hotel liability and I myself mainly deal with insurance issues and the legal departments of a major corporation,the owners, and insurance companies as it relates to facts in workmen’s compensation and guest liability claims.
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c659smith
Guest
In my past life and in conjunction with this one was in the United States Air Force and mainly dealt with nuclear weapons Security and then in the U.S Army where I was in Desert Shield and Storm and later worked in Military intelligence and as a Military Observer and controller for Military Police.
Military is now history retired.
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_A
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I don’t believe.
As far as saying that humans are the highest intelligence, I wont. I don’t know enough to say. There could be aliens, or dolphins could be more intelligent…The point is, I have not, and would not make that assertion.
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_A
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I guess that is it - I wait for evidence. In the meantime, I have to structure my self and my life according to reason, instead of belief. I think that everyone does this to a certain extent (there are few following the bible exactly ‘to the letter’)
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_A
Guest
It IS a dry cold. My sweetheart and I took a Valentines Day vacation a few years ago. We went to Nova Scotia, and when we left here it was -38C. In NS we went for a walk on the beach. It was so cold we barely had time to have one quick smooch before we fled back to the car.
It was -11C.
I find it much easier to cope with the cold here than on the coast.
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Jonathan82
Guest
Can we not believe in the possiblity of aliens existing if we are Catholic?
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c659smith
Guest
If you are talking about such things AI thine eye offend thee then pluck them out you are correct, Catholics do not follow the bible to the tee.
However if you investigate any of the Christian faiths you have today Catholics follow the bible and steps as it was when Christ was alive today.
We have scripture readings at each mass form the old and new testament and relate the Old Testament with the New Testament
todays readings:
first reading
7 then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
8 And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say,
You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die.
5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.
Psalms
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight, so that thou art justified in thy sentence and blameless in thy judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desire st truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.
12 Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners will return to thee.
17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
ND reading
Romans 5: 12 - 19
12 Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned –13 sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
16 And the free gift is not like the effect of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification.
17 If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18 Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
Gospel and 3 rd reading
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2 And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry.
3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4 But he answered, “It is written,
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, He will give his angels charge of you,’ and On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" 7 Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;
9 and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Begone, Satan! for it is written, `You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.
I show this not to prove anything but only how the Old Testament and the New Testament are symmetrical in the Catholic Religion.
If Jews only knew how close Catholics in faith are still close to the Jews except for the Messiah being Jesus which they pretty much have abandoned their own scripture for the Messiah.
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Minnie31
Guest
Not everyone believes that Jesus is god’s son. And not everyone believes in miracles, except some of the people who have experienced them personally. So if god wants all of us to believe in him as you affirmed, then why doesn’t he make it clear to all of humanity? Why doesn’t he perform a miracle that everyone can experience?
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Jonathan82
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I guess that would defeat the purpose of faith and also when he said people shouldn’t test the lord. So I see why it wouldn’t make sense. but then again according to scripture its supposed to be a battle against the deceiver.
like you said yourself only those who experience it themselves believe, but still the rational mind gets in the way and says nope that cant happen it must be something else. The fact of the matter is even back then people didn’t believe Jesus until he did miracles in front of them; and even after that he got crucified.
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Minnie31
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Why does satan have power? Did god give him this power?
So if god gave them the ability to do evil, then how are these creations of his naturally good. Sounds like they are naturally good and evil.
Supposedly the works of the devil are still ongoing today since people are still “doing evil”. Looks like Jesus didn’t destroy any of that.
A great mystery indeed! Don’t you ever question this? If I was all-good and had the power to do anything I certainly wouldn’t allow diabolical activity and I’d strip any demon of such powers. What would you do if you were god? Would you allow this?
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Minnie31
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I don’t think Jesus performed any miracles in front of those who crucified him. Please correct me if I’m wrong. So I don’t think Jesus ever proved to them that he was the son of god. If he had the power to give such proof, why didn’t he?
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CTA1967
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I’m just sort of curious, how do you know what evil is? Is it a universal standard? If not, is evil just subjective? And how would you know what good is without evil as a comparison? I’ve never received an answer to this question from a nonbeliever that fully satisfied me.
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Minnie31
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I find it curious too. I remember seeing the movie The Exorcist and being completely terrified. I couldn’t even listen to or watch all of it and remember having a panic attack. LOL.
As far as your first point goes, how can anyone prove that a person was at least never exposed to other languages. One doesn’t necessarily have to study it to be able to speak or understand it. Some individuals are very quick learners of language and only need to be exposed to it a few times before gaining some knowledge.
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Minnie31
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Good question. I hope I can answer you satisfactorily.
The terms good & evil were taught to me in catholic school. I do not think there is a universal standard. For example, a vegetarian may perceive killing an animal to eat is wrong. However, an omnivore? may not share the same perception. On a larger scale, the Muslim extremists who drove the planes into the world trade center in the name of Allah believed what they were doing was good. On the other hand, many Muslims believed this act was wrong.
I’m not so sure that good and evil actually exists. If you think of a child he/she doesn’t know “right” from “wrong” but has to be taught a set of principles to follow. Usually such principles are labeled as good, bad, right, wrong by a parent, guardian, teacher, etc.
My thoughts are that as a species we evolved to do things a certain way in order to get results. For example, you and I are both hungry and there’s only one slice of pizza. Now, I could either disregard your needs and just satisfy mine. If I do this, there may be a time later on when we find ourselves in a similar situation. You will likely remember me not sharing food with you and repeat the same behavior as me. Such behavior may create animosity. Instead, I would rather satisfy both of our needs and I think that would make us cordial towards each other and likely to pay forward the same behavior. So if I have to label my actions, sharing was the “good” thing to do because it got positive results for both of us. I see the “good” and “evil” thing as a survival mechanism. Not sure if you agree, but I hope I at least made sense
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FaithofAbraham
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Do you think dolphins are capable of understanding things like mathematics and physics? In what ways could they be more intelligent than humans?
Do you agree that all the forces of the universe, like the four fundamentals that we know of, cause you to exist and even to think, and thus are more powerful than you are and are responsible for your intelligence as a human?
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FaithofAbraham
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I would say if they exist they are really demons or angels, beyond that I don’t know how they fit into the picture.
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FaithofAbraham
Guest
I had faith first, then I saw some real miracles. It’s like, why can’t you have desert before you eat your dinner? That’s just the way it is.
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Minnie31
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Please know that I mean no offense to you, but I always had an issue with “that’s the way it is” and “because I said so” as any kind of answer to a question. It’s just a way of saying “I don’t know” or “I don’t want to be bothered thinking about an answer to your question”. I have no problem with the answer “I don’t know” as long as those specific words are used.
I’m an inquisitive person. I like to learn and understand so I value rational explanations. When I used to teach, I would make sure I answered my students’ questions honestly and with thought and reason. I remember what it was like to be in school and receive inadequate answers from teachers…
By the way, the reason why dinner is eaten before dessert is because it’s a meal that usually consists of nutritional food that your body needs to function properly. After you give your body what it needs, you can give it what it wants.. I think that’s a better answer than “that’s the way it is”.
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_A
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Without further definition, the question means little. How do you measure intelligence? If you can describe your standard I can answer more clearly.
I think all beings have some understanding. I am not certain that humans have the most understanding in every case.
Perhaps translational geometry. How would one tell? I suspect there have been tests on animal intelligence, but the thing is, they will all be human-designed…
I don’t, but I must admit that what you are asking me to agree with is complex.
Basically, you are saying that the forces of the universe are the ‘cause’ of my existence. It seems egocentric to me to think that the whole universe was created to house me.
Considering the age and size of the universe, that would be ridiculous.
Next you want me to admit that they are more powerful than me.
Powerful in what way? The question doesn’t really mean much yet.
Next you want me to agree that these forces are responsible for my intelligence. There are many things contributing to that, and I think you could boil it down to those fundamental forces, but again, to think it was all aiming to make me seems arrogant beyond sensibility.
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