Anyone else think gods/God is something your brain does?

[HexHammer]

blabla ..bla, yaddayadda!!

What you say is incoherent babble, gabbed out of thin air!!

[Harbal]

The Tree has viciously attacked me for almost a year and NEVER said anything intelligent, only conveyed cozy chat.

If by "The Tree" you are referring to Lacewing then before you say anymore I think you should know we are engaged to be married and it distresses me to see my bride to be talked about in such a derogatory fashion. Please refrain, HexHammer. I don't care what you say about Interjectivist, as I have no romantic feelings whatsoever towards him.

[Walker]

blabla ..bla, yaddayadda!!

What you say is incoherent babble, gabbed out of thin air!!

Dang it. You must have meant that other thing.

[Lacewing]

If by "The Tree" you are referring to Lacewing then before you say anymore I think you should know we are engaged to be married and it distresses me to see my bride to be talked about in such a derogatory fashion. Please refrain, HexHammer. I don't care what you say about Interjectivist, as I have no romantic feelings whatsoever towards him.

Why, Harbal... I didn't realize that consummating our cocoa yesterday would have such an effect on you. I am most flattered!!

[Harbal]

Why, Harbal... I didn't realize that consummating our cocoa yesterday would have such an effect on you. I am most flattered!!

I was going to tell you about it as soon as I got the chance. I knew you wouldn't mind. Also, in the spirit of reconciliation, I thought maybe you could have HexHammer as a bridesmaid, I'm sure it would be fine as long as you don't let him speak.

[Lacewing]

The Tree has viciously attacked me for almost a year

Have I done that? I thought I was just responding appropriately to your dark and creepy behavior. You're always insulting people out of the blue... telling them how stupid they are... and then bragging about your intelligence (which, truthfully, does not come through at all in your posts) -- and so I felt inspired to respond to you as I did. You seemed to be asking for it.

You say that everyone hates you and that there's no one with intelligence on this forum, yet you stick around to point it out to everyone, which could only mean that you're messed up and have nowhere else to go. So I feel it's helpful for me to point this out to you, while I hold the small hope that some sort of new self-awareness will spark in you, such that you can evolve your experience into something better for yourself.

As for you thinking that no one is speaking about anything of value, I suggest you consider that the common factor in all of these experiences is you. It's not that everyone else is not making sense, it's that you are not making sense/value of any of it. Maybe if you overcame your addiction to rage and tried to connect with people, you would find more in common and of value than your dark side wants to admit.

[Hobbes' Choice]

God is what a dysfunctional brain does.
For the rest of us, who are mindful, it is the 'mind' itself which is the activity of the brain.

[Lacewing]

I've known lots of online atheists and most go through more personal grief than I did to leave their religion. Young ones get thrown out of their homes and all can be shunned at any age by a family, a church or their entire community. I imagine the sense of betrayal and abandonment must be a lot to deal with.

Well, although I did get thrown out of my home (how did you know?), I didn't feel much grief... as I was finally free to explore whole new levels of awareness and happiness that felt truer to me. Moving into my father's house, he said, "Do what you want, just don't get caught." Somehow I survived that.

Now, I do not begrudge anyone from following a religion if that is what appeals to them and works for them. But I feel a sense of outrage about religion being forced on anyone, and being used to condemn people. That seems to be a level of insanity (or intoxication) that is inexcusable. A person's spirituality is their own VERY PERSONAL trip. To pretend that it is some supremely righteous truth that all others must recognize (as such) is just too absurd for me to not speak up about.

What does make sense to me is that everything is connected like a network, and information is exchanged (and available) on so many levels -- just like we see in nature. But for some reason we tend to think of ourselves as separate from that...

You mean nature? I definitely celebrate my animal nature. Xtians especially often speak of nature as something low and horrible. I don't agree. .../... Would be interested if you felt like expanding .../... I think of the senses as rendering the real world in various ways

Yes... I mean nature, even beyond what we typically categorize as nature. I think we're looking at very small viewpoints/subsections of vastness. Yes, theists seem to simultaneously claim nature as a god's creation, but then cast it low (and themselves higher), which makes no sense. How could a god's creation be divided up and considered that way? Only by humans, who are making it up to suit themselves (in my opinion). Humankind in general seems greatly detached from nature. We may be amazed at the apparent "inner-workings" and cooperative qualities in the natural world amongst plants and animals -- but we don't seem to consider how WE, ourselves, are part of that network -- and that there is LIKELY a HUGE amount of information and feedback that we are completely missing right now. If at some point we are able to hear, see, and tap into it... I think it will greatly simplify our "processing" and be a much more efficient wavelength to operate on. We will "instinctively" know and sense much more.

Then, life could then be less about "will", and more about "awareness".

Possibly, scaled down, some sort of god belief could be no handicap and preferred by some?

Possibly. I think it would generally have to evolve so much further (but I imagine there are already people who have done so). Sort of like the difference between thinking the world is flat and then discovering it is not.

[HexHammer]

The Tree has viciously attacked me for almost a year and NEVER said anything intelligent, only conveyed cozy chat.

If by "The Tree" you are referring to Lacewing then before you say anymore I think you should know we are engaged to be married and it distresses me to see my bride to be talked about in such a derogatory fashion. Please refrain, HexHammer. I don't care what you say about Interjectivist, as I have no romantic feelings whatsoever towards him.

Aaaaah!!! ..that's why you have been so busy attacking me for no obvious reason ..the same with her, well if she stops I stop.

[Harbal]

Aaaaah!!! ..that's why you have been so busy attacking me for no obvious reason ..the same with her, well if she stops I stop.

Come on, HexHammer, I've never said anything all that bad to you and you have to admit that you do tend to stick yourself right in the firing line. Lacewing and I aren't really getting married, I was only joking. Pity, really, as by all accounts she's pretty hot between the sheets. Ah well, they say you don't miss what you've never had.

[Lacewing]

Lacewing and I aren't really getting married, I was only joking. Pity, really, as by all accounts she's pretty hot between the sheets. Ah well, they say you don't miss what you've never had.

Harbal!! You're going to MISS another tooth in that avatar of yours if I get within striking distance of you!

[HexHammer]

Aaaaah!!! ..that's why you have been so busy attacking me for no obvious reason ..the same with her, well if she stops I stop.

Come on, HexHammer, I've never said anything all that bad to you and you have to admit that you do tend to stick yourself right in the firing line. Lacewing and I aren't really getting married, I was only joking. Pity, really, as by all accounts she's pretty hot between the sheets. Ah well, they say you don't miss what you've never had.

So what your are saying is that you purely talk from experience, well sorry to hear that!

[Interjectivist]

The Tree has viciously attacked me for almost a year and NEVER said anything intelligent, only conveyed cozy chat.

If by "The Tree" you are referring to Lacewing then before you say anymore I think you should know we are engaged to be married and it distresses me to see my bride to be talked about in such a derogatory fashion. Please refrain, HexHammer. I don't care what you say about Interjectivist, as I have no romantic feelings whatsoever towards him.

Somehow I feel more at home having been thrown under the bus like this.

[Harbal]

Somehow I feel more at home having been thrown under the bus like this.

Well, as it happens, seeing as my feelings for Lacewing don't seem to be reciprocated, I was just about to turn my attention towards you.

[thedoc]

I've known lots of online atheists and most go through more personal grief than I did to leave their religion. Young ones get thrown out of their homes and all can be shunned at any age by a family, a church or their entire community. I imagine the sense of betrayal and abandonment must be a lot to deal with.

Well, although I did get thrown out of my home (how did you know?), I didn't feel much grief... as I was finally free to explore whole new levels of awareness and happiness that felt truer to me. Moving into my father's house, he said, "Do what you want, just don't get caught." Somehow I survived that.

Now, I do not begrudge anyone from following a religion if that is what appeals to them and works for them. But I feel a sense of outrage about religion being forced on anyone, and being used to condemn people. That seems to be a level of insanity (or intoxication) that is inexcusable. A person's spirituality is their own VERY PERSONAL trip. To pretend that it is some supremely righteous truth that all others must recognize (as such) is just too absurd for me to not speak up about.

My wife and I must really be odd, when our daughter left the church, we supported her decision, the pastor at the time was a jerk. And a few years later when she told us she was pregnant, (she wasn't married) we supported her again. In fact I took care of the 2 children (not twins, born 4 years apart) from the time they were born till they went to school, and I still occasionally pick them up from the bus when they get home. What do you think is wrong with us? My wife and I sponsored the 2 children for baptism and take them along to church every Sunday, yet we only occasionally drop hints to the daughter about going to church. A few years ago she admitted that she still believed in God, but couldn't take the pastor at the time.