The Philosophy Discussion Forum

phyllo wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2026 7:36 pm

I'm after happiness.

Faking a smile will make you happy.

Good old Nat King Cole had something to say about that...

https://youtu.be/phS7BfOfTOY

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you

Can you imagine such a beautiful soul as NKC having to go through life being subjected to the same sort of tiny-minded bigotry and hatred that, even today, motivates people like Trump and his MAGA cult?
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Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2026 3:00 pm If there is a God, then the question arises, what would/does God want me to do?

I suggest that God only has two specific demands of us.

The first one is mandatory,...

(as in we have no choice in the matter)

...and that is "receive the gift of life."

And the second demand is optional...

(as in we can freely ignore it if we wish)

...and that is to "participate in the process" that will make it possible for others to receive the gift of life.

Those are the only things that God "demands" of us.

Anything else we do on Earth is just "time filler" until the true extent of the "gift of life" is finally revealed to us.
_______

seeds wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 6:59 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2026 3:00 pm If there is a God, then the question arises, what would/does God want me to do?

I suggest that God only has two specific demands of us.

The first one is mandatory,...

(as in we have no choice in the matter)

...and that is "receive the gift of life."

And the second demand is optional...

(as in we can freely ignore it if we wish)

...and that is to "participate in the process" that will make it possible for others to receive the gift of life.

Those are the only things that God "demands" of us.

Anything else we do on Earth is just "time filler" until the true extent of the "gift of life" is finally revealed to us.
_______

Well, those requirements sound much more sane than a God who demands we "obey the Sabbath" and worship the "true" God (how can a mortal determine what is or isn't a "true" God). I would think God would make realistic demands of us, not unrealistic ones. Yahweh is/was a psycho.

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 7:25 pm

seeds wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 6:59 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Mon May 04, 2026 3:00 pm If there is a God, then the question arises, what would/does God want me to do?

I suggest that God only has two specific demands of us.

The first one is mandatory,...

(as in we have no choice in the matter)

...and that is "receive the gift of life."

And the second demand is optional...

(as in we can freely ignore it if we wish)

...and that is to "participate in the process" that will make it possible for others to receive the gift of life.

Those are the only things that God "demands" of us.

Anything else we do on Earth is just "time filler" until the true extent of the "gift of life" is finally revealed to us.
_______

Well, those requirements sound much more sane than a God who demands we "obey the Sabbath" and worship the "true" God. Yahweh is/was a psycho.

Come on now, Gary, when is it going to dawn on you that it was the boneheaded humans who wrote the Bible who were the "psychos," and not God?

(Btw, "psychos" may be too harsh of a word. How about we use the word "clueless" instead?)
_______

seeds wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 8:05 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 7:25 pm

seeds wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 6:59 pm
I suggest that God only has two specific demands of us.

The first one is mandatory,...

(as in we have no choice in the matter)

...and that is "receive the gift of life."

And the second demand is optional...

(as in we can freely ignore it if we wish)

...and that is to "participate in the process" that will make it possible for others to receive the gift of life.

Those are the only things that God "demands" of us.

Anything else we do on Earth is just "time filler" until the true extent of the "gift of life" is finally revealed to us.
_______

Well, those requirements sound much more sane than a God who demands we "obey the Sabbath" and worship the "true" God. Yahweh is/was a psycho.

Come on now, Gary, when is it going to dawn on you that it was the boneheaded humans who wrote the Bible who were the "psychos," and not God?

(Btw, "psychos" may be too harsh of a word. How about we use the word "clueless" instead?)
_______

OK. Fair enough. I'll go with that.

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 9:17 pm OK. Fair enough. I'll go with that.

I'm not sure what you think you'll get for taunting God, Gary. Is it your theory that if you're as insulting to Him as possible, He's going to answer you or change you situation for you? Do you suppose He responds to defiance, if it's rude enough?

Or is it going to get you anything if you're trying to antagonize those who know and love God? Are you supposing that defying them will elicit some sort of outcome you want?

I'm not seeing what you gain here, Gary. It seems to me a singularly useless strategy for obtaining anything good...or anything in particular at all. But you do it so much, you must think this is going to work out for you somehow...I just can't see how it's supposed to.

Making anything small is a way to become large and if AI apes that human tendency then, yikes.

The Insulting Frenchman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSo0duY7-9s

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 1:20 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 9:17 pm OK. Fair enough. I'll go with that.

I'm not sure what you think you'll get for taunting God, Gary. Is it your theory that if you're as insulting to Him as possible, He's going to answer you or change you situation for you? Do you suppose He responds to defiance, if it's rude enough?

Or is it going to get you anything if you're trying to antagonize those who know and love God? Are you supposing that defying them will elicit some sort of outcome you want?

I'm not seeing what you gain here, Gary. It seems to me a singularly useless strategy for obtaining anything good...or anything in particular at all. But you do it so much, you must think this is going to work out for you somehow...I just can't see how it's supposed to.

I know it's not going to do me any good. I don't want it to do me any good. I want things to stay just like they are for me. I don't want anything from the "creator" of this miserable, pathetic world. If God came to me, I'd spit in his eye. I refuse to bow to the creator of this shithole. If my luck stays the same for me, then there may or may not be a God. If my luck gets worse for me because of my attitude, then I'll know there is a God and that God is a petty, jealous, whimpy piece of shit that can't take criticism for the shithole he created.

I'm in resentment mode. I resent the fact that I was cut down in my youth, my prime, by mental illness and am forever scarred with the trauma and social alienation I went through. I think God created a shit world. And if you don't think the world is shit, then congrats on winning the cosmic lottery.

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 2:45 pm

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 1:20 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 9:17 pm OK. Fair enough. I'll go with that.

I'm not sure what you think you'll get for taunting God, Gary. Is it your theory that if you're as insulting to Him as possible, He's going to answer you or change you situation for you? Do you suppose He responds to defiance, if it's rude enough?

Or is it going to get you anything if you're trying to antagonize those who know and love God? Are you supposing that defying them will elicit some sort of outcome you want?

I'm not seeing what you gain here, Gary. It seems to me a singularly useless strategy for obtaining anything good...or anything in particular at all. But you do it so much, you must think this is going to work out for you somehow...I just can't see how it's supposed to.

I know it's not going to do me any good. I don't want it to do me any good. I want things to stay just like they are for me. I don't want anything from the "creator" of this miserable, pathetic world.

If that were actually true, you wouldn't bother. It's the spitting and cursing that makes no sense. If there's no God, it's completely fanciful and futile...you're ranting at nothing at all. If there is a God, as there indeed is, then you're demanding Him to have nothing to do with you...which gets you...what?

"The fool has said in his heart 'No God.' " So says Psalm 14:1. But this is a new level of foolishness, in which one doesn't merely say there's no God, but hates and curses the God the fool insists does not exist. In other words, the fool is denying his own claim...because you can't hate something or blame something that simply does not exist. It would be as crazy as blaming unicorns.

I don't get it. I don't think you do, either.

But here's what I think: I think you do believe in God, as your own behavior betrays. But you seem to think that hating him will get Him to do something, or will obtain for you something...and I can't imagine what that thing is.

I can assure you, you're not going to get anything you want. But you just might get what you're asking for. If you do, there will be but one person to blame, and it won't be God.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 3:01 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 2:45 pm

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 1:20 pm
I'm not sure what you think you'll get for taunting God, Gary. Is it your theory that if you're as insulting to Him as possible, He's going to answer you or change you situation for you? Do you suppose He responds to defiance, if it's rude enough?

Or is it going to get you anything if you're trying to antagonize those who know and love God? Are you supposing that defying them will elicit some sort of outcome you want?

I'm not seeing what you gain here, Gary. It seems to me a singularly useless strategy for obtaining anything good...or anything in particular at all. But you do it so much, you must think this is going to work out for you somehow...I just can't see how it's supposed to.

I know it's not going to do me any good. I don't want it to do me any good. I want things to stay just like they are for me. I don't want anything from the "creator" of this miserable, pathetic world.

If that were actually true, you wouldn't bother.

Are you suggesting that I am in God's face only because I want something only for myself? Does that mean you're complacent and worshipful of God because you have everything you want? So God gives you a good life and now you're content to watch the shit show that is this world. You're content to watch Donald Trump blatantly attack Iran, creating death and destruction for others, but as long as the death and destruction isn't happening to you, then you have no protest against God? And those of us who protest God's inhumane indifference are to be silenced?

Why do you want me silenced, IC? What's it to you if I spit in God's eye? Why do you think I have no reason to spit in God's eye?

seeds wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 8:05 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 7:25 pm

seeds wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 6:59 pm
I suggest that God only has two specific demands of us.

The first one is mandatory,...

(as in we have no choice in the matter)

...and that is "receive the gift of life."

And the second demand is optional...

(as in we can freely ignore it if we wish)

...and that is to "participate in the process" that will make it possible for others to receive the gift of life.

Those are the only things that God "demands" of us.

Anything else we do on Earth is just "time filler" until the true extent of the "gift of life" is finally revealed to us.
_______

Well, those requirements sound much more sane than a God who demands we "obey the Sabbath" and worship the "true" God. Yahweh is/was a psycho.

Come on now, Gary, when is it going to dawn on you that it was the boneheaded humans who wrote the Bible who were the "psychos," and not God?

(Btw, "psychos" may be too harsh of a word. How about we use the word "clueless" instead?)
_______

I don't know Seeds, given the fact that Judaism considers itself the religion of the "chosen", the ones who can do whatever the f*** they want and God will approve (including genocide as with the Amalekites), "psycho" might be a fitting description for some of those human beings who interpreted God's will.

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 3:07 pm

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 3:01 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 2:45 pm

I know it's not going to do me any good. I don't want it to do me any good. I want things to stay just like they are for me. I don't want anything from the "creator" of this miserable, pathetic world.

If that were actually true, you wouldn't bother.

Are you suggesting that I am in God's face only because I want something only for myself?

I have no idea what you think it gets you. It certainly makes no logical sense. But people always do what they do for some reason that makes sense to them. So what reason makes sense to you?

Why do you want me silenced, IC?

I don't. But I don't see any sense behind your noise, which you insist is directed to a 'nothing'; and I'm asking you what it is that you think you're doing.

That's a fair question.

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 3:55 pm

seeds wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 8:05 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 7:25 pm Well, those requirements sound much more sane than a God who demands we "obey the Sabbath" and worship the "true" God. Yahweh is/was a psycho.

Come on now, Gary, when is it going to dawn on you that it was the boneheaded humans who wrote the Bible who were the "psychos," and not God?
(Btw, "psychos" may be too harsh of a word. How about we use the word "clueless" instead?)
_______

I don't know Seeds, given the fact that Judaism considers itself the religion of the "chosen", the ones who can do whatever the f*** they want and God will approve (including genocide as with the Amalekites), "psycho" might be a fitting description for some of those human beings who interpreted God's will.

Yeah, you make a good point, Gary.

As a sidenote, when it comes to the issue of genocide, I see no reason to allude to the ancient "Amalekites" when, at present, the "psychos"...

(which includes members of the U.S. government and certain "Christian" sects)

...are trying to do a genocide on modern-day Gazans (and are hoping to do the same to the Iranians).

I guess my point was that just because God doesn't want to breach the integrity of the illusion of objective reality by making an appearance on Earth in order to pick us up, wipe our snotty noses, and then set things straight for us every time we make a mess of things, doesn't mean that God is the "psycho" in this scenario.

No, the real "psychos" are the Israelites (the Jewish people) who do not recognize that they are treating the Gazans (Palestinians) in pretty much the same way that they themselves were treated by the Nazis back in the 1930s/40s.

Indeed, the "real psychos" are those who cannot comprehend that regardless of whatever silly nonsense you have been brainwashed into believing, in truth, the souls of all humans are absolutely equal to one another, not only in form, but in their eternal purpose and ultimate destiny.
_______

seeds wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 8:34 pm

Gary Childress wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 3:55 pm

seeds wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2026 8:05 pm
Come on now, Gary, when is it going to dawn on you that it was the boneheaded humans who wrote the Bible who were the "psychos," and not God?
(Btw, "psychos" may be too harsh of a word. How about we use the word "clueless" instead?)
_______

I don't know Seeds, given the fact that Judaism considers itself the religion of the "chosen", the ones who can do whatever the f*** they want and God will approve (including genocide as with the Amalekites), "psycho" might be a fitting description for some of those human beings who interpreted God's will.

Yeah, you make a good point, Gary.

As a sidenote, when it comes to the issue of genocide, I see no reason to allude to the ancient "Amalekites" when, at present, the "psychos"...

(which includes members of the U.S. government and certain "Christian" sects)

...are trying to do a genocide on modern-day Gazans (and are hoping to do the same to the Iranians).

I guess my point was that just because God doesn't want to breach the integrity of the illusion of objective reality by making an appearance on Earth in order to pick us up, wipe our snotty noses, and then set things straight for us every time we make a mess of things, doesn't mean that God is the "psycho" in this scenario.

No, the real "psychos" are the Israelites (the Jewish people) who do not recognize that they are treating the Gazans (Palestinians) in pretty much the same way that they themselves were treated by the Nazis back in the 1930s/40s.

Indeed, the "real psychos" are those who cannot comprehend that regardless of whatever silly nonsense you have been brainwashed into believing, in truth, the souls of all humans are absolutely equal to one another, not only in form, but in their eternal purpose and ultimate destiny.
_______

I alluded to the Amalekites only as a clear-cut example where the Israelites believed God approved of or even told them to commit genocide, where by they completely eliminated a people down to every man, woman, and child.

Immanuel Can wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2026 5:47 pmI don't. But I don't see any sense behind your noise, which you insist is directed to a 'nothing'; and I'm asking you what it is that you think you're doing.

That's a fair question.

He now says he believes in God, but God has to measure up to Gary.
God needs to measure up to Gary’s specifications.
He must be worthy of Gary.
God must also adhere to Gary’s isolated, limited view of reality.

That’s rather backwards.
The way it works when boss ego stops virtue signaling, is …
Gary must be worthy of God.
He must also be worthy of other humans, too.

Some religious traditions have trial periods that humble the ego.
Christianity has the view that life itself is a trial, and the fact that folks rich and poor need their problems is evidence.

People with easy lives that need problems may not be enough of a trial to subdue boss ego enough to even comprehend Christianity.