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Hello Manga

Started by Biggus Dickus, April 19, 2017, 04:51:45 PM

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Dragonia

^^^HA! What IS that? WHY would someone do that to themselves? What could the meaning possibly be???
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ Plato (?)

Pasta Chick


Davin

I was, but now I can't, I have to think of an original one...

Always question all authorities because the authority you don't question is the most dangerous... except me, never question me.

xSilverPhinx

^ I...can't unglue my eyes from the screen. I can't explain it.  :watching:
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Biggus Dickus

The more I look at this tattoo the more I like it....




Anyway I think you distrustful Atheists scared Manga away >:(
"Some people just need a high-five. In the face. With a chair."

Sandra Craft

Quote from: Father Bruno on April 25, 2017, 09:25:56 PM

Anyway I think you distrustful Atheists scared Manga away >:(

I was toying with the idea of starting a pool on how long before Manga got bored and left us, but that seems overtaken by events.
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

Arturo

Quote from: Father Bruno on April 25, 2017, 09:25:56 PM
The more I look at this tattoo the more I like it....
Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.


I think you would need some white ink unless you're a light skinned Mexican.
It's Okay To Say You're Welcome
     Just let people be themselves.
     Arturo The1  リ壱

Biggus Dickus

Quote from: Arturo on April 26, 2017, 04:41:20 AM
Quote from: Father Bruno on April 25, 2017, 09:25:56 PM
The more I look at this tattoo the more I like it....
Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.


I think you would need some white ink unless you're a light skinned Mexican.

I'm a light skinned Polack. 8)
"Some people just need a high-five. In the face. With a chair."

OldGit

In the Acahuatl language of the Nacaposi tribe, Manga is a kind of green gloopy stuff that drips off Nacapetl trees and slithers down your neck.

manga

I see many people doubt my sincerity, and so here is my story, and hopefully you guys can understand where I am coming from. I was not aware of this thread until now, I apologize for this:
Ok, I'm 15, my family is originally from Ukraine, but of Turkish origin. I think they moved from Turkey to Ukraine many generations ago, so they practice Christian faith now. I was brought up in North America, so I attended a Catholic school. I remember I totally believed in God, and Catholicism. I used to pray every night, and I used to go to Church every so often. In my eyes, God created the earth, the first people were Adam and Eve, if a person is good during their lives, he or she goes to heaven. If they are bad, they go to hell. I remember I used to fear hell, as any typical Catholic practicing Christian would. I think all throughout elementary school, I didn't give much thought into it. In my first year of high school (last year), I went to a science museum with a school class. I had learned about the concept of evolution, but had barely considered it. At the museum, we looked at the evolution of a sloth, and other animals. Then, we were told about the Earth being billions of years old, and how the first life likely appeared on earth, based on current science. I thought to myself, "wow, this makes a whole lot more sense than that idea that two people randomly ended up here, and so on". I remember, from that, I already realized that the bible had issues. I thought to myself, "If I can't trust the whole bible, why would I trust any of it?". At that point, I kind of didn't believe that there was a creator anymore. However, I was somewhat nervous to acknowledge this. I had a few unknowns still that I could not explain. I thought that the majority of evidence for religion was lacking, and being maybe a little rebellious at that age, I decided to try atheism. I would say I was 80% there, and I kind of just pushed the last 20%. At first I was completely scared, as I still felt I was being watched, and that I may be in trouble, but I thought, "those are just my fears", so I kind of ignored them. One day not too long ago, a religious friend sent me a video of Howard Storm, the atheist who apparently died, saw hell, was tortured, and then when he came back he became a minister, as Jesus told him to do so. This scared me. I didn't even know about NDEs. I thought that there was no evidence of afterlife, so I pretty much rejected it. Suddenly, this seemed like it could be true. I became religious again and prayed for forgiveness. That totally scared the living daylights out of me. However, I researched the topic more, and found many explanations for NDEs, including G force pilots having OBEs when they lose blood supply to the brain, and some have pretty realistic hallucinations. However, then, with further reading, I found Dr. Long's work, which claims all these amazing statistics, and now I slightly fear again that Howard Storm, as well as Ian Mccormack, Don Brubaker, and other former atheists who claim to see hell actually saw it. The part of NDEs that I find unexplainable is that so many people claim to see things so clearly and that everything feels "more real" than real life. There are reports of blind NDErs, and reports of people going to places far away from their accidents, and verifying what took place. One man was able to visit his next door neighbour, who had a crying baby. He claims he could talk to the baby, and found the baby had a broken arm. When he woke up, he told his neighbours the news, and it was in fact true. Other people have been able to retell exactly what doctors did and said. Penny Sartori did a test where she asked patients who were totally out during their close brushes with death to try and guess what happened during their operations, and she claims they all got everything completely wrong, yet these NDErs tend to get so many things right. There are even cases of people healing after these NDEs. There seems to be some scientific explanation, but I feel that there are still very many grey areas here, and I do not know if these NDEs and OBEs can be dismissed just like that. I guess I would take comfort in knowing these are fake, because there are quite a few where atheists and Christians who do not go to Church end up in hell, and I really fear that. I would be so happy if I knew for a fact that there was no life after death, then I could enjoy my life more again.

Biggus Dickus

Thank you for replying Manga, it goes a long way in establishing some trust with us.

I read your reply earlier, and then went to the gym to work out and while sweating my ass off I was thinking of a reply to your post, but I don't think I could come close to expressing myself as clearly and eloquently as Recusant did in your other introduction thread.

He brought up many of the things I was thinking of in my own reply to you, so I won't waste time repeating the same things, but I think the most important part of his response, and one I was going to mention was with regards to the very excellent responses you have received in various threads by other members of the forum, especially the comments of SolidSquid, and MariaEvri as outlined below in this quote from Recusant's reply.

QuoteIn various threads here people have provided references to sources which present evidence that contradicts the NDE narrative of genuine visits to the supposed afterlife. I thought the "A Ghost in the Machine" set of essays that MariaEvri posted was particularly good, as were various posts by solidsquid. The scientific evidence shows that our minds are a function of our brains, while there is no scientific evidence whatsoever for the existence of a non-physical entity that is independent of our body (a soul) that will survive the death of the body.

I think a good piece of advice as mentioned is for you is to go back and reread those threads, and focus on the links provided and try to grasp and understand what they are explaining to you, and then come back with follow up questions to those links and not bother posting additional material on what you feel are relevant NDE's or OBE's.

One other thing, at the end of your introduction post you say the following.

QuoteI would be so happy if I knew for a fact that there was no life after death, then I could enjoy my life more again.

I don't believe it is life after death you fear so much, but the christian narrative itself which states you have to live your life according to various religious standards and sets of rules.

It's the failure to live by these so called rules, such as going to church, being a non-believer, hating homosexuals, etc...that has you in a bind, not fear of an after-life. You're allowing yourself to be chained to these testaments of faith not because you embrace them, or believe them, but because you fear not to do so will result in punishment.

Answer me this Manga...whose the better person, the one who chooses not to steal money from an unsuspecting stranger because they know to do so is wrong based on the simple principle of fairness and equity, or the one who wants to steal, but doesn't because only becuase they fear the punishment of a vengeful god?

Hope to see you around the other threads, maybe as suggested you take a peak at the bookclub in the media section and pick up a free copy of the Carl Sagan book we're all reading, and then join us in an after discussion.

Peace


"Some people just need a high-five. In the face. With a chair."

Dave

#26
Manga, you are evidently a very intelligent person. However you evidently also have an active insgination that has been biased by some aspects in your life.

You therefore have a combination of traits that many would envy, that could give you a boost in science or art, including writing, or a combination of these. Perhaps even psychology or philosophy, the science and art, respectively, of unravelling human thought and understanding processes. As Father Bruno and others have said, please review what we atheists hold to be believable and how we "filter" this out of competing ideas.

Science does not have answers for all things - yet. A little mystery adds spice to life and stimulates thought, but it remains mystery, the currently unexplainable awaiting explanation. It is not a fact until it is explained and repeated or observed by others in an independent or objective manner. Religion is very rarely fully independent or objective, perhaps never in the final analysis. Science will probably never find all the answers, but answers there will be.  But, if there is no explainable, repeatable evidence and it does not directly impinge on life-as-lived then keep it on the "mystery shelf" and get on with living. You can always take it off the shelf for another look with greater experience and knowledge at a later date.

This does not deny the beauty existing in our universe, whether natural or man-made. That includes the physical and that purely of-the-mind. There is also a place for whimsy.

I tend towards the critical frame of mind but this does not stop me appreciating (OK, being a total fan of) science fiction, that often disregards our currently understood view of the scientifically possible, and fantasy and magic as creations of the human mind. This causes me no conflict, when I close the book, or turn off the video, the real world takes over again. I even find wisdom in the Bible, once all the "woo" is disregarded or the allegory is translated into modern terms.

From our grester ages it is all too easy to look back on the conflicts of youth with some frustration, even disdain. Even wen we have children of our own we still lose the full emotional understanding of those turbulent years for some. You can only come to your own understanding in the end, we can only offer advice from our personal points of view, firmed of our own genetic traits and experience/education. You have to weigh this with your own and find that which is "comfortable", which offers the least conflicts and fears. (Added later) However, please be wary of taking the "easy path", that line which "goes with the common flow", religion relies on that sheep-like behaviour for its power. You are a unique human and deserve to view youeelf as such, compromising and co-operating with others where necessary but preserving your independence where that does not seriously challenge your life.

PS, my appologies for any typing errors, I have a sight defect that causes me problems when typing on a tablet (as now). I edit but do miss some errors in large lumps of text.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

Magdalena

OK, Gloucester, but what are Opinions on Out of Body Experiences? Do you think that NDEs in children to be same as adults? Can I ask you a few questions about paranormal events? Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? Why or Why not?

Sorry but you are not allowed to view spoiler contents.

"I've had several "spiritual" or numinous experiences over the years, but never felt that they were the product of anything but the workings of my own mind in reaction to the universe." ~Recusant

Tank

Quote from: manga on April 27, 2017, 09:50:21 PM
I see many people doubt my sincerity, and so here is my story, and hopefully you guys can understand where I am coming from. I was not aware of this thread until now, I apologize for this:
Ok, I'm 15,...
This is what you said on day one. But you can't put an old head on young shoulders. Remember that the human mind works in part by filling in information about people they meet. If there is no current information we fall back on experience and internal stereotypes. Without input I tend to see/react to new members as a white 30 something males. Now you have told us about you loads of assumptions fall away. In my case that would include replacing experienced active arsehole with naive newbie. My reaction to those two different 'people' is very different.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Arturo

#29
You've been very patient and level headed manga, thank you. And I apologize for our rudeness. Moving on, I know this was addressed by Bruno but I'd like to take it in a slightly different direction.

QuoteI would be so happy if I knew for a fact that there was no life after death, then I could enjoy my life more again.

What Father Bruno said sounds objectively correct. That you are afraid of the Christian narrative of life after death. But there are other ideas about death from other religions, not just Christianity and Athiesm. Buddhists and Hindu's believe in reincarnation. That's the idea that you come back after you die as another animal. Some Native American tribes believe life is a loop and you eventually come back to where you were before. The Aztecs believed in a different sort of heaven where you move up and down different, how should I say this, "levels" where the different forces of nature take place.

The point is, you don't have to believe in the Christian idea of hell to believe there might be something after you die. All civilizations have done it so you're not alone. Even athiests sometimes wonder if we are wrong and there really might be something after death. But we never know until it happens and until then, for me, I want to spend this life as if it's the only one I have. Because it might be the only one. And if it's the only one, I want to make it a good one and not filled with turd.

Edited for clarity
It's Okay To Say You're Welcome
     Just let people be themselves.
     Arturo The1  リ壱