God Is Responding Preferentially To Me

[StressBuster]

I know religion is a hot-button subject, which is why I've posted this thought. I'm an atheist, but religiosity in and of itself is good for your health in some ways, although less than some of its advocates would have you believe. It makes perfect sense because if you come up with a system (Religion) that not only tells you why things are but is capped off with certain knowledge that something or things respond preferentially to you (god gave me that promotion at work! or god saved my son's life! ), you're filling a whole lot of pieces there—gaining some predictability, attribution, social support and control over the scariest realms of our lives. My church is sometimes my house, sometimes a bar, a meeting with my psychotherapist, a bike ride with a friend... Social support and human-to-human bonding can happen in many forms.

[alamagoosa]

Stress buster. That is the most beautiful group picture I have ever seen. I realized that I don't have to tell anyone my beliefs anymore. It's like arguing that my favorite color is right but theirs is wrong. Are you in the photo? Which one is you?

[StressBuster in reply to alamagoosa]

No, it's not me—plucked it off the Internet. But I thought the photo was appropriate when I refer to a bar. Also, I loved the diversity of the faces!

[Suzie40]

I'd love to have a faith, but unfortunately I believe in science. The concept of there being another existence is not beyond the realms of possibility I guess, but I look for proof in things. To me it's almost impossible that a person can pin so much hope and expectation on something they've never seen or heard. It makes me feel ill just thinking about it.

[StressBuster in reply to Suzie40]

It annoys me, because I'm an atheist, so it makes me absolutely crazy, but it makes perfect sense. Belief in a god and religiosity makes one a bit more sturdy. It eliminates the unknown.

[Hidden]

We are put on this earth to learn lessons and correct errors we made in past reincarnations. They say now that there are eleven distinct universes, could it be that when we pass over something leaves our body, the soul and enters into this other world.

If that is the case could it be, that we have eleven lives, the learning period before reverting back to original state, pure energy that is the sole.

Personally I believe that the earth we are on is part of a god where every tree, animal etc is sentient and is part of a greater form of life that is our earth with all its inhabitants and the earth itself controls the creatures and nature of this world.

Over the decades I have seen remarkable things on my travels and feel that God is all around us and we do not take any notice of it, is at our peril

BOB

[HectorsHouse]

Hi Stressbuster.

My first thought was "flip! the guy on the left looks exactly like someone I know!"

Some of what you say makes sense.

As a Christian, 'hope' doesn't have the same meaning as we use the word so much (like, currently I'm hoping to lose some weight - not that it shows in the two squares of chocolate I just ate, before elevenses...). What I hope in is certain and sure, (ie, will happen). If anything wavers, it's my trust in God... Not everything makes sense to me; Christianity doesn't tell me "this, ewan, is why you have depression" (a useful phrase I read somewhere - probably Sinclair Ferguson - is that "God's guidance isn't so much what he says, but does").

A lot of the bible doesn't make sense to me, but I know at the same time, that it speaks to every situation I could ever face. But ultimately, if I read the bible, it shouldn't be for my sake. The bible isn't a self-help book, or (as the Gideons called it when they came to my school) a 'how-to book for life'. The bible isn't explicit about every topic; but it does speak into each topic.

One of the greatest things about being a Christian is what you mention when you about the social support. Being able to share with older people, and people of different backgrounds, in a safe place is wonderful. Unfortunately, the church IS made up of people, and all of us are flawed, so it isn't always (if ever) what it should be... but it's still great.

__

On a side note, I did a meta-analysis (I think that's what it was; I basically looked at hundreds of articles and analysed them) at uni about whether religion-based treatments for alcohol abuse were more effective than non religious treatments. In effect, the greatest change occured where those things you mentioned - social support, control, honesty, and predictability - came up trumps, regardless of religion or not.