Last blog...maybe?

So today was the last day of class and I must admit I'm a little sad that it's over. I've learned so much from this class and have had several engaging discussions about many of the topics we have discussed in class. I've never felt so challenged about anything as much as I have been in this particular class. I was at a point where I felt like I was at a fork in the road because I couldn't decide whether or not anything I believed in was valid. I'm relieved to say that I finally feel like I'm getting some answers, especially after what Professor deVitto said today. I completely agree that science should not and does not have the authority to dictate what is valid or exists or what not.

I was having a conversation the other day with one of my friends and I was telling him some of what we have been discussing in class, particularly existence of God and whether or not believing in Him is illogical or not. He made an several counter-arguments, most of which I had previously heard in class. Then he said something that really put me at ease, which I have illustrated below.



Basically, he was trying to prove that believing in God is your best bet in life. If you do or do not happen to believe in God and He does not exist, then there is no harm done. If you do not believe in God, and He does exist, then according to the Bible, your life is in jeopardy. So the safest option would be to believe in God, in hopes that He does exist and He will return again. I'm sure that there are a lot of loopholes to this concept, but I also see this option as the safest bet and I am not willing to take a chance with my eternal salvation.

Prayer

If any of you guys have read my blogs from before, you've probably come across the video about 10 Questions That Every Christian Must Answer. Well, I thought that video was rather interesting, so I decided that I'd post another blog from the same user. (If any of you are interested in an atheistic point of view of God's existence, visit the website: whywontgodhealamputees.com)Sorry about making you guys watch all these super long videos. It's okay if you don't watch the entire thing.

This particular video happens to be about prayer and how praying to a milk jug is just as rewarding as praying to God because you receive the same results and answers, those answers being yes, no and wait. He considers the concept of prayer to be an optical illusion. The narrator is inferring that praying to an inanimate object will produce the same results as praying to what I'd like to believe is a Divine Being. Even though what He is saying may be true, the story that comes to mind is the story of when Elijah prays to God to send down fire. The other gods that were being prayed to were unable to produce the same miracle and I believe the same would go for a milk jug. The narrator claims that the answers that occur as a result of prayer occur by chance and have nothing to do with God's power. However, there are inexplicable miracles that occur daily and I believe that some sort of Higher Power is the only valid explanation. Definitely, nothing a milk could possibly have a hand in doing.

I'm at a loss...

Sorry guys, about not being on top of things when it comes to blogging. I've just been swamped with a lot of things right now, as are a lot of you during this time of year. A lot of things have been on my mind, especially our recent discussions we have been having about God and proof of His existence. I don't really know why, but these discussions have been bugging me a lot. I find myself constantly thinking about the topic and trying to find a solution. The more I try thinking about a solution, the more frustrated I make myself. It really bothers me that I am not able to defend myself against, let's say, someone who's an atheist. Maybe my faith is not as strong as I had thought it to be, but for some reason I feel like everything I've learned since birth is uncoiling at the core. I've tried talking with some of my close friends and family about what we've been discussing in class and yet I still come out feeling unsatisfied. Is there really no way to explain why I believe that God is the ultimate Creator? Is my faith really irrational? I hate feeling like something I believe so strongly in as irrational. I never thought of myself as a cynic, but listening to what is being said in class is causing me to reevaluate everything I believe. I don't know if any

free will?

In class we've been discussing the concept of free will and whether we as Christians actually have free will, as God claims. We believe that God is omniscient and some might argue since God is all-knowing how is it possible that we are able to have free will. God already knows what decisions we are going to make and what actions we are going to take before they actually take place.

At the beginning of the discussion I was so set in my reasoning about how God allows us to live our lives without imposing his knowledge on what takes place. As more and more people started giving input I started to think about how if God knew the outcome of the earth, why He didn't just destroy the evil and save the righteous the moment Adam and Eve sinned? Some people would say that God was giving all people the opportunity to repent and turn away from their evil ways because He is a merciful God. If God knew ahead of time who would turn away from their sins and who would continue to live sinful lives, why wouldn't He just save time and destroy the earth?

I believe God is giving everyone an opportunity to learn about Him and form a relationship with Him, because if He just destroyed the earth, then our free will was being taken away from us. Even though God knows what we are going to do, we are still able to do it freely. I don't believe that our lives our written out before they occur, I believe that they are written out as they happen.

I can't fully explain what I am trying to convey, but there is no ordinary way to explain how God works either.

Prop 8

Since I didn't post a blog last week, I decided to post another blog about my views on California's Proposition 8. If you have not yet seen the video that Professor DeVitto sent us, I posted it at the bottom of my blog.

Personally, I am against this particular proposition because, like the pastors featured in this video, I believe in the separation of church and state and that the government should not have the right to dictate who can marry who. Since I am Adventist, I do observe and believe in the Biblical views of homosexuality, however, my religious affiliation and the religious or moral beliefs of anyone in congress does not give the government grounds to impose their values on everyone, including homosexuals. If this proposition passes, the whole basis of the amendment is flawed and it would have to be altered in a way that the basic rights and freedoms of every American does not apply to all citizens. Why do we care so much about gay marriage? How would their marital union affect us as a state? I think we should focus on the real problem that is plaguing many marriages today: finding a way to make them last and decreasing the divorce rate. Just my thoughts.

I wonder...

I stumbled across this video on YouTube and I thought it was pretty interesting. I have often wondered about many of these questions myself, and everything that this person is stating makes sense. However, I never thought to really seek out any solutions because I believed that my faith in the Bible was sufficient. In a way Descartes is kind of defending his view on God based on his own faith as well. He believes that he owes his existence to the state of perfection, a quality that is possessed solely by God, and because God exists, we exist. A concept that I am not entirely sure I agree with.

I wonder, if Descartes were alive today, how he would respond to these atheistic claims. How can a God so perfect allow all these terrible things on earth to happen? I think this is a question that many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, are struggling to find an answer to. It is hard to have a firm stance on an issue when there are so many convincing opposing arguments. How is it possible to prove or disprove any of these statements? I'm still not quite sure how to even prove my own existence, let alone the existence of the world around me and how it came to be. Maybe there are just some things that we will find out when we get to heaven, if heaven even exists.

Existence of God

Tonight, after our choir performance, a group of my friends and I started discussing the existence of God. One of the members of the choir had just finished telling us that after being raised a Seventh-Day Adventist his entire life, he started to question God's existence. He was skeptical about the idea of creation and how there was a single Being that was responsible for our existence as humans. He also brought up the idea that Jesus, Himself, was against the whole concept of Christianity as a religion because Christ worshiped the God of the Jewish religion.

When, someone else brought up the fact that Jesus considered Himself to be the Son of God, he responded by saying that He might have meant that as some sort of a metaphor.

That comment had me thinking, what if all the words that Jesus said were metaphors? He does refer to all of us as being sons and daughters of God. I'm guessing the problem that my friend had was trying to grasp the concept of a group of people worshiping and creating a religion to glorify a human being, who claims to be humble, but at the same time calls Himself the Alpha & Omega.

Before this conversation, I was very one dimensional in my way of thinking. My friend's claims unfolded a whole new series of answers for me to discover.

another reality blog

So after philosophy, I was chatting with my buddy, Michael, about the discussion we had in class. I was explaining to him my views on the class, the discussions, in particular. Alas, I too fall into the vast majority of the students in class who have had a hard time grasping the concepts being discussed. I think my lack of understanding is due to my unwillingness to question everything that I have learned throughout my walk of life. I'm too stubborn and too set in my ways to wonder "what if?". I feel like this is keeping me from fully committing to the discussions. I was a little discouraged today in class after trying to come up with a counter-argument, because I just couldn't think of any way that I disagreed with Gabriel.

Later on, I brought up the idea to Michael of everyone in our universe unknowingly taking part in some sort of virtual reality. Some sort of twisted World of Warcraft alternate universe, where a few nerds are getting a kick out of controlling our every thought and action. I meant all this as a joke. Michael, however, agreed with my scenario and actually thought it to be quite possible. At this point I just started to get annoyed and completely tuned out.

How do we know what reality is? Is there anyway for us to actually know if this is reality? I know we've been hearing these questions all week long, but I'm seriously stumped here. I can't even begin to think of ways to tackle these questions. bleh. sorry professor, totally stumped.

The Blind Man and the Elephant

The Blind Man and the Elephant

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant~(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation~Might satisfy his mind.

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side, ~ At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant ~ Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho! what have we here?
So very round and smooth and sharp? ~ To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant ~ Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands, ~ Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant ~ Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like ~ Is mighty plain," quoth her;
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant ~ Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most; ~ Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant ~ Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail ~ That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant ~ Is very like a rope!

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion ~ Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right ~ And all were in the wrong!

Moral

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

-John Godfrey Saxe

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/socialStd/grade7/india/Blind_elephant.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For some reason, this story was running through my mind the whole time Professor DeVitto was making the orange analogy on Tuesday. I'm sure most of you have come across this story at least once. If not, you've probably heard this type of reasoning when it comes to taking in other people's point of views.

Whenever I'm considering a point, I have to remind myself to take in the whole picture because most of the time what I might have is the "trunk of the elephant", which I might consider to be the truth. At the same time, someone else may have their truth in the "elephant's tail". Basically, everyone is spending so much time trying so hard to force their own truths on others, and not enough time listening to anyone else. I believe we all possess a little bit of the truth, but we just see it from different perspectives, which is what this anecdote illustrates.

Your thoughts?