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InvisibleRandalFlagg
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Registered: 06/15/02
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The Meaning of Life
    #726819 - 07/06/02 03:44 PM (21 years, 8 months ago)

The Meaning of Life



What is the meaning of life? Is there an absolute Truth? By this I mean is there a superior mode of thought and action that should be a guide to all of us? Is there a basis for human existence?

Is there a God or not? Does this God care for us or does he not give a shit? Does he watch us with affection or contempt? Is there absolute right and wrong? Is there an ideology that is superior to all others? Or are all ideologies useless productions of philosophers who like to show off their vocabulary skills and who have too much time on their hands, so they laboriously pontificate on their pet theories and are declared geniuses? Did we evolve from certain molecules colliding together and therefore our existence is because of pure chance and not because of a guiding hand? Each possible scenario(and there are millions) brings many questions on how a person is to conduct their life. Is there a purpose to existence?

There are two main things which seem to guide what a person's perception of Truth is: religion and ideology. I have been disappointed in both of these.

Religion is a system of belief that says there is a higher power or powers that is responsible for human existence and we must follow their example and/or rules. There are so many weaknesses with this concept. I will list some of them.

1. Religion is based upon accepting that so and so (God, a certain god, or a normal person) did this or that. Yet there is no physical proof. There is no record other than some arcane text that came from who knows where and was written and edited by who knows who. And I am supposed to accept this as Truth? Whereas science espouses examining actual evidence and making hypotheses based upon observation, religion says believe this just because we say so.

2. A person's environment has an indelible effect on what they will believe. If a person is bombarded with a system of religious beliefs (especially during the formative years of childhood) they will probably cling to these beliefs emphatically for the rest of their life. What if these beliefs are based upon myth and falsehood as opposed to truth? Even if they attempt to logically examine their faith, they will be confronted with the dogma of the religious beliefs that are so deeply entrenched in their mind that there is no way to question them, much less reject them without feelings of fear.

3. There are and have been many religions in this world. They all claim different things. They all claim they represent the Truth. Yet only on religion has the possibility of being correct. Which means there are billions of people who are living and have lived who have believed in falsehoods. If you were to confront them with this obvious truth, they would proclaim their religion to be right and they would truly believe this. Who is right and who is wrong?

4. Religion is sugared with incentive. It does not merely say this is the Truth, but it says this is the Truth and if you believe you will be rewarded. Usually the reward is a nice and fluffy afterlife (heaven, nirvana, etc..). Also, anyone who does not believe and accept, is denied the reward and offered punishment (hell..etc..). It is as if religions could not stand on their own supposed Truths and needed to offer incentives for people to buy into it. Hope is the bait. Fear is the trap.

5. Given that there have been religious beliefs in practically every society, it is apparent that Man seeks something greater than himself on a regular basis. Man wants hope. Man wants a Truth to live by. What sounds better than a loving being or beings who watch over us and offer salvation? Man is so eager to have hope that he might be willing to believe in lies.


Ideology is the belief in something that guides ones thoughts, opinions, and actions, but that has no tie to religion or any religious concept. Because ideologies are human-inspired and separated from God, they have a major weakness. Whatever is right or wrong, and whether there is a universal truth that is applicable to all reality depends upon the existence of a superior being who has instituted an order and an indisputable truth. If this being and this order do not exist, there is no right or wrong, no valid morality, and no sin. We are merely intelligent animals and our actions merely are. Ideologies that claim to have the Truth are false, because without God and His order there is no truth or right or wrong. Therefore this renders all ideologies useless because not one would be more valid than another, for there would be nothing to measure their validity against(no universal Truth). There would be no standard.

Whether guided by religion or ideology, people claim that they know the Truth. Yet not one of these Truths is verifiable. If the Truth is unverifiable and cannot be discovered, there is no reason to believe in anything. And, there is no reason to search for the Truth, because it would be a futile endeavor to try to find something that is unattainable and will always remain an enigma.

So why worry myself over a problem that cannot be solved? Why worry myself over something that much more intelligent men than I, have labored over and not come any closer to a solution than I have? The Truth is useless and the search for it is pointless.


RandalFlagg

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OfflineRonoS
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Registered: 01/25/01
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Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: RandalFlagg]
    #727224 - 07/06/02 06:51 PM (21 years, 8 months ago)

Sorry...what exactly does this have to do with Politics? Perhaps you are looking for the Spirituality forum...


--------------------
"Life has never been weird enough for my liking"

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InvisibleRandalFlagg
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Registered: 06/15/02
Posts: 15,608
Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: Rono]
    #729014 - 07/07/02 10:45 AM (21 years, 8 months ago)

Because the Spirituality and Philosophy forum is under the "Entheogenic" Area. My post has nothing to do with Entheogens.

And because what people believe guides their actions. That is very political.



RandalFlagg

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InvisibleSenor_Doobie
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Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: RandalFlagg]
    #730074 - 07/07/02 07:17 PM (21 years, 8 months ago)

The question is certainly as political as it is spiritual.

This thread also serves to remind a roomful of pundits that none of us really know anything.

I teeter between atheism and Christianity. I often wonder which I will die.

I think one of the hardest things to ever accomplish in life would be to die an athiest.

In that last gasp of air, how can one not cling to the hope that a children's story that they heard so long ago is true and all will be well in another minute?

In a world without God, what compells you to be good?

Many athiests still hold on to their morality.

Others shed it like a bad sweater.

Of course no one I have met has really done this consciously. Just the people in my paranoid conspiracy theories.



--------------------
"America: Fuck yeah!" -- Alexthegreat

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day.”  -- Thomas Jefferson

The greatest sin of mankind is ignorance.

The press takes [Trump] literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally. --Salena Zeto (9/23/16)

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Invisibleluvdemshrooms
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Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: Senor_Doobie]
    #730376 - 07/07/02 10:32 PM (21 years, 8 months ago)

In reply to:

In a world without God, what compells you to be good?




In my case, I treat others the way I want them to treat me. I wish no harm to be done to me, so I do none to others.

I wish no one to steal from me, so I steal from no one.

And so on....

As for what happens during that last gasp of air.... I can't answer that at this time. (and hopefully not for a long time to come)


--------------------
You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for that my dear friend is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. ~ Adrian Rogers

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InvisibleRandalFlagg
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Registered: 06/15/02
Posts: 15,608
Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: Senor_Doobie]
    #732692 - 07/08/02 10:27 PM (21 years, 8 months ago)

I teeter between atheism and Christianity. I often wonder which I will die.

Atheism and Christianity are polar extremes. But, I know exactly what it is like to teeter between polar extremes.

I believe in God. By this, I mean that I think there is a superior force in this universe who has created us and who cares for us. Obviously, I have no proof of this. My belief comes from a feeling within me. Whether that feeling was inspired by exposure to Christian beliefs, I do not know. I would hope to think that it was not and that my belief is from an intuition deep within me.

I have no devotion to any religion however. The concept of God is one of perfection. And any man-made institution or system of belief that defines God and what he wants will always be flawed. Man cannot represent God or His will because Man is imperfect. Because of this, I do not trust any religion.


In a world without God, what compells you to be good?

What is good?

I have concluded that God is impossible for any human being to understand. I have concluded that man-made ideas are inferior because they cannot come near to the importance of God's will. So, I can't put my faith in any idea of this world. Nor can I put my faith in what my fellow man says and has said about God.

Because of all of this, I have concluded that absolute Truth and right and wrong are not discernible. It is impossible to figure out if there is an absolute truth and a right or wrong, and if there is, there is no way of knowing what it is. So how is one to conduct one's life. What is "good"? What is "right"?

So, if I am saying that right and wrong cannot possibly be known and it is impossible to implement a course of action in order to be "right", then I have no morality...correct?

Wrong. I do have a personal code of conduct that I live by. I do have ideas of what I personally think is right and wrong.

So, I have found the things that influence people's morality to be flawed, yet I have my own personal morality. This is such a huge contradiction.


RandalFlagg

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Offlinehongomon
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Registered: 04/14/02
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Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: luvdemshrooms]
    #732709 - 07/08/02 10:43 PM (21 years, 8 months ago)

The golden rule is a good one. How do you explain the hateful remarks, and in particular the genocidal remarks, you've made on this forum? If you can, please get beyond the tired retribution rhetoric. If you can't, please be more careful than you have in the past to defend it.

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InvisibleRandalFlagg
Stranger
Registered: 06/15/02
Posts: 15,608
Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: hongomon]
    #732902 - 07/09/02 04:34 AM (21 years, 8 months ago)

The golden rule is a good one. How do you explain the hateful remarks, and in particular the genocidal remarks, you've made on this forum? If you can, please get beyond the tired retribution rhetoric. If you can't, please be more careful than you have in the past to defend it.

Hateful and genocidal? Huh? When did I make comments that were along those lines?


RandalFlagg


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InvisibleSenor_Doobie
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Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: RandalFlagg]
    #732925 - 07/09/02 04:53 AM (21 years, 8 months ago)

He was talking to luvdemshrooms.

If you notice, at the top of each post it tells you who the person is responding to.

To respond to someone specifically, you click on the Reply button next to their specific post.


--------------------
"America: Fuck yeah!" -- Alexthegreat

“Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day.”  -- Thomas Jefferson

The greatest sin of mankind is ignorance.

The press takes [Trump] literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally. --Salena Zeto (9/23/16)

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Anonymous

Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: RandalFlagg]
    #733019 - 07/09/02 06:17 AM (21 years, 8 months ago)

RandalFlagg wrote:
The concept of God is one of perfection. And any man-made institution or system of belief that defines God and what he wants will always be flawed. Man cannot represent God or His will because Man is imperfect. Because of this, I do not trust any religion.
That's good, mind if I use it?

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InvisibleRandalFlagg
Stranger
Registered: 06/15/02
Posts: 15,608
Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: ]
    #733838 - 07/09/02 11:41 AM (21 years, 8 months ago)

Sure, no problem.

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Invisibleluvdemshrooms
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Registered: 11/29/01
Posts: 34,247
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Re: The Meaning of Life [Re: hongomon]
    #734136 - 07/09/02 01:59 PM (21 years, 8 months ago)

I've explained how I feel and why in each post. The "Golden Rula" as you named it is generally the way I am. Specific events and actions I react to as I feel is warranted.


--------------------
You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for that my dear friend is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. ~ Adrian Rogers

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