When my family and I moved to California, it was one of the hardest and toughest events in my life. I had just become established in my room because my older brother had finally moved out of the house, I had a great group of friends, and life seemed good. But all was not so good and we had to move. We lost basically everything and had to move to California to live with my cousins and then later on with my grandparents.
That first year in California was the hardest. I went to La Sierra Junior Academy for my eighth grade year. It was supposed to be my seventh grade year, but when I tested, I tested to skip the seventh and continue onto the eighth grade. The kids in this school were cruel, and not very inviting of me. I made friends, but this was the only time in my life that I cried in the school bathroom, or was teased most days by these two mean girls. I did make friends with the *nerds* but these were great people. And I made friends with my teachers. This helped a lot. And of course God was with me. But I still struggled to keep my grades up, not because of the workload, but because of my depression. I soon adjusted however, and grew. I became confident in my singing abilities and found my interest in music and theater. So there was the silver lining. Or kind of a rude awakening if you will.
It was during this year that I learned to harness my feelings of sadness and loneliness into something productive. I used the isolation to study harder and get better grades. I learned to make friends with my teachers, and in turn learned how they taught and what it is they wanted from their students. This was both a good and bad thing. Mostly good for me, but in the long run, I suppose it wasn't all that good. I learned to give them what they wanted and nothing more, when I should have been giving them what they wanted and even more. Striving for those straight "A's" and a perfect 4.0, but I suppose it was also the peer pressure that caused me to be average. Though I was friends with the ones other called the nerds, I didn't consider myself one and therefore I got good grades, but not enough to be perceived as one of the truly nerdy ones. Seems silly now that I think about it, but I suppose as a teenager, those were my train of thoughts.
After that year I entered to a new school. Redlands Junior Academy, later to be called Redlands Adventist Academy. This would be the start of a great high school career and the beginning of the best friendships I'd have for a lifetime. I think God put me at this school because it would have been the only place that I could have blossomed as successfully as I did. I truly did blossom. I came into my own and became extremely involved and productive and still managed to keep my grades up. With the skills I had learned from my last year at LSA I was able to quickly learn the teaching habits of my new teachers and therefore my studying time was cut in half. I was involved in so much, even from the beginning. I was in the school bell choir, performance choir, later on I joined the concert band, the drama group, my sophomore year I was in two organized sports, and I was also involved outside of school as well. I was in another bell choir, two other choirs, I auditioned for community theater, was in a few productions, and just grew to love the arts. Music and theater were my life and I loved every minute of it. It was during my last couple of years at RAA that I realized where I was going after high school. I was going to audition for musical theater school. Which I did. I first auditioned for Julliard, the drama department, but did not pass the first round. But then I auditioned for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy and got in with a scholarship. But more about that in later postings.
Suffice to say that God truly does work in mysterious ways. How could I have known that through my hardships that something truly good would come out of it. He has been leading and I have started to learn and follow. Skeptics my disagree and of course my atheist friends would disagree, but I know what I know and no one can prove me wrong, at least not yet. I wouldn't change my experiences for the world and thank God for them, because without them I wouldn't be the man I am today.
To be continued...
I can't prove the non-existence of anything, be it a fairy, a unicorn, or a leprechaun, because non-existence looks the same no matter what it is I'm talking about. If I tell you there's an invisible unicorn silently chewing oats in my living room, it's no different from saying that there's an invisible leprechaun playing a silent fiddle in my living room. All I can do as an Atheist is listen to your claim and ask for evidence of your claim. If god exists, there should be legitimate, objective evidence for him that you can point to. Since I haven't encountered any legitimate, objective evidence for god, I dismiss the claim that he exists, just as you would dismiss my claims about a silent unicorn and a silent leprechaun being in my living room. I have no doubt that god is subjectively real to you, but he's not objectively real to everyone.
ReplyDeleteJake, if you told me that "there's an invisible unicorn silently chewing oats in my living room" I would believe that was your reality. It sounds crazy, but whom am I to tell you what is truth or false. From the bible when Thomas said he would not believe that Christ had risen from His grave until he saw him, He showed himself to him. And he said, "Blessed are those that have NOT see and do believe." You want evidence that God is real? Look around you, His evidence is apparent in all nature. You can't stand there and prove to me that evolution caused these highly complex creatures and plants to become what they are today by some big bang or from a single celled organism. Evolution is nothing more than theories as is Creationism, who is to say whom is right or wrong. It's up to the individual. "He who has ears to hear let him hear, he who has eyes to see, let him see" If you go looking for non existence then that is what you will find, if you look for truth in the scripture, then you will. Maybe Buddhists are right about reincarnation, maybe the Muslims are right about their religion, the Catholics, the Baptist, the Protestants, or all other organized religions. Maybe we are all right, maybe we are all wrong and Atheists are right. These are all theories, nothing can be proven. You can't even as an Atheist stand there and prove to me that there is no God. I would never dismiss anyone's claim that what they think is real, is real to them. Because in effect it is quite real. I may not agree with it nor condone it, but I would never dismiss it or judge someone based on it. That is neither my place nor my desire. I believe Christs purpose on the earth was to try and explain even further the love God has for His creation and the lengths He has gone to make sure we have every chance in the world to be saved and live with Him forever after his Second Coming. I won't try to prove anything to you. I see proof even if you cannot. Maybe I am blind, maybe you are, but only time will tell. I do pray that one day an awakening happens to you that makes you come to terms with your wrongs. I'm not a saint, I am a sinner just like you and done many wrongs, but I own them, yet will never give up my belief that God will always be there for me no matter what. He has always been there for me, even when my family was not, even if I'd never had my experience with my Guardian Angel, I'd still believe the way I do. He may not be objectively real to some, but he is subjectively real to Millions! To take that away from someone is more cruel than anything God has done in the past.
Delete"You want evidence that God is real? Look around you, His evidence is apparent in all nature. You can't stand there and prove to me that evolution caused these highly complex creatures and plants to become what they are today by some big bang or from a single celled organism. Evolution is nothing more than theories as is Creationism, who is to say whom is right or wrong."
DeleteEvolution explains how simple, single-celled organisms changed into more complex organisms through small steps over vast stretches of time. Those small steps are random mutations, which are naturally selected for based on how advantageous they are to an organism's survival in a particular environment. An organism doesn't have to be the fastest, or the strongest, or the smartest, just the best-suited for a particular environment. Evolution doesn't explain how life first emerged on Earth, it just explains the natural development of biodiversity.
The big bang theory doesn't explain where the universe came from, nor does it explain the formation of galaxies, nebulae, stars, planets, or moons (they all have formation theories of their own). All that the big bang theory tells us is that the universe once existed in a state of zero volume and infinite density 13.77 billion years ago, then rapidly expanded and cooled.
When laypeople say they have a theory, they mean a guess. That's not what a theory is in science. You can state any fact you like, such as "the sky is blue" or "if an apple is thrown into the air, it will drop back down," but a theory actually explains why the sky is blue or why the apple comes back down. If scientists just guessed about things, could humans have made it to the Moon? Would we have computers or GPS? I very seriously doubt it.
"If you go looking for non existence then that is what you will find, if you look for truth in the scripture, then you will."
You can't look for non-existence. Non-existence can't be perceived with our five senses or through technological sensors. If I'm stumbling through a dark room with an elephant in it, I will probably find it because I can hear it, I can smell it, and I can touch it. If I'm looking for non-existence in that dark room, I'm going to be looking forever. That's the point I was trying to make originally: trying to prove the non-existence of anything is futile, so the burden of proof is on those who make fantastic claims. If you don't want to prove your claim, that's fine. Most Christians are happy to just believe.
"Evolution explains how simple, single-celled organisms changed into more complex organisms through small steps over vast stretches of time. Those small steps are random mutations, which are naturally selected for based on how advantageous they are to an organism's survival in a particular environment. An organism doesn't have to be the fastest, or the strongest, or the smartest, just the best-suited for a particular environment. Evolution doesn't explain how life first emerged on Earth, it just explains the natural development of biodiversity."
DeleteCreationism explains the same things, of how the universe was formed, how the skies were separated, how the dry land appeared;
1"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Delete8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." Gen. 1:1-31 KJV
"When laypeople say they have a theory, they mean a guess. That's not what a theory is in science. You can state any fact you like, such as "the sky is blue" or "if an apple is thrown into the air, it will drop back down," but a theory actually explains why the sky is blue or why the apple comes back down. If scientists just guessed about things, could humans have made it to the Moon? Would we have computers or GPS? I very seriously doubt it."
DeleteA theory is a theory, no matter where it comes from. Yes scientist have a more educated guess, but it's still a guess. Something that cannot be proven. I'm not saying science can't prove certain things, cause they can and they have. Technology and science has come a very long way. But that still doesn't mean that the major theories like evolution or creation can be proven. Cause they can't. Each side has evidence of their claims, but neither can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Therefore they are guesses, albeit educated guesses, but guesses non the less.
"You can't look for non-existence. Non-existence can't be perceived with our five senses or through technological sensors. If I'm stumbling through a dark room with an elephant in it, I will probably find it because I can hear it, I can smell it, and I can touch it. If I'm looking for non-existence in that dark room, I'm going to be looking forever. That's the point I was trying to make originally: trying to prove the non-existence of anything is futile, so the burden of proof is on those who make fantastic claims. If you don't want to prove your claim, that's fine. Most Christians are happy to just believe."
The same is to you. My whole point was the very same thing. Atheists by the very definition are searching for non existence of a higher power, and will be searching forever. You cannot prove to me that there is NO God, anymore than I can prove to you that there is one. God has nothing to prove to anyone. And neither do I. I have my beliefs and you have yours. If you choose to believe in nothing, by all means do so. But as I've said before, you cannot judge an entire book, by a few passages that support your claims. You want to prove without a shadow of a doubt that there is no God, then read the entire bible and make your case against God, but until you do that, you have no business making accusations against God anymore than I have the right to judge you for your willingness to not believe in a Higher power. It's not my place. I may not agree with you at all, but I will never judge you. Each person will be judged before God when the time comes. He is the only one worthy to judge us for He is God the Almighty, the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, our Lord and Savior. I am quite happy to just believe, but not because someone has told me that God will punish me otherwise, but because in all my experiences, God has shown Himself to have been there for me and guided me and cared for me over and over and over again and nothing nor no one will ever convince me otherwise.
The closest thing to an educated guess in science is a hypothesis. When a hypothesis has made it through the gauntlet of data-gathering, testing, peer review, publishing, and independent testing, it becomes a theory. Scientific theories are the furthest things from educated guesses.
DeleteDo you pursue evidence for the non-existence of Zeus, Odin, Quetzalcoatl, etc? I doubt it. When you heard some of the myths of the old gods, you probably thought they were interesting stories, but didn't believe them for a second. In the same way, I don't pursue evidence for the non-existence of the Christian god. I find the evidence for the Christian god to be inadequate, so I reject it and go with what makes sense to me as a skeptic. I'm not trying to prove that there is no god, I'm commenting on how weak the evidence is for the claim that he exists. I'm reacting to a claim, not making one. Atheists believe in all sorts of things, like truth, beauty, love, morality, etc, they just reject belief in gods.
I don't have to read the whole bible to make a case against belief in the Christian god, any more than you have to read all of the ancient myths to make a case against belief in the old gods. All you have to do is say that those myths were just stories, and the vast majority of people will agree with you without argument. If I make a case for not believing in the Christian god, I'm still expected to jump through all sorts of hoops, including reading the whole bible, not just the parts that everyone is familiar with. Why? Because Christianity has no idols? Because the Christian god is said to be more forgiving than the old gods?
Main Entry:
Deletetheory [thee-uh-ree, theer-ee] Show IPA
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: hypothesis, belief
Synonyms: approach, argument, assumption, base, basis, code, codification, concept, conditions, conjecture, doctrine, dogma, feeling, formularization, foundation, grounds, guess, guesswork, hunch, idea, ideology, impression, method, outlook, philosophy, plan, position, postulate, premise, presentiment, presumption, proposal, provision, rationale, scheme, shot*, speculation, stab*, supposal, suppose, supposition, surmise, suspicion, system, systemization, theorem, thesis, understanding
These are all synonyms for theories. Notice that one of the words is guess. A hypothesis, theory, to me they are the same, scientists may disagree, but they are guessing plain and simple.
I didn't hear about the myths I read about them, I read about the Greek gods, I read about the Roman gods, I've read about the Buddhist gods, the Hindi gods, Egyptian, I've read on Catholicism, Protestantism, Baptists, Muslims, Jehovah's Witness, Mormons. I guess unlike you, I took our religion class seriously and fully looked into all these religions. Even looked into Wicca. And through all my readings, the SDA church made the most sense and has stayed true to the teachings of the Bible. I won't say it's not without it's faults and hypocrites are everywhere in every relgion, but the basis of our beliefs. Therefore I can make an educated claim and case against the gods of old and the paganism of the Catholic church. I don't reject anything until I've looked into it to the fullest of it's extent. I don't just count myself and remain a skeptic just because that's convenient.
Therefore yes, you do have to read the whole bible in order to make a case against God, because I have read on all the gods of and myths of those religions and found them to be false. But think on this for thought. Christianity is the ONLY religion that has consistently been around and had believers for the entire existence of our planet. God has sustained millennia of ages. Who still believes in the Greek gods, who still believes in the gods of the vikings, who still believes in the gods of the Romans? Even today, the number of religions that believe in One God versus many out run the rest. Just think on that.
The use of a particular definition for a word depends on its context. In the context of science, a theory is never an educated guess and a hypothesis is not the same thing as a theory.
DeleteYou're taking this way too personally. Have I attacked you at any point in this conversation? If I have, I apologize; my intention was only to comment on Christianity.
It's great that you looked into a wide variety of religions. You argued that Christianity must be valid if it has lasted so long. By that logic, racism and sexism must be valid.
Since Christianity is one of the few religions that hasn't gone to the graveyard of human ideas yet, I focus on it, particularly since it was the religion that I was raised with and am most familiar with. Still, I have read the old legends and I have looked into other religions, thank you very much. To me, Christianity is no more valid than the religions of the ancients, it's just different in some respects. Communism was radically different from a lot of economic ideologies that came before it, yet most countries either didn't adopt it or have since abandoned it.