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Post by Moose on Nov 8, 2019 0:55:48 GMT
And no intention of offending anyone but it's just something that occurred to me earlier.
When life feel crap to me, I immerse myself in such things as space documentaries or perhaps documentaries about the history of the Universe, the evolution of life or the evolution of human beings. To me, this is comforting.
Is religion just - the same thing? I mean, is what I do just the secular version of putting your faith in God and not worrying? When I read about Voyager being a zillion miles from earth and still beeping on in an intrepid (though increasingly faint) manner, is the lift I feel from this the same as religious people feel from their faith?
And, ultimately, if it gets us through life then does it even matter?
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Post by Kye on Nov 8, 2019 0:57:56 GMT
God often expresses Godself to me in the infinite wonder of nature, so yeah, I'd say so.
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Post by JoeP on Nov 8, 2019 8:21:05 GMT
There's certainly quite an overlap between "awe-inspiring things" that take you out of yourself and as you say provide comfort and awe-inspiring things that make you feel all religious. Maybe awe is at the root of both.
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Post by Mari on Nov 8, 2019 11:42:00 GMT
To me it's not exactly the same. To me what you're doing is distracting myself which may or may not work. I generally bury myself in books. However, when I realise what I'm doing, I try to think of the cause and what I need to get through this. I'll pray and specifically ask for that. Generally it's a prayer for a good night's sleep so I have the strength to go on the next day, or a prayer for internal quiet. It's happened to me twice now that I prayed for internal quiet when everything just kept banging around in my mind that I couldn't think or rest and that after the prayer it suddenly quieted down. That gave me what I needed to handle the rest on my own. A bit different I think from what you're describing. But I should add I make it a point not to ask for world peace or a solution to all my problems. I'll ask for help with a process, not a giftwrapped solution.
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Post by kingedmund on Nov 8, 2019 15:01:05 GMT
Rather agree with that. It seems like it would be so.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Nov 10, 2019 9:07:57 GMT
I find things awe inspiring and I've wondered if that's the same sort of feeling - but if I'm feeling crap I wouldn't turn to things like documentaries to get that feeling. More likely I'd read a book or watch a movie to distract myself.
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Post by Moose on Nov 12, 2019 23:30:38 GMT
Documentaries are good too. I found a great one last night on the history of the family home.
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Post by ceptimus on Nov 13, 2019 0:49:38 GMT
But I should add I make it a point not to ask for world peace or a solution to all my problems. I'll ask for help with a process, not a giftwrapped solution. What's the point of believing in an all-powerful god, and then only asking for feeble help that you can't be sure whether it's been granted or not? Why not ask for world peace, or at least for something like the end of a horrible disease that affects babies? Only asking for trivial things shows a lack of confidence in your god.
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Post by kingedmund on Nov 13, 2019 1:15:22 GMT
I like documentaries. What was the history of family homes about per se?
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Post by Mari on Nov 15, 2019 18:06:58 GMT
But I should add I make it a point not to ask for world peace or a solution to all my problems. I'll ask for help with a process, not a giftwrapped solution. What's the point of believing in an all-powerful god, and then only asking for feeble help that you can't be sure whether it's been granted or not? Why not ask for world peace, or at least for something like the end of a horrible disease that affects babies? Only asking for trivial things shows a lack of confidence in your god. That depends on your view of who and what God is, now doesn't it? I'm a tiny bit offended by you drawing conclusions about my faith based on how you think I am supposed to regard my God. I was hesitant on sharing such a personal matter here out in the open. Please respect my experiences in answer to Moose's question instead of trying to debase this into a pointless, biased religious discussion.
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Post by Moose on Nov 15, 2019 21:14:31 GMT
Brett - it was, erm, about the history of rooms in the family home. Lucy Worsley.
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Post by raspberrybullets on Nov 16, 2019 6:58:07 GMT
I think she did a good one on toilets - I really would like a book on the topic. It's what I'm always wondering about whenever I see anything set in a different time period, where and how did they do all their peeing and pooping.
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Post by Moose on Nov 17, 2019 22:47:22 GMT
Apparently some French King - I forget which - just used to crap in his pants and let his servants deal with it.
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Post by Moose on Nov 17, 2019 22:47:49 GMT
I mean - to do that, you've really got to regard your servants as being less than human, don't you?
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Post by raspberrybullets on Nov 18, 2019 8:48:55 GMT
But even for yourself, it can't be nice to have crap in your pants. Thought I guess it all depends on what you're used to.
I recall on one of the episodes they said that in the fancy palaces like Versailles women would just squat and shit in the hallways because there was nowhere else and the dresses were so big. And servants presumably would clean it up.
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Post by Moose on Nov 18, 2019 23:03:00 GMT
That must be horrible too - I mean for all concerned (though most for the servants!).
I did see in a documentary that posh women would put a chamber pot under their skirts and simply piss where they stood and then move on and leave it.
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Post by Mari on Nov 28, 2019 9:16:11 GMT
I don't want to know what the hems of those dresses looked or smelled like...
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Post by JoeP on Nov 28, 2019 11:44:13 GMT
Look up the origin of the word "isabelline" meaning a greyish-yellow colour.
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Post by whollygoats on Dec 11, 2019 16:47:44 GMT
Having tried prayer, I found it to be entirely unsatisfying.
When I'm feeling emotionally crap, I weep. It makes my nose runny, my eyes red, and my face blotchy.
If I want awe, I go to nature....real or virtual.
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Post by tangent on Dec 11, 2019 16:54:17 GMT
Having tried prayer, I found it to be entirely unsatisfying. Is that because Krampus answered your prayer?
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Post by whollygoats on Dec 11, 2019 17:11:57 GMT
Having tried prayer, I found it to be entirely unsatisfying. Is that because Krampus answered your prayer? Pray to Krampus? Are you delusional? I found prayer to be an entirely useless waste of time.
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Post by tangent on Dec 11, 2019 20:24:20 GMT
I forgot to add a winky symbol I found prayer to be an entirely useless waste of time. Does that mean there was a time in your life when you tried it? (serious question)
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Post by whollygoats on Dec 11, 2019 22:44:07 GMT
I forgot to add a winky symbol I found prayer to be an entirely useless waste of time. Does that mean there was a time in your life when you tried it? (serious question) I guess you missed my religious backstory. My father was a skeptic who tried out participation in religious groups, mainly the Society of Friends and the Unitarians. He ultimately drifted away from even those. My mother was raised in the the Church of the Brethren, an offshoot of the Radical Pietist and Anabaptist movements and close in nature to that of the Mennonites and Amish. She had a shipload of faith and was not very cynical, or skeptical, at all. She was also institutionalized for depression much of my youth. I was raised in a household where prayer was held in esteem by at least one parent, my mother. When she could not find a church out on the west coast which fit her Church of the Brethren background, she opted for membership in the Methodist, and then United Methodist, churches near our various homes. As a teen, I was 'active' in the youth groups of the neighborhood UM church and the son of the deacon of that church was one of my close chums. It was during this period of 'searching' that I read the bible, cover to cover, and discussed as much of it as I could with these earnest churchgoers. That is when I finally shed the last vestiges of what little faith I had.
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Post by Moose on Dec 12, 2019 0:07:16 GMT
Nature is always fantastic for making me feel better and if I can't get to it in person, which I often can't, I go and find pretty pictures of it.
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Post by tangent on Dec 12, 2019 0:30:42 GMT
I guess you missed my religious backstory. Yes, I did. Thanks for the explanation.
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Post by ceptimus on Dec 12, 2019 6:06:13 GMT
Make sure you pray to the correct S. They are easily confused.
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Post by JoeP on Dec 12, 2019 15:11:58 GMT
Saatana!
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Post by whollygoats on Dec 12, 2019 16:57:38 GMT
Staten Island.
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Post by Moose on Dec 18, 2019 21:58:27 GMT
One week till Christmas!
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Post by JoeP on Dec 19, 2019 13:32:47 GMT
Or less!
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