ABOUT THE BEGINNING
WHAT BELIEVERS THINK
Nothing
atheists say
makes sense.
WHAT ATHEISTS BELIEVE
Nothing
makes sense.
WHAT GOD SAYS
Nothing.
-
mistermuse
Reply
- Comment
- Reblog
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
The Observation Post 
arekhill1 6:12 pm on March 12, 2015 Permalink |
No comment…oh, wait a second
LikeLiked by 1 person
mistermuse 7:55 pm on March 12, 2015 Permalink |
Some might say it’s ancient history, but I guess you said all you have to say in the bible.
LikeLike
Don Frankel 4:31 am on March 13, 2015 Permalink |
“Sometimes nothin’ can be a real cool hand.” Luke
LikeLike
mistermuse 6:15 am on March 13, 2015 Permalink |
You must be referring to Matthew, Mark and John’s buddy, Cool Hand. Too bad the other three didn’t live long enough to make movies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
ladysighs 7:34 am on March 13, 2015 Permalink |
🙂 ++++
LikeLike
mistermuse 9:32 am on March 13, 2015 Permalink |
🙂
LikeLike
Don Frankel 7:41 am on March 13, 2015 Permalink |
You have to admit Muse that was inspired. You know we’ve discussed religion and belief over the years and I hate to get serious but I have to take a moment to thank you. I got to examine and think about this in ways I never would have if you hadn’t put your religious history and thoughts out there. Like I’ve said I didn’t get any religion growing up so it has all been a great mystery to me. But my latest insight is this and I say latest as it might change any day.
The idea of God or a Creator exists in the brain, don’t ask me where but it’s a concept an abstract concept. Maybe its the most abstract concept we have but it is sitting there. When someone discusses what they believe they are telling you their odyssey and how much they abstract. Believers who never contemplate or question and atheists who do the same thing aren’t abstracting and they don’t have much of an odyssey.
There is an idea in Physics called the God particle. I don’t think I could explain it very well but it’s the essence of all matter and it is something that is searched for. A holly grail maybe? But one scientist asked. How will we know if we find it as we are it?
Whether their is a God or not is a question, an abstract concept like most abstract concepts; justice, fairness, love, honor. There is no definitive answer. No one knows. You may think whatever you want and how much you explore it and what insights you gain, is what it’s about.
LikeLike
mistermuse 9:26 am on March 13, 2015 Permalink |
Don, no need to hate getting serious on my account. I welcome getting serious….in a thoughtful (as opposed to a dogmatic) way. To me, it’s not “getting serious” itself, but entrenched, doctrinaire positions that make it a turn-off. If life, and the big questions surrounding it, don’t warrant serious searching, I don’t know what does.
I greatly appreciate what you said in your first paragraph, and as for the rest, if you don’t mind, I will take it up in a full posting (probably my next one), as there’s too much to discuss in a comment like this.
LikeLike
BroadBlogs 12:55 pm on March 13, 2015 Permalink |
Thought-provoking.
LikeLiked by 1 person
mistermuse 4:22 pm on March 13, 2015 Permalink |
Thank you. There can be a fine line between being thought-provoking and preaching. If anyone says I crossed it (either here or in my follow-up post), I will of course…..blame the reader!
LikeLike
Michaeline Montezinos 5:38 pm on March 13, 2015 Permalink |
I think of “God” now in abstract ways. Like Don said, the abstract concepts of justice and fairness are, in my opinion, ways to live one’s life that promote peace and goodwill.
After watching the mindless cruelty. torture and killing by the Middle East terrorists as portrayed in the movie, AMERICAN SNIPER, I have seen true evil. To counter act that some have placed their faith in a higher power that will protect them from the evil surrounding them.
It is the human brain that has carried this idea from the moment we rose from prehistoric man to something more civilized in thought and behavior. How evolution happened is based on science and so is the idea of the “God particle.” We, as scientists can neither prove this is true nor say it is a false concept, When it comes to supernatural beliefs we place ourselves in a position of speculation.
To argue from a stand of logic and scientific knowledge is commendable but it is still based on human thought and belief in the end. Is there a supreme being like us watching over all that is going on the planet Earth? Perhaps, but to dwell on this and lean on this idea is basically a ignorant postion. Ignorance is not being stupid, just being unknowing. and to this end we are all unknowing.
People believe in whatever satisfies, comforts and protects them. It is not wrong to believe someone is out there listening to our pleas and our thoughts. We all can use some faith in a power stronger than ourselves sometimes. Others are confident that they can use their skills and strengths to conquer their problems without any gods.
There are great mysteries in our minds concerning our existence and in our tiny solar system amid the infinite universe surrounding us. Which should make us humble in our search for answers. Right now this is what I believe. But that may change as we explore the outer reaches of our Milky Way. Who knows what we may find?
LikeLike
mistermuse 10:20 pm on March 13, 2015 Permalink |
I very much appreciate your thoughts, Michaeline. I had already promised to address Don’s comments in my next post, and will add yours to what I take into consideration in that upcoming piece. It’s a conversation to be continued.
LikeLike
Michaeline Montezinos 6:03 pm on March 14, 2015 Permalink |
That would be fine with me, mistermuse. I do not apologize for the piece I wrote although it wa a bit lengthy. I expressed my thoughts as best as I could communicate them. Use my reply as you wish.
LikeLike
Michaeline Montezinos 6:36 pm on March 14, 2015 Permalink
I got the impression you thought I believed in a supreme, benevolent being watching over us. I don’t anymore because to do so would make me feel stupid and foolish. I don’t claim to be and atheist or an anarcrist. I just believe in myself and the amount of talent I may have. I also know my limits but I try to push them beoynd the false boundaries I may have placed before me. In any case, I have always despised being labeled or being put into a category. I guess I think I am beyond classification, dear mistermuse.
LikeLike
mistermuse 8:22 pm on March 14, 2015 Permalink |
Michaeline, last I remember, you were a committed Jewess, so I didn’t realize that is no longer the case. But in any case, whatever you believe is OK by me (as long as it’s not an antimuse). 🙂
LikeLike
Michaeline Montezinos 11:05 pm on March 14, 2015 Permalink |
I am of the Reform Jewish faith, so you are correct. However, we Jews are allowed to NOT believe in a God. We are respected if we have the intelligence to question the existence of anything that is not in tune with what our knowledge shows us. I do follow the tenets of the Ten Commandments because those rules are a guidance to living a good life. I do believe in treating people and the creatures of the Earth with respect and kindness. I avoid temptation and strictly keep all my vows and promises. After all, what kind of wife, mother, aunt, and writer would I be if I was just a dumb sheep following the masses?
Now, mistermuse, shame on you for even thinking I would be against you in any way. I admire your tenacity, your wisdom and your kind comments regarding my writing. You are the standard bearer of all I want to be and you inspire me. Please, never again question my loyalty. As I used to tell my girls when they were silly, “Don’t make me come up there. I will straighten out your behavior; you won’t like it either.” That ususally worked. Be who you are and do not change for me or anyone else.
Smile for me, Mr. Muse because I like you very much!
LikeLike
Mélanie 5:28 am on March 15, 2015 Permalink |
another wise, witty and intelligent post… HL = huge like! ❤
here's kinda "prayer" of a great and wise contemporary French writer:"Mon Dieu qui n'êtes personne, donnez-moi chaque jour ma chanson quotidienne, mon Dieu qui êtes un clown, je vous salue, je ne pense jamais à vous, je pense à tout le reste, c'est déjà bien assez de travail, amen.” – 🙂 my quick & ad-hoc translation:"My God, who are nobody, gimme my favourite song daily… my God, who are a clown, I greet you, I never think of you, but I do think of all the rest, it is already enough work, amen."(Christian Bobin)
LikeLike
mistermuse 6:26 am on March 15, 2015 Permalink |
No problem, Michaeline – I did smile for you at the end of my last reply, but I’ll be glad to do it again. 🙂
As for Reformed Jews being “allowed” not to believe in a God, I can’t get over the strangeness of a monotheistic religion which regards belief in God as optional….but that’s probably because I was raised in a very dogmatic religion, Catholicism. I know there are many atheistic Jews (Woody Allen & Carl Reiner come to mind), but I don’t know any atheistic Catholics, because that would be a contradiction in terms – neither the Church nor the atheist would consider that person to be any longer a Catholic. I certainly don’t consider myself one, although I still think there’s a creator (a word I prefer to “God,” a name which smacks of an almighty ego rather than an almighty designer/artist).
Anyway, I found a pertinent piece titled “I Don’t Believe in a God – What Should I Call Myself?” which may interest you:
P.S. You may have taken the word “antimuse” (in my last comment) too seriously – it was strictly tongue-in-cheek, not meant to cause you consternation! 🙂
LikeLike
mistermuse 6:42 am on March 15, 2015 Permalink |
Melanie, I appreciate the quote, and I appreciate you even more.
P.S. I take it Christian (Bobin) isn’t a Christian.
LikeLike
Mélanie 4:09 pm on March 15, 2015 Permalink |
thank you, Sir! frankly speakin’, I think he’s more a pure French “cartésien” like me(a skeptical Cartesian=a follower of Descartes), but I’m not sure…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Michaeline Montezinos 1:45 pm on March 15, 2015 Permalink |
Thanks for the smile, mistermuse. I did read the posting by Valerie. I recall I had read it before. She writes about labels for those who either have a strange belief in God, like soft atheists, or those who claim not to believe. Somehow all of these labels just turn me off. I think what or who a person believes is important to that person only.
Jews do follow the teachings of Judaism by being attuned to the spiritual and wordly needs of their community. Many are are do gooders and I am proud of them. I was raised as a Catholic so I know the pressure their teachers place on believing in strict doctrine. Later I surmised that it was impossible that God could be only One and yet three persons in the Holy Trinity, that is, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. It just did not make any logical sense to me. I wasn’t going to take it on “faith” either.
Also, I was shunned by the same Church that embraced me with all his holy sacraments. Why? Because my husband had divorced me after committing adultery with a woman who had been married. He married her as soon as she divorced her devoted husband. Somehow the community of elderly women Catholics blamed me for this great “sin.” I was the broken hearted victim not the perpertrator of this mess.
I studied all the other great religions and thought of converting to Judaism. Luckily my new husband had been raised in that religion so I studied to be a Jew and went to temple. I was converted before our child was born two years later. I was happy then as my spiritual beliefs were similar to my new religion. However, I later grew to examine Judaism as a religion. Besides believing in One God and the Ten Copmmandments, I felt out of place. Because being Jewish is also a way of living with many rituals and practices. I had not grown up and learned this from my family. So I began a journey to seek out where my faith in the supernatural would lead me.
Many folks say their human relationships are complicated. So it was and still is with my religious and spiritual beliefs and revelations…it’s complicated.
LikeLike
mistermuse 3:01 pm on March 15, 2015 Permalink |
Wisely said, Michaeline – labels, it seems to me, may be important to those who think they’re important (for whatever reason), but a muse by any other name would smell as sweet — even after not bathing or showering for several weeks. Though I call myself a deist, I didn’t seek to become one – it’s just a representation of where I now find myself on that thorny path labeled “spiritual journey.”
LikeLike
Michaeline Montezinos 10:41 pm on March 15, 2015 Permalink |
Thank you for the compliment, mistermuse. It warms me Polish heart, it does.
##############################################################
I have a difficulty believing I am “wise.” But the proof is in the pudding, I surmise.
You can be called a deist, or any name you won’t resist. But never a catholist.
Descriptive labels can be fine, but too many are a waste of time.
If the shoe fits don’t deny its power to exist. Without it, we would limp all the time.
We are certainly entitled now to be called something better than a cow.
So label onward and be brave; an honest label is not a knave’s.
I know the truth will prevail and aliases are to no avail.
Why I wrote this ode so off the wall, must be due to the many falls,
And the stitches that itches upon my head
will be much calmer once I put them all to bed.
LikeLike
Michaeline Montezinos 10:49 pm on March 15, 2015 Permalink |
I wrote this as the words were flowing fast.
I don’t expect this silly poem to ever last.
Yet I wrote it especially for you, I think,
Just hoping that it dosn’t stink! (Hee! Hee!)
From MEM or M&M, alias Mickaleen, Michelynne
and Mickey the mightier Mouse 😉
to mister mickey muse…
LikeLike
mistermuse 7:52 am on March 16, 2015 Permalink |
Methinks you’ve been celebrating St. Patrick’s Day a wee bit ahead of time, me fine Mickaleen colleen. I suggest cutting back on the Irish whiskey and drinking more Irish coffee for the next day or two. 🙂
LikeLike
Michaeline Montezinos 6:15 pm on March 16, 2015 Permalink |
Verily, you are a wise lad me muse but its not the whickey I use,
Just the thought of me grown up up gal and her lassie pal
That be comin to visit me on St. Paddy’s Day that makes me wanna jig!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you, mistermuse, and here’s an Irish kiss,
But dont you tell your missus miss or we all be in trouble big!
LikeLike
mistermuse 8:09 pm on March 16, 2015 Permalink |
Speaking of not telling, I forgot to tell you I liked the two poems in your comments last night (especially the first one). Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
LikeLike
The Persecution of Mildred Dunlap 10:09 am on April 3, 2015 Permalink |
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person