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Religion IS crazy!

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kennas said:
Garry Ablett Jr thanking God for winning his second Brownlow last night (as he did winning MVP) has to be the craziest thing of the year. It was his Dad (Garry Snr - also known as God) who gave him the talent to win the medal. Crazy GAJ! Crazy!!
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Good for Ablett for saying what he thinks...

Gary Ablett becomes the first Gold Coast Suns player to win a Brownlow medal. He says he wants to be a good role model for kids.

http://video.cairns.com.au/v/134738/Gary-Ablett-says-he-wants-to-be-a-good-role-model-for-kids
 
I was considering Gary saying how he thanked God for his success, and whether that's a strange thing to say (or not). His perspective needs to be considered.

If Gary believes that God (as a separate entity) bestowed special gifts upon him, such as his sporting ability, that would be a very hard position to reconcile. How then would one explain God bestowing some awful affliction upon a newborn baby who is free of sin? We don't see it all that much in Australia, but in the rest of the World, **** happens.... being born without limbs, severe mental retardation, spasticity, starvation and so on and so on. The World is full of extreme hardship and suffering.

On the other hand, Gary may have come to some sort of deeper understanding of how things work through his spiritual practices. He may view God as the "only real thing happening". If he does have that perspective, then his sense of self and individuality (ego) will have dropped away to some extent. To the extent that the self drops away, grace happens. The word "grace" has a common Latin root with other English words such as "gratitude". So when he thanks God, he may simply be expressing gratitude that he has partially left behind his self and merged with "the only real thing happening". There's a few small signs that he may have this perspective. The "the only real thing happening" perspective is the non-dual perspective. While many Christians believe in a separate God in the from of a "super-person with a beard", not all do. Some say the non-dual is the root of Christianity as well, and there's plenty of Jesus quotes to back that up.

How does this second (non-dual) perspective reconcile suffering and hardship and all the horrors of the World? Apparently it does (or can); everything is explained, but only through personal experience of letting go of the self. No point me saying anything more, since I haven't been there myself.
 
Gringotts Bank said:
I was considering Gary saying how he thanked God for his success, and whether that's a strange thing to say (or not). His perspective needs to be considered.
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Have you ever considered the possibility that it was simply a figure of speech? A "done thing"? As acceptance speeches go, displaying a bit of humility goes down well with his adoring fans. Much better than some of the Oscar winners, who, after a few glasses too many, spell out their FIGJAM opinion of themselves in literal detail.

Some people say, "Thank God it's Friday!" GA said in essence, "Thank God, I have this gift."
He's a footy player, for god's sake! Not a philosopher or theologian, delving into the mysteries of metaphysics. But then again, he can come across as quite cheeky; so I wouldn't put it past him that it was also a veiled reference to his father's being dubbed "God" in his heydays.
 
I have never been comfortable with people thanking God for things such as sporting achievement, Academy Awards, Emmys and so forth, I think it's presumptuous in the extreme to think that God has nothing better to do but help high achievers.
 

Not for a second did I consider that, because he's not that sort of guy. He considers what he says. It wasn't one of those throw-away comments that teenage girls make "Like...oh my god!".
 
MrBurns said:
I have never been comfortable with people thanking God for things such as sporting achievement, Academy Awards, Emmys and so forth, I think it's presumptuous in the extreme to think that God has nothing better to do but help high achievers.
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+1, Mr B.
But then again, don't forget they're generally not paid to think too deeply, but to present an image, a "spin", that keeps their adoring fans happy and willing to pay for whatever they promote or play..
 
pixel said:
+1, Mr B.
But then again, don't forget they're generally not paid to think too deeply, but to present an image, a "spin", that keeps their adoring fans happy and willing to pay for whatever they promote or play..
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Keep the fans happy? What on earth are you talking about?!! Most Aussie footy fans would ridicule or berate him thanking God for his success.
 
MrBurns said:
I have never been comfortable with people thanking God for things such as sporting achievement, Academy Awards, Emmys and so forth, I think it's presumptuous in the extreme to think that God has nothing better to do but help high achievers.
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Your comment is loaded with assumptions Burnsy.

1) that God exists as a separate entity
2) that he is capable of (or interested in), helping individuals

Neither of them might be true.
 
Gringotts Bank said:
Your comment is loaded with assumptions Burnsy.

1) that God exists as a separate entity
2) that he is capable of (or interested in), helping individuals

Neither of them might be true.
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I took Mr B's comment more in tune with this quote from R.A. Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love"
 
Gringotts Bank said:
Your comment is loaded with assumptions Burnsy.

1) that God exists as a separate entity
2) that he is capable of (or interested in), helping individuals

Neither of them might be true.
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We are taught God exists as a separate entity.

I didn't say He helped them I said they thanked him for helping them but of course He didn't, the presumptuous nature of that statement is astonishing.

They should make it clearer that their BELIEF in God helped them not thanking God as if He assisted them personally.
 
pixel said:
Have you ever considered the possibility that it was simply a figure of speech? A "done thing"?
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Yep, a bit like some award winners and winning politicians declare that they are 'humbled' by the honour.
Humbled??? I don't think so. Rather, they're damn glad they won, and feel rewarded and confident as a result.
 
Do the major religions deal with the possibility of alien life? Intelligent or otherwise?

If a silica based life form came down and said "whats cracking?" Would this disprove the major religions?

Fiftyeight
 
fiftyeight said:
Do the major religions deal with the possibility of alien life? Intelligent or otherwise?

If a silica based life form came down and said "whats cracking?" Would this disprove the major religions?

Fiftyeight
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I am personally acquainted with at least one deeply religious alien being.

Doubtless there are some agnostic and atheist aliens about as well!
 
fiftyeight said:
Do the major religions deal with the possibility of alien life? Intelligent or otherwise?

If a silica based life form came down and said "whats cracking?" Would this disprove the major religions?

Fiftyeight
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If the Universe is truly infinite, then infinite variety of life forms must also exist. Also, infinite worlds, infinite different planes of existence and so on and so on. But this is just word play in one sense, because the mind is not capable of understanding the word 'infinite'. When the mind tries to really understand it, it always fails because the very next thought will be "but where is the edge of infinity? and if there's an edge then what's beyond that?...". The mind can't cope with infinity, instead it just has this concept of it.

In terms of religions, I think most of them talk about other planes of existence that non-earthly beings populate, some with bodies, some not. Any religion which utilizes meditation, contemplation and or hallucinogenic drug use will attest that such beings do exist. And basically all major religions do suggest using at least one of these methods to open up the mind to other realities. The religions/philosophies which delve mostly into this side of things are the Toltec and Aboriginal cultures and also certain streams of Buddhism. What they have found is that these other realities are as real as this reality sitting here at my PC. In other words, these other planes and beings are not imaginary unless........

.... and this is where it gets interesting.... unless we understand that our reality is also imaginary. Once they had explored all these other worlds, there's something much more profound that these guys found out: All realities are created by consciousness, even this one. What remains after all the imaginary games are played out is the only true thing. Some call that God, others Truth, the Ultimate, the Eagle, Light, Love, Silence ...whatever. And it's not a thing separate to you and me. It's not a person, it's not an object or a feeling, not bliss or ecstacy... it's nothing that the mind can conceptualize. It's nothingness itself, but a full nothingness. All of life comes from pure Nothingness.

No mind will ever understand truth. The mind is only capable of grasping at concepts of truth, which aren't the same. The reason why the mind cannot truly understand Truth is because Truth is infinite. To get to it, you must go beyond mind into the unknown.

So what's crackin'?
 
A few other things these guys found out:

- the core of your being is this Nothingness. Nothingness = Pure Consciousness.
- if you trace normal everyday consciousness back to its root you will find out what Pure Consciousness is.
- in other words, you are this Truth, ... "I am that I am".
- all beliefs, no matter what they are, are an impediment to understanding Truth.
- at best, words are mere pointers to Truth. In that sense, nothing I say here is Truth, and you should not believe anything I say. I'm just entertaining myself.
 
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