yes, there was a brainwash attempt! i had a very religious grandmother. she did somehow get my parents to let her bring me to church. i used to go to sunday school. i would always tell my parents that i didn't want to go. my father would tell me to tell my mother (it was her mother that wanted me to go). eventually my parents said i didn't have to go and i know my grandmother didn't like that. from this point on, the key was that my parents didn't suggest ANY beliefs to me. my mother leaned religious at the time, but not strongly. she didn't make me pray or anything. although my father isn't religious, he didn't tell me i couldn't go to church or couldn't be religious; they just let me find my own way, WHICH IS WHAT ALL PARENTS SHOULD DO. i've always had a huge interest in science and eventually i just totally realized religion is ALL BS.
Perhaps if they had known they were being prayed for, they would have recovered more quickly. You may see that as an argument against the existence of God but I see it in a quite different light. The heart patients' knowledge that people were praying for them made them more aware of the existence of God and more faithful; as Jesus once said, "if man only had faith the mass of a mustard seed, he/she could move mountains" It is through faith that one can be healed. I truly take Jesus' comment literally; i really believe that if a human had sufficient faith, he/she would be able to literally move mountains. Faith is the essence of all things possible. You atheistic traders make me wonder a bit; do you guys actually make money? Because it would seem to me that without faith in either the markets, in one's strategies, in one's market intuition, one can not be successful at trading. When you enter into a trade because you think the market is heading this way or that way, you ARE BEING FAITHFUL, IN THE SAME WAY RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE FAITHFUL. You are believing without physical evidence; your research only shows you what has occurred in the past so don't say 'my research is my evidence' Obviously, if you are a successful trader you MUST HAVE FAITH in something that is not physicallly evidential. If you have such faith, then you are no different than us religious people. BTW, if you claim to not have such faith, you are either lying (most pertinently to yourself) or are not a successful trader. Just remember this: to engage in an activity which economic theory considers a lose lose situation (i.e. traders who sucessfully beat the major indices should not exist, according to such theory), IS TO ENGAGE IN SOMETHING THAT REQUIRES FAITH. Once you realize that, you'll see that we religious people and you 'atheist' traders are really one and the same!
***You atheistic traders make me wonder a bit; do you guys actually make money? Because it would seem to me that without faith in either the markets, in one's strategies, in one's market intuition, one can not be successful at trading. When you enter into a trade because you think the market is heading this way or that way, you ARE BEING FAITHFUL, IN THE SAME WAY RELIGIOUS PEOPLE ARE FAITHFUL. *** Sure, I became a self-made millionaire at age 24, because I had faith that rubbing my lucky rabbit's foot would bring me luck. Faith means 'Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence'. I became an expert at pattern recognition <b>precisely because</b> I have no 'faith'. You're confusing the term 'faith' with the term 'conviction'. Faith is by definition IRRATIONAL.
You are a millionaire because of faith! check out the precise definition of the word from Websters online dictionary: Main Entry: 1faith Pronunciation: 'fAth Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural faiths /'fAths, sometimes 'fA[th]z/ Etymology: Middle English feith, from Old French feid, foi, from Latin fides; akin to Latin fidere to trust -- more at BIDE Date: 13th century 1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : LOYALTY b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions 2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust 3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs So you see, faith is defined as firm belief in something for which tehre is no proof. So tell me my friend, what leads you to believe stocks are headed this way or that way? Could it be your FAITH IN CHART PATTERNS? Where is the proof in chart pattern recognition? Maybe you believe that past stock performance can provide an indication as to future performance. Isn't that, then, faith that markets are consistent? When you buy on a breakout from resistance are you not HAVING FAITH THAT PEOPLE WILL BE BIDDING THE STOCK UP? I am trying to show you that your success in teh markets is a function of your faith...i.e. your belief in something intangible....;.as a trader, i imagine you often act on intuition in which case you would clearly have faith in your intuition. Your belief that there is no God is FAITH THAT ALL RELIGION IS BULLSHIT! If you could prove to me that all religion is bullshit then I'd say that you were basing your belief on fact not on faith. So your belief that God does not exist is as "intangible and lacking of evidenciary proof" as my belief in God. Face it, you have faith in yourself, faith in chart patterns, and this is why you are successful. You simply can't say, with a straight face, that your faith in chart patterns is based on proof garnered from research since science (economics in this case) tells us that historical price movements cannot be used to predict future price movements; so economic theory tells us that you are basing your beliefs on something that economic theory (science) cannot substantiate. Sucess in life always comes down to faith. Some people have faith in God, others in science, but traders most definitely are more closely related to those who have faith in God because science (economic theory) tells us that successful traders should not exist. Think about that. I'd love to hear your response. by the way, notice that the last line of the above definition equates faith with conviction. I am sorry, but I am clearly not the one confused here...
In answer to the previous question. I say yes. For Gordon to continue to post in this chit chat area- he would either have to make money off it or be so disjointed on this subject that I felt he might need prayer. I also wanted to see how he responed and surprisingly he ignored it. Two I know my thought regarding wasting prayer is unorthodox, and probably incorrect, I would not even bet lunch on it. Perhaps it comes from an unusal area (for me) of humility. Or perhaps I think that some parents spend too much time worrying in the form of prayer. Or perhaps I am just wrong
It just boils down to the fact that the word 'faith' is extremely ambiguous. One can be GAY without being a homosexual. One can RUN even if they don't have legs. *1 One can DRIVE without ever going near a car. *2 I can have FAITH without believing in God. _________ *1) running for office or running from the law *2) driving someone mad or driving the court in bball
I didn't interpret that as humility....rather I thought you were being arrogant by implying that you could do all the little things yourself without prayer.....I personally need all the prayer I can get down to the nitty gritty, hehehe. I really mean that!
You don't need to believe in God, but faith implies a belief system based on that for which there is no proof. Faith in the markets, faith that buyers will be there cause you see a hammer pattern, faith that sellers will be there cause of shooting stars or whatnot, faith in God.....it's really all the same thing, don't you see? Some people have faith in science but did you know that science changes as well? what is considered scientific fact of 1000 years ago has been disproven today and who says that in another 1000 years today's science won't be outdated? So even if you have faith IN SCIENCE, you are having faith in something that cannot be proven. So even fundamentalist darwinists are experiencing a faith THAT IS IN MANY WAYS ANALOGOUS TO faith in God. I say that if you have faith in anything, you are having faith in God. Jesus was able to heal through faith. YOU can heal via faith! Because with faith, God comes into you and makes things happen for you! When God sees you having faith in a chart pattern, he will make it work for you if he sees that you are humble and that your faith is great enough. Albert Einstein, through his extraordinary faith, was able not only to contribute to physics BUT TO CREATE PHYSICS. Like I've said, I believe that with faith, ANYTHING is possible. Men can fly, move mountains, create massive wealth, BECOME ONE WITH GOD, if only they had sufficient faith. Faith isn't something which is easy to have when one is brought up in a world where reality requires proof via senses; those who have it, however, can do amazing things.
first of all, for the record, it's just unrealistic for me to reply to every single message directed at me, whether i'd like to respond or not; nothing personal. sorry, but your claims above are just not even close. in this case, i didn't respond because, although it's nice of you to offer help as you see it, i totally dismiss the concept of prayer and probably whatever "god" you would pray to. and i honestly don't feel like i need anyone to pray for me, anyway.
But you don't seem to realize that every trade you make is a prayer! A prayer that buyers or sellers will be there to reinforce a trend. A prayer that economic theory is all wrong when it suggests that successful traders can not exist!