how about this one. in the bible there is a story about a man eaten by a big fish. after several days the fish spits him out unharmed. when you first heard that story did you have the intellectual curiousity to ask "how is that possible"? Jonah 1:17-2:10 King James Version (KJV) 17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. 2 Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, 2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. 3 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. 7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. 9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord. 10 And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
I take it that what you are really asking - is for everyone to believe in YOU. Because you know so much about everything, and what you know is all-encompassing and irreproachable.... Hmmmm....let me think about that. I'll get back to you.
no i dont ask anyone to believe in me. thats what religions do. i only ask that you let evidence be your guide. Intellectual honesty is a skill that has to be learned and a virtue that has to be practiced; it often requires you to accept unpleasant conclusions. (John B. Hodges) Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - -- Thomas Jefferson
That may be how faith starts, but it's not how it's maintained. Faith, as it departs from knowledge gets more and more confusing so that what was known is no longer remembered or recognized (no longer known). At that point, the mind is "lost", and it would be more accurate to say that 'faith is believing you know what you believe'. For example, i once asked a Bible believer what was the truth. He said its what they (the believers) believed.
Second part first. Why not follow all the available evidence that says there is? It's because you don't want to follow the evidence i've got, and i don't want to follow the evidence you've got. Evidence is not as sacred as you may believe. There was evidence that John Demjanjuk was Nazi war criminal Ivan the Terrible. Turns out the evidence was fraudulent, and a lot of smart people fell for it because that's what they wanted to see. So, unless you've puffed a gram of 5-MeO-DMT you yourself are not following all the available evidence, and i must conclude there are some things you don't want to see...or are not as free to think as supposed. Do you look at mind with a telescope, or do you look at mind with mind? I see you are fond of quoting Thomas Jefferson, who sent a party of explorers out west and charged them to bring back reports. Those reports eventually came back. What would you call them? Evidence? Hearsay? Today, we have what's called psychonauts/psychonautics who, using whatever means available, explore the reaches of the mind...what i'll call the final frontier. They have brought back reports. What would you call them? Evidence? No? Why not? Someone in this thread has already brought back reports and pointed to several others which is just the tip of the iceberg. I noticed those posts have been largely ignored. Hmmm... No, i don't believe you are looking at all the evidence, but only the evidence that says there isn't anything more than what can be measured with a limited set of tools that you have approved of.
Wow. After all that talk about intellectual honesty too. Question for you: Any evidence 911 was an inside job? Any evidence the official story is true? What evidence is that?
Bill Hicks recommending psychedelics. Talking about his experience with mushrooms starting at about :50 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVFJd94XRck&feature=g-vrec "That's why i always recommend a psychedelic experience because it does make you realize that everything you learned is in fact just learned and not necessarily true." ~ Bill Hicks
Let me ask you; what is the full reach of my mind? What limits do you or i put upon it? Where does my mind start and stop? If i wanted to observe my mind, what tool would you recommend i do that with? I hope it's clear that here you are emphasizing what a mind can seem to do; invent a god. You would think that a mind cannot invent the particles by which mass and matter are formed. But i say that the formation of mass is an invention of a mind, and that it represents another "god". The Original Reality is not composed of particles. Particles are a product of imagination and belief, and comprise what Shakespeare called "the stuff of dreams", which eventually vanishes "into thin air". To the extent that a mind believes in what particles produce, it is asleep and dreaming...and very much involved in the appearance of mass made machines...and so, very much invested in them. Whatever anyone is calling "reality" at the moment is, if it is composed of particles/mass, is cooperating with an attempt to blot out Spirit as most representative of the Original Reality. Just because it is not called "god" does not mean that you don't think it's "good", which is an attribute belonging to the Original Reality.