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@pettytalk saidLater. In the meantime, I'm interested in any responses the question gets without being affected by me talking about what I am "wanting".
Give an example of your own measurements, to get the kind of pleasure and satisfaction you are wanting from others with this thread.
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@fmf saidIt makes me happy whenever I consider that God's laws were not designed to unduly restrict or hamper our actions, but rather to keep us from harming or destroying ourselves and each other and that God wants the best for us and wishes us to live in peace.
What aspects of your religious, spiritual, ideological, moral, or philosophical beliefs, if any, give you some measure of pleasure or satisfaction?
@fmf saidHow else are they likely to say something that you merit worth spending pages and pages going after them?
Later. In the meantime, I'm interested in any responses the question gets without being affected by me talking about what I am "wanting".
I think anything that avoids that to be worth consideration.
Of course I don't think it matters much what they say, you'll find something to harp on them for pages about. This is your go-to for drumming up controversy in this forum, and why so many site members stay away fro this forum. This is what caused you and your partner in crime to extend your reach into the General Forum a year or so ago.
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@mchill saidMetaphysical evil (or imperfections if your prefer) like earthquakes are not man made, and if God is indeed the creator, they fall at his doorstep and very much restrict hamper, harm and destroy human beings.
It makes me happy whenever I consider that God's laws were not designed to unduly restrict or hamper our actions, but rather to keep us from harming or destroying ourselves and each other and that God wants the best for us and wishes us to live in peace.
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@suzianne saidOK, suit yourself, Suzianne.
How else are they likely to say something that you merit worth spending pages and pages going after them?
I think anything that avoids that to be worth consideration.
Of course I don't think it matters much what they say, you'll find something to harp on them for pages about. This is your go-to for drumming up controversy in this forum, and why so many site members st ...[text shortened]... t caused you and your partner in crime to extend your reach into the General Forum a year or so ago.
@fmf saidMy worldview has always been an evolving blend of lessons learned from my life experience and travel, a shifting [or perhaps mellowing of] ideology, exposure to new philosophical perspectives and knowledge, and even the foundation given me by my Christian and Western upbringing and education.
What aspects of your religious, spiritual, ideological, moral, or philosophical beliefs, if any, give you some measure of pleasure or satisfaction?
I am pretty content with my outlook as it stands but derive pleasure and satisfaction from exposing myself to points of view [in the media, books, and encounters with people] that I disagree with and that challenge my assumptions.
These challenges can result in either a honing or refining of my views or they can result in me modifying or even correcting them. Nowadays, this process is satisfying whereas, in my 20s, it was perhaps more disconcerting.
@rajk999 saidThe mechanisms for enacting Sermon on the Mountism, so to speak, here where I live, are well-advanced and deeply rooted especially with it being such a central tenet of Islamic life and philosophy. Churches too are active, including the one I am still somewhat involved in [the one where I was married, had my children baptized, and where I attend too many funerals]. It has some programmes and activities.
I would say the greatest satisfaction would be helping those in need.
That aside [and I would not want to inflate what "that" is in so far as my involvement], for the last 20 years or so ~ being for the most part, self-employed and in a position to control what I do and don't do ~ I have been able to translate my ideological outlook into action mostly through who I choose to work with or for, and what outcomes they are striving for.
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@fmf saidYes, so it sounds like you have an easy time living out the precepts in the Sermon on the Mount. I suspect in some environments it is not as easy, especially as many societies in the west have become very materialistic and superficial. Even churches shy away from helping people and some even promote the doctrine that helping people is trying to earn salvation. Still its up to the individual to do the right thing.
The mechanisms for enacting Sermon on the Mountism, so to speak, here where I live, are well-advanced and deeply rooted especially with it being such a central tenet of Islamic life and philosophy. Churches too are active, including the one I am still somewhat involved in [the one where I was married, had my children baptized, and where I attend too many funerals]. It has ...[text shortened]... nto action mostly through who I choose to work with or for, and what outcomes they are striving for.
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@rajk999 saidI suspect in some environments it is not as easy
Yes, so it sounds like you have an easy time living out the precepts in the Sermon on the Mount. I suspect in some environments it is not as easy, especially as many societies in the west have become very materialistic and superficial. Even churches shy away from helping people and some even promote the doctrine that helping people is trying to earn salvation. Still its up to the individual to do the right thing.
I think, in reality, people who have an inclination towards philanthropy [for want of a less grand word] ~ I'd use the word progressive, I think, and I don't mean leftist ~ have to play the hand that's dealt them in terms of their circumstances and capacities.
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@ghost-of-a-duke saidHave you considered the idea that it is Satan, and not God that does these things? and that Satan is doing them only because God allows it, and that God uses Satan's evil works to further his own plan - a plan that not fully known to us?
Metaphysical evil (or imperfections if your prefer) like earthquakes are not man made, and if God is indeed the creator, they fall at his doorstep and very much restrict hamper, harm and destroy human beings.
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@mchill saidTo clarify, God allows Satan to cause Earthquakes and the like that kill thousands/millions of people and does so to further a plan beyond our understanding? Is that your argument?
Have you considered the idea that it is Satan, and not God that does these things? and that Satan is doing them only because God allows it, and that God uses Satan's evil works to further his own plan - a plan that not fully known to us?