Atheist

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Religion… Science… Religious Rule… Scientific Rules


Just Think About It

How does one attempt to make sense of the many religions and their rules? And we can’t forget the rules of science. So what is it that feeds our minds? What pushes us in one direction or another?

Sometimes I think people hide behind the word religion, picking one that makes them feel good or fits their lifestyle. There are many options out there. Many religious beliefs are handed down from generation to generation. Maybe it’s where you are born or what level of society you are born in. These beliefs become something people put faith in. Sometimes, they become traditions and embedded ways of thinking and acting.

I think the key word is ‘Faith,’ and faith is something we believe even if we don’t understand it completely. An example of the difference between knowledge and faith could be knowing your car will start because it started the last time. Faith is believing it will start after you replaced some wires, thinking you did it correctly.

So faith is something you believe, but you have not seen the actual outcome. You read the direction on where to connect the wires and have faith that the directions are correct. You turn the key or hit the start button, and nothing happens. What went wrong? You revisit the directions, double-check your connections, and everything looks correct. You try again, and still the same result. Something else must be wrong, or just maybe it’s the manual you used.

The point is that we placed our faith in someone else’s instructions. That’s also true in religious beliefs. So which one do you put your faith in, or do we discredit all religious beliefs and place our faith in the science that tries to tell us we just evolved? That we are just part of an evolutionary world.

It truly takes faith to step out and believe in something unproven or unseen by our own eyes.

I’ve often said we must peel the onion down to the last layer to find the answer. In this case, it is the answer to where to place our faith. It’s a most critical question. Is there more to life that we don’t understand, or do we live for some years and then die?

So we do some more research. We double-check the version of the manual we used on our car. We find an older version online or at the library. We check the wiring diagram and find the instructions are different. You change the wiring using the instructions in the older manual, and the car starts.

The point is that we need correct information. To peel the onion, we need to go back to the beginning. We need to remember that the science of evolution is just a theory. Something that evolutionists place their faith in. Their own science still points out that someone or something had to start it all in motion, that the odds are simply impossible for it just to happen. Then we have all the other religious beliefs. Which one is correct? If we go all the way back to some of the oldest written words, we find the Bible, especially the Old Testament of the Bible. It tells us God created the world and everything in it. Many religions are offshoots of the Bible where man has added their take. They may add rules that they think are needed. Some religious writings seem to fit a comfort level or even a way of ruling or controlling people. Then we find in the New Testament that Jesus made it easy as He gave us His way to have faith.

So when I peeled the onion to the core, it looks like it was either evolution or the God of the Bible. One is true, and one is not. It’s a matter of where to place one’s faith. We need to throw out all the confusing “what if’s” and focus on getting ourselves to the “truth of the matter.” Something to place our faith in that has meaning and brings stability to our lives.

You can find where I place my faith in this blog’s ‘Boiled Down – My Beliefs’ section.

You might disagree with me, but have you ever asked yourself, what if?

So the real question is:

Where do you place your faith?

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Just think about it: WHAT IF?


How do we deal with the “WHAT IF’S” of life?

If I had turned right instead of left, I would have found the restaurant I sought.

If I had continued my due diligence and invested in company XYZ instead of ABC, I would have tripled my investment.

Everything would have turned out just right if I had just kept to the plan.

What if…

Those “what if’s” can drive us craze sometimes. But what about the “what if’s” we don’t even know exist? The ones we miss because things seem to be working out. We didn’t even know there was something less expensive but equal quality and functionality which would have worked better.

Sometimes we say: if I would have only known.

To deal with life to the best of our ability, we must ask ourselves the “what if” question. The more we do this, the better our life decisions will be. Too often, we don’t see what’s coming until it’s upon us. Then we stumble on and wish we had asked ourselves, what if?

Learning always to ask questions is generally learned over time. Not many people can say they just stumbled through life, and all is well. Maybe it started when you were a kid, touched something hot, and burned your finger. The next time you ask yourself, is it hot before you pick it up.

Sometimes the “what if’s” become subconscious thoughts that guide us along life’s path. Sometimes we have formed opinions and don’t want to ask questions.

So think about it. Don’t just take someone’s word about a subject. Instead, investigate it, and ask: “What if?”

What if I’m just part of the evolutionary train?

What if there is more to my life than the day-to-day grind?

What if God is real?

??WHAT IF??

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Part Two: Do we Avoid Questions on Faith


     When we’re confronted with something that questions what we believe, how do we react? Sometimes the questions are subconscious, sometimes a friend, or maybe something we see or read. Often we push the thought aside or let political correction (PC) filter into our thoughts toning down or completely stopping what we deep inside wanted to say. Being politically correct or practicing apologetic’s can gloss over an issue or a topic, causing you to miss a chance to make a difference. It often disappears as fast as it presented itself. Your chance to make an impact on yourself or others diminishes and disappears. However, taking a chance and opening up to questions will better prepare each of us. It’s part of being able to express one’s thoughts in a manner that can be understood even when the listener disagrees with you.

     One thing that is common among all people is that we acknowledge there is good and evil in this world. What is often missed is how we are born with this instinct, this internal understanding. Just as a newborn baby knows it must eat, it also knows its mother and shows love to her. You may have heard the term, “The love of a newborn.” Evolution would have us believe that this just happens over time after we are born. That we are nothing before our birth. Where do our instinct’s originate from?

     So I propose we accept a challenge. The name of this blog is called “The Think Tank.” Often I try to give examples but don’t always ask a question. So today I will make several statements and ask the question, “Where do you place your faith and why?” With an open mind, question yourself how you feel about my following statements.

  • I believe that God exists.
  • I believe that God created everything at the beginning of time.
  • I believe in micro-evolution, but totally disagree with macro-evolution.
  • I believe that it takes faith to believe in God.
  • I believe that it takes faith to believe that we just evolved.
  • I believe that the God of the Bible is the only God, the original God.
  • I believe that other beliefs have been defined/created by man for man’s purpose.
  • I believe that many want proof, scientific evidence that we were created by God before they will believe He is real.
  • I believe that those wanting this evidence fail to recognize that they have placed their faith in evolution, that God doesn’t exists, just as those that believe in God have placed their faith in Him and that He does exist.
  • I believe our men and women that explore each of our scientific fields and their statement, “That evolution is a ‘theory’ of how everything started.”

     I could continue telling you what I believe, going deeper into my journey of life, my investigation, but what should be important to each of us is the question of our faith. Where do we place it? It’s an important part of our life. Do we place it in God, some other god, or evolution/no god? To recognize and accept the fact that it takes faith is the first step to understanding who we are. When peeling back the layers, we need to push past the desires and influences of others. Taking up the quest to question your faith, to recognize you have placed it on something, to not let your current desires and what you want to believe as true sidetrack you, and you will be on the best journey of discovery you will ever take.

“Where do you place your faith and why?”

“My faith is in God”

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“Part one: Is God Real?”


What do the numbers tell us?

     There are many references to population growth rates. Some show that the world population is growing faster today than in the past, but will slow as we move into the years ahead. Different countries have different rates. It can get confusing. However, the best over time average reference that I have found that fits the past growth rate is .456. The intent is to find approximately when the population on Earth first began.

     If we take into account today’s global population and utilize this growth rate, we find that approximately 4500 years ago there would have only been two people living. The Bible tells us that 4365 years ago that would have been eight. Noah, his wife and their three sons and their wives.

     The Bible tells us that the earth, at least what is important to mankind going back to Adam and Eve, is approximately 6021 years old. What happened to all the people that lived those first 1656 years?

     This brings up the question, what is wrong with the mathematical formula? However, science tells us it is correct based on all factors including wars and catastrophic events. Is our knowledge of the current global population wrong? I don’t think so.  

     Using this population growth formula that points back 4500 years, to the flood of Noah’s time, we should be able to assume that the Bible timeline is correct. Can you imagine, Noah must have been a visionary, or he was truly directed by God. Noah spent 100 years building that great big boat. The level of scorn and embarrassment he would have faced would have been immense. The Bible tells us that up until the flood, it had never rained, that the plants and trees were watered from below and from the dew above. So why build a boat that large, spend 100 years of your life doing it, and put up with the ridicule of those that watched if God didn’t direct you to build it? Was Noah crazy, or did he believe everything God told him?

     Some will tell us that this information was written by man and there is no way to prove the accuracy or authenticity of it. However, in research, we find that one of Noah’s sons, Shem, later to be called Melchizedek, was the High Priest to Abraham. Shem would have known not just Abraham, but Issac and Jacob and possibly Levi. Moses, the supposed author of Genesis, would have been well informed about all the events leading up to the flood as well as the events after.

     For one to discredit the biblical writings, it is important to utilize everything in our science tool bag, take into account what is written in the Bible, and then determine where to place our faith. The population numbers point toward a truthful Bible. So is God real? Science continues to find that something or someone started it all. Is God the one that science keeps pointing towards that started everything in motion?

Is God real? Where should one choose to place their faith?

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Our Mental Hard Drive – “The Brain”


“Challenging Ourselves through Questions”

Have you ever done something and later asked yourself, “Why did I do that?”
Did you ever tell yourself, “If I would have know that, I would have done things differently?”

Information is generally involved in everything we do. Information is essential and can be critical as we take steps through life desiring to make the least amount of mistakes.

The information available today is at an all time high. Media and online resources are exploding. It is at our finger tips if we care to explore for it. Even if we don’t realize it, the information that is absorbed by our mind, plays a role in how we react to any given situation. It is at the heart of what we eat, the fun things we enjoy doing, the work details we perform, our reaction to things we fear, virtually every function or task we undertake.

In many ways we could look at the information absorbed by our brain similar to information stored on a computers hard drive. Our thinking process utilizes this stored information. We use our mind to search back in time to what we recorded in it, or we kick in gear an understanding or reaction based on past experiences. A little like an application running on a computer. Sometimes we utilize our stored information subconsciously in our decision process. Sometimes we need our subconscious mind to quickly react but it doesn’t because we never trained it properly. Then after the fact we might say, “If only I would have done this.” There are times when we react so quickly that we never recognize if we reacted properly all based on something in our minds that triggered the response. Only when someone calls us out do we possibly slow long enough to question if our understanding was correct.

Through repetition, receiving the same information several time, repeating the same thoughts, we begin to place a priority over less received information. Companies today monitor our activity online or our purchasing history. They begin to see a pattern and as a result, they put things in front of us that follow this pattern of thinking.

We need to be aware that we can subconsciously feed our minds with one-sided information.

If we feed our minds with one-sided information, then we become lopsided, or possible what someone else would like us to become. It may be our way of feeding our minds with things that bring comfort, satisfaction, or even fill our emotional desires. The more we feed or are fed the same information, the more we believe it.

Is it possible that we are allowing ourselves to become brain washed?

Sometimes a computers hard-drive becomes overloaded with outdated, incorrect, or flawed information. This can cause results that while looking correct, are not. So some hard-drives may require reformatting, or at the least, old files and programs need to be removed. A clean-up program can be run to enable it to operate correctly. Outdated programs need to be replaced with new one that have bugs removed. Proper information needs to be made available to them.

Our brain requires a similar type of updating. Some things we learned 10, 20, 30, or 50+ years ago may not be totally correct. Sciences continue to learn and produce updates. New findings become available that could totally alter what one was taught during their education years. If we stop our learning process, we become outdated, we lock in our beliefs and understandings.

What would be nice is if we could just install a mental program that would search out and remove all misunderstandings, erase old outdated information and beliefs, clean up all the fragmented thoughts and reorganize how our information flows during our thought process.

Our mind is a powerful tool that we are blessed to have,
and
Proper care and maintenance are required.

This brings us to the question about the evolution of, or the creation of our brain.

Regardless of where you choose to place your faith, in evolution or in creation, one need to explore and understand details behind both sides. Did we evolve or is God real? Do the sciences support both creation as well as parts of our understanding of evolution?

Are the grounds that you stand on with respect to God and creation solid?