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Looking Out for Number One

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
"You gotta look out for number one, but don't step in number two." - Rodney Dangerfield

Who is your number one? You? God? Something else?
 

Spiderman

Veteran Member
God is number one. But I actually hate God, I just pray to him because I believe he'll stop screwing people over if he has enough people praying and worshipping him.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
God is number one. But I actually hate God, I just pray to him because I believe he'll stop screwing people over if he has enough people praying and worshipping him.
Do you mean that God is number one in your life but you hate God? o_O
I can relate because I feel that way sometimes.... :rolleyes:

I do not think that God is screwing anyone over... I think that people are screwing each other over and then blaming God... I do not think God is doing anything, not that we can detect.
 

Spiderman

Veteran Member
Do you mean that God is number one in your life but you hate God? o_O
I can relate because I feel that way sometimes.... :rolleyes:

I do not think that God is screwing anyone over... I think that people are screwing each other over and then blaming God... I do not think God is doing anything, not that we can detect.
God screwed the Muslims over by refusing to let them know the truth.
if Muslims have the truth, then God screwed non-muslims over by not giving them the truth.

God's refusal to speak up is screwing everyone over. Just because a book says something doesn't make it true. Muslims claim their book is true.

I'm sure Gandhi, a Hindu, thought he had the truth.

I'm sure Buddha thought he had the truth.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
God is never going to speak up so you may as well get used to it.
God left us to sort it out.....
So, this "loving" and "benevolent" god cares nothing about our suffering, nothing about the mass confusion of how muddled his word has gotten, and doesn't care enough to see fit that we are correctly guided but has books that issue tons of warnings for not getting the god thing right in this life? Minus the torture part, that isn't loving or benevolent but apathetic at best. With the punishment, it's cruel and sadistic.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
So, this "loving" and "benevolent" god cares nothing about our suffering, nothing about the mass confusion of how muddled his word has gotten, and doesn't care enough to see fit that we are correctly guided but has books that issue tons of warnings for not getting the god thing right in this life? Minus the torture part, that isn't loving or benevolent but apathetic at best. With the punishment, it's cruel and sadistic.
God saw to it that humanity got the Guidance it needed through the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, but it is not God's fault that most people have rejected that Guidance in favor of the older religions, which do not have the remedy mankind needs in this new age. Free will is and always has been sacrosanct in God's Eyes. People have to choose to recognize the Messenger of God for this new age. They will all come around eventually but there might be hell to pay before that happens. :(
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
That doesn't change the fact that God is screwing the human race over with his silence.
God is not doing anything but waiting for humans to get off their duffs and pay attention to what Baha'u'llah wrote, which is the only thing that can straighten out the mess in the kitchen the older religions have made. :oops:
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
God saw to it that humanity got the Guidance it needed through the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, but it is not God's fault that most people have rejected that Guidance in favor of the older religions, which do not have the remedy mankind needs in this new age.
But how can we know for sure that is god's message and guidance if he isn't willing to discuss things with us? And if god is never going to speak up, how and why did he speak to Baha'u'llah?
Free will is and always has been sacrosanct in God's Eyes.
Free will doesn't exist. And it's scientifically accurate to say that once we have accounted for the other factors and variables that shape us and influence our behaviors, what little room that left for our own will isn't enough or free enough to be called "free will" unless you want to accept at face value and upfront that "free will" is a misnomer.
They will all come around eventually but there might be hell to pay before that happens. :(
Then why doesn't god take a more active role in preventing this?
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
"You gotta look out for number one, but don't step in number two." - Rodney Dangerfield

Who is your number one? You? God? Something else?

The only thing I could think of when seeing the title of this thread was this song:


Unfortunately for BTO, it didn't make number 1. It topped out at number 65 on the charts.

But to "look out for number one" implies selfishness and seems to imply a philosophy of "screw the other guy before he screws you first." I'm not sure I could really align with that.
 

Trailblazer

Veteran Member
But how can we know for sure that is god's message and guidance if he isn't willing to discuss things with us? And if god is never going to speak up, how and why did he speak to Baha'u'llah?
We read the message and decide for ourselves if it rings true.... that is how we know.

God only speaks to His Messengers because only they are able to understand God since they are both divine and human and have a divine mind.
Free will doesn't exist. And it's scientifically accurate to say that once we have accounted for the other factors and variables that shape us and influence our behaviors, what little room that left for our own will isn't enough or free enough to be called "free will" unless you want to accept at face value and upfront that "free will" is a misnomer.
Humans have the will/ability to make choices based upon their desires and preferences. Our desires and preferences come from a combination of factors such as childhood upbringing, heredity, education, adult experiences, and present life circumstances. How free they are varies with the situation. Certainly what we refer to as “free will” has many constraints. However, we have the ability to make choices. Otherwise, we would just be at the mercy of our past experiences and our heredity. I do not believe that is the case. I believe we have freedom to act within parameters.


If humans did not have free will how could they ever be held accountable in a court of law?

Then why doesn't god take a more active role in preventing this?
God wants people to learn by experience. If God bails us out we will never learn anything and we will just keep repeating the same mistakes. God is not going to intervene with free will and stop people from making mistakes but there are certain indications that God might do something to intervene.

“The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and only then, will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, pp. 118-119
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Our desires and preferences come from a combination of factors such as childhood upbringing, heredity, education, adult experiences, and present life circumstances. How free they are varies with the situation. Certainly what we refer to as “free will” has many constraints. However, we have the ability to make choices. Otherwise, we would just be at the mercy of our past experiences and our heredity. I do not believe that is the case. I believe we have freedom to act within parameters.
That isn't free will but compatibility. It is exactly those factors that leaves the notion of free will utterly and entirely in the land of false beliefs. And though we don't know how much exactly our behaviors are pre-determined or not, the more we look, the more we uncover, the less "free" it appears we are.
We read the message and decide for ourselves if it rings true.... that is how we know.
What rings true for one won't ring true for another. And for some people that is very bad advice.
If humans did not have free will how could they ever be held accountable in a court of law?
Not that many people have seriously or deeply even pondered the question of does free will exist or not, and the idea lives on unfettered and unchallenged. But even those who are determinist and doubters of free will still tend to accept that some people do need to be put away from the rest of society. Our actions, if our will is free or not, always have consequences.
If God bails us out we will never learn anything and we will just keep repeating the same mistakes.
You don't let a child learn to not shoot someone or themselves in the head by letting them shooting themselves or another in the head. Some lessons come with such great consequences that it's definitely better for someone who is experienced and knowledgeable to step in and teach the lesson before it's too late. But, some people don't care and will watch as a disaster waiting to happen becomes a disaster.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
No idea. I honestly don't understand what that means.
Looking out for number one is looking out for yourself as top priority. Don't step on number two got me chatting about the bridges I've burnt in anger in the past in the random announcements thread.
 
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