I Am Guilty

[Thief]

I just posted the words in another thread
and immediately the statement went several directions in my thoughts

what am I guilty of?

believing in God....though not having religion

is that a bad thing?

 

[Thief]

and more to point

isn't guilt...
anything held against you by someone else?

that something may not be your fault

 

[The Hammer]

Guilt can also be something that you hold against yourself, for some slip in ones own personal morals.

 

[Father Heathen]

Of course you can believe in a god without making presumptions or using them as a sock puppet.

 

[Thief]

Of course you can believe in a god without making presumptions or using them as a sock puppet.

and if your speech offends heaven
will heaven hold you as ….quilty

and then respond after your last breath

(giving time to repent your speech)

 

[sun rise]

According to a fun Jewish story that I'm trying to remember more everytime I'm feeling judgemental:

The Baal Shem Tov taught that the heavenly court has neither the power nor the capacity to judge you for what you have done with the life G‑d gave you upon this earth. So this is what they do:


They show you someone’s life—all the achievements and all the failures, all the right decisions and all the wrongdoings—and then they ask you, “So what should we do with this somebody?”


And you give your verdict. Which they accept.


And then they tell you that this somebody was you. Being now in heaven, you don’t recall a thing.


Of course, those who tend to judge others favorably have a decided advantage.


Better get in the habit now.

 

[shunyadragon]

I just posted the words in another thread
and immediately the statement went several directions in my thoughts

what am I guilty of?

believing in God....though not having religion

is that a bad thing?

Guilty?!?!? Guilty of what over 80% of the world's population believes in one of the varied conflicting versions that people believe in. Yes, unfortunate guilt exists among many Christians based on ancient archaic scripture.

You probably have far more problematic beliefs to be guilty of like clinging to ancient tribal religious beliefs that divide the world in violence.

 

[shunyadragon]

and if your speech offends heaven
will heaven hold you as ….quilty

and then respond after your last breath

(giving time to repent your speech)

The heavens are likely indifferent to fallible human egocentric perspective of importance of self inflicted guilt and that they all would be forgiven by just repenting.

 

[Thief]

According to a fun Jewish story that I'm trying to remember more everytime I'm feeling judgemental:

The Baal Shem Tov taught that the heavenly court has neither the power nor the capacity to judge you for what you have done with the life G‑d gave you upon this earth. So this is what they do:


They show you someone’s life—all the achievements and all the failures, all the right decisions and all the wrongdoings—and then they ask you, “So what should we do with this somebody?”


And you give your verdict. Which they accept.


And then they tell you that this somebody was you. Being now in heaven, you don’t recall a thing.


Of course, those who tend to judge others favorably have a decided advantage.


Better get in the habit now.

all I see here is the opportunity to forgive yourself

what if the next person is the one offended
and he really doesn't like you

 

[shunyadragon]

and more to point

isn't guilt...
anything held against you by someone else?

that something may not be your fault

Guilt is self inflicted and not the responsibility of anyone else.

 

[Thief]

from an old op I wrote long ago

I might be allowed to enter heaven....THEN
It's my turn to guard the entry point

what if the next person I allow in.....was not worthy of heaven?
he gets thrown out
and I go with him for having poor judgement

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I find guilt to be useful, but highly over rated. It is a part of empathy, so actually quite important, but, at the same time, it's easy to become obsessed with guilt, letting it fester and grow, turning into an acid that dissolves and corrodes the psyche. I just see no real reason to promote it or emphasis it. Accept you transgressions, make amends where possible, and move on to not transgress again (but, it's the real world, and some places perpetually punish convicts and hold them permanently guilty - something that has got to go).

 

[Thief]

I find guilt to be useful, but highly over rated. It is a part of empathy, so actually quite important, but, at the same time, it's easy to become obsessed with guilt, letting it fester and grow, turning into an acid that dissolves and corrodes the psyche. I just see no real reason to promote it or emphasis it. Accept you transgressions, make amends where possible, and move on to not transgress again (but, it's the real world, and some places perpetually punish convicts and hold them permanently guilty - something that has got to go).

perhaps the acid bath leads to a cleansing?

metaphorically of course

in this world of steel that I know
acid is used to clean the steel before the plating goes on

 

[YoursTrue]

all I see here is the opportunity to forgive yourself

what if the next person is the one offended
and he really doesn't like you

That's a good one..

 

[YoursTrue]

from an old op I wrote long ago

I might be allowed to enter heaven....THEN
It's my turn to guard the entry point

what if the next person I allow in.....was not worthy of heaven?
he gets thrown out
and I go with him for having poor judgement

Speaking of which, if a person prays to God and can relate his feelings to Him then it is likely that he will receive help.

 

[YoursTrue]

Guilt can also be something that you hold against yourself, for some slip in ones own personal morals.

I can't imagine that animals feel guilty. Perhaps they can be reprimanded by their owners not to do something, but guilt? Nah I don't think so.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

I just posted the words in another thread
and immediately the statement went several directions in my thoughts

what am I guilty of?

believing in God....though not having religion

is that a bad thing?

Not to my mind. More power to you.

 

[YoursTrue]

perhaps the acid bath leads to a cleansing?

metaphorically of course

in this world of steel that I know
acid is use to clean the steel before the plating goes on

To say that God would allow torture eternally for unrepentant sinners is not understanding the Bible and its concept plus language.

 

[gnomon]

I just posted the words in another thread
and immediately the statement went several directions in my thoughts

what am I guilty of?

believing in God....though not having religion

is that a bad thing?

Religion is not about God. It's about culture.

So no....that is not a bad thing. In fact, you have a leg up on all the orthodox peoples out there because you believe in what you believe. Over the Catholics, the Orthodox Jews, the Orthodox Greeks, etc. You have your God.

There is no guilt in that.

But...then again....I don't know your God and my keyboard is freaking me out right now with a serious delay....sorry for that...but no! You are not guilty. Or at least...no guilty than any other human being on this planet including this atheist. Sorry it took me nearly ten minutes to type this with this garbage keyboard. Dear God!

 

[Kangaroo Feathers]

what am I guilty of?

Weird Engrish bot-like posts?