If you believe in love, you believe in God

[Jim]

and this wasnt a troll thread btw

I’ll respond to your OP in a few minutes, after I finish reading all the posts. Here I want to post some thoughts about trolling. Many years ago, when I first saw that word, it was a verb, an analogy to a fishing technique, dragging some bait across the water, because the bait might attract fish more if it’s moving. Trolling in Internet discussions was a kind of sport, to see how many posts a person could generate with an OP, without ever posting again in that thread. Obviously you aren’t trolling in that sense, because you been responding to people’s posts, but it feels like trolling because the title looks very much like bait thrown into the water to attract atheists.

From what I’ve seen so far, it doesn’t look to me like you really wanted to know what any atheists think. Also, it seems to me that you must have known what would happen. I’m wondering what you thought you were doing, and what you were really hoping for in this thread.

 

[Polymath257]

science is partly trust though. you trust what the famous scientists tell you

If you aren't skeptical, you aren't doing science. But not all skepticism is science.

But let's get back to the OP. In what way is love, which is a human emotion, the same as God, which is supposed to be a supernatural being?

 

[Nakosis]

Because God is love.
So all the atheists who believe in love?

Love Is a Chemical Reaction, Scientists Find
“We can take a prairie vole female, inject her with oxytocin, and she’ll bond with whatever male is around,” Young said.

 

[Polymath257]

your sarcasm is noted.
And just remember God forgives. But we need to repent in order feel that love. So lets hope you can do that one day.

No sarcasm. That was an actual statement of what the texts say.

Your claims of what God says are pretty meaningless since I don't believe in that entity. I feel no need to repent because I speak the truth as I understand it. If you can change my mind, I'll continue to speak the truth as I then see it.

So, why do you make the claim that a human emotion, love, is the same as a supernatural being, God? On what basis can you even make a comparison between the two?

 

[Jim]

pssst…..hey Poly....
what is an "emotion" ?
could it be ...ENERGY......in motion ?
or was Einstein wrong too ?

E-motion. I’ve never seen that or thought of that before. I like it!

 

[Jim]

too sharp for me.

Interestingly I didnt mean to annoy atheists but it really gets under their skin.

I believe you, but what did you mean to do? What good did you think it could possibly do, when you started this thread? Maybe, you thought that some atheists might learn something from it?

 

[Tiberius]

Because God is love.
So all the atheists who believe in love?

Yeah, it doesn't work that way.

If you believe in love, you believe in me being a millionaire, because me being a millionaire is love.

 

[Ayjaydee]

The anger with atheists and atheism seeps out of every post

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Now you’re forcing me to look up “lutifisk” and “rust belt,” and maybe even “Scotsman” and “Swede.” Also, if he honestly sincerely thinks he’s a Scotsman, it might be doing him an injustice to say that he’s trying to put one over on some people.

Never too old to learn.

.

Well, Scotsman is something that most of the world agrees that there's no true on of ("no true Scotsman"), and a Swede is obviously a turnip. "lutefisk" I know nothing about, but there used to be a gay porn actor by the name of Disk Fisk. And any of those "exotic" actresses that like to sport jewelry around their midriffs, if the jewelry is cheap enough, could certainly develop a "rust belt."

There, you've learned!

 

[sciatica]

I believe you, but what did you mean to do? What good did you think it could possibly do, when you started this thread? Maybe, you thought that some atheists might learn something from it?

I get insights that I need to share or like to share anyway.
Look I don't think it needs to get all serious. we wont solve questions like this on here. People are welcome to their views but surely you don't expect me to respond to all those posts?
I go through my agnostic phases. But basically I believe in love and therefore God. There must be a higher power who is less crazy than the human race. Even relatively sane people have their insane moments. I believe in God to escape insanity. My own included.

 

[Windwalker]

That's very poetic, but completely *** backward. Mothers don't love their children unconditionaly, nobody does.

Sadly, some believe that is true. However, I was unconditionally loved my whole life by both my parents. It's truly sad to hear others don't know what that is. I can't imagine my life without knowing that. The impact on one's life must be dreadful, believing we are not innately loved for just who we are, unconditionally. How can one love oneself then?

There is no such thing as unconditional love.

Yes, there most absolutely is. I have experienced it.

Many mothers don't love their children, some hate them, some despise them, some resent them, some feel trapped and abused by them, some ignore to various degree.

Yes, there are a lot of very broken people out there. And sadly, children who do not know unconditional love from their parents.

Some grow into such emotions after exposure to their children and the reality of motherhood; some relationship evolve over time and not always for the better. Don't confuse your fancy and belief about love for the reality.

It's not a fantasy belief. It's been my entire life's lived experience, even during the times I could not see it. Unconditional love is very real, and a very great many people know what it is. It's a pity so many do not.

 

[WhyIsThatSo]

No, emotions are NOT 'energy in motion'. At least, no more than thoughts are, or any other neural activities in our brains.

(a little secret)……"THOUGHT", is the most powerful energy of ALL

 

[Windwalker]

I strongly disagree. love for ones children is an emotion produced in the brain and mediated by, for example, oxytocin.

Nonsense. My mother always loved me, regardless of her moods. I have known parents however who were narcissists in the true sense of the word. They are the conditional love parents, which isn't really love at all, but simply sees others as pieces on the board of self-seeking. There are many children raised by parents like this. But that is not all reality. I know, because I grew up with unconditional love towards me my whole life. It wasn't because my mother was experiencing Oxycontin. Love as I describe, is beyond emotions.

Again, this makes no sense to me. Of course it is emotional. It is just a longer term emotion rather than the intense emotion of short term endeavors.

Methinks you try to make too much rational sense out of what should otherwise be simply being in the world. Ever sit taking in the world without attaching ideas to it?

If the love I am talking about is an emotion, and that love exists in that person every day of their life, then the systems of the body would fry out with such non-stop emotion. Think about that. The love I am talking about is not an up and down affair. It's not a come and go mood cycle. Those are states of emotion. That does not relate to what I am saying. You can unconditionally still love someone else, even while you're not "feeling it", as in a surge of feel-good emotions.

It is truly sad to hear that others truly cannot see this in their lives. I find it tragic.

Once again, what does that attitude have to do with a deity? God, supposedly, isn't a symbol, but an actual entity.

Whether an actual entity or not, God is still a symbol in either case. God symbolizes our highest being, or the highest aspirations of love in humans, towards life, towards others, and towards themselves. "Love works no ill", is clearly not talking about emotions. It is a philosophy of being.

So, while I agree we should learn to love and respect others, I don't see any connection between that and a supernatural.

I don't see God as supernatural. Love at that level, is very much part of this reality. To those who have never tasted that, it may sound supernatural. But once tasted, it is very much natural. It's the "conditional" stuff, that is not natural. That's damning up the river with ego garbage, not loving others unless they please you.

 

[Jim]

I get insights that I need to share or like to share anyway.

That makes sense to me. You thought it might mean something to someone? It does mean something to me, and I think to one other person at least. I’ll post some more thoughts about it later.

 

[Polymath257]

(a little secret)……"THOUGHT", is the most powerful energy of ALL

Nope. it is not *energy* at all.

 

[Polymath257]

Nonsense. My mother always loved me, regardless of her moods. I have known parents however who were narcissists in the true sense of the word. They are the conditional love parents, which isn't really love at all, but simply sees others as pieces on the board of self-seeking. There are many children raised by parents like this. But that is not all reality. I know, because I grew up with unconditional love towards me my whole life. It wasn't because my mother was experiencing Oxycontin. Love as I describe, is beyond emotions.

Yes, actually, oxytocin had *everything* to do about it. Love *is* an emotion. it is an emotion generated in the brain. We can even point to the areas of the brain that shift when a woman bonds with her child.

Methinks you try to make too much rational sense out of what should otherwise be simply being in the world. Ever sit taking in the world without attaching ideas to it?

Of course. But I prefer trying to figure things out.

If the love I am talking about is an emotion, and that love exists in that person every day of their life, then the systems of the body would fry out with such non-stop emotion. Think about that.

OK, I thought about it. Why do you assume it would 'fry out'? That is what the short term emotions do, but not the long term emotions.

The love I am talking about is not an up and down affair. It's not a come and go mood cycle. Those are states of emotion. That does not relate to what I am saying. You can unconditionally still love someone else, even while you're not "feeling it", as in a surge of feel-good emotions.

No, even the longer acting emotions are still emotions. They tend to be less intense or dynamic, but that does not make them less emotions.

It is truly sad to hear that others truly cannot see this in their lives. I find it tragic.

And I would agree with that. Love is one of the best emotions we have. it is one that makes much of life worth living. But it is still an emotion.

Whether an actual entity or not, God is still a symbol in either case. God symbolizes our highest being, or the highest aspirations of love in humans, towards life, towards others, and towards themselves. "Love works no ill", is clearly not talking about emotions. It is a philosophy of being.

OK, and I might even agree with that. So why bring God into it at all.

I don't see God as supernatural. Love at that level, is very much part of this reality. To those who have never tasted that, it may sound supernatural. But once tasted, it is very much natural. It's the "conditional" stuff, that is not natural. That's damning up the river with ego garbage, not loving others unless they please you.

OK, it still seems to me that you are identifying God with a human emotion. And if that works for you, go for it. It doesn't work for me.

 

[sciatica]

That makes sense to me. You thought it might mean something to someone? It does mean something to me, and I think to one other person at least. I’ll post some more thoughts about it later.

im a bit of forum junkie. my threads have proved popular on other forums. I do like to create some alternative threads for people to discuss. I mean boredom is a factor. we need variety.

 

[Windwalker]

Yes, actually, oxytocin had *everything* to do about it. Love *is* an emotion. it is an emotion generated in the brain. We can even point to the areas of the brain that shift when a woman bonds with her child.



Of course. But I prefer trying to figure things out.


OK, I thought about it. Why do you assume it would 'fry out'? That is what the short term emotions do, but not the long term emotions.



No, even the longer acting emotions are still emotions. They tend to be less intense or dynamic, but that does not make them less emotions.



And I would agree with that. Love is one of the best emotions we have. it is one that makes much of life worth living. But it is still an emotion.



OK, and I might even agree with that. So why bring God into it at all.



OK, it still seems to me that you are identifying God with a human emotion. And if that works for you, go for it. It doesn't work for me.

I see things in less strictly scientific ways. There is a true poetry to life, that the mind can encompass more than what the limitations of a scientific perspective can offer. It rather guts life for me to see life in such a narrow lens as my sole perspective of the world. But I'm less bound to language as descriptors of reality, and more towards the possible as metaphors. It frees where the mind and soul can travel to in the discovery of what it means to be human, for me.

It's not that one need ignore science. We shouldn't. But I think we fofeight to much of ourselves in searching for pat answers to life's mysteries. Even in our greatest insights, we aren't even beginning to penetrate its limitless depths. Einstein knew this, and I concur. That is the soul of the true scientist.

What you see as a human emotion, and that is all, I see as much larger than that, and includes emotion. But it is not reduced to that. To imagine that, is to see through a glass darkly. Words to describe this, go beyond emotions. With no emotion whatsoever, in stillness, in silence, is that radiant ever-present, unconditional Love, as our very own being.

 

[sciatica]

its about art and poetry. beauty . .
stop trying to analyse...look from a different view

 

[idea]

Hmmm... so God is a human emotion produced in our brains that motivates us to find mates and other companionship?

That seems to be an unusual definition of God to me, but if it works for you, go for it.

Agape
Eros
Philia
Philautia
Storge
Pragma
Ludus
Mania
.
.
Agape