The Forum for Serious Spiritual Discussion

[SeattleUte]

Awesome. Is it in DC?

At the LOC. See above.

[taekwondave]

I love the KJV too. In college I took a course called "The Bible As Literature." It was a great experience. I remember the prof saying that for several hundred years up to that point (this was in 1976) it was thought that to be a truly educated Western person, one had to have a good knowledge of the Bible. He said then that that view was changing. I think it has changed even more since then.

I took that course at BYU last winter semester. It was one of the funnest classes I ever took there. We split into groups and presented things we'd learned throughout the semester as part of our final. My group got to present on pseudepigrapha. I used to be obsessed with the stuff so it was really cool to be able to share it with 30 other people all at once and actually have their attention and their interest. I had several people come up to me later and ask if they could borrow my copies of Jasher and the Gospel of the Holy Twelve. True or not, those books are really fun reads for Mormons.

[Green Monstah]

At the LOC. See above.

My bad. Thanks, SU.

Last night, my wife and I talked about spiritual experiences. She asked me how often I had them, and I told her rarely. When I have spiritual experiences, I feel like I have a clarity of mind, and my thoughts don't stumble all over each other like the rest of the time.

Usually I have strong spiritual experiences when I'm outdoors. The sights and smells of God's most magnificent creation bring me a lot of clarity and perspective. It makes sense that the ancients ascended mountains to commune with God. Quite frankly, it's hard not to.

[SeattleUte]

My bad. Thanks, SU.

Last night, my wife and I talked about spiritual experiences. She asked me how often I had them, and I told her rarely. When I have spiritual experiences, I feel like I have a clarity of mind, and my thoughts don't stumble all over each other like the rest of the time.

Usually I have strong spiritual experiences when I'm outdoors. The sights and smells of God's most magnificent creation bring me a lot of clarity and perspective. It makes sense that the ancients ascended mountains to commune with God. Quite frankly, it's hard not to.

One reason you feel good outdoors is because is because you're in your element. We are fundamentally part and parcel of the natural environment, and will take our proper place in it when we die. Your parts were there at the big bang.

I "feel the spirit" mostly in connection with my kids, service, literature, and gazing at the stars and moon. When gazing into a clear night sky sometimes I shout out, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOD?! WHAT IS GOING ON?!" For me that is what passes for prayer. No response except maybe a cool feeling. Actually, there's nothing so cold and indifferent as a clear night sky, which is actually quite enlightening.

[TripletDaddy]

When gazing into a clear night sky sometimes I shout out, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOD?! WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

Lol. I bet your neighbors are thrilled to be living next door to angry Ziggy.

[wuapinmon]

Lol. I bet your neighbors are thrilled to be living next door to angry Ziggy.

Or Lieutenant Dan.

[YOhio]

Or Lieutenant Dan.

He only yells at the sky after he's wacked on the head by a mandrill.

[Topper]

One reason you feel good outdoors is because is because you're in your element. We are fundamentally part and parcel of the natural environment, and will take our proper place in it when we die. Your parts were there at the big bang.

I "feel the spirit" mostly in connection with my kids, service, literature, and gazing at the stars and moon. When gazing into a clear night sky sometimes I shout out, "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOD?! WHAT IS GOING ON?!" For me that is what passes for prayer. No response except maybe a cool feeling. Actually, there's nothing so cold and indifferent as a clear night sky, which is actually quite enlightening.

There is nothing quite so awakening as to the fragility of life than to wander into the Chilean desert, to climb Denali or to suffer the death of a loved one. Screaming into the night reminds one's heart it is still beating. Pain and rapture remind us we live while all else can lull us into the numbness of a walking coma.

[ERCougar]

Lol. I bet your neighbors are thrilled to be living next door to angry Ziggy.

I'm still laughing at this.

[LA Ute]

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593156294/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=wwwviolentkicom&linkCo de=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=159315 6294"]Amazon.com: Divinity of Doubt: The God Question (9781593156299): Vincent Bugliosi: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51%2BFLouDjQL.@@AMEPARAM@@51%2BFLouDjQL[/ame]

Now, in the most controversial book of his celebrated career, [Vincent Bugliosi] turns his incomparable prosecutorial eye on the greatest target of all: God. In making his case for agnosticism, Bugliosi has very arguably written the most powerful indictment ever of God, organized religion, theism, and atheism. Theists will be left reeling by the commanding nature of Bugliosi’s extraordinary arguments against them. And, with his trademark incisive logic and devastating wit, he exposes the intellectual poverty of atheism and skewers its leading popularizers—Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins.

[TripletDaddy]

That book is going to cause Healter Skelter amongst agnostics.

[LA Ute]

Georgetown study on U.S. religious retention rates:

...if you think it is challenging to be a Catholic parent try being an Atheist parent! Some 70% of Americans raised to believe God does not exist end up being a member of a religion as an adult (about one in five former Atheists drift off to become an open-minded agnostic or None).

Mormons did relatively well.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Georgetown study on U.S. religious retention rates:



Mormons did relatively well.

LOL @ atheists.

[UtahDan]

LOL @ atheists.

Meaningless.

[SeattleUte]

Georgetown study on U.S. religious retention rates:



Mormons did relatively well.

This is not the kind of post I envisioned for this thread. Please take your religion advocacy elsewhere.