It is healthy to question the existense of God, but pure insantity to deny the possibility.
God is everywhere and that is why so few people find him. They have no idea what to look for. God is the peace in a peaceful heart. And much much more, but this is a start
Lost in the dark without the one true light of Jesus.
The problem there is that God himself requires belief in order to fulfill our beings, it is obvious regardless of our egos no one can be called good in the purest sense of the word, to be good one would have to grasp all things small and large and react with goodness. We as human beings only have a limited scope of vision, thus we hear Christ say, Father forgive them because they know not what they do. Certainly we should aspire to a higher morality and every moment we fail we should get up and try again.
Surely as God walks with His children and sees us fall, he does not kick us and say I am leaving, he helps us up and we continue, while we were down if we were to say God is not there, where would that take us, we would have no guide, what human can navigate infinity, each step to us is unknown, I am glad there is a God, one who loves us so much he would send his only son to die for our sins in atonement for our continued foolishness, this is how we learn humility. It would be foolish to think I will find my own way when we don’t even know where we are.
Glenn is right, come as a child unto the Father, depend on he who made all things even in death, seek Him with all your heart, mind, and soul..in Jesus name
We can be friends if you are unbeliever, certainly. You are also fortunate to live in a nation that allows you to be an athiest, unlike say Saudi Arabia or Iran. As I’m fortunate to live in a nation that allows me for the moment to worship as I wish.
I think Beck’s point is that we should return to the original founders view that America is an exceptional nation in the sense that it was able to accomplish what no other group of people in human history had been able to accomplish, self government. But with self government comes the notion of the law being above man so that self government is possible and that the laws originate with God.
This is the same view as Lincoln and DeTocqueville among others.
Turn to God and He will turn to you.
A bit confused here -- if they author does not believe in God then why adhere to the idea that there is anything like sin to repent?
If Ellie does not accept Glenn's theory, why does that even matter? He proclaims what he feels is the solution to America's troubles, this doesn't mean everyone must accept it. Unless of course, the problem is that Ellie isn't quite so certain of her position.
There are certain principles of Christianity.......support the one’s you believe ignore the rest.....It won’t get you to the after life but you will be a better person than if you ignore them all!!!
A lot of people think this is the answer. It's not.
The author does have enough knowledge to know the world. That's not the question. The reality for agnostics isn't that they "can't know" - they simply don't care to know & can't be bothered to find out.
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. - I John 5:13
It takes EXACTLY the same amount of faith to disbelieve in God as it does to believe. If the non-believers are right then nothing mattered anyway so the believer loses nothing. On the other hand if the believer is right then the non-believer loses everything. So logically and mathematically it is better to put your faith in God. This is what I tell all the so-called “scientific” atheists.
I think everyone takes a journey to faith in their own manner in their own time.
BTW, can we be friends if I aggravate you by believing you will eventually find your way to God?
Thanks for posting this. I am very troubled by the “just put your faith in God” sentiment. It reminds me of the man and the flood story. It is an easy cop out to put your faith in God and then when John McCain wins and election the answer is “it is God’s will”. Balderdash. If many spent the time and energy organizing and working to get this country back on track that they do “praying” we would not be in the mess we are in. Leaving it to God is a cop out plain and simple.
Flame on.
We can each answer for how we keep them personally, but I think our leaders have a lot to publicly answer for with regard to 8, 9, and 10 -- especially 10.
It appears to me that every day our politicians and leaders are working to lead us to hate our fellow Americans for some perception of what they have that we do not. This exploitation is abominable. Our leaders should be leading us to be better people instead of trying to incite us to be our worst selves.
Over and over, when I hear our politicians talk about white oppression or the top 5% not paying their share, or speak about a black man in the White House isn't enough, that there won't be peace until everyone has equal possessions, I think about this commandment.
I know I'm not expressing this correctly, but that's the commandment I hear reverberating in my head and heart every time I hear these guys speak.
Where does that leave non-believers? Benefiting from the beliefs of others. I don’t know of any Christians demanding that non-believers yield. That judgment is not theirs to make. But these days, too many non-believers are proselytizing by force. I won’t force you to accept God if you won’t force me to deny Him.
Most people, if honest, have confronted the same challenges.
A great teacher advised us to "seek," to "knock," and to "ask," which indicates an expectation that yours is a natural human question.
Never squelch the questioning. It is in the "seeking" and "knocking" and "asking" that we "find."
Do not allow anyone to interpret your searching for you. Perhaps the answer to your question lies in your desire to search.
Without God, MAN makes the rules- Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc
I appreciate your honesty, but I would like for you to think about a couple of things. There is no such thing as goodness. You cannot go down to the hardware store and buy 20 pounds of goodness. You have two options when it comes to whether something is good or not: absolute (objective) or relative (subjective). Without a belief in God there is no intrinsic or objective standard for good. Nothing is good in itself. Absolutes are not based upon individual or societal views on what is good or not. On the other hand, without God, the moral value of what is good is relative. Something is determined good because it conforms to a standard of thought or behavior that is acceptable to a particular culture at a particular time. For instance, the German culture, at the time of Adolf Hitler, believed that killing Jews and other inferior races was good for the world.
Secondly, I say this as nicely as I can, Agnosticism is illogical and cowardly. The default position of Agnosticism is Atheism. You either believe in the existence of God or you do not. There is no middle position. If you want me to explain the logical fallacy of Agnosticism, I will be more than glad to do so in another post.
I was raised in childhood with all the blessings of religion. Baptism,confirmation, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, etc.,etc. Through my life to now I have been in and out of the organized church and on and off as to religeous beliefs. Through many years of fortune and misfortune the realization has come to where I must for myself acknowledge the existance and presence of an overwhelming, controlling creation. I believe this is my God. He(from my religeous precepts) has an existance beyond mine. I can only deal with the matters relative to my creation. It is with these matters i.e. my life, that the presence of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit come into being. I accept my religion’s belief that Jesus is the way to the Creator/Father but I personalize Jesus as the human presence of the rightiousness of the Creator and the Holy Spirit as my link to Creation’s rightiousness.
My life has not always lived up to the rightious creation and I suspect that there are many humans who have or will be on a similar path to eternity.
Not to belabor a point, but the thought occurs to me that with all the current emphasis on God and government and liberty for individuals, perhaps a glimpse of the philosophy and principles underlying our Declaration of Independence and Constitution might answer the "why" as to the uniqueness of America's 200+ years of self-government, as envisioned by the Founders. It also might address your concerns as a "conservative" and your questioning.
Among the Founders, Thomas Jefferson, who reflected what he called "the American mind" of 1776, in the words of the Declaration of Independence, recognized therein a higher power in four manifestations--as "Creator(source of rights)," as source of law--"laws of nature and of nature's God," as "Divine Providence," and as "Supreme judge of the world." Yet, he fiercely defended the "rights of conscience," religious freedom.
When advising a young namesake, he wrote the following letter, which is in a collection at the University of Virginia.
From that web site, this note:
"The Jefferson-Jackson letter, addressed to the young Thomas Jefferson Grotjan, is perhaps the most fascinating item, Plunkett said.
"In it, Jefferson offers his advice to his namesake, apparently in response to a request from Grotjan's mother. Writing from Monticello on Jan. 10, 1824, an elderly Jefferson advises:
"Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself and your country more than life. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence, and the life into which you have entered will be the passage to one of eternal and ineffable bliss."
"He concludes, "And if to the dead it is permitted to care for the things of this world, every action of your life will be under my regard. Farewell."
"In a later addition to the letter, dated June 9, 1833, Jackson writes "Although requested by Mr. Grotjan, yet I can add nothing to the admirable advice given to his son by that virtuous patriot and enlightened statesman, Thomas Jefferson."
Another letter of advice to young Peter Carr, he wrote:
_To Peter Carr_ _Paris, August 19, 1785_
DEAR PETER, -- I received, by Mr. Mazzei, your letter of April the 20th. I am much mortified to hear that you have lost so much time; and that when you arrived in Williamsburg, you were not at all advanced from what you were when you left Monticello. Time now begins to be precious to you. Every day you lose, will retard a day your entrance on that public stage whereon you may begin to be useful to yourself. However, the way to repair the loss is to improve the future time. I trust, that with your dispositions, even the acquisition of science is a pleasing employment. I can assure you, that the possession of it is, what (next to an honest heart) will above all things render you dear to your friends, and give you fame and promotion in your own country. When your mind shall be well improved with science, nothing will be necessary to place you in the highest points of view, but to pursue the interests of your country, the interests of your friends, and your own interests also, with the purest integrity, the most chaste honor. The defect of these virtues can never be made up by all the other acquirements of body and mind. Make these then your first object. Give up money, give up fame, give up science, give the earth itself and all it contains, rather than do an immoral act. And never suppose, that in any possible situation, or under any circumstances, it is best for you to do a dishonorable thing, however slightly so it may appear to you. Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you, and act accordingly. Encourage all your virtuous dispositions, and exercise them whenever an opportunity arises; being assured that they will gain strength by exercise, as a limb of the body does, and that exercise will make them habitual. From the practice of the purest virtue, you may be assured you will derive the most sublime comforts in every moment of life, and in the moment of death. If ever you find yourself environed with difficulties and perplexing circumstances, out of which you are at a loss how to extricate yourself, do what is right, and be assured that that will extricate you the best out of the worst situations. Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear their leading you out of the labyrinth, in the easiest manner possible. The knot which you thought a Gordian one, will untie itself before you. Nothing is so mistaken as the supposition, that a person is to extricate himself from a difficulty, by intrigue, by chicanery, by dissimulation, by trimming, by an untruth, by an injustice. This increases the difficulties ten fold; and those who pursue these methods, get themselves so involved at length, that they can turn no way but their infamy becomes more exposed. It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world's believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.
An honest heart being the first blessing, a knowing head is the second. It is time for you now to begin to be choice in your reading; to begin to pursue a regular course in it; and not to suffer yourself to be turned to the right or left by reading any thing out of that course. I have long ago digested a plan for you, suited to the circumstances in which you will be placed. This I will detail to you, from time to time, as you advance. For the present, I advise you to begin a course of antient history, reading every thing in the original and not in translations. First read Goldsmith's history of Greece. This will give you a digested view of that field. Then take up antient history in the detail, reading the following books, in the following order: Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophontis Hellenica, Xenophontis Anabasis, Arrian, Quintus Curtius, Diodorus Siculus, Justin. This shall form the first stage of your historical reading, and is all I need mention to you now. The next, will be of Roman history (*). From that, we will come down to modern history. In Greek and Latin poetry, you have read or will read at school, Virgil, Terence, Horace, Anacreon, Theocritus, Homer, Euripides, Sophocles. Read also Milton's Paradise Lost, Shakspeare, Ossian, Pope's and Swift's works, in order to form your style in your own language. In morality, read Epictetus, Xenophontis Memorabilia, Plato's Socratic dialogues, Cicero's philosophies, Antoninus, and Seneca. In order to assure a certain progress in this reading, consider what hours you have free from the school and the exercises of the school. Give about two of them, every day, to exercise; for health must not be sacrificed to learning. A strong body makes the mind strong. As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives a moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball, and others of that nature, are too violent for the body, and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun therefore be the constant companion of your walks. Never think of taking a book with you. The object of walking is to relax the mind. You should therefore not permit yourself even to think while you walk; but divert your attention by the objects surrounding you. Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far. The Europeans value themselves on having subdued the horse to the uses of man; but I doubt whether we have not lost more than we have gained, by the use of this animal. No one has occasioned so much, the degeneracy of the human body. An Indian goes on foot nearly as far in a day, for a long journey, as an enfeebled white does on his horse; and he will tire the best horses. There is no habit you will value so much as that of walking far without fatigue. I would advise you to take your exercise in the afternoon: not because it is the best time for exercise, for certainly it is not; but because it is the best time to spare from your studies; and habit will soon reconcile it to health, and render it nearly as useful as if you gave to that the more precious hours of the day. A little walk of half an hour, in the morning, when you first rise, is advisable also. It shakes off sleep, and produces other good effects in the animal economy. Rise at a fixed and an early hour, and go to bed at a fixed and early hour also. Sitting up late at night is injurious to the health, and not useful to the mind. Having ascribed proper hours to exercise, divide what remain, (I mean of your vacant hours) into three portions. Give the principal to History, the other two, which should be shorter, to Philosophy and Poetry. Write to me once every month or two, and let me know the progress you make. Tell me in what manner you employ every hour in the day. The plan I have proposed for you is adapted to your present situation only. When that is changed, I shall propose a corresponding change of plan. I have ordered the following books to be sent to you from London, to the care of Mr. Madison. Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon's Hellenics, Anabasis and Memorabilia, Cicero's works, Baretti's Spanish and English Dictionary, Martin's Philosophical Grammar, and Martin's Philosophia Britannica. I will send you the following from hence. Bezout's Mathematics, De la Lande's Astronomy, Muschenbrock's Physics, Quintus Curtius, Justin, a Spanish Grammar, and some Spanish books. You will observe that Martin, Bezout, De la Lande, and Muschenbrock are not in the preceding plan. They are not to be opened till you go to the University. You are now, I expect, learning French. You must push this; because the books which will be put into your hands when you advance into Mathematics, Natural philosophy, Natural history, &c. will be mostly French, these sciences being better treated by the French than the English writers. Our future connection with Spain renders that the most necessary of the modern languages, after the French. When you become a public man, you may have occasion for it, and the circumstance of your possessing that language, may give you a preference over other candidates. I have nothing further to add for the present, but husband well your time, cherish your instructors, strive to make every body your friend; and be assured that nothing will be so pleasing, as your success, to, Dear Peter,
Your's affectionately,
(*) Livy, Sullust, Caesar, Cicero's epistles, Suetonius, Tacitus, Gibbon.
Jefferson's strongest summary of the philosophy underlying liberty capsulized in the Declaration of Independence, however, may be found in this statement:
"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time: the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them."
The Founders' beliefs struck down the common understanding that rights are derived as "grants" from government, making them alienable. They asserted that rights are gifts from the Creator, therefore, inalienable--an idea reasserted by John F. Kennedy almost 200 years later:
"The world is different now . . . And yet, the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forefathers fought are still at issue around the globe -- the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God. - JFK Address to have been delivered on 11/22/63 at Luncheon in Dallas, TX