Some Schmo wrote:Hughes wrote:I agree it's arbitrary either way, without the evidence of creation and our existence in general to tip the scales. What do I mean by that?
You state that it depends on what the creator wanted. And I think that man's personal and communicative nature is a clue. In other words, the creator logically couldn't be less than we are, and given our nature, that we communicate with our children, friends, family, etc.., it seems to me that the creator wouldn't do less than we do. So, at the very least, if viewed as a scale, the balance is tipped toward the communicate side.
I find this interesting mostly because if you go down the road of "the creator logically couldn't be less than we are" then you really have to wonder about the problem of evil. We, as humans, more times than not try to protect the innocent. One would think that if a god could intervene and really is at least as much as we are, he'd protect the innocent too. But he doesn't.
I find the problem of evil/pain to be interesting as well.
The solution it seems to me is tied to the desire to create a love based on freedom. Let me explain. Take any hypothetical all powerful creator, who wants to share his joy and power and love, and there's a conundrum. True love is freely chosen. All other forms of love are robotic and controlled. And there's no real satisfaction in creating a robot to love you, because it's only doing what you pre-programed it to do.
So the conundrum is, once you create a free will, that person can choose to not love you, or do as they will, or do evil. But, in order to actually create a love based on freedom, free will has to be created in man. Which inevitably will cause pain due to the available choice of evil.
So, as the hypothetical all powerful creator what do you do? Allow for some pain and suffering in order reach your ultimate goal? It seems to me the small cost of causing some pain is worth the greater reward of gaining a true love based on freedom.
Some Schmo wrote:I have given up, though. I don't pray anymore, and I don't think it's reasonable to keep seeking him. Basically, if he's going to hide from me, it's akin to him crying wolf. I can't trust him to communicate with me. And it's important to remember that he's the one with all the control in this situation. I've made myself available to him. He has not returned the favor. Not much I can do about that. I'm not going to keep hanging on and bugging him like a desperate school boy.
You didn't answer the question I was really interested in, which was "how do you explain the great number of people who have tried for years and never made contact (like me)?"
When people seek the creator, it's interesting that the Bible describes God as being close to the broken hearted, why is that? And he gives grace to the humble? It seems to me that the only way to connect to the creator is to understand our place in his creation. It's one of humility.
Let's say for example (and I know analogies don't communicate all the dynamics, but here goes), that a person is trying to see and communicate to another person, on the other side of a door. For all they are worth, they try but can't see or hear through the door. However, the door has a small space between the bottom of the door, and the floor, where one could see and hear if they would simply lay down on the floor. This only occurs to this person, when they become desperate and are already on the floor weeping.
Often times, this is how I see communication with the creator playing out. He comforts those in need, and who are hurting and humble.
Some Schmo wrote:Hughes wrote:What is a myth? A story, made up by man to explain or for entertainment of some sort, right?
How do you categorize stories like
Colton's NDE? He was only 4 years old, and yet he described in detail what heaven was like, and what his grandfather looked like (though never having met him on earth), that his mom had a miscarriage (not knowing this before), and describing exactly what his father and mother were doing in different rooms when he died.
I categorize stuff like that as a lot of wishful thinking and selective memory.
I've said it before a million times: people underestimate the power of the computer they're sporting in their heads; not just the power to think, but the power to deceive ourselves when we subconsciously think it will help us.
Just because nobody remembers telling the boy about his sister or grandfather doesn't mean he hasn't heard about them. What if he overheard conversations from another room? What if he was just around playing on the floor not really listening but hearing about it just the same? I mean, the kid is the son of a pastor. Obviously, he's growing up in a religious, supernaturally themed home. The kind of stuff from his dream is just the sort of stuff he would say as a product of that environment. And let's not forget, it's not just what the kid is purported to have said; it's also what the pastor father (who writes the book) said he heard. It would be difficult to imagine him not superimposing his own religious bias over his son's story. Religious folks have an endless thirst for faith promoting stories.
What's objectively more likely and reasonable, what I just said, or that the kid actually took a trip to heaven? I think if we're honest with ourselves, given what we understand about the subconscious mind, the answer is obvious. You have to want to believe in heaven to choose the non-obvious explanation.
It's an easy book to read, and the pastor goes out of his way to do just the opposite. He actually tries to trick Colton into saying things that many believe, it didn't work.
There are many interesting things about Colton's story that doesn't match your theory. For example, his grandpa died before Colton was born. The only photos in the house are ones where grandpa was old and grey. Colton said that he met this guy name "Pa", so his dad showed him a photo of grandpa. Colton said, nope that's not him. His dad was frustrated and called his mom to ask if she had any other photos of Grandpa. She did, and dug up some old photos and brought them over. And it wasn't until they got to a photo of Grandpa when he was in his twenties, that Colton pointed at the photo and said, "That him!"