Religous Thought of Aspies

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It doesn't really matter what you WANT death to be, when you die, you're still going to be around. You will enter a world of spirits just like everyone else. What you do with that will determine your level of boredom I'm sure. Everyone is going to live forever, like it or not, but I'm willing to bet that you will want to live forever. It's kind of an inherent thing in humans, even if it's not in this life, in the next you will understand why.

Balderdash! When its over it is either ashes or worms.

ruveyn

I think these scriptures ought to be considered for the truths they contain, not that the Bible is without error. (It has been changed many times falsely to mislead.) Not by you only, but for everyone else as well.

Job 19:26
"And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:"

Job 32:8-9
"But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.
Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment."

Waltur, I think these are some great points! As a matter of fact, I'd be right there with you if I hadn't been raised in a church that isn't afraid of the great truths which are inherent all around us. It's really funny what you said about the mormons and soda. I know where that comes from. It's caffeine, some members of my church avoid caffeine for the reason that it can be addicting and can cause certain health problems. The truth is, you can do whatever you want, eat whatever you want. Just yesterday I enjoyed an Italian soda in the home of one of my good mormon friends. (He has his own tap for mixing soda however he likes it.)

The sad fact of life is most religious people are vehemently opposed to forward thinking like yours. I thought it was so cool that you pointed out the words "I don't know" as being of great value. I actually have a clock in my living room with the words in bold "I Know Not." Surrounding it are several quotes from some of the worlds greatest leaders.

Here are the quotes I LOVE about admitting that you don't know.

"And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know." -1 Cor 8:2

"And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not." -Gen 28:16

"And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." -1 Nephi 11:17

"And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me. " -Moses 5:6

"One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing." -Socrates

"I don't know, I don't care, and it doesn't make any difference!" -Albert Einstein

"What you know, you know, what you don't know, you don't know. This is knowledge." -Confucius

“The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do.” -John W. Holt, Jr.

“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” - Mark Twain

"I [am] a rough stone. The sound of the hammer and chisel was never heard on me nor never will be. I desire the learning and wisdom of heaven alone." - Joseph Smith Jr.

Anyway really cool how many things I read about what you wrote that I completely agree with.

I honestly think jehovah's witnesses study the bible the most. if you really get to understand them, you will realize that they do everything according to what the bible says.

I'd say it's relative to the bible they read... They do everything according to what which bible says? The Jehovah's Witness Bible. Quoting from towerwatch.com here:

"The New World Translation of the Bible is Jehovah's Witnesses own translation, no other religious group uses this Bible and Jehovah's Witnesses make very little use of other Bibles."

In my own opinion, much of the meaning is lost in translation. I read the King James Version of the Bible, because it is the closest you can get to the original text in an English translation. If I could read it in it's proper language, I would do that instead. Some day I hope to.

i feel that it's "really cool how many things i read" in the bible that i completely agree with. i've always enjoyed that mark twain quote better, though.

"i don't know" is an excellent beginning and the only truthful response in an unfathomably close to infinite number of situations. if you agree with that, i would suggest that you consider a few related questions. "do i care to know?" and "am i able to know?" are good ones. "how do i know" is always useful. i cannot enumerate the facts and notions i have lost to the question "how do i know this?"

it becomes very difficult to learn the truth if the truth contradicts what you already "know."

but what is "faith," if not, "belief via trust, without need of proof?" is this not the opposite of admitting that we don't know? your faith has certainly lead you to believe that you "know" a great many things that i "don't."

i suggest you take your own advice and look at your bible some more. particularly, since you mentioned it, the book of job. consider it from the perspective of satan. would you disagree that, though he lost the wager, he won the game? i mean seriously, he tricked god into summoning monstrous suffering and insufferable monsters to torture one of god's faithful. when has the reported malice of the devil ever come close to being comparable to the brutality committed against poor, pious, job?

omnipotence would likely lead to arrogance, but even with that perspective, this seems more like pettiness.

job 19:26-27
"when i don't exist anymore, i'll have god's perspective."
or, if you prefer a more traditional translation:
job 19:26-27
"Evn when I has no skin left at all! I knows that this is not teh end of teh story for Ceiling Cat an I!"
(lolcatbible.com)

but i think i like mine, better.

Witnesses do seem to read the Bible a good deal. I have quite specific doctrinal disagreement with their positions though. In a practical sense, I do not agree with the position some Witnesses take in relation to blood transfusions. From a theological perspective, the claims often made by witnesses in relation to John 1:1 are not well founded if one studies the original manuscripts and is often taken out of context by not reading John 1:3.

Waltur, I'd have to say that we don't see God the same way. God is a loving Father in Heaven. God of all creation and ruler of the universe. Job is a resilient example to us all. The following passages come to mind:

Hebrews 12:6-10
"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness."

Proverbs 3:11-16
"My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction:
For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour."

Also, let's not forget that Job was blessed greatly after his trials. Twice as much as he had before. And if Job were to speak for himself, I'll bet he would say that it all was worth it and would testify of the goodness of God.

Job 42:
"And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
Then came there unto him all his brethren, and all his sisters, and all they that had been of his acquaintance before, and did eat bread with him in his house: and they bemoaned him, and comforted him over all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him: every man also gave him a piece of money, and every one an earring of gold.
So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses."

I can't say that 'I don't know' if God exists. I can't say also that I 'know' by reason and logic that He exists. That being said, I do know by a means that is unexplainable in words that He does exist and that He is mindful of His children. I know, by faith unto knowledge that God is a reality and that He loves me.

Think of that, me, a guy with AS. I despise fantasy books and stories, they drive me nuts. I can't stand them. I like cold hard facts. Reality contains enough mystery without mixing it with lies. I don't like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, anything else you can come up with. (I think sometimes people I know in my church believe in those things a certain way and I worry that God is the same in their minds as Santa, the Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, etc...)

Let me say this, think for a moment that God exists, and also He loves us. How would he associate with us? To whom would he reveal Himself? I tell you that God took me, a person who cares nothing for fairy tales, who rejects Santa Claus, fairy tales, etc, and all other kinds of crazy notions, and plants within me a certain knowledge of His reality. WHY!? --That was my question. Why? Further, He loves me! I've felt His love! Why? Why does he love me!? I'm nothing! Baffling, it defies all logic and reason. But such is love, and God is love.

He revealed this to me for His own purposes that gradually I have come to understand. I often find myself reverting to logic and reason as you, usually leading into forgetting about God. But I always reach an impasse. Imagine for a moment that no matter your logic or reason, one thing is always certain: God exists and He loves you. What can you do provided that you know this one thing is certain? What understanding could you possibly reach that would get you anywhere better than where you are now? There is no higher thing to know then that God exists, loves us, and all things that are connected to it.

I can pretend for any length of time that I don't know of any existence of God. But it is only mere pretending and eventually I must revert back to what my super ego demands. "Imagine there's no heaven, above us only sky..." That's all it is to me, imagination. And I don't like things that are imagined, I like reality.

The truth is, you are needed in the eyes of God. He made you the way you are on this Earth for a reason. To serve a purpose that will bring you the most personal joy you are capable of experiencing. If you don't believe it, it doesn't hurt me. But for me it began with pain and misunderstanding. And more pain, and more misunderstanding. Then it lead to inexpressible joy, which lead to a desire to share it. To this day, I don't know fully how to share what I know. But I keep trying.

You are needed desperately in this world. There are people out there who need to hear you out. You've got wisdom to share with them, but unless you find God in your life, unless He reveals Himself to you, you won't be heard. They won't listen to you unless they can tell for themselves that you know the one true God.

Jesus suffered a great deal by thinking differently and speaking His mind to the world. He is the very source of truth. And He was so hated by the world. Well He said "If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first." Speak the truths that you know. Never stop seeking, and remember that the love of God defies all logic and reason. I pray that you may someday come to understand that as I do.