Feeling the Spirit

[_Some Schmo]

I'll try to keep sexual innuendo out of this topic. I've thought LONG AND HARD about this, and in my experience the problem is finding a definition of what a spiritual prompting is. Whenever the topic POPS UP, I've asked people to describe their spirutual experiences it's nothing spectacular, just a SPECIAL FEELING DOWN THERE like what I get when I think I've discovered the answer to something that's been bugging me. If I'm searching for religion and think I've found the answer, of course I'll get a special feeling.

I appreciate you keeping sexual innuendo out of your post. It's easier to understand when you just get DOWN and DIRTY. Some people TAKE IT HARD when you BEAT AROUND THE BUSH. I like to be kept ABREAST of what people are really thinking. It's better to NIPPLE misunderstanding the bud rather than getting SCREWED out of what the person's really saying. No need to be a DICK about it; just GIVE IT TO HER STRAIGHT.

In conclusion, ROCK CLIMBING.

[_mentalgymnast]

Hi Runtu. What facts are you referring to?

Regards,
MG

Well, say that the spirit tells you that God has made it so that you can fly and you should prove it by jumping off a cliff and flying. It would be fair to reject that feeling, would it not?

Yes, it would be fair to reject a feeling telling you to do harm to the innocent...including yourself of course. <g>

Initially I thought you may have been referring to facts dealing with interfacing the spiritual with the cognitive functions of the brain. But there aren't any facts to deal with are there?

I was listening to npr's All in the Mind a couple of days ago and it seems that the current thinking among many neuroscientists is that there is no ghost in the machine...because it hasn't been observed.

Kinda silly, huh?

Of course that doesn't negate the possibility of the Spirit being real, does it?

I would imagine that one of the first things to go after a loss of faith in God would be a belief in the spiritual nature of man, and contact between that spirit and spiritual forces which may exist outside of himself.

Regards,
MG

[_mentalgymnast]

Hi Schmo. How can you know that the experience that you're describing in regards to Finding Nemo and the profound feelings that you had in conjunction with certain aspects of that film are the exact carbon copy/parallels (at a functional level) of experiences "with the spirit" that religious folks claim to have?

You can't. Or can you?

I can't know about the authenticity of those experiences any more than someone attributing them to some external spirit...

That's where you may possibly have it wrong. Are you willing to accept that?

Regards,
MG

[_mentalgymnast]

MG, you scoffed at my epiphany I related on the other thread, which I could very well say was from the Spirit, which came in the words: "there doesn't have to be a Satan." Easy for you to judge that as having been from Satan himself because it doesn't jive with what you fancy the Spirit to be saying.

Why would the Spirit of God tell you that there isn't a Satan? How have you been able to reason that out?

Regards,
MG

[_Some Schmo]

That's where you may possibly have it wrong. Are you willing to accept that?

Regards,
MG

Sure, it's possible I'm wrong... with the same probability that I'm wrong about the existence of Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. Almost anything is possible, however remote or unlikely.

I'm more interested in and prefer to live my life based on what's probable, however, not what's possible. If I invested more energy in what's slightly possible than what's largely probable, I'd probably die broke from gambling.

It occurred to me a long time ago that it's impossible to be a perfect Mormon due to the gambling thing. You can not be a Mormon without gambling your entire life away.

[_Mr. Coffee]

This one time back during Desert Storm, I though I felt the Spirit. Then I let out a long, loud, and fairly wet fart... Turns out it was just indigestion from eating all those damned MREs.

[_barrelomonkeys]

Well I've felt the spirit. But Tarski has convinced me that I'm just screwed up. So who knows.

Something that has to do with this

http://www.geocities.com/iona_m/Neurotheology/Neurotheology101.html

[_Mr. Coffee]

Well I've felt the spirit. But Tarski has convinced me that I'm just screwed up. So who knows.

Something that has to do with this

http://www.geocities.com/iona_m/Neurotheology/Neurotheology101.html

Next thing I know you're going to tell us you're either a Discordian or a Card Carrying Priestess of the Church of the SubGenius...

Hail Eris and More Slack!

[_Roger Morrison]

Hi Gym, haven't caught yer high-wire act for some time. Where ya bin?? Schmo said:

There's a scene in Finding Nemo when the pelican is telling Nemo about all the trouble his dad's going through to find him, and every time I see it, I'm incredibly moved by it. I have, by all accounts of what people have described, a complete "spiritual experience." Does that mean I should believe in talking fish and pelicans, since that was the vehicle with which the experience came to me? Should I start to worship animated movies?

Just because something appeals to your brain and "moves" you doesn't mean anything more than the fact that you were moved by something. I've been moved by all kinds of things: music, being at the top of a mountain, looking out at the ocean, and touching scenes in movies, to name a few. All it means is that I'm enjoying what I'm perceiving, and that's it. Attributing it to some external supernatural entity does human beings a disservice. The credit should be placed where the credit is due: human beings ability to appreciate stuff.

I like that Bro. However i'm not sure whether a "Universal Spiritual Experience" OR a "Mormon Spiritual Experience" is what's on the table?? I respectfully suggest, "they's TWO different things". Not to say a Mo can't have a USE...but difficult for a NMo to have a MoE. Know what i'm saying??

The USE as you/Schmo, others--including me--have enjoyed is a spontaneous reaction connecting us to wonders crafted by "God" or folks gifted in the arts, or as a result of simple, honest goodness between folks--often strangers--who reach out with a smile, or a helping hand... When one's days are full of such experiences--as they can be to 'free-spirits'--then the Mormon 'Experience' is redundant & really needless.

Except, that is to those who think it needful... Warm regards, Roger

[_barrelomonkeys]

Well I've felt the spirit. But Tarski has convinced me that I'm just screwed up. So who knows.

Something that has to do with this

http://www.geocities.com/iona_m/Neurotheology/Neurotheology101.html

Next thing I know you're going to tell us you're either a Discordian or a Card Carrying Priestess of the Church of the SubGenius...

Hail Eris and More Slack!

I'm not telling you anything!

~monkeySusietheFloozieo'barrels