• Beliefs of Modern Gnostics
    You're a chill guy, appreciate the respect and the actual desire to gain knowledge of something. Too many people post on here under the guise of talking about and developing philosophy when in reality they simply want to argue and put people down.
  • Beliefs of Modern Gnostics
    I don't believe that there's such a thing as a "true gnostic". Being a gnostic has so many different meanings. They can be anything from a spiritualist to a believer in the nag Hammadi and the dead sea scrolls. I just feel that your definitions are too limited for such a broad term as "gnostic" or even "modern gnostic". A lot of Christians do this as well where they'll try and put limiting definitions on those who think differently. Many Christians will refuse to call Mormons Christian although their religion is based on Christ. In summary, I generally just try to refrain from using limiting definitions on something as broad as religion. I may be misunderstanding your post though.
  • Morality
    That was extremely well thought out and well worded, to summarize would you say that c
    The point is that humans are the ones that make the rules for human behaviour, and those rules have changes dramatically over the last few centuries, right alongside the evolution of our thought/belief.creativesoul
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  • Morality
    That's very true, however, when it comes to topics such as morality, I don't believe that you can tell someone what is moral when the topic of morality is so heavily based on opinion. When someone criticizes you on the use of phrases such as "I think" and "I believe" it kind of defeats the purpose of a forum such as this.
  • Morality
    When I have all the facts, I'll make that leap to telling, but until then, its nothing more than personal judgement. Its essential that those on a philosophy forum understand when they have all the facts and when they don't and until they have all the facts, they have no right to be telling anybody anything.
  • Morality
    I didn't come here to debate at all and thats why I chose to use those phrases. I came here to discuss and hear the opinions of others. I use phrases like "I believe" because my ideas of morality are not set in stone by any means and if my ideas of morality can be changed I'm open too it.
  • Patriotism and Nationalism?
    I believe that theres a correlation in that white supremacists are generally nationalists, but I also think that nationalism to a degree is helpful and at times necessary to the development and progress of a country.
  • Morality
    Thats an interesting question, and I don't quite have an answer, I'll think on that. So essentially the question is "Should morality and law be one, or separate? and at what point should they be separate?"
  • Morality
    My answer would be its morally wrong because it causes damage to humanity. A humans fundamental goal is to preserve their life, and to preserve the life of future generations. Thats why suicide is an interesting thing to look at as it goes against all reason.
  • Infinite Being
    I feel that it is possible for an infinite being to exist, but this depends strongly on whether or not you believe that an infinite being can have a beginning, I think that its very possible for someone who would be considered a God to have been mortal and to have been born of mortal parents and to have achieved immortality and eternal life later in life.
  • You're not exactly 'you' when you're totally hammered
    I agree, their drunken self is not their true self, although this doesn't mean that you need to stay with them. In my opinion you need to make it clear that he can't be getting wasted like this and that you need to come first.
  • Patriotism and Nationalism?
    Theres really no difference between patriotism and nationalism however, nationalism is often associated with fascism and racism. Because of this association nationalism is often used to degrade people who take any pride in their country whereas patriotism generally just has a more positive connotation.
  • "Skeptics," Science, Spirituality and Religion
    I find that spirituals and nonspiritual's are two sides of the same coin. Much like the horseshoe theory in politics the farther you get away from each other the more similar the two sides become. Nonspirituals simply put their beliefs in what they consider to be logic.
  • Morality
    Like everyone else in the world I've given this some thought. For the most part, what we consider right and wrong is considered wrong for a reason. Many moral questions are surrounding the topic of sex, incest is considered immoral due to it corrupting the gene pool and homosexual relations are often deemed undesirable due to its inability to produce offspring, much like most Christian views on pornography, essentially any discharge not for the purpose of reproduction is considered wrong or a sin. Many other moral questions go fairly without saying such as not murdering your fellow man and not stealing. The way I see it, morality is a concept that exists to protect humanity from itself. Without morality and a sense of right and wrong, the human race would collapse in a matter of days.
  • The Meaning of Life
    I wrote this speech to share in my senior year of high school, the topic was "What is the meaning of life?" Its not the best piece of work so I'll put it below but essentially it states that the meaning of life is to help others, one primary reason being because humanity cannot thrive individually. Meaning of Life

    The meaning of life is at the epicenter of our lives. It has been the topic of much discussion ,will be the topic of much discussion, and It is a question that must be answered in order to obtain satisfaction in life. A question that has been asked for centuries by humanity.
    Humanity, we see it in movies all the time, an alien race from outer space tries to attack us, tries to destroy us, but humans are special. Humans have something about them that allows us to overcome anything. I want you to ask yourselves, what makes us special, what makes us different from any other living thing? Ladies and gentlemen, it is the ability to form communities, and it is through looking out for others that those communities can continue to function. When I was a kid, I’d fall and my parents would be there to pick me back up, when I broke my arm on my birthday, I felt alone. I felt alone until I heard a knock at my door and my friends came bursting through that door with chicken nuggets and butterfingers. I felt amazing, I felt love, and I saw what humanity is capable of. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was famous for his belief that humanity is inherently good. To be honest, It took awhile for me to believe that. There’s so much evil in the world, so much hate, so much selfishness, how could the world ever be inherently good? As I grew up, and life threw more and more trials at me, more and more people came to help me get through them. The harder the trial, the more support I got, and I started to realize that I wasn’t facing life alone, I never was.
    History is important to look at when trying to unravel the meaning of life. As long as the modern man has existed, communities have existed as well and that is because without communities, humanity would crumble. Starting with hunter gatherer civilizations people found their place in their tribes, whether it was hunting, creating shelter, or medicine. Ever since then we have seen an endless amount of different communities, from Native American Tribes, Scottish Clans, and even the Boy Scouts. in the history of humanity, we see not only the death, destruction, and wars, but we also see groups of people. Communities can only exist through one thing, and that’s caring for others.
    We are different in so many ways, we have different tastes, different jobs, different races and different backgrounds, but as different as we are, we are just as united. We are all human, we all have potential, we all are capable of good. And we all have the same meaning of life.I think that the biggest misconception about the meaning of life is that is the meaning of YOUR life, that its special to you. it’s not the meaning of your life. Every single person is born with the responsibility to help others, just not in the same ways. Some people are born in a way that they may not be able to carry you across a finish line when you break your leg, but if you try hard enough they will bring you joy and if there’s somebody that you can’t see any good in, then you’re not looking hard enough.
    One of my greatest fears is that someday, something bad will happen, and I won’t be able to do anything about it. I will have to watch while someone gets hurt while I sit helplessly thinking about what I could have done. That’s something that every single one of us will have to deal with at some point but that is why humans exist in groups, because while we may not be able to do something by ourselves, I truly believe that together, not as conservative and liberal, not as black and white, but as humans, there isn’t a single thing that we cannot achieve. Right now, we are not as united as we could be, but I know that someday, if we continue to work towards helping those around you, we will start to change, we will grow closer, and we will be able to do amazing things.
    Some of the most important questions that we have in life are how questions. “How does this change anything?” unless you take the steps to improve, and make a commitment to change, then nothing will change at all. “How can I change?” take a step back and make a plan. Take a moment and look at who you have become. Notice the parts in you that you don’t want to see in others and make a plan with an end goal. “How can I change my surroundings?” Be a good example, as Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” If you can’t change yourself, how can you expect others to change?
    Ladies and gentleman, There are monsters in the world, and these monsters are mortal men, men are born but monsters are created, created by hatred, created by disgust and unacceptance, if we want to get rid of these monsters, we must help those around us, help them to smile, and help them to live, this is the meaning of life, and this is how humanity will survive, this is how humanity will thrive, not through war and hate but through love and kindness. You cannot stand in a dark room and expect light to come out of nowhere. You must be the one to flip the switch and bring light in, and if there’s no electricity then light a candle. Help others, this is the meaning of life.