My Take on religion

[Bradshaw the Nocturnal]

Ok well as an ex philosophy student i have had to formulate my ideas and be able to argue them logically, but due to not doing philosophy at the moment I haven't had a descent debate or even informed criticisms for a while so I'll post an outline of my beliefs and any criticisms or counter arguments will be replied to. I like to see myself as open minded so I'll listen to all informed and logical arguments (posts such as "Your wrong Such and such religion is right" without back up will be ignored)

First of all I am an Idealist, this means (for those who don't know) that i believe that reality is essentially an illusion, all that truly exists are our minds within a space-less timeless dimension, alongside these minds is a "Creator Being" i will not call it a god, nor will i call it a supreme being as it is only omniscient, as it sees everything in our "reality" this stops things from drifting in and out of existence. This "Creator Being" projects the reality onto our minds, and our minds project a body within the reality, when a body dies the mind projects another body within "reality" so essentially reincarnation occurs. There are many different types of minds for example there are minds that are human and have intelligence and there are more basic minds which are animals and possibly even more complex minds which are what has been worshipped in the past as Gods and elemental beings.

TLDR: "Reality" doesn't exist
Creator being projects reality onto our minds
Minds project body onto "reality"
Reincarnation

OK my friends argue away...

[Led Zeppelin]

You just said you're an idealist, what is there to argue? :unsure:

[Bradshaw the Nocturnal]

I'm an idealist not a solipsist, I believe in the existence of other people (well their minds anyway) so I can have a debate.

[Raúl Duke]

I don't think there are many "idealists" per se here...

Can you prove this creator mind and/or this entire idealist process (i.e. this idealist theory just has to many hypotheticals I think...)?

Why is it that, if there was reincarnation, we never remember our "past lives" yet the same mind which holds our memory, etc is just projecting another body?

[Bradshaw the Nocturnal]

Can you prove this creator mind and/or this entire idealist process (i.e. this idealist theory just has to many hypotheticals I think...)?

using empiricism i can well to a certain extent, and IMHO that make sit more likely than other ideas and thus good enough for me.

If there is a reality there are objects we cannot see, and empriicism means that you should only believe in what can be sensed and seeing as the non sensable material which apparently our universe is made of cannot be sensed it makes sense to assume it doesn't exist.



Can you prove this creator mind and/or this entire idealist process (i.e. this idealist theory just has to many hypotheticals I think...)?
yet again I believe that I can argue for it being more likely than not.

If the reality is as almost proved before non existent then what we live in must be an illusion, (I Think therefore I am) my mind exists so maybe that's all but then there would be things going in and out of existence, therefore there must be something that is omniscient to keep the illusion constant. this is what I labelled my creator being.


Why is it that, if there was reincarnation, we never remember our "past lives" yet the same mind which holds our memory, etc is just projecting another body?
I shall use Plato's philosophy to answer here, he believed in a world of true forms that existed alongside reality, and was space less and timeless and where our souls came from originally, he believed that the trauma of birth made us loose our knowledge of the world of true forms. I believe that the trauma of death and rebirth makes us forget past lives, but there are instances of people having memories that cannot have been from that life, and are most likely from previous lives.

[Dean]

Originally posted by Bradshaw the [email protected] 16, 2007 09:51 pm
First of all I am an Idealist, this means (for those who don't know) that i believe that reality is essentially an illusion, all that truly exists are our minds within a space-less timeless dimension, alongside these minds is a "Creator Being" i will not call it a god, nor will i call it a supreme being as it is only omniscient, as it sees everything in our "reality" this stops things from drifting in and out of existence. This "Creator Being" projects the reality onto our minds, and our minds project a body within the reality, when a body dies the mind projects another body within "reality" so essentially reincarnation occurs.
Is there one creator being or one for each mind? I think it makes sense if there is a creator being for each mind (i.e. our bodies), but not for all minds. There really isn't evidence.

As for reincarnation, I can understand believing that but only from a purely mystical viewpoint. That is, I know the feeling of thinking the mind is a supernatural force, due to its apparently different nature from other matter, and I did used to believe in reincarnation, but I don't think there is much evidence for it, either from basic sensation or scientific reasoning.


There are many different types of minds for example there are minds that are human and have intelligence and there are more basic minds which are animals and possibly even more complex minds which are what has been worshipped in the past as Gods and elemental beings.
Why do you think there are minds greater than human minds? Why should we think there are, in the absece of any evidence?


TLDR: "Reality" doesn't exist
Creator being projects reality onto our minds
Minds project body onto "reality"
Reincarnation

OK my friends argue away...
Why doesn't reality exist? What does that even mean? If reality doesn't exist, you can't make any statements on what is "real"... so therefore, why would you make all these other assertions?

[Bradshaw the Nocturnal]

Apologies if Threadomancy is illegal here, but I#'ve been away and missed out on the last post until now.




Is there one creator being or one for each mind? I think it makes sense if there is a creator being for each mind (i.e. our bodies), but not for all minds. There really isn't evidence.I would say there's one myself, but this isn't based on any argument, it just seems to make more sense, but there could easily be more than one, there's just very little need for more than one.



As for reincarnation, I can understand believing that but only from a purely mystical viewpoint. That is, I know the feeling of thinking the mind is a supernatural force, due to its apparently different nature from other matter, and I did used to believe in reincarnation, but I don't think there is much evidence for it, either from basic sensation or scientific reasoning.With the minds existing in a non physical world, with "reality" being projected into them, its more likely that a mind would project a new body (or attach itself to one) than for it to a) cease existing or b) continue to "exist" or have "reality" projected to it and not have a "physical" incarnation, existing as a ghost or similar.



Why do you think there are minds greater than human minds? Why should we think there are, in the absece of any evidence?I will agree there is no physical evidence, for them, it was a possibility, a mere suggestion, not to be taken as an actual statement. But I personally believe that there may be these beings, as humanity has always worshipped Gods and told stories of Angels, Demons and Spirits.


Why doesn't reality exist? What does that even mean? If reality doesn't exist, you can't make any statements on what is "real"... so therefore, why would you make all these other assertions?

I shall refer you to a previous post of mine.

If there is a reality there are objects we cannot see, and empiricism means that you should only believe in what can be sensed and seeing as the non sensable material which apparently our universe is made of cannot be sensed it makes sense to assume it doesn't exist.

[MarxSchmarx]

It is not at all clear to me why anyone should, much less would, follow your reasoning. You'd have a better case arguing for nihilistic solipsism than this quandry you've wondered into.



minds existing in a non physical world,

How do you know this??



First of all I am an Idealist, this means (for those who don't know) that i believe that reality is essentially an illusion,

Define reality.


alongside these minds is a "Creator Being"... omniscient, as it sees everything in our "reality" this stops things from drifting in and out of existence.


Prove it.



when a body dies the mind projects another body within "reality" so essentially reincarnation occurs.


Have you personally died and seen this happen? If not, why do you make such claims?


There are many different types of minds... possibly even more complex minds which are what has been worshipped in the past as Gods and elemental beings.

How do you know this? Have you asked everyone who worships god and other elemental beings? How about the guy/gal who originally invented religion?



it was a possibility, a mere suggestion, not to be taken as an actual statement. But I personally believe that there may be these beings, as humanity has always worshipped Gods and told stories of Angels, Demons and Spirits.


Yes. And there MAY be leprechauns and dragons and fairies and unicorns and witches and oh my... After all, can you prove they DON'T exist? I thought not.



but this isn't based on any argument, it just seems to make more sense,

precisely how does something make "more sense" in the absence of "any argument":confused:

[Dean]

Apologies if Threadomancy is illegal here, but I#'ve been away and missed out on the last post until now.



I would say there's one myself, but this isn't based on any argument, it just seems to make more sense, but there could easily be more than one, there's just very little need for more than one.
My point is that I understand the concept that there is a creator for each mind, but I don't see what makes it logiclal to think that a single entity created multiple minds, apart from a purely speculative concept.


With the minds existing in a non physical world, with "reality" being projected into them, its more likely that a mind would project a new body (or attach itself to one) than for it to a) cease existing or b) continue to "exist" or have "reality" projected to it and not have a "physical" incarnation, existing as a ghost or similar.
Just because minds don't exist in this physical world, theoretically, doesn't mean that their existance is inherantly non-physical. furthermore, why should a mind not be subject to the same or similar laws of physics or logic just because you think it is apart from the body? How do we account for the many different bodies but a given number of minds - are they created when the substantial entities outweight their mental counterparts? Again, what evidence, sensual or otherwise, is there for such a belief?



I will agree there is no physical evidence, for them, it was a possibility, a mere suggestion, not to be taken as an actual statement. But I personally believe that there may be these beings, as humanity has always worshipped Gods and told stories of Angels, Demons and Spirits.
Well I believe there may be such entities, but I also believe that there may be ghosts in the world. But I don't suggest that or give much creedence for the idea, because it seems without reason.

The point is not that there is no physical evidence. The point is more that there isn't even a mystical or sensual reason to be compelled to such ideas. The concept of a single creator is very illogical, and there is little sensual reason to think that there is a 'God'.


If there is a reality there are objects we cannot see, and empiricism means that you should only believe in what can be sensed and seeing as the non sensable material which apparently our universe is made of cannot be sensed it makes sense to assume it doesn't exist.
But the knowledge that some things are mysteries is a recognition of said things. For instance, I understand the concept of the atom, but I may not fully understand photons and quantum physics. On top of this, I personally cannot sense an atom or photons, only utilize knowledge of them to understand things about my world. However, none of this implies that the material which atoms amke up doesn't exist, nor that the atoms themselves don't exist. On one level, the material I refer to certainly exists - as a portion of my mind, if only that. Even though all our knowledge comes down to the point that it is in its purest form a sensed idea, we can still use that knowledge in the context that it is factual to make observations about it.