Belief in God Drops

The percentage of Americans who say they believe in God has dipped to the lowest number in the past nearly 80 years, according to a new Gallup poll published Friday.

The Values and Belief poll, conducted from May 2 to 22, showed 81% of people answered that they believe in God. That is down six percentage points from the 87% of respondents who said they believed in God in the 2017 poll. This year is the lowest percentage in Gallup’s trend since the public opinion polling company first asked the question in 1944.

This year’s poll found 17% of Americans said they do not believe in God.

When asking the question first in 1944, again in 1947, and twice each in the 1950s and 1960s, a consistent 98% of respondents said they believed in God. When Gallup asked the question nearly five decades later, in 2011, 92% of Americans said they believed in God.

A subsequent survey in 2013 found belief in God dipping below 90% to 87%, roughly where it stood in three subsequent updates between 2014 and 2017 before this year's drop to 81%.

The poll found that the belief in God has plummeted the most in recent years among young adults and people on the left of the political spectrum, namely liberals and Democrats.  READ MORE...

A Little Light Thinking is in Order

MIND - BODY - SOUL

The trinity of the homo sapiens...  and that unique characteristic that differentiates from animal, fish, and fowl, no matter how large...  while we share different bodies and similar organs in some species as well as a limited capability mind, no other creature or species is in possession of a soul...  even though some believe that our soul is the spark of life...  Our spark of life is the fertilization of an egg, but then we still have a soul.  So, what is it that our soul is connected to?  

Some believe it is a vast cosmic consciousness that appears to float aimlessly in our universe.  Others believe it to be the spiritual connection to the trinity of God.  Still, others believe that our soul enables us to distinguish good from evil...  However, in the realm of the universe, there is no good or evil, just existence or non-existence, action, and opposing action.

Each part of the homo sapiens trilogy must be acknowledged and nourished if one is to live a fulfilling life....  with the understanding that a fulfilling life is the equality of the trio.  Oftentimes, we address one of the three and sometimes two of the three but never all three simultaneously...  which seems a little odd to me given our so-called common sense and intelligence.

Typically lacking is the soul or spirit if you prefer but it is not about being religious or not religious...  it is about being spiritual and spirituality is not necessarily a religion or belief as much as it is an understanding of a concept.  The concept is that something extremely superior to us created this universe as well as its purpose.  Religious Faith points to a God, Jesus, and a Holy Spirit and if one believes in Jesus then one has a pathway to heaven and eternal life.  Given the size of the universe (that is still expanding) that concept no longer seems to fit, if it ever did...  and yet, there must be a creator.

Can you imagine the explanations that will be tossed around by religious leaders when science finally proves the existence of multiple dimensions and multiple verses in which there is an over-abundance of life as if the universe was some well-stocked fishing pond.

God and Psychological Distress

Summary: Researchers report religious people who relate to a God in an uncertain or anxious manner are more likely to experience psychological distress disorders, including anxiety, paranoia, and obsessive compulsions. Findings reveal how different styles of attachment to a deity may be associated with poorer mental health outcomes.

Source: Westmont College

A national study examines the link between a perceived relationship with God and mental health from a sample of more than 1,600 Americans.

The research suggests that religious believers who relate to God in an uncertain or anxious manner are more likely to experience symptoms of psychological distress, including anxiety, paranoia, obsession and compulsion.

The study, “Attachment to God and Psychological Distress: Evidence of a Curvilinear Relationship” appears in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. It relies on data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey, a national survey of American religious beliefs, values, and behaviors. The research sheds light on how different styles of connecting to God—or attaching to God—may be related to poorer mental health.

“Most research on attachment to God has suggested a simple linear relationship, where a less avoidant—or secure—relationship is associated with better mental health and a more avoidant relationship with worse,” said Blake Victor Kent, assistant professor of sociology at Westmont College. “But there have been hints in the research that the relationship may actually look more like an upside down U-shaped curve. So that’s what we looked for, and that’s what we found.”

The inverse curve was found in a scale composed of six items measuring avoidance and non-avoidance in relationship with God. Sample items read:

• “I have a warm relationship with God.”
• “God knows when I need support.”
• “God seems to have little or no interest in my personal affairs.”

TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS , CLICK HERE...

Well...

 Prove It...

I was raised Methodist, attended Episcopal and Baptist for a while but then decided that my faith was more spiritual than institutional and decided I needed to teach myself a thing or two...  so, I read the Bible (cover-to-cover) taking notes and writing down questions... and discovered there was a lot of information that these religious institutions were omitting...  at least not wanting to share with their congregations.

As part of my spiritual journey, I discovered that there were 12 major religions in the world today, so I decided to learn a little bit about each one of them...  I also read the mythologies of countries all over the world, most of which formed the basis for their religious beliefs.

In all these religions and mythologies, I found similarities about:

• Creation
• God/gods
• Heaven/Hell
• Life After Death
• A Great Flood
• Virgin Birth
• Death of Savior
• Teaching Mankind

So... which religion is correct?

Or...  are all of them correct?

Could God have given them a slightly different story based upon their location and circumstances?

As my self-education continued, I became involved with astronomy, cosmology, theoretical physics, quantum mechanics, string theory, and Stephen Hawking's theory of Spontaneous Creation...  all of which underscored the overwhelming magic of our universe and how it it practically impossible for this type of detail to have arisen out of random chaos brought about by expansion from a big bang.

Since, I was not finding anything substantial on which to hang my spiritual beliefs, I got involved with a program entitled ANCIENT ALIENS...  and, the more I watched that show, the more everything about which I was thinking made sense...

There is a God...  and, there were gods...  all of whom were extraterrestrials from another planet in another solar system in another galaxy and quite possibly from another dimention or even a parallel universe...  we are not alone...  and, when they came to visit us, and supply us with knowledge to grow our civilizations we began to think of them as a God or many gods...

Mankind is THEIR CREATION...  we are even perhaps created or genetically modified in their image...  these aliens or extraterrestrials altered our DNA to push us quicker along our evolutionary path...  they gave some of us knowledge in the hopes that it would be shared with others like:  Einstein, Tesla, DaVinci, Von Braun, and Turing among others who had knowledge ahead of their time.

What really strikes me and sometimes causes chills to race inside me is when I think about what Jesus said to Pilot:  "My Kingdom is not of this world."  How profound is this?  Obviously, the world about which he was speaking was EARTH...  so where is his kingdom?  

• Another Planet?  
• Another Solar System?  
• Another Galaxy?  
• Another Dimension?  
• Another Universe?

Why haven't any of our ministers, priests, pastors, or other members of the clergy explained this kingdom of his in terms that made some kind of logical sense other than saving, he was talking about heaven...?

Don't they owe us that much courtesy?

SO...  my faith is based upon my spiritual journey that continues everyday as I search for more clues as to what is really going on...

AND...  one final thought to leave you with...

if we were created on this planet called earth thousands of years ago, why hasn't our eyes adjusted to the sun because many of us still have to wear sunglasses outside when the sun is shining...  and, why hasn't our skin adjusted either because if we are out in the sun too long without protection, we get sunburn...  don't you think evolution would have caused our bodies to adjust to this sun by now?

Metaphysical Mysteries

In my 20s, I had a friend who was brilliant, charming, Ivy-educated and rich, heir to a family fortune. I’ll call him Gallagher. He could do anything he wanted. He experimented, dabbling in neuroscience, law, philosophy and other fields. 

But he was so critical, so picky, that he never settled on a career. Nothing was good enough for him. He never found love for the same reason. He also disparaged his friends’ choices, so much so that he alienated us. He ended up bitter and alone. At least that’s my guess. I haven’t spoken to Gallagher in decades.

There is such a thing as being too picky, especially when it comes to things like work, love and nourishment (even the pickiest eater has to eat something). That’s the lesson I gleaned from Gallagher. But when it comes to answers to big mysteries, most of us aren’t picky enough. 

We settle on answers for bad reasons, for example, because our parents, priests or professors believe it. We think we need to believe something, but actually we don’t. We can, and should, decide that no answers are good enough. We should be agnostics.

Some people confuse agnosticism (not knowing) with apathy (not caring). Take Francis Collins, a geneticist who directs the National Institutes of Health. He is a devout Christian, who believes that Jesus performed miracles, died for our sins and rose from the dead. In his 2006 bestseller The Language of God, 

Collins calls agnosticism a “cop-out.” When I interviewed him, I told him I am an agnostic and objected to “cop-out.”  READ MORE

Spontaneous Creation

There is no place for God in theories on the creation of the Universe, Professor Stephen Hawking has said.

He had previously argued belief in a creator was not incompatible with science but in a new book, he concludes the Big Bang was an inevitable consequence of the laws of physics.

The Grand Design, part serialised in the Times, says there is no need to invoke God to set the Universe going.

"Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something," he concluded.

'Planetary conditions'
In his new book, an extract of which appears in the Times, Britain's most famous physicist sets out to contest Sir Isaac Newton's belief that the universe must have been designed by God as it could not have sprung out of chaos.

Citing the 1992 discovery of a planet orbiting a star other than our Sun, he said: "That makes the coincidences of our planetary conditions - the single Sun, the lucky combination of Earth-Sun distance and solar mass - far less remarkable, and far less compelling as evidence that the Earth was carefully designed just to please us human beings."

He adds: "Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.

"Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.

"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going."  READ MORE

The God of Spinoza

Did you know that when Einstein gave lectures at the numerous US universities he was invited to, the recurring question that students asked him was:

Do you believe in God?
And he always answered:
I believe in the God of Spinoza.

The ones who hadn't read Spinoza didn't understand...

Baruch de Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher considered one of the three great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy, along with René Descartes in France, and Gottfried Leibniz in Germany.

Here's some of his wisdom:
God would have said:

Stop praying and punching yourself in the chest!

What I want you to do is go out into the world and enjoy your life. I want you to enjoy, sing, have fun and enjoy everything I've made for you.

Stop going to those dark, cold temples that you built yourself and say they are my house! My house is in the mountains, in the woods, rivers, lakes, beaches. That's where I live and there I express my love for you.

Stop blaming me for your miserable life; I never told you there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing!

Sex is a gift I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. 

So don't blame me for everything they made you believe.

Stop reading alleged sacred scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can't read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the look of your friends, in your son's eyes... you will find me in no book! 

Trust me and stop asking me. 

Would you tell me how to do my job?

Stop being so scared of me. I do not judge you or criticize you, nor get angry, or seek to punish you. I am pure love.

Stop asking for forgiveness, there's nothing to forgive. 

If I made you... I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, inconsistencies... free will. 

How can I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? 

How can I punish you for being the way you are, if I'm the one who made you? 

Do you think I could create a place to burn all my children who behave badly for the rest of eternity? 

What kind of God would do that?

Forget any kind of commandments, any kind of laws; those are wiles to manipulate you, to control you, that only create guilt in you.

Respect your peers and don't do what you don't want for yourself. All I ask is that you pay attention in your life, that your consciousness is your guide.

My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step, not a rehearsal, nor a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing that exists here and now, and it is all you need.

I have set you absolutely free, no prizes or punishments, no sins or virtues... no one carries a marker, no one keeps a record.

You are absolutely free to create in your life heaven or hell.

I could tell you if there's anything after this life, but I won't... but I can give you a tip. Live as if there is nothing after... as if this is your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist.

So, if there's nothing, then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is, rest assured that I won't ask if you behaved right or wrong, I'll ask. Did you like it? Did you have fun? What did you enjoy the most? What did you learn?...

Stop believing in me; believing is assuming, guessing, imagining. I don't want you to believe in me... 

I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your beloved, when you tuck in your little girl, when you caress your dog, when you bathe in the sea.

Stop praising me, what kind of egomaniac God do you think I am?

I'm bored being praised, I'm tired of being thanked. Feeling grateful? 

Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Express your joy!... that's the way to praise me.

Stop complicating things and repeating as a parakeet what you've been taught about me.

The only thing for sure is that you are here, that you are alive, and that this world is full of wonders.

What do you need more miracles for? Why so many explanations?

Look for me outside... you won't find me. Find me inside... there I am beating within you.

Spinoza.

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Those Who Know The Future

What will happen to you tomorrow?

Or, the next day?

Or, the next?

No one living on earth really knows, although there are forecasters who claim that they can predict the weather or the economy or the technological trends that will happen in the brief future of let's say over the next few days, or few months, or few years, respectfully.

Any further out and it is shear speculation and/guess work at best.

But, what if someone knew what you would be like or become in 50 years or even 60 years, 80 years or more...  then, would one's life not become predetermined?

Religious people believe that our CREATOR knows the future and what will happen or not happen to all of us, both the believers as well as the non-believers...  however, there are many people on earth that are not religious and do not believe in a CREATOR...   yet, the evidence is strongly favoring that earth has been visited in the past and is still being visited today by extraterrestrials...  and, of those who believe in ET's, also believe that many of our large structures here on earth were built by ancient aliens or ET's.

Even the religious son of God, the Father, the Creator, said, "My Kingdom is not of this world."

These people also believe that ET's have altered our DNA and have created the species we are today...  and, in some cases have given  or infused others with their knowledge to take the rest of us humans to where we need to be faster than we could have achieved it on our own.

So, these ET's might also be able to know or have seen our future, releasing the knowledge that our lives have been predetermined from the getgo..

Yet...  there are still those who say BULLSHIT to this idea.   There ain't no ancient aliens crawling all over earth spreading their knowledge out to only a few and building monuments.  Man achieved these things by shear will power and determination of that will power.

HOW FOOLISH IS THAT THOUGHT???

Beginnings and Endings

 The End of November 2020 ✂ this month began 29 days ago and today is the last day of its existence, and unlike other months, it has one day less to live, and once it dies, it will NEVER be seen again by you or I...  it passes away just like all other aspects of time or any of that which has just happened is now permanently gone and while it has not been erased from our consciousness it is still nonetheless gone forever and ever.

As human beings we deal with these beginnings and endings all the time throughout our lives including our own birth and death and while our lives continue from one day to the next or from one month to the next, we all know that we will eventually end our existence and just like November, we will eventually have only one more day to live.

But, what about our universe?

It had a beginning but so far, there is really no ending in sight, other than what we might conclude that all things have to die...  eventually...  and, when our universe dies eventually does that mean that GOD will die as well?

Of course, this is a question only for those of you who believe in God...

AND YET...

many still believe in the BIG BANG...  or the idea/theory that something (our universe) was created out of nothing (a large void) with the understanding I suppose that even a void of nothingness still had enough inside to create a universe...  which to me means that it was not a void at all but something too.

AND IF...

a void was also something too, then where did this something too come from?

could it have come from another void, and another, and another too?

and, where do all the voids of something begin?

I suppose that we must be back to GOD...

and yet...  God is not believed in by many on this earth...  since there are other philosophies and religions that deal with supernatural creators and not a God...  but, have you ever stopped and thought that these supernatural creators might be your God as well?

Of course not...  that would mean your God is not exclusive...

Hot Tub Revelations

Tonight, I decided to spend some time in my hot tub after it got dark and sitting in the warm 101 degree temperature water and after turning on the jets, looked up at the stars in the sky...  and noticed that there really wasn't many of them that I could see.

The black sky above my head was loaded with millions perhaps billions of stars even though I could only see  less than 00.00000001% of 99.9999999% of them around our planet earth which is located in our solar system...  and, to expand your mental horizons imagine millions/billions of solar systems in our galaxy and millions/billions of galaxies in our quadrant of our universe.

Now, let's imagine our universe is a dinner plate and our quadrant in this universe represents 1 degree of the 360 degrees that completes the full circle of the universe.  Of course, it is also possible that our quadrant is not 1 degree but 1/10 or 1/100 or 1/1,000 or 1/10,000 of 1 degree.

In short, our universe is incredible vast and in each quadrant there are literally billions of billions of billions of solar systems and galaxies...  so, you can just imagine how many stars there are.

AND, as I look at these stars, I begin to wonder:

1. why am I here?
2. what's my purpose here?

BUT, before we answer those two questions, one must come to terms with the creation of the universe...

• was it created by the BIG BANG?
• was it created by CREATION?

Interestingly, NEITHER BELIEF CAN BE PROVED ABSOLUTELY...  one must have elements of faith that support their belief(s).

If God created the universe...  the big question here is WHY?

And, why did God create Jesus to die for our SINS when it was GOD who gave us those sins in the first place?

The BIG BANG direction does not take us any closer to the truth because we still have to answer the questions:

1. how?
2. why?
3. where did the stuff that created the BIG BANG come from?

BUT...  and more importantly...  why am I thinking about this in the Hot Tub when the whole purpose of the hot tub is to RELAX and not think of anything?

One thing is for sure, mankind on earth relative to the size of the universe is literally INSIGNIFICANT to say the least.  Does belief and faith make mankind on earth more SIGNIFICANT, especially when a member of mankind DIES?

My big question is this:  Does each SOLAR SYSTEM have a God and a HEAVEN?

Overlooked Matrix Themes

The Matrix is a 1999 American science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis.  It depicts a dystopian future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside a simulated reality, the Matrix, created by intelligent machines to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source.  When computer programmer Thomas Anderson, under the hacker alias "Neo", uncovers the truth, he "is drawn into a rebellion against the machines" along with other people who have been freed from the Matrix.

The Matrix is an example of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction.  The Wachowskis' approach to action scenes was influenced by Japanese animation and martial arts films, and the film's use of fight choreographers and wire fu techniques from Hong Kong action cinema influenced subsequent Hollywood action film productions. 

The film popularized a visual effect known as "bullet time", in which the heightened perception of certain characters is represented by allowing the action within a shot to progress in slow-motion while the camera appears to move through the scene at normal speed, allowing the sped-up movements of certain characters to be perceived normally

THEMES:

1. Freedom
2. Free Will
3. Positive Thinking
4. Belief in One's self
5. God as the Matrix Architect
6. Oracle as the intuitive soul
7. Neo as savior Jesus

The special effects of the trilogy of movies overshadowed most of the themes that the movies could have explored but did not, leaving the viewers to simply be amused and amazed and if thoughtful enough explore the deeper meanings that the movie was also trying to convey.  These themes were lost and we as an audience collectively abandoned all of the controversial themes in lieu of being entertained.

Is It Even Possible?

Is it even possible to have a world WITHOUT RACISM?

If you are an idealist, you will obviously say YES, it is possible...

If you are a realist, you will obviously say NO, it is not possible...

So,
who is right?

RACISM is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against a person or people on the 

basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or 

marginalized.

Human Beings discriminate all the time towards others who are not like them...  because they are different.

• Wealth and poverty
• Working and unemployed
• Attractive and unattractive
• White and black
• Black and brown
• Black and dark black
• Northern and Southern
• Tall and short
• Fat and thin
• Teacher and student
• Doctor and patient
• Parent and child
• American and all others
• President and citizen
• Politician and citizen
• Immigrant and illegal immigrant
• Law Enforcement and law breaker
• Military and civilian
• Sick and not sick

This is not a game that we play...  this is the reality of the world...  and, this discrimination started from the very beginning between God and Adam & Eve and eventually between God and the serpent...

WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE DIFFERENCES AND BECAUSE OF THOSE DIFFERENCES WE WILL ALWAYS HAVE DISCRIMINATION, ESPECIALLY RACISM...

Taking A Rain Day

It is not often that I have the opportunity to sit on my screen-in back porch in the summer because of the position of the sun and the humidity, but today, it is raining and has been raining ever since I awoke two hours ago.  And, there are no colors in the sky except a solid grey that actually serves as a background to highlight all the red brick homes, green grasses, and green leafed trees.  It is a picturesque sight even though it is a tad dismal to my sight; yet, the sound of raining falling is not just relaxing but it is mesmerizing as well in its persistence and relentless assault upon the ground.

From my vantage point, I see no animals flying or scurrying about except for a few hummingbird who, despite the rain, are enjoying and feasting upon the food we put in hanging containers especially for them and to attract them.  There are about 6 hummingbirds that visit our location each year but we have no way of knowing if it is the sames birds or not...  we'd like to think that it was and that over time they would become familiar with us and let us get closer...  but, that has yet to happen.

It is nice, to say the least, to sit out on the porch admiring and listening to the rain and not listening to FOX NEWS and the terrible "THINGS" that are going on in our country because of the upcoming election and because and because Trump's opposition has hated him from the GETGO.

Interestingly, I was raised a Democrat because both my parents were Democrats but after graduating from Wake Forest University with an MBA, I became a CONSERVATIVE LIBERAL and turned my back on the Democratic Party.  My Business Education, gave me a strong belief in the importance of Business and Economic Growth but my liberal background continued to ground me in the reality that there is a HUGE WEALTH GAP in this country and until that gets solved LABOR and MANAGEMENT will never agree on anything and more importantly they will always be enemies.

Another issue is the idea of EQUALITY...  and, while I also strongly believe that we are all equal in GOD's eyes, I also strongly believe that GOD created us with the thoughts of being UNEQUAL in physical, mental, musical, athletic, and social abilities as well.  And, while that may seem like a contradiction, GOD knew that is mankind is going to grow, WE CANNOT ALL BE EQUAL.

AND, as soon as we realize that inequality, our country and world will become a better place to live...

If you don't agree with me, then why are we all not like Michael Jordan or Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley or Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks or Martin Luther King Jr. or Jack Kennedy or Steven Jobs or Mohammed Ali???

Think about that for more than a minute or two if you will...  and then tell me I am wrong...  These GIFTS were given to these people by GOD....  who also wanted all men to be equal in HIS EYES...

Palm Sunday

What is Palm Sunday?

Palm Sunday commemorates the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1–9), when palm branches were placed in his path, before his arrest on Holy Thursday and his crucifixion on Good Friday. It thus marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of Lent.

So, this is a religious event...

A religious event for those who believe but not so much for those who do not believe...

What is belief?

Belief is an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.

Simply stated, belief refers to the notion that God exists and that not only did HE create the Universe but that HE created mankind and after HE created mankind HE appeared on earth through the body of Jesus and then allowed HIMSELF to be crucified on a cross to die for the sins of mankind.

The GOD Trinity:  Father...  Son...  Holy Ghost...

These three are one in the same.

The existence of God is a subject of debate in the philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God can be categorized as metaphysical, logical, empirical, or subjective. Wikipedia