Life Forward Anchor 1

[JoeDex]

Anchor Number 1
You are a child of God. You have worth and purpose. Always know that you matter. 
 

I want to emphasize that you are free to choose whether to accept or reject what I write. If you don't believe in a God then nothing I can say or do will change your mind. You would chose to reject the concept. Your freedom allows this decision. It is like hot oil reacting with cold water, a violent explosion results normally in vitriol from the non- believer. Once again, they choose to reject.

 

Why is this an Anchor? Because in order for you to add value to the world you have to know that you have value. Your being alive is valuable and your purpose is to add to the value of others. This can be accomplished in as many ways as you can imagine. Likewise, there are those that try and take value from others. 

You have value and you matter.

[Rhonda Huntress]

Edited July 24, 2017 by Rhonda Huntress
nevermind

[JoeDex]

@Rhonda Huntress I wonder if you even read the information above. I accuse you of nothing and I clearly state you are free to reject this. Religion is a system and what I have stated is not a religion only one of the Anchors of this mindset. I read your reply and the sense I get is that you will reject anything. If I had stated you are a child of Donald Duck; I think you would have gone on about how Disney is an evil corporation. 

I thank you for your comments. All I ask is that you read and comprehend. 

 

[Nalytha]

I'm a little confused. 

"If you don't believe in a God then nothing I can say or do will change your mind. You would chose to reject the concept. Your freedom allows this decision." 

So, do we have freedom of choice or not? If we have the freedom to choose, shouldn't we be able to be swayed by your words or deeds?

 

[Rhonda Huntress]

Edited July 24, 2017 by Rhonda Huntress
nevermind

[Rhonda Huntress]

 

 

Edited July 24, 2017 by Rhonda Huntress
nevermind

[LittleMe Jewell]

3 hours ago, JoeDex said:

You are a child of God.
  No

You have worth and purpose.
  Yes, thank you for noticing 

Always know that you matter. 
  I do know that

 It is like hot oil reacting with cold water, a violent explosion results normally in vitriol from the non- believer. Once again, they choose to reject.
  I don't necessarily equate my rejection of what you believe with 'a violent explosion'

Your being alive is valuable
  Thank you for confirming what I already know

and your purpose is to add to the value of others.
  I don't think so - or at least not 'all others'

You have value and you matter.
   Once again, thank you for confirming what I already know

Well, you got it partly right.

[Chic Aeon]

Personally I believe that everyone has a right to choose what they believe. It may be organized religion. It may be a religion of another culture (often looked down on by the peer group of the believer). It may be simply NOT believing. 

I do agree that we all have value - whether or not someone believes in God, gods, Goddess,  your god etc.  But belief in "anything or nothing" doesn't change our worth. We are each here on our own journey and it is unlikely that others will understand exactly what that journey is. Most of the time we don't understand it well either. 

So for me, it is best to let people find their own way.  Hence I am not enamored with your post -- although I do believe you have a right TO post :D. 

 

[ForrestChild]

*Reads the OPs post*

...

.......

.........

.........

Hail Cthulhu!

*walks off*

[Tari Landar]

I wonder if you realize that you don't get to determine whether or not anyone has the ability to reject or not reject what it is you say. That's entirely out of your hands. I don't mean the ACTUAL rejection or acceptance, but the capability of doing one, the other, both, even neither...is entirely out of your control. Your whole concept of people rejecting your views being likened to hot oil and water is misguided, at best, and completely negates your entire point(or, the point I think you were trying to make, it's a bit convoluted at this point)....because....it's not within your control or even capability to determine this.

God did not create me, my parents did during a wild romp in the bedroom of my grandmother's house just to spite her, while listening to the Beatles. (oh yes, I know where and when I was conceived, lil creepy as a kid, as an adult, kinda funny). Coincidentally a Beatles song was playing the day I was born too...hence my rl name.  Being *human gives me free will, and with it the capability of choosing my own path in life. It also gives me some amazing super powers, like those of compassion, acceptance, ignorance, human instincts and who knows how many others. It also gives me the abilities of either employing them, or choosing not to. That is one of the beauties, and uglies, situationally dependent of course, of being human...the ability to choose.

My non-belief in your words applicability to my own life path is not my rejecting them, it is my lack of belief that they are applicable. I don't reject their existence, I mena, you have them, they must exist. The fact that you see it as a rejection of your beliefs says more about you than it does me. I happen to believe that whether or not others share my beliefs is absolutely irrelevant, at all times. They are my own beliefs after all, not theirs. If they want ones of their own..go forth and believe, but not sharing mine is hardly a rejection of them. One must accept another's beliefs as applicable in order for them to be so, of course. 

I'm glad you seem to have found what works wonderfully for you. I am glad you feel compelled to share it. I am not glad, however, that you see others not doing the same as if it is negative, a rejection, I actually find that very, very sad. To me, whether I am correct or not, that screams out "I am not confident in myself or my belief system, therefore MUST have others that also agree in order to feel as though both are validated", and that's sad to me, because validation is super important in life, but the inability to live without it at all times seems tragic to me. I'm probably wrong on my interpretation, and I'll gladly admit that, you're a bit difficult to decipher, but that's precisely what it screams out to me. Still, I am glad you have your beliefs, your life path, and what you believe works well for you. A life with no direction at all would leave us all sitting stagnate

Do you want know what my "anchor 1" is?  I'm going to tell you anyway, so you might as well say yes. 

Anchor 1- I am human and I possess all the good, bad and indifferent that comes along with being human..or...at least most of it anyway  

The end

Best of luck to you on your life journey, wherever it may take you. 

[Madelaine McMasters]

Like others in this thread, I'm not a child of God. I'm the belated offspring of two wonderful people who tried for 19 years to have a family and ended up with only me. I don't believe you are a child of God either. You believe otherwise.

Unlike others in this thread, I think it's possible and perhaps likely that we don't have free will. We simply don't comprehend the hidden forces that move us. Those forces are not supernatural, they're just not yet understood. It may be evolutionarily advantageous to believe in free will, gods, and hereafters. That doesn't mean that they exist. We are constrained by our genetics and environment, so I don't expect you or anyone else to share my beliefs and it's just not possible for me to share some of yours.

In the case of free will, there's no benefit in acting as if I haven't got it, so I continue to make choices based on evidence and intuition. But I do so with the understanding that the evidence may be wrong or misunderstood and that my intuition is imperfect. I do my best to obtain evidence and find the faults in my intuition.

I don't agree with Rhonda that religion is for the weak willed, as that would conflict with my suspicion that we don't have free will, and I know some bright and strong willed people who are religious. I do think (and Rhonda might agree) that organized religions and other institutionalized ideologies are tools used by the powerful few to gain control over the distracted many. It's hard to think deeply about things when you're trying to put food on the table. And we feel better if we think the irrational thoughts that evolved to give us the strength to endure adversity.

You can't blame people for trying to work the irrational levers that evolution found helpful before we grew our societies beyond the tribe. I've been trying to conquer the world since I was born and I've actually made fair progress. But, I had one hell of a head start, thanks to two wonderful people and a lot of luck.

And finally, if I admit that free will may be an illusion, I must wonder if all lives really do have value or if it's just helpful for us to believe that.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Madelaine McMasters

[Rhonda Huntress]

I let my anger get the upper hand.

I am sorry for the hurtful things I said.  I am sorry I said them with the sole purpose to be hurtful  There is enough pain in this life already without adding more.

[Madelaine McMasters]

3 minutes ago, Rhonda Huntress said:

I let my anger get the upper hand.

And then you wrestled it back to the ground.

Have I told you I like you?

;-).

ETA: You should see me when I'm angry!

Edited July 24, 2017 by Madelaine McMasters

[Rhonda Huntress]

Thank you.  I am rather fond of you too.  Even if you don't bacon.

 

[Madelaine McMasters]

6 minutes ago, Rhonda Huntress said:

Thank you.  I am rather fond of you too.  Even if you don't bacon.

 

Even if, or especially because? I did give you my bacon.

[Tari Landar]

No bacon  

My world...it has been shattered.....

If ever I were to belong to a church (wow that's redundant, my bad, English, I doesn't has it tonight), it would be this one, I like their philosophies (ok, most of it anyway)

 

 /me nods

 

 

 

 

[Phil Deakins]

Quite frankly, you are all being incredibly, and unnecessarily, unkind, and that's putting it mildly. Why is that? Is it perhaps because the OP stated that, "You are a child of God" and you don't believe in a God? What if he'd said, 'You are a child of the universe' or 'you are a child of creation' or of existance, or of your parents? Would that have made the replies less harsh? How about reading it again and substituting your preference?

Clearly, the OP does believe in God, and so do I. He accepts that many people don't, and so do I. I've no idea what god he believes in, but it doesn't matter here.

I have no idea what the OP is up to, and what he hopes will be the result of his posts. I agree that, if someone wanted to start a religious cult, it could easily sound just like the OP's posts. Nevertheless, what I do know is that this thread's op is very good. Substituting your preference for the word 'God', or leaving as it is, makes it have the possibility of being beneficial to any individual.

Lil seemed to agree with most of the op, even though she wrote it in a negative way. The point that I would like to make is that what the OP calls an 'anchor' makes a lot of sense, whether or not it's actually true. It makes good sense to fix it in the mind. It has a good possibility of being helpful in life from time to time.

It's disappointing to see such negativity towards something, when the only real thing that has rubbed people the wrong way is bringing God into it. I suspect that the reason is along the lines of 'he is trying to start a cult' or 'he is part of a cult and he is trying to expand it', or 'it's too cult-like'.  That may be true, but judging it that way is rather premature at the moment. I would have thought that it's better to wait and see.

Finally, I am not going to join the OP's group, and I won't have anything to do with the OP. I just wanted to point out that, imo, what he wrote in this thread is generally a good thing, and doesn't deserve the harshness that it got, especially if those who prefer something other than 'God', substitute it for something else.

 

Edited July 24, 2017 by Phil Deakins

[eighthdwarf Checchinato]

I have only one "life anchor": "An' it harm none, do what ye will"

[Tari Landar]

I wasn't negative towards the OP, I gave my perspective on my own anchor...and that's not negative, since it applies to me and only me, it can't be negative, because I choose not to allow it to be negative, and because I said so...so there.

 

[JessiSweeney]

9 hours ago, JoeDex said:

I want to emphasize that you are free to choose whether to accept or reject what I write. If you don't believe in a God then nothing I can say or do will change your mind. You would chose to reject the concept. Your freedom allows this decision. It is like hot oil reacting with cold water, a violent explosion results normally in vitriol from the non- believer. Once again, they choose to reject.

 

I have to take exception to that statement. With an over size brush, you allege that those who disagree with your thoughts and values tend to react in a violent way. That is very far from the truth in any belief. Personally, I have the highest regard for those who sincerely believe and practice what they preach or mentor. I may not agree that there is a higher power that over looks the meaning of life, for I do have my beliefs and principles. For the most part, I disagree with any organized religion, Does that make me a violent person, wanting to hurt or maim any person or organization that goes against what I feel? No it doesn't.

Sadly, there are groups in the world today that will react in the most vile and repulsive way against those who don't see the values of their ways of life, foreign and domestic. They show the organizations they belong to as intolerant and unrepentant, though the majority of the organization actually represents over all good and kindness.

I am capable of accepting or rejecting what you propose. I accept the majority of what you are trying to convey. I reject your reasoning of cause and effect for those who deny you.

[Klytyna]

10 hours ago, JoeDex said:

You would chose to reject the concept. Your freedom allows this decision. It is like hot oil reacting with cold water, a violent explosion results normally in vitriol from the non- believer. Once again, they choose to reject.

No...

For the last 6000 years of recorded human history, the subscribers to the "30,000 Flavours of the Sheeple of Magic Sky Daddies" have consistantly failed to provide any compelling reason to even consider their claims, let alone accept them.

Any vitriol you receive from us unbelievers is largely a reaction to the condescending attitudes typically expressed towards us by people such as your self, when we fail to accept your claims.

1 hour ago, Phil Deakins said:

Quite frankly, you are all being incredibly, and unnecessarily, unkind, and that's putting it mildly. Why is that?

Obvious Chistian Spinoff Cult is Obvious, remember my first replay to the first thread "Own-Brand Socio/Religious Claptrap".

1 hour ago, Phil Deakins said:

What if he'd said, 'You are a child of the universe'

"NEW AGE Own Brand Socio-Religious Claptrap (tm)"

5 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

I must wonder if all lives really do have value or if it's just helpful for us to believe that.

I've never seen any valid use for cult promoters that didn't involve herding them all into a disused quarry, backfilling it with toxic waste and nuking the site from orbit...

It's the only way to be sure...  
 

[AnnistynSL]

Believe in something or not, the OP is just a troll for posting stuff like this on the SL forums. Ridiculous!

[Skell Dagger]

11 hours ago, JoeDex said:

You are a child of God.

Well, y'know, god kinda messed up when he made me and people like me.

This is what he insists should be done to me:

And in case the translation is disputed, here are all the other translations. They all read pretty much the same: "(practicing) gay (and bisexual) men should be killed". It's fine if we adore other men from afar and restrain ourselves into monk-like celibacy, but we're not allowed to do anything about it. And as for Love the sinner, hate the sin, I'm sorry but that's downright patronising.

So forgive me if I don't feel like I'm a child of god when god's rules state that I should be killed.

As to this:

11 hours ago, JoeDex said:

You have value and you matter.

Now that I do agree with. But I don't need someone else - be it a religious figurehead or an organisation - to tell me that I should be kind and compassionate, and to treat others as I would have them treat me. My 'value' and my 'mattering' comes in the form of how others will remember me. If they can utter "That Skell Dagger, he was a decent bloke" when I'm gone, that's all I could ask for.

[Phil Deakins]

36 minutes ago, Skell Dagger said:

But I don't need someone else [...] to tell me that I should be kind and compassionate, and to treat others as I would have them treat me.

I don't think the OP was saying anything like that. My understanding of his post is to value yourself, because you matter. It was nothing to do with how you treat others. And, of course, some people do need to be assured of their worth from time to time, and that they aren't surplus to life's requirements. Personally, I think it's a good message.

Unfortunately, your post found fault with something that the OP didn't say.

Edited July 24, 2017 by Phil Deakins

[Klytyna]

26 minutes ago, Phil Deakins said:

I don't think the OP was saying anything like that. My understanding of his post is to value yourself, because you matter. It was nothing to do with how you treat others.

 

12 hours ago, JoeDex said:

Your being alive is valuable and your purpose is to add to the value of others.

The OP's initial post makes it clear your 'value' is based on you increasing the 'value' of others. Since you appear to have missed this basic English, I'll assume you also missed the "own-brand socio/religious claptrap" interpretation, 

"Join the cult, obey the cult, recruit others"

Religion is like a sexually transmitted disease...

It's embarasing, you catch it from people you should have avoided, and you have an overwhelming urge to pass it on...