I have heard it said a lot, that unbelievers should be totally unhappy without god. I am not normally a happy person, so I could potentially be proof of that. However, there is so many things in this world that are just simply better then church and better then religion could ever provide.
My prime example of this is music. No sermon, no prayer, can replace the peace that music gives me.
I may have a song on repeat and listen to it twenty times straight through, because of how great and meditative it is.
Here is the one I am currently listening too, for that purpose.
Now its your turn. I want this to be a list of things that make the world beautiful according to you.
3 votes
The World Is Beautiful.....
Started by
Guest_Valk0010_*
, Jul 11 2012 10:01 PM
40 replies to this topic
#2
Kaiser01
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Posted 11 July 2012 - 10:23 PM
The universe without God is a place of wonder. when i tried to go back to religion i couldn't do it because the universe became boring and meaningless. I couldn't do it, it felt worse than any guilt, any pain when i looked into the stars and saw no beauty, it was painful.
This song is a christian song ironically but it reminds me of existence.
This song is a christian song ironically but it reminds me of existence.
Edited by Kaiser01, 11 July 2012 - 11:04 PM.
"We exist for the universe to understand itself..."- Carl Sagan
“Immortality: A toy which people cry for, And on their knees apply for, Dispute, contend and lie for, And if allowed Would be right proud Eternally to die for.” - Ambrose Bierce
#3
mcdaddy
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Posted 11 July 2012 - 10:42 PM
Just thinking about the size of the universe, and the potential that the universe could be the size of the earth in another larger universe. Infinity.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day; teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime; give a man religion and he will die praying for a fish.
#4
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Posted 11 July 2012 - 10:59 PM
Opening my mind to new ideas.
Discovering the world, people, and life.
Genuine moments with other human beings.
Emotion.
Edit: I put emotion because I used to not let myself feel, thinking that my own emotions were invalid, unimportant, and something to "overcome". Now when I experience emotion or see another experience true emotions, I see the beauty of humanity. I feel connected to the world.
Discovering the world, people, and life.
Genuine moments with other human beings.
Emotion.
Edit: I put emotion because I used to not let myself feel, thinking that my own emotions were invalid, unimportant, and something to "overcome". Now when I experience emotion or see another experience true emotions, I see the beauty of humanity. I feel connected to the world.
Edited by OpenPalm89, 11 July 2012 - 11:33 PM.
"They think I sin all day. Well I'm just alive, well I'm just alive."
#5
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Posted 11 July 2012 - 10:59 PM
Great thread, btw. 
"They think I sin all day. Well I'm just alive, well I'm just alive."
#6
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Posted 11 July 2012 - 11:28 PM
I have heard it said a lot, that unbelievers should be totally unhappy without god. I am not normally a happy person, so I could potentially be proof of that. However, there is so many things in this world that are just simply better then church and better then religion could ever provide.
Our world is beautiful whether you believe in a god...or not. Recognizing that it is up to us to take responsibility for it is priceless.
Photo credit: Trey Ratcliff, http://stuckincustoms.com CC license non-commercial
"In these bodies we will live,
in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love,
you invest your life" ~Mumford & Sons, Awake my soul
in these bodies we will die
Where you invest your love,
you invest your life" ~Mumford & Sons, Awake my soul
#7
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Warning, adult content
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Posted 11 July 2012 - 11:41 PM
What is beautiful to me is all contained in this series, Planet Earth BBC. Everything they share just makes me realize how much is going on in places I may never visit, and I am but a speck in time. It just amazes me how the planet functions.
Edited by London, 11 July 2012 - 11:42 PM.
Have you been saved damaged by Jesus the Cult?
If the world ended on 12/21/2012, then where are we now???
#8
stryper
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Posted 11 July 2012 - 11:54 PM
"I am made from the dust of stars
and the oceans swim in my veins" - Rush
Edited by stryper, 11 July 2012 - 11:59 PM.
"It's wildly irritating to have invented something as revolutionary as sarcasm, only to have it abused by amateurs."
— Biff (Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal)
Faith is Silly. It is blind acceptance in things you have every right to question. -Michael
— Biff (Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal)
Faith is Silly. It is blind acceptance in things you have every right to question. -Michael
#9
stryper
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 12:06 AM
This one is just cool.
"It's wildly irritating to have invented something as revolutionary as sarcasm, only to have it abused by amateurs."
— Biff (Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal)
Faith is Silly. It is blind acceptance in things you have every right to question. -Michael
— Biff (Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal)
Faith is Silly. It is blind acceptance in things you have every right to question. -Michael
#10
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 12:07 AM
A true believer preached to me as I walked to the market. He asked if I believed and I told him I didn't. He asked me why and I said what I've seen and learned from the world has shown me that there is no personal god. The believer rattled off some Bible verse about the world being evil. I pointed to the snow covered mountains surrounding the town and said, "THE WORLD IS AWESOME!"
I take great pride in my travels. I've seen rain forests, deserts, coral reefs, beaches, ice burgs, glaciers, whales, canyons, gators, elephants, volcanoes, and much much more. Your book and its petty god were written by tiny men who hardly ventured beyond the horizon.
I take great pride in my travels. I've seen rain forests, deserts, coral reefs, beaches, ice burgs, glaciers, whales, canyons, gators, elephants, volcanoes, and much much more. Your book and its petty god were written by tiny men who hardly ventured beyond the horizon.
#11
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 01:00 AM
Sometimes, I just like to sit down and think "what was here before this house? What was here before that? What was in this exact spot 500 years ago? 5000? 5billion?!" It's definitly a humbling experience, and for some reason is fascinates me to no end!
“If I was told to do what all monotheists are told to do, to admire the man who said ‘yes, I’ll gut my kid to show the love of god’ I’d say ‘No, fuck you.’” — Christopher Hitchens
#13
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 12:18 PM
"We exist for the universe to understand itself..."- Carl Sagan
“Immortality: A toy which people cry for, And on their knees apply for, Dispute, contend and lie for, And if allowed Would be right proud Eternally to die for.” - Ambrose Bierce
#14
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 05:58 PM
I am blown away by beauty in general - art, music, nature. There is so much we still have to learn about nature, too.
Right now I am inspired by the mission to Mars (another thread). That human beings can actually explore other planets is always a thrill. I still remember when Neil Armstrong stepped off onto the moon. I hope that I can learn a lot more about the planets in the next 30 or so years I have left.
Right now I am inspired by the mission to Mars (another thread). That human beings can actually explore other planets is always a thrill. I still remember when Neil Armstrong stepped off onto the moon. I hope that I can learn a lot more about the planets in the next 30 or so years I have left.
"I will overcome, shine and let everyone see the radiant beauty of my true self set free!" - TexasOtaku
"Imagine if your beliefs will never get you where you want to go." - Tony Robbins
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 07:08 PM
I hear people say "Earth is hell" and people say living life is so horrible. I just think, yeah its hard as hell, but believe me, its a paradise you have to struggle to survive in, but its beautiful and I couldn't imagine a better world to live in. I can definitely think of ways to improve how we live in this world though.
Just a friendly reminder. This is Ex-Christian.net. We are former christians, we left the faith, because we saw that it was bullcrap. Just a fair warning, we still think its bullcrap and will say so on our forum. Expect it!
#16
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Posted 12 July 2012 - 11:10 PM
"Et in Arcadia ego." is a sentiment I can believe of Earth as much as I can believe that, "Mundus horribile est." but the former wins out in the end because once you get past the leg worms and the harlequin fetuses, you have the Amazon, Mt Everest, the blade of the grasses, consciousness itself, the sky, the sheer enormity of the universe and then you cannot see the world of the Bible as envisioned ever again the same. Fuck the Bible and the religion riding on it. I like the actual world better, ya megalomanical genocidal foreskin slicing bastard if you ever feckin existed, that is.
Go, run like the wind, and the sun will rise in the morning. The golden moment is yet to come, and anything can happen. Everything and anything is possible. Just needs time. Even time is not a barrier. What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper? Or for the Gardener? Life, life, life.
#17
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Posted 13 July 2012 - 07:34 AM
Hey Valk, I agree about the beauty in the world. It's so easy to overlook when the wounded parts of the world impinge upon us.
Your post inspired me to look up the lyrics of When I Ruled the World, and I discovered that what I had been hearing as "I know St. Peter will call my name" is "I know St. Peter won't call my name." Ha ha! When I thought I was hearing about St. Peter calling someone's name, I used to get tiny glimmers of kinda sorta wishing I could believe the way I did when I was a Catholic... I like the song anyway.
JoeCoastie - yes, awesome, isn't it, the world.
Onyx - "et in Arcadia ego" - love it! Have you read Brideshead Revisited, in which that expression is used? I like the cat on your icon. Just a quibble: it should be "mundus horribilis". BTW there's a kiwi in the National Aviary in Pittsburgh PA but the fucker didn't show when I was there.
Things that make the world beautiful for me--
my lover
my friends
my cat
in nature, places I remember all my life: Hawk Mt. Pa, Martha's Vineyard, the West Branch of the Delaware, the Rockies, Delphi, the marshes near Agadir
music and art
so much of my religious experience was experience of music and art, from when I "was born again" listening to someone play the organ in the chapel at college and thinking that the music went beyond the material world. Some things that make me kinda sorta wish I believed:
Bach's B Minor Mass, the chorale from his Wachet Auf
Faure's Requiem
Piazzetta's ceiling fresco in S. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice, showing St. Dominic taken to heaven. One nun looks down from the rim of heaven at the viewer and beckons, as if to say, 'come up here with us'. The last real prayer I prayed was in that chapel, and even then I was praying to God, if you exist.
Caravaggio's David holding the head of Goliath, looking at his enemy's severed head with a mixture of stern justice and pity. David's face is painted from a real guy, Ceco de Boneri, whom Caravaggio used as a model, and I suspect they were lovers. The severed head of Goliath bears the face of Caravaggio himself. I get tears in my eyes every time I see this painting in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
the vast expanse of the heavens and thinking of the universe as eternal
a horse running
Your post inspired me to look up the lyrics of When I Ruled the World, and I discovered that what I had been hearing as "I know St. Peter will call my name" is "I know St. Peter won't call my name." Ha ha! When I thought I was hearing about St. Peter calling someone's name, I used to get tiny glimmers of kinda sorta wishing I could believe the way I did when I was a Catholic... I like the song anyway.
JoeCoastie - yes, awesome, isn't it, the world.
Onyx - "et in Arcadia ego" - love it! Have you read Brideshead Revisited, in which that expression is used? I like the cat on your icon. Just a quibble: it should be "mundus horribilis". BTW there's a kiwi in the National Aviary in Pittsburgh PA but the fucker didn't show when I was there.
Things that make the world beautiful for me--
my lover
my friends
my cat
in nature, places I remember all my life: Hawk Mt. Pa, Martha's Vineyard, the West Branch of the Delaware, the Rockies, Delphi, the marshes near Agadir
music and art
so much of my religious experience was experience of music and art, from when I "was born again" listening to someone play the organ in the chapel at college and thinking that the music went beyond the material world. Some things that make me kinda sorta wish I believed:
Bach's B Minor Mass, the chorale from his Wachet Auf
Faure's Requiem
Piazzetta's ceiling fresco in S. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice, showing St. Dominic taken to heaven. One nun looks down from the rim of heaven at the viewer and beckons, as if to say, 'come up here with us'. The last real prayer I prayed was in that chapel, and even then I was praying to God, if you exist.
Caravaggio's David holding the head of Goliath, looking at his enemy's severed head with a mixture of stern justice and pity. David's face is painted from a real guy, Ceco de Boneri, whom Caravaggio used as a model, and I suspect they were lovers. The severed head of Goliath bears the face of Caravaggio himself. I get tears in my eyes every time I see this painting in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
the vast expanse of the heavens and thinking of the universe as eternal
a horse running
#18
Margee
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Posted 13 July 2012 - 07:53 AM
Sometimes, I just like to sit down and think "what was here before this house? What was here before that? What was in this exact spot 500 years ago? 5000? 5billion?!" It's definitly a humbling experience, and for some reason is fascinates me to no end!
I was going to say something like this myself sara. I am in amazement right now, as I watch the human species with such compassion for the effort, fight and the spirit, we have to survive. Humans deserve a medal! It is leading me to have a very compassionte heart. We are one hell of a fantastic species !!
93% of the mass in our body is stardust. Just think.....long ago someone may have wished upon a star that you are made of.
God may not work.....but you could try wishing upon a star!
God may not work.....but you could try wishing upon a star!
#19
owen652
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Posted 13 July 2012 - 08:39 PM
this. sometimes i just stop and think, 'holy crap! we walked on the moon!' (and drove too!) still blows me away.
The hardest journey is the one which leads to the truth.
"A miracle is an event described by those to whom it was told by people who did not see it."
"A miracle is an event described by those to whom it was told by people who did not see it."
#20
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Posted 13 July 2012 - 08:48 PM
this. sometimes i just stop and think, 'holy crap! we walked on the moon!' (and drove too!) still blows me away.
That. is. humanity's. crowning. moment. of. awesomeness. so. far!
Go, run like the wind, and the sun will rise in the morning. The golden moment is yet to come, and anything can happen. Everything and anything is possible. Just needs time. Even time is not a barrier. What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper? Or for the Gardener? Life, life, life.
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