[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Castout

Prophetic dreams are prophetic dreams and they are NOT self fulfilled prophecies, they may not even be dream. They contain too many correct [predicted] FACTS to be a coincidence and too many out of self control [predicted] outcomes to be a self fulfilled prophecies as the prophecies cannot and really CANNOT be fulfilled by SELF and SELF only and most of the time not even in the slightest by SELF in any portion AT ALL. Believing it or not doesn't change the outcome and I have doubts whether they are changeable. People who say about self fulfilling prophecies imo probably never have had a prophetic dream in their life imo(no offense).

Of course very few dreams are prophetic in nature . . . .and knowing which one is prophetic and which are not takes wisdom and experience(insight) lacking either could make knowing which is which prove to be hard but my rule is prophetic is meant to be known as prophetic so they will hit like a ton of brick as to doubtful dream they can be safely discarded. As a religious I take prophetic dreams to be from God and not without reason too as with I believe most any other Christians. I have had prophetic dreams quite a number of time to be bold enough to come to the conclusion that nothing surprises God when it comes to event, I wouldn't call it predetermined by God but well the end is already known to God even before the beginning had had begun. It's our incapacity to be unaware of future events that make them seemingly uncertain. It's an illusion though as the future is CERTAIN(and to come to think about it made me really doubt about the existence of parallel dimension at all as nothing deviates). It's my conviction mainly stemming from past experience that God knows every fraction of second of my life before even I was born as He does every single born and soon to be born person. If not God is not worthy to be God. But many skeptics about God will use this to argue about things that they cannot comprehend but assumed their argument was somehow logical while the issue cannot be comprehended by ordinary people or blame God for everything that went wrong generally and somehow expected God to babysit everything because He can and because He's supposed to be good as not to allow bad things to happen especially to good people.

One thing for certain God hid Himself from the majority mankind and somehow appreciate the concept of faith when relating to Him because it is the only way for people to be made righteous so even those who have come to know God still need faith to relate to God from time to time as nobody knows God like knowing another person(because no one over rules God so obedience based on perfect knowledge would not make one to stand corrected and thus unable to receive grace even while grace is needed like for us). Only so few people(but then again not that few) that have had a personal experience with God and God IS ALWAYS personal when dealing with every person but that should not be a problem because FAITH is still what made people stand corrected, the more faith the more one stands corrected and the more he stands corrected the more grace he will see.

The correct attitude is important for one to experience God and most importantly to see [some] of the scriptures to come alive in his life time and to be able to relate to those verses when it is read saying inside I know that for a fact(even when it's not everybody's fact) and to come to know the character of God personally no matter how little and to come to know why God is really worthy of worship and praises. In the end it's not about religion but more about one faith in God. Religion will save no one and too many people lost God and replace Him with the worship of religion or change spirituality which is the attitude towards God which is constant prayers as we all are in constant connection with God, with mere physical rituals. And if God is really one and universal wouldn't that make God the God of every single other person irregardless of one's concept of belief of God or lack of it and irregardless one's state of spirituality or lack of it. And if God is really the God of everyone wouldn't that make all of us connected.....more intimately than most of us realize because we came from the same source and ultimately will end up in the same place?

Belief. Religion. Missionary lectures. Well.

Okay - you asked for it:

I love the arrogance of religious rightousness. One may not have a way to counter an opposing argument by somebody, one may not have an argument based on reason or evidence oneself - but one can always dismiss the other by simply saying "I cannot prove you wrong nor do I care for what you said and gave in backing information, because I believe in God/witchcraft/pink flying elephants, and thus I simply believe different." I referred to cognitive sciences, and neuro science, talked of brain and dreamwork. You reply with God and how one must believe religion. Lovely.

This is something from a German theologican who was thrown into prison and later murdered by the Nazis, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I have quoted it often before in recent years, but it seems the opportunities where it fits never become rare:

Stupidity is a more dangerous foe of the good than evil is. It is possible to protest against evil, to expose oneself, and at times it can be prevented by force. Evil always carries in itself the germ of a substitute for it, in that it leaves behind at least a feeling of uneasiness in men. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor force can accomplish anythin here; reasons are of no avail; facts that contradict one's own prejudices simply do not need to be believed -- in such cases the stupid person even becomes critical -- and if they are unavoidable, they can simply be shoved aside as insignificant, isolated cases.

In this the stupid person, in contrast to an evil one, is completely satisfied with himself. Indeed he even becomes dangerous in that he is easily inclined to assume the offensive. Thus more care must be shown in dealing with a stupid person than with an evil one. We shall never again seek to convince a stupid person with reasons; it is senseless and dangerous. In order to know how to deal with stupidity we must seek to understand its nature. This much is certain, that it is not essentially an intellectual defect but a human one. There are intellectually quite able men who are stupid, and intellectually very dull men who are anything but stupid. In certain specific situations we make this discovery to our astonishment. In this connection one has less the impression that stupidity is an inborn defect than that under certain circumstances men are made stupid, or perhaps let themselves be made stupid.

We observe, moreover, that men who live secluded and alone show this defect less often than men and groups of men who are inclined or fated to sociability. Thus stupidity seems to be less a psychological problem than a sociological one. It is a particular form of the effect of historical circumstances on man, a psychological phenomenon that accompanies specific external relationships. On closer view it is seen that every strong outward development of power, whether of a political or of a religious nature, smites a large portion of mankind with stupidity. Yes, this has precisely the appearance of a sociological-psychological law. The power of one man needs the stupidity of another. In this it does not turn out that specific -- and thus perhaps intellectual -- human concerns suddenly are spoiled or go awry, but that under the overpowering impression of the development of power, man is robbed of his inner independence, and theat he now -- more or less unconsciously -- renounces any attempt to find his own relation to the situation that has developed.

The fact that a stupid person is often stubborn should not deceive anyone into thinking that he is independent. In conversation with him it is felt that you are not dealing with the person himself, but with cliches, slogans, etc., that have gained dominance over him. He is under a spell, he is blinded, he is misused, mishandled in his own being. Thus having become a will-less instrument the stupid person becomes capable of all evil, and at the same time incapable of recognizing it as evil. Here lies the danger of the diabolical abuse. In this way men can be destroyed forever.

Why can't people leave their religion where it belongs: in private. By not doing so they make people like me feeling to just have wasted our good will and time.