Here I am.

(That is my proof of God.)

Life is just a dream

Lol, WE'RE IN THE MATRIX! NOOOOOO

Isn't that more likely proof of your parents having intercourse that resulted in pregnancy? (Unless, of course one ascribes to human parthenogenesis or immaculate conception).

Only if you identify "I" as your physical body. Is that who you are? Is that what you are?

Think about how people talk about the internal observer vs the external body, mind and brain.

"My body, my mind, my brain, my opinion, my thoughts, my idea, my soul, etc."

Who is "I?"

I think, I feel, I see.....

You are not your body, or your brain or even your mind or your thoughts or you feelings. So who or what are you?

You are the divine observer.

You are not your "personality." You are not your ego.

I have a personality, I have a brain, I have a body, I have an ego.

Who am I?

I am the divine observer.

Says who? Based on what information? Verification?

Are you stating an opinion or are you setting that statement forth as a statement of fact?

As a Non-Theist, I am willing to engage in a discussion regarding the existence of "god." However:

1. There are thousands of "gods" proposed, worshiped, loved, hated, feared by humans. One or more of them MAY actually exist, but that has not been decided based upon verifiable information.

2. Proving non-existence of an invisible, undetectable proposed entity is a fool's errand. No one can PROVE that invisible, undetectable unicorns do not exist on Mars. It is possible to rationally conclude that it is unlikely given the environment, but proof of non-existence does not exist.

3. In reasoned debate or discussion, one who makes a claim is expected to support the claim with verifiable evidence if challenged. Those who claim that one or more of the "gods" exist have the intellectual burden of proving their case. Any who claim that "gods" do not exist have exactly the same burden.

Atheism does NOT require denial of the existence of "gods" --�� but rather it indicates the absence of a belief. Absence of belief is NOT synonymous with denial. Some Atheists deny existence of "gods", others do not.

Non-Theism, in my case, indicates simply "not a theist" (theism is defined as: belief in the existence of a god or gods)

Yes, one or more of the thousands of proposed "gods" may exist -- waiting evidence of which one(s). Those who claim to know after reading or hearing the opinions of others or having emotional / psychological / mental "experiences" have less than a half-percent chance of picking the right "god" to worship (since there are over 2000 proposed).

This planet wasn't always hospitable for carbon based life forms. Most of its existence it has been void of life. Conditions are right now, and so life flourishes. Eventually life won't be able to exist here again.

Life began, in theory, by free floating amino acids randomly colliding into each other until they started to form their first single celled life form. Over a lot of time and lots of mutations complex life forms evolved into everything we see today. They evolved to live perfectly in this world because as they evolved to work well in this type of environment. Survival of the more fit and capable to live in its environment

It is believe that there are many planets that fall within the goldilock zone in their own solar system and are very likely to support life.

There is such a thing as chance

This idea is upsetting to those who think that humans (they themselves) are special, are not animals, were created by their favorite "god" (rather than the other way around), are "the image" of supernatural entities (rather than anthropomorphized deities), and don't "really" die but continue as a "soul" that exists for eternity (or is reincarnated as a snake or cow).

If people in general thought of humans as just part of the Earth's biological makeup, what would professional religionists (those who take any income from providing religious services) do for a living?

LOL

It is of course my opinion (as everything is an opinion.)

Even so-call "facts" are opinions. They are called "facts" only because a group of "authorities" agree on them.

Do you have a body?

Do you have a brain?

Do you have a mind?

Do you have an opinion?

Do you have thoughts?

Do you have a personality?

If you do, then please tell me, who are you that has these things?

This wisdom is self evident.

The only thing you (or me) can know for certain is that we exist.

I AM.

Everything else is an opinion.

If you can only accept information based on some "authority" ("says who?") then you are at the mercy of outside authorities in ascertaining what is true, providing you decide to accept said authority.



Based on my own personal experience of existence, verified by me.

In short, (and this is of course going to sound cliche' because people hear it and say it all the time...)

I am God.

I exist.

I AM.

We are all intimately connected to each other and the universe we live and have consciousness in.

On a more personal, human consciousness point of view, all I can be absolutely certain of is that I exist.

I am not as certain if you exist, but I will take your word for it, and I accept that you exist. It is my personal opinion that you exist. I know I exist.

I am not a Solipsist.

I would better be "labeled" (and I hate labels) as a pantheist if you have to have a label.

And I might also ad that what a person believes is their personal business and does not change the truth that they exist or the truth of what is or how it came about. They will continue to argue those points until they realize who or what they are.

That we exist at all is amazing.

A Hindu legend says we were all once gods. But eventually we
abused our powers. Brahma, the chief god, decided to punish
us by taking away our divinity. Brahma called a meeting of the
other chief gods to figure out where to hide our holiness. One
god suggested hiding it deep beneath the earth.No, Brahma
said,man will just figure out a way to tunnel miles below the
surface.Another god suggested hiding our holiness at the bottom
of the ocean.No,Brahma responded,man will just
learn how to dive to the seabed.A third god came up with the
idea of placing our divinity on top of a towering mountain.
No,Brahma said,man will just climb every tall mountain on
the planet until he finds it.Stumped, the other gods told
Brahma they gave,there didn't seem to be any place to
hide our holiness and keep it out of our reach. Wait,Brahma
said with a smile.I've got it.We'll hide man's holiness deep
within himself,he'll never think to look for it there.Since
then, we've spent ages digging below the earth, diving to the
sea floor, and climbing tall mountains, looking for something
that's already within us.

LIKE!

You got it nailed.

Nobody looks for the divine inside themselves, and that is where it hides.

Pantheism is the belief that the universe (or nature as the totality of everything) is identical with divinity, or that everything composes an all-encompassing, immanent God. Pantheists thus do not believe in a distinct personal or anthropomorphic god.

So in relation to theists, I am labeled an "atheist" because I do not accept their God, and to most atheists (and even to agnostics) I am considered to be a "believer" or an idiot because I don't subscribe to their objective logical scientific dogma.

I realize that I am God.

That is what self realization is.

LOL, that's my proof of the Devil!

So you are the devil?

If I have to explain the joke...

BTW, I just read a good article on 10 reasons why the fundamentalists are in decline. One of them is that textbook publishers are fighting Texas' request to include creationism in their science textbooks, which more related to the topic.

Rather than seeking an external authority I CHALLENGE the "authority" of whoever makes that claim. Is it you? Someone you quote? Representative of some ideology / belief system?




Not everything is opinion. For example, if any of us holds a rock at waist level and releases its support it will fall toward the ground --�� if we deprive a person of oxygen they will die -- if we fire an arrow upward it will fall to earth -- if we properly detonate C4 it will explode -- etc. Those are far more than just opinions or agreement of authorities



In my view a human is composed of all the things you mention and more. However, that does not make them anything more or less than one of the billions of animals that inhabit a minor planet of a undistinguished star in one of the multitude of galaxies.

Of course, one is entitled to the opinion that being part of what we call nature makes one a "god." Others are entitled to the opinion that is an exercise in imagination and/or hyperbole.



Self-evident "wisdom" may appear evident and wise to the speaker / writer / presenter; however, that is no assurance that it is either evident or wise to others.



See examples of non-opinion matters above.




Testimonials are wonderful -- and typically questionable (at best) except to the originator. Claims are more credible / convincing if accompanied by supporting information that any interested person can verify.

One's personal experiences, emotions and conclusions may be convincing to them; however, when they make public statements claiming knowledge of such things, their personal "verification" (self-verification) is unconvincing except to the naive or gullible.

So are you saying that one is not allowed to make "public" statements if they don't include acceptable evidence and/or the agreement of outside authorities to back them up?

Since this particular forum is called "general religion" and not "Science and Philosophy" I think I can state my own truth without some atheist or theist demanding I attempt to convince them with acceptable evidence for my statements.

I have stated that these are my opinions, and I have stated that I am not certain of ANYTHING except that I exist. I don't see why anyone would have a problem with that.




I am my own authority. If you feel you should identify your "self" with your body, personality, beliefs, ego, mind, or what ever you identify with, that is up to you.

I speak only for myself, but like I said, I am not a Solipsist, so I acknowledge that other people do exist as thinking centers with wills of their own. Therefore it is my opinion that we are more than just our physical expression.



Those are indeed agreements. And I do agree with all the statements above.

P.S. of course you will probably reply: "They are more than just agreements, they are "facts."

And I'm sure there are a lot of people, who will agree to call them facts.

Hence, anything that is almost unanimously agreed upon to be true, can be called "fact."

(and most people have agreed to this.)