"Seeing God" May Be Caused By Epilepsy

Started by stromboli, May 16, 2016, 06:21:56 PM

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Gawdzilla Sama

"Seeing God" May Be Caused By Epilepsy or Tequila.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

SGOS

Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on August 18, 2016, 02:49:37 PM
"Seeing God" May Be Caused By Epilepsy or Tequila.

Back in college, I had a religious friend who said he believed in the Devil because he saw him once when he was smoking pot.

Unbeliever

Quote from: Baruch on May 16, 2016, 11:42:00 PM
A pantheist doesn't accept anything transcendent, just what is immanent.  And a panentheist admits to at least the possibility of the transcendent.  I am agnostic about the transcendent.
I'm unclear on what 'transcendence' means in this context. How can a simple layman think of it? I'm no mystic, so can you sort of define what the word refers to? Does it even have a referent? I can just about understand what 'imminent' means, but what else is there besides the imminent?
God Not Found
"There is a sucker born-again every minute." - C. Spellman

Baruch

Quote from: Unbeliever on August 18, 2016, 06:08:27 PM
I'm unclear on what 'transcendence' means in this context. How can a simple layman think of it? I'm no mystic, so can you sort of define what the word refers to? Does it even have a referent? I can just about understand what 'imminent' means, but what else is there besides the imminent?

The ancient Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.  Abnormal states of consciousness aren't enlightenment, they are bong trips.  Supernatural powers are distractions.  We have all sorts of mental states.  You can use them for reference, you don't need new ones.  Dream states are interesting to me.
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

stromboli

Having experienced "enhanced mental states" of my own, I can see where someone might experience a god vision or other visions and apparitions. In my case though I understood that I wasn't seeing with normal eyes, so was able to put it in context. In the case of an epileptic, the experience would likely be more real because it is spontaneous and comes without the epileptic wanting it, so it has the added factor of being thrust upon him, like Paul's vision.

DeltaEpsilon

Quote from: SGOS on August 18, 2016, 03:55:51 PM
Back in college, I had a religious friend who said he believed in the Devil because he saw him once when he was smoking pot.

The dealer must have cut the marijuana with something else, marijuana has no visual effects.
The fireworks in my head don't ever seem to stop

SGOS

Quote from: DeltaEpsilon on August 18, 2016, 09:17:12 PM
The dealer must have cut the marijuana with something else, marijuana has no visual effects.

I never considered that because I didn't take him all that seriously.  Oh, believe he thought he saw the Devil, but what does that mean?  People walk with Jesus, have a personal relationship with God, and find Jesus here and there, but of course, none of this literally happens.  It's all just metaphor that becomes tangled up with people's realities.  So seeing the Devil means just about anything.  This was a long time ago, but I think I asked him for clarification.  And I think he was insistent that he actually saw the Devil in tangible form.  But it could have been a shadow in a dark alley.  And he could have been taking something else along with his pot.  In fact, it wouldn't have been unusual for him double dope.

Gawdzilla Sama

Quote from: SGOS on August 18, 2016, 03:55:51 PM
Back in college, I had a religious friend who said he believed in the Devil because he saw him once when he was smoking pot.
Hell, I married the Devil. My friends said I must have been stoned.
We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers

Baruch

Quote from: Gawdzilla Sama on August 19, 2016, 12:07:58 PM
Hell, I married the Devil. My friends said I must have been stoned.

Devil With A Blue Dress On ;-)
Ha’át’íísh baa naniná?
Azee’ Å,a’ish nanídį́į́h?
Táadoo ánít’iní.
What are you doing?
Are you taking any medications?
Don't do that.

Gawdzilla Sama

We 'new atheists' have a reputation for being militant, but make no mistake  we didn't start this war. If you want to place blame put it on the the religious zealots who have been poisoning the minds of the  young for a long long time."
PZ Myers