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Post by Darren on Jul 20, 2010 2:13:18 GMT 1
Anyone read the series? I'm about to watch the movie.Has anyone read the book and seen the movie? What are the differences?I hear alot of people from the LGBT community read the series because of their struggle with religion.
Discuss lol
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Post by Ashley on Jul 20, 2010 5:59:40 GMT 1
I've never heard of it before.
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Post by allforyou8 on Jul 20, 2010 12:42:06 GMT 1
One of the BEST books I've ever read. It totally changed my perception of who God is. It really was a freeing experience for me. I can see how it does help if you're gay and struggling with the whole religion thing. I let religion go a long time ago, so by the time I read the book, I wasn't in that struggle. It doesn't go into great detail about homosexuality at all, but the whole concept of the series, that God's greatest gift to man is choice, relates to that and so much more. I read the first three books. I think there are more, but I'm not sure. I didn't know there was a movie. Another fav book of mine is The Celestine Prophecy. That was made into a movie also and it was HORRIBLE. It just couldn't capture the essence of the book. So, I think I'll stay away from the Conversations movie.
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Post by Darren on Jul 22, 2010 21:48:48 GMT 1
The "Conversations With God" Movie,wasn't bad IMO.Then again I haven't read the books yet.Do you believe that what he wrote was the word of God or just his philosophies?
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Post by allforyou8 on Jul 23, 2010 14:43:14 GMT 1
Yeah, I do believe he tapped into some sort of communication with God. I think we all could if we relax our minds and keep them open.
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Post by Darren on Jul 29, 2010 6:59:30 GMT 1
At first I found myself relieved because my theological foundation,was erased and the makes more sense.It talks about there being no hell nor Satan,living your life as you please,but still be ready to face the consequence of your action,no judgement,God is only an observer and has no particular preference on how you choose to live your life.Of course the fanatical Christians attack by claiming this is the word of Satan.Their main dispute is the fact that this God is ALL LOVING and not the contradictory God from the Biblical text.This God claims that you can do as you please.IMO that is 2 broad for interpretation.One may read that and believe that its ok to kill,rape,steal and etc.Some may say that this is Satans way to get to you and use Walsch as a way to spread his message.Part of me may think that they could be correct,but then I mostly believe that,they want to keep people in order.The only way to do that is to perpetuate a Fearful/vengeful God that gives you free will and if you don't choose to do what he wants(i.e Ten Commandments),you will be tormented in hell."God is not fear-inducing or vengeful, only our parental projections onto God are. Fear or love are the two basic alternative perspectives on life"What makes me lean more towards CWG,is the fact that God and the Devil made a wager on who they can get to follow one another.That to me itself is nonsensical and quite egocentric of God to even conceive that concept.God is supposed to be PERFECT.God tells Walsch something along the lines of "Hell doesn't exist as some place of eternal torment.What purpose would I have in that?" "Even if I did hold the extraordinary/ungodly thought that you didn't deserve heaven,why would I have a need to seek a revenge upon you for failing?""Is it fear that you need to have to do/be what is intrinsically right?" "You make your own rules." I have a hard time accepting these ideas.It sounds too good to be true and I'm so used to being in fear and living under an Conditional loving god.Some people would argue that these are simply Mr. Walschs own philosophies,but I FEEL that this book was indeed a constructive dialogue between him and the real GOD.
Thoughts?
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Post by Darren on Jul 29, 2010 7:02:04 GMT 1
I've never heard of it before. Conversations with God (CwG) is a sequence of books written by Neale Donald Walsch, written as a dialogue in which Walsch asks questions and God answers.[1] The first book of the Conversations with God series, Conversations with God, Book 1: An Uncommon Dialogue, appeared on bookshelves in 1995, and quickly became a publishing phenomenon, staying on the New York Times Best-Sellers List for 137 weeks. The succeeding volumes in the trilogy also appeared prominently on the List. In an interview with Larry King, Walsch described the inception of the books as follows: at a low period in his life, Walsch wrote an angry letter to God asking questions about why his life wasn't working. After writing down all of his questions, he heard a voice over his right shoulder say: "Do you really want an answer to all these questions or are you just venting?"[2] Though when he turned around he saw no one there, Walsch felt answers to his questions filling his mind and decided to write them down. The ensuing dialogue became the Conversations with God books.
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Post by allforyou8 on Jul 29, 2010 15:17:20 GMT 1
For me, I didn't interpret anything in the book as "I can go do anything I want because I'm not going to he!!." It teaches you there will always be an effect from your actions. I think one of the main things stressed in book #2 is that we are all responsible for ourselves and each other. If you focus on the heart of what that really means, you won't harm another person or do evil. The people who would, don't get what the books are saying. That reflects more on them than the book. One of the things I took away from the series is that karma is real. You get back what you give out. If you hold that principle close, you live your life accordingly. So, the fears of the christian community that this thinking will lead to a free for all really hold no water. At least not to me. I mean times are bad right now with the threat of hell and God's vengence. I really don't see people saying, "Oh there's no hell? I'm going to kill and rape even more now." lol I could talk all day about these books.
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Post by Darren on Jul 29, 2010 15:50:41 GMT 1
For me, I didn't interpret anything in the book as "I can go do anything I want because I'm not going to he!!." It teaches you there will always be an effect from your actions. I think one of the main things stressed in book #2 is that we are all responsible for ourselves and each other. If you focus on the heart of what that really means, you won't harm another person or do evil. The people who would, don't get what the books are saying. That reflects more on them than the book. One of the things I took away from the series is that karma is real. You get back what you give out. If you hold that principle close, you live your life accordingly. So, the fears of the christian community that this thinking will lead to a free for all really hold no water. At least not to me. I mean times are bad right now with the threat of hell and God's vengence. I really don't see people saying, "Oh there's no hell? I'm going to kill and rape even more now." lol I could talk all day about these books. What if you don't believe in the concept of karma? Does that mean it does not apply to you? I personally do,but I'm wondering do you think karma isn't applicable if you don't believe in it.One thing I didn't like was when God tells Walsch that everything that happens,you are accountable for.So people who are raped,beaten and/or killed are at fault for what happens to them? I didn't quite understand the answer. Do the book touch on what is heaven like? Reincarnation? Sexual orientation?
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Post by allforyou8 on Aug 1, 2010 13:39:52 GMT 1
Hmmm...Good question. I don't know about people who don't believe in karma. I think in reading the book, you're shown that we're all responsible for our actions. Life is a big cause and effect. It's hard for me to see why someone wouldn't believe that. I can see not understanding it, but I think everyone can point to a specific circumstance where karma is a direct result of a previous action. I could be wrong though. The whole thing about bad circumstances like rape, murder, crime, disease is off putting, but it does make sense. I checked the book and it says we are all responsible for these circumstances. We've created a world where these things happen. Ultimately, the person who did the crime chose to harm, but the book says look deeper to what caused him to act out this way. For the victim, everybody has a journey to walk. Although everybody on the outside doesn't understand why, there is a reason why? It's like the Christian principle that God gives us no more than we can bear. It was hard for me to grasp that at first, but if you think about a really tragic event in your life, you either had to sink or swim. Things I've gone through have made me a stronger person, I feel. I can't explain why they happened, but I came to a point where I had to stop asking why and just focus on figuring out how to get through it. The book talks about heaven and hell. It basically says there is no place where the good people go and there is no place where the bad people go. Because we are beings who have always existed and will always exist, there is no ultimate end. It also talks about reincarnation in that it does exist. That's where the no ultimate end thing comes in. You're a spiritual being who is always existing, so that existence may take the form of a physical body. Sexual orientation isn't really discussed much. Regarding homosexuality, the author says the answer was God doesn't care if we are or aren't gay.
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Post by Darren on Aug 1, 2010 23:59:54 GMT 1
So there is no Satan? I would like you to watch that clip and let me know your thoughts on it.This guy claims he was apart of a cult and that Satan revealed his plans to him.
1 of them was to get people to deny the existence of Satan.
What do you think of this?
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Post by allforyou8 on Aug 2, 2010 2:33:35 GMT 1
I don't know. He didn't really say anything to me that proved satan's existence. Maybe more is revealed in the over vids. For me, taking the element of an evil force out of my life opened me up more to God. I stopped reacting to things with the thought of trying to get to heaven. I stopped blaming the bad things that happened to me on satan. I just looked at them as circumstances. not some great evil force trying to twart good. What do you think about what the guy said in the vid?
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Post by Darren on Aug 2, 2010 4:54:50 GMT 1
I don't know. He didn't really say anything to me that proved satan's existence. Maybe more is revealed in the over vids. For me, taking the element of an evil force out of my life opened me up more to God. I stopped reacting to things with the thought of trying to get to heaven. I stopped blaming the bad things that happened to me on satan. I just looked at them as circumstances. not some great evil force trying to twart good. What do you think about what the guy said in the vid? As for that other clip he was basically explaining what he had been told by a high priest via Satan about his plans for "us".One of those task supposedly is to get people to deny the existence of Satan.I would advise watching all the clips and let me know what you think.Very interesting stuff.I would like to obtain your perspective on this.
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Post by SlipPiN on Aug 7, 2010 3:23:00 GMT 1
hmmm i mite have to check these books out.. ive been thinking bout some of the things you both have mentioned...
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