Why Do You Believe?

[Plaidback]

Originally Posted by smkolins

As much as we cannot understand or percieve true reality unvarnished, in the same breath, we cannot escape it.

I feel the way you feel, and not feeling that way. My life, my Love, everything I know, everything I feel, is true ultimate reality. And you don't stand chance to proove me wrong.
Who ever died, infact escaped it

Originally Posted by smkolins

I do not need to imagine it. I'm in it, deaf dumb and blind.

feel free to feel anyway you feel free ( don't hurt yourself )

Originally Posted by smkolins

But I wish to make a difference in the few dimensions I have access to, so that as part of the whole, no change is percieved. If I did not do my part the whole would still be unchanged, but where I would fit in would leave me ashamed.

Can you be more specific about " the few dimensions I have access to ",
it sound kinda sci-fi

[Plaidback]

Originally Posted by dauer

I don't have many religious beliefs. That's what I said in my first post. I'm an agnostic. You're using a very narrow definition of the word reality. Someone who believes everything is God and someone who believes that the world is inherently dirty experience the world in very different ways. The same is true for smaller beliefs as well. Are you familiar with the poem, "I placed a jar in Tenessee"?

English is not my birth language, so, very often, have to reach for dictionary
to see definition for the words which I use. When talking about Reality, it is
something that does not involve God, because it covers Everybody, Atheist's
included. That's why, I felt your theory about " Jewish reality map ", simply
as Jewish way of Life, just like every other Society have develop theirs.
Which are all together just components of this Planet's Reality.
Reality is truth, beliefs are Not, and yet, they are still part of that Reality.
Only as Imagination, just like Movies.
Now, when I've looked for definition for " Agnostic " , it says :
" One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God "
" One who is doubtful or noncommital about something "
Which are atributes a bit opposite of what you feel you are, according to
that link.
Most important is that you are satisfied with how you feel, which is something
nobody should argue. It was your choice to put Label to that, and to me,
Agnostic kinda don't jive with your posts. But that's just Me

Originally Posted by dauer

I'm not an Orthodox Jew, so you're barking up the wrong tree, and even among Orthodox Jews you're still barking up the wrong tree. I'm a Jewish Renewal Jew. Read here:

http://www.aleph.org/principles.html

Those are ideas that are closer to my thinking. I'm not bothering with the rest of your post as it was entirely off topic. If you want to learn some answers about Judaism instead of going by what you think you know, start asking questions in the Judaism part of this website because the information you got was either insufficiently delivered or insufficiently received.

Dauer

I am not barking, I am telling you the truth about what I was told by Jews.
Are they Ortodox, non Ortodox, or whathaveyou it's irrelevant.
Torah is still One and Only relevant factor, and Everyone deserves right to
feel about it Anyway they can.
Nothing I've said was off topic. Topic is " Why do you believe ? ", and there is
huge number of people believing that Jews have major influence on what is going on in the World today, maybe you just never heard of that kind of
belief, just like I've never heard of "I placed a jar in Tennessee (or Tenessee)"

[smkolins]

Originally Posted by Plaidback

Can you be more specific about " the few dimensions I have access to ",
it sound kinda sci-fi

Look up "string theory". Basically there has been success explaining the fundamental forces by appealing to mathematical relationships. This is far too simple but the process of addition is like elecricity, subtraction is like magnetism. So Electromagnetism is like adding and subtracting (don't take this particular analogy too far, just the idea of how two things relate can be one way of a force and another way of the same things relating is another force.) The same goes on for the weak and strong nuclear forces. They can all be explained by different math on the same stuff.

Making gravity fit didn't work at all until someone noticed that if you added an extra dimension then you got much closer - though still not all the way. THis is one of the lines of reason which points to the idea now part of string theory that the full definition of the real world must have more dimensions and that it isn't an infinite number of dimensions. In fact I beleive it's widely held among thos folks that it cannot be more than 11 dimensions, and most favor 7 for some reason i do not know. Plus time btw, time is not counted as one of these dimensions. Or so goes the theory at the moment.

BTW one of the interesting implications I recall reading is to explain the comparative weakness of gravity because it is bleeding through a great deal more space than our everyday three dimensions. Taken as a whole across all dimensions it may be a far far more powerful and magnificent force. I wonder if the overall interdimensional structures, whatever they may be, actually have a single more organized structure than our scattered galaxies and widely seperated stars and planets. Things may well be far more closely associated in the realm of realms....

In any case, in large part, my life is lived through the 3 space dimensions and time. Within that context I hope to live meaningfully. And you too!