-=> Quoting LORRAINE PHILLIPS to JIM CASTO <=-
 LP> Maybe there's a cluster of alternative therapies, such as prayer,
 LP> touch therapy and pet therapy, that work because they allow us to feel
 LP> unconditionally loved.
 
 Well, I guess that doesn't explain to my satisfaction why an "alternative
 therapy" would work one time and not another, or why it would work for one
 person and not another any more than "standard therapies" work for some
 people and not others. In other words, if I were a "touch therapist" and my
 "touching" worked for one person and not for another, does that mean the two
 people were not "unconditionally loved" the same?
 Why are some people helped by placebos and others aren't helped by the
 "real thing"? All a mystery to me that I don't even bother to try and 
 figure out. Kinda sorta like a discussion I'm involved in on another 'net.
 "What is the meaning of life?" For me personally, I don't think life has a
 "meaning". It just "is".
 -> ...I'm an atheistic agnostic. (And, yes, according to my dictionary I
 -> _can_ be both.)
 LP> So your position is that we can't know whether or not there is a god,
 LP> and you yourself do not hold the belief that god exists?
 That's correct. Except for one minor correction. "_I_ (not "We") can't know"
 Maybe you _can_ "know" a god exists. The other part of that is "proof".
 Someone may be able to "prove" it to you. It can't be proven to me.
 LP> I've wondered what we have in mind when we say 'god'.
 Actually, I'm saved from that "wondering" process. 
 LP> It could be very
 LP> different for different people.  The god that comes to mind for me is a
 LP> nature spirit that exists in everything for all time.
 If that works for you, it's o.k. by me.  That also seems to work for 
 Shinto believers, also. 
  
 LP> A lady I admire
 LP> says 'god is people being good to other people'.
 
 And she is probably good to people.
 LP> I know that praying has brought me comfort and allowed me to be more
 LP> creative at understanding and solving my problems.  One explanation
 LP> I've considered for this is that praying sends a message to the
 LP> unconscious mind, that 'God' was invented to explain praying, and that
 LP> religion was subsequently invented to codify it all.  IOW, petitionary
 LP> praying could be effective whether or not god exists.
 
 Again, whatever works for you to solve what you perceive as "life's
 problems". I don't perceive any aspect of life as being a "problem". It just
 "is".
 Plodding along (stumbling?) works for me. 
 
 Jim
--- Blue Wave v2.12
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