Reason to believe

[oldman]

The following is a brief history of how I came to be as I am now and I would very much like to start sharing this story with you if I may. I thought maybe I ought to open this post in “Christian Testimonies”, but decided “Philosophical Discussions” would be more appropriate. When you read this post I think you will agree. Some Christians might find what I have written here offensive, but even so it is the truth, and the truth as far as I can see is all I believe I have witnessed and all that logic and reason tell me.

I will start then by first explaining that it was by experience that I came to know what many professors of psychology and psychiatry keep trying to warn others about: Cannabis can and often does cause short term memory loss, anxiety, fatigue, loss of concentration, delusions, paranoia and much worse besides. However, what many of these professors seem unable to understand and acknowledge is that there is also a very positive side to cannabis.

From my experience, during the first hour only when the desired effect of cannabis has started to work and when taken in reasonable moderation, (without alcohol, tobacco or any other drug or chemical, or person for that matter, that can so easily inhibit the ability of cannabis to raise one's awareness to higher levels) not only does it become obvious that the senses become so much more improved and the mind so much more relaxed, but it also becomes clear that one can see and reason so much more as well. Added to this, the values that were indoctrinated into us from childhood which cause us to react as we do to certain situations and problems, no longer have the same hold over us, this in itself can be dangerous but it can also be a very good thing:

Being under the influence of cannabis as I have just described, allows me to think and reason more deeply, vividly and freely, without the dominating views and prejudices of others who throughout history have largely controlled what men should think and perceive is the truth. Even so, I also know that cannabis can be extremely dangerous at times.



Here then is the story, or part of the story of my search to know the truth and how I came to be as I am now...

Although I started using cannabis in 1969, as far as I recall it wasn't until late 1985 or early 1986 that I began to see that when taking cannabis without any other stimulus, the more I was becoming aware that I was able to perceive more and think more freely and independently. I also remember how fascinated I became as new avenues of thought would keep opening up to me in ways I had not experienced before.

Before I go any further I should point out that because of world and family indoctrination, by the time I had reached my mid to late teens Darwinism and National Socialism had become firmly entrenched in my psyche, together with a very limited knowledge of Christianity. These indoctrinated views and influences then greatly controlled my behaviour and ways of thinking, steering my thoughts and actions in various ways for at least another two decades. Then in the early part of 1986 I came to a full understanding of what it really means to be deeply under the influence of cannabis with no alcohol, tobacco or anything else that does so easily deny or ruin the overall positive effect which can be obtained during that first hour, and it was during one of these periods that I became entranced when I began to see quite clearly my thought process at work:

As computers stored and retrieved information, so I began to see more and more clearly a part of my own mind working in a similar but far more interesting way. As time seemed to slow down I became very much aware of my nerves conveying what they were sensing to my memory where this new information was being stored for later use. I could see that much of this new information was also being used in whatever thought process was in progress at the time the information came in. I could also plainly see that my thought process was largely made up from my memory constantly being scanned for relative or useful information that could be added to whatever the innermost ruling part of my conscious self was experiencing or dealing with at the time, and it also became clear that this ongoing process was often being carried out so that I might make the best possible decisions for both my short term and long term feelings of pleasure or ecstasy.

One evening however, whilst deeply under the influence of cannabis, I also came to realise that I didn't really know what I believed in. Suddenly it seemed like there was nothing I could trust in any more. Even when the effects of cannabis had worn off I was still seeing how hopelessly lost and double minded I was, particularly in the things of politics, morality, atheism and religion. I think I may well have remained in that state were it not for the love I had for my two little children who in their times of innocence and naivety would love and trust in me. It was then from that lost state did I become obsessed to know just what the truth was and what or who I and my dear loved ones should prepare to face in the end.

After years of studying and thinking deeply on the subjects of atheism and evolution, cosmology, National Socialism, the prophecies of Nostradamus, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and life in general, it was eventually made very clear to me there was a part of me called pride that had convinced me I was the better man when I compared myself to certain others. This pride was also allowing me and causing me at times to regard those others with disrespect, even contempt. I was also made to see that from such a mindset it was easy for me to dismiss the true word of others as being irrelevant, unimportant or untrue whenever their statements were seen to conflict with any of my own selfish or self-important desires and plans. I did also eventually see that whilst my pride was in control it was easy for me to cheat on and lie to anyone who I did not care for, especially those who I assessed as being less important or inferior to myself. As much as I was ready to ignore the truth and deceive others for my own gain, so I was equally ready to ignore the truth and deceive myself into thinking how good and right I was. I also saw the half-truths and lies of others were easily welcomed by me as absolute truth whenever they had fed and reinforced my feeling of superiority and pleasure.

I was also made to see this vain and self deceiving way of thinking was working not only in myself but in those around me also and for as much as our self first desires became our needs so also would our cravings for more leave us more vulnerable and subject to the corruption of those most crafty and evil. Their lies would often become more easily accepted by us as truth and would therefore become easily woven into the memories of our minds that believed in those lies, and it was from our lie infested memories that our deductions, decisions and judgements were being formed. I eventually had to conclude therefore that whatever is being reasoned and perceived as truth and reality to minds corrupted by pride is all too often an illusion. I was also made to see that this state of mind is to some degree the inherited scourge of us all, breeding contempt and hatred for the truth along with paranoia, conflict, killing and destruction, just as the history of man will clearly testify.


Also, when under the influence of cannabis, I was made to see that from an atheistic and Darwinian viewpoint, a reasonable concept of God could still be seen. A contradiction in terms you might think, but even so, a reasonable concept nevertheless, and one which I would now like to begin to explain here if I may...

One day I came to hear that an atheist mathematician had recently announced a theory of natural repetition that went something like this: When everything that can happen, i.e. every single permutation of every movement in all matter (matter being something as opposed to nothing) has happened, the only logical thing to happen next would be for everything to start repeating itself, and ultimately, to continually keep repeating itself over and over again add infinitum. This then would include the natural process that started our universe and the following naturally formed evolutionary cycle that produced the intelligent life within it. Even this intelligent life on earth that we now perceive as our own would, sometime in the far distant future, be repeated, and not just once, but over and over again. So the theory goes.


What is more, so I was told: Even though the time span between the cycle that produced us now and the repeated cycle that would eventually produce us again in that far distant future might look like bordering on the infinite, it would still only seem like an instant between our loss of consciousness at death, and our regained consciousness through the rebirth of our naturally repeated evolved lives in the future. This is because only the time registered in the consciousness would be recorded and therefore known... so the theory goes.

Now the point I am coming to is this: When we apply this theory of natural repetition to our universe, (which is largely believed by many scientists to be a rapidly expanding 'bubble' billions of light years across and which started from an incredibly small point some 10-20 billion years ago) we can also very easily arrive at a completely different and infinitely more interesting conclusion that goes way beyond the original idea of a naturally repeating eternity of endless births, deaths and rebirths, but first we must consider the following...

If our universe, as some would have us believe, could be the first one or one of a finite number capable of starting and supporting evolved intelligent life, then it would mean that as time has advanced so the variation in the movement of matter would have increased. In which case then, if we were to trace time back we would have to witness a decrease in that variation. If we were to trace time back far enough then we would have to come to a point of absolute zero movement in all matter, and that would result in a physical impossibility for any movement to begin. The only logical way out of this would be that our universe cannot be the first one or one of a finite number but instead must be one in an infinite number (from an atheistic point of view). Some atheist scientists though have also argued that our universe could have started from nothing by way of a “quantum fluctuation”, but even if this was true it would still logically follow that if nothing was responsible for starting this rapidly expanding 'bubble' we call our universe, then wherever there was nothing there would be countless universes about to be formed, being formed and already formed. In other words, it would have been impossible for nothing to have existed without already producing a mass of countless expanding (and possibly contracting) 'bubbles', similar to the one we presently call our universe. In which case, we would still be in the realms of "natural repetition". (from an atheistic point of view)

This in turn then would mean that evolved intelligent life in one form or another would not only have already strived an infinite number of times to understand, create and control whatever it so willed but would already have had an infinite period of time in which to do it in. Whatever kind or form of evolutionary cycle that would have produced this almighty free thinking God of reason then could also be seen to be the origins of God and therefore also a part of God. So even from an atheistic point of view I was able to see what could be described as a reasonable concept of an eternal infinite all knowing all powerful God who came into existence but with out a conceivable beginning to the finite mind of man... if you see what I mean.


Having been given this atheistic view of God then, and having seen how pride corrupts our ability to reason correctly and deny us the ability to form trustworthy conclusions, I was eventually made to see very clearly (partly under the influence of cannabis) that before any of us can be sure we are living by the truth we must first be sure the cause of living by lies and delusion has been completely removed from us. I came to see also that this removal can be achieved but only when we are living faithfully by these two commandments:

In Mark 12:28-31 it is written, And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
[As far as I can see, from an atheistic point of view, the nearest equivalent to that commandment would go something like this, “always love and value that which produced you: the human race, above your self and above all things at all costs”]
The second is this:‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Simple logical deductions showed me and continue to show me that only by valuing these two commandments above all other opposing commands, doctrines, forces and influences that would have us place an inferior value to ourselves on others, shall we ever find no reason to deceive and offend anyone. Simple logical deductions also show me that only by truly valuing the man who first gave us these greatest of all commandments, above all other men and gods, shall I seriously value His commandments above all other opposing commands, doctrines, forces and influences also; and only by living always by His two greatest commandments shall I find no reason to deceive and offend anyone including myself.


Only the faithful Spirit that is faithful to love unto death, will have no reason to deceive and offend any of us, such is the Spirit that is revealed by the Lord Jesus and by His true followers. This Jesus could not have lied because in His Spirit there can be seen no reason to lie. Recorded history tells us the faithful followers who knew Jesus were in the end prepared to be persecuted to death, even to be tortured to death rather than live a lie and deny what they had witnessed: His commandments and doctrine, the love and wisdom, the miracles, the promises, the crucifixion and the resurrected Jesus Christ. Despite all the efforts of hypocrites, malicious liars and antichrists, the only true and faithful Spirit lives on in all His true followers still. This Spirit is the only proven conveyor of truth simply because NO ONE can even begin to explain an alternative in which we all can trust.
All who have faith in this Spirit will have faith in the Son. All who are of God have faith in this Spirit. Whoever will not have faith in this Spirit will remain a liar.


So the question I must ask you now is this, how can I not believe it was a good thing for me to use cannabis?

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;” Genesis 1:29

[RickD]

So the question I must ask you now is this, how can I not believe it was a good thing for me to use cannabis?

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;” Genesis 1:29

Oldman,

You are going to use a verse pertaining to plants given for food, and you're misinterpreting the verse to justify smoking pot?

I think you may have killed too many brain cells.

[oldman]

So the question I must ask you now is this, how can I not believe it was a good thing for me to use cannabis?

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;” Genesis 1:29

Oldman,

You are going to use a verse pertaining to plants given for food, and you're misinterpreting the verse to justify smoking pot?

I think you may have killed too many brain cells.

Just to let you know that I don't smoke it any more and you look like the one with too many dead brain cells.

[RickD]

[RickD]

oldman,

I was joking about the brain cells.

And no, it's not a good thing that you smoked pot. Although God does use evil for His purposes too.

[oldman]

oldman,

I was joking about the brain cells.

And no, it's not a good thing that you smoked pot. Although God does use evil for His purposes too.

Are you then implying that it was an evil thing that I should experience the mind expanding qualities of cannabis that led me to be as I am now?

[domokunrox]

Although God does use evil for His purposes too.

*sigh* You guys need to stop being lazy and explain properly or correctly. Actually, its not correct at all.

You guys answer like this and then you wonder why you get people saying that God is evil? or give the problem of evil argument?

God does not "use evil" (that is a contradiction to his very nature), rather God allows us to freely choose to do evil.

On the subject at hand, using such a verse to justify the use of cannabis is entirely unsubstantiated on an intellectual level and even biblical. Altering our state of consciousness does not benefit us in any way. First and foremost, it does not allow us to view reality for how it actually is. Deception or distortions of reality make us vulnerable. Inhalation of smoke has never been been intended in the design of man.

I recommend this women's website on subjects of this nature. She is acquainted with out of body experiences and things of
that sort of stuff. She has an amazing story.


http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles.html

[PaulSacramento]

Something good can come out of something bad, we see that all the time.
It doesn't change what is bad into good.

[Byblos]

Although God does use evil for His purposes too.

*sigh* You guys need to stop being lazy and explain properly or correctly. Actually, its not correct at all.

You guys answer like this and then you wonder why you get people saying that God is evil? or give the problem of evil argument?

God does not "use evil" (that is a contradiction to his very nature), rather God allows us to freely choose to do evil.

On the subject at hand, using such a verse to justify the use of cannabis is entirely unsubstantiated on an intellectual level and even biblical. Altering our state of consciousness does not benefit us in any way. First and foremost, it does not allow us to view reality for how it actually is. Deception or distortions of reality make us vulnerable. Inhalation of smoke has never been been intended in the design of man.

I recommend this women's website on subjects of this nature. She is acquainted with out of body experiences and things of
that sort of stuff. She has an amazing story.


http://christiananswersforthenewage.org/Articles.html

Well, if you want to be so technical, complete with sighs and all, then God doesn't even allow us to choose evil since evil is not a thing to be chosen.

[RickD]

Dom wrote:
*sigh* You guys need to stop being lazy and explain properly or correctly. Actually, its not correct at all.

Dom wrote:
God does not "use evil" (that is a contradiction to his very nature), rather God allows us to freely choose to do evil.

And He uses this for His purposes.

That's what I was saying. Everything God allows is ultimately for His purpose.

[RickD]

oldman,

I was joking about the brain cells.

And no, it's not a good thing that you smoked pot. Although God does use evil for His purposes too.

Are you then implying that it was an evil thing that I should experience the mind expanding qualities of cannabis that led me to be as I am now?

Mind expanding?
Mind altering is more like it.

[B. W.]

...So the question I must ask you now is this, how can I not believe it was a good thing for me to use cannabis?

Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;” Genesis 1:29

Well, mind altering substances were used and still are used to open folks up to familiar or seducing spirits. Pot does make a person lazy and can give a person a false sense of superior intelligence that many lawmakers in the USA are afflicted with as they try to remain true to their somkin' days concepts.

Familiar or seducing spirits always have the same goals in mind to make it as appealing as possible, totally convince a person, making it as enjoyable as possible to rob you of spirit, murder your soul, bring to ruin to one's body and justifying doing so as the best course to take for one's personal, social, cultural goals.

That is one reason why seducing spirits are called seducing and familiar. They seek to pit God's own words against His own words to make one feel good about going the way of destruction. They game God and often demonstrate this action in those they influence the most.

So using a drug, recovering from it's effects through Jesus Christ alone - is a good thing because it sets one free from false ideas and vain imaginations...
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[oldman]

oldman,

I was joking about the brain cells.

And no, it's not a good thing that you smoked pot. Although God does use evil for His purposes too.

Are you then implying that it was an evil thing that I should experience the mind expanding qualities of cannabis that led me to be as I am now?

Mind expanding?
Mind altering is more like it.

Let me rephrase what I wrote, are you then implying that it was an evil thing that I should experience the mind altering qualities of cannabis that led me to be as I am now?

[B. W.]

oldman,

I was joking about the brain cells.

And no, it's not a good thing that you smoked pot. Although God does use evil for His purposes too.

Are you then implying that it was an evil thing that I should experience the mind expanding qualities of cannabis that led me to be as I am now?

Mind expanding?
Mind altering is more like it.

Let me rephrase what I wrote, are you then implying that it was an evil thing that I should experience the mind altering qualities of cannabis that led me to be as I am now?

No but rather God can use all things for his own purposes...to lead people to repent from ruin and learn to live His new ways.

Drugs cannot produce this, living a new way, only God's grace at work purifying a soul can.

No one should substitute cannabis for God's correcting power - the bible makes it clear to be sober minded and avoid seducing spirits for our best good. It is good that you no longer use that substance and blessings too you
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[RickD]

oldman,

I was joking about the brain cells.

And no, it's not a good thing that you smoked pot. Although God does use evil for His purposes too.

Are you then implying that it was an evil thing that I should experience the mind expanding qualities of cannabis that led me to be as I am now?

Mind expanding?
Mind altering is more like it.

Let me rephrase what I wrote, are you then implying that it was an evil thing that I should experience the mind altering qualities of cannabis that led me to be as I am now?

Let me be clear. I'm NOT SAYING you are evil for smoking pot. The effects of the drug are evil(harmful).

I got the impression that you were praising cannabis because you believe cannabis led you to God. I'm saying God uses things we do, including harmful things, to bring us to Him.