Wickedpissah

I don’t think saying "God did it" ends the conversation, but it does refocus it. The question shifts from "what caused the universe?" to "what kind of thing could exist without a cause?" That’s a deeper question that doesn't stop conversation. Science is great at explaining how things behave within the Universe (I'm an engineer with a serious cosmology habit), but it doesn’t really answer why anything exists at all. That's where philosophy steps in. And (this is my favorite topic) if time itself had a beginning, then whatever caused it can’t be bound by time. That naturally leads to the idea of something eternal as a logical next step. For me, science and belief in God aren't mutually exclusive. Truth cannot contradict truth, so science forces us to consider the nature of God through the lens of reconciling our observations about nature with what we believe He's revealed to us.

@stankadin @RamenTumbleweed @ReviewsPossum I would also say contend that adding a god into the mix just adds an extra step that really answers nothing. God did it ends the question of how it happened.

The atheists of Reddit are mad that the Artemis II astronauts mentioned God.

Aquinas's work doesn't depend on medieval science at all. It depends entirely on logic and very basic observations/truths about cause and existence. Saying "maybe existence never had a cause" doesn’t solve the problem but just pushes it back a step. You still have to explain why anything exists at all instead of nothing. Aquinas's answer is very simple: there must be something that doesn't depend on anything else to exist. Not something complicated, just fundamental. And the more we try to redefine that into something vague or unknowable, the less consistent it becomes. Simplicity here isn’t a weakness, it’s the whole point. I encourage you to do a cursory read on the Five Ways sometime. It's really well put-together. 1) The unmoved mover 2) The uncaused cause 3) The necessary, non-contingent being 4) Degrees of goodness 5) The teleological argument (the "ends" of things, i.e., what things are for). Most of the argument picks up where Aristotle left off. And it's totally fine for you to file this under things you don't know. Lots of people want to know, which is why people like Aquinas and Aristotle have thought about it.

@stankadin @RamenTumbleweed @ReviewsPossum Thomas Aquinas died in 1274, we've learned a thing or two since then. Possibly existence never had a cause, so no need for a first cause. A better definition of god is needed to even start to think about inserting it into the mix. Personally I file this under "We don't know".

I’m saying there has to be something that didn’t have a cause. No matter how far back you go (from an effect to its cause) you can’t have an endless chain with no starting point. At some point, there has to be a first cause that isn’t caused by anything else. And that’s what I mean by God. This idea goes back a long way. Thomas Aquinas wrote about it as one of the basic arguments for God’s existence (along with four other ways in his Five Ways). This approach has nothing immediately to do with Christianity, only the existence of God.

@stankadin @RamenTumbleweed @ReviewsPossum You would say god is uncaused, right?

@RamenTumbleweed @ReviewsPossum I'm just curious--not trying to convert you: How do you address the existence of the Universe without a final, uncaused cause?

@ReviewsPossum Militant atheists are the worst. I see religion as a coping mechanism, lots of people need it to function. I willingly get baked goods from monks and nuns, cause the food is awesome. I'm okay with people praying for me, even if I don't believe in it.

@AiPinfu2003 Just gotta keep engaging with American posts and youll get more on your timeline.

なんかアメリカ兄貴達の投稿が減ってきて古き悪しき怒りに満ちたXに戻ってきた気がする。 我々は結局ドブ川でしか生きれないんだなぁ

@RT_com The Catholic Church actually doesn't advocate for any economic theory. But they have previously written about the importance of private property and distributed ownership of the means of production. The economic theory is distributism and GK Chesterton wrote about it. Fun stuff.

CHRISTIANITY IS SOCIALISM AT ITS CORE — CAPITALISM SHOULD NOT BE ANYWHERE NEAR IT — Nathan Apffel to Tucker 'Early church built social capital with NOTHING — no money, no buildings, yet it flipped Rome' LOVE THY NEIGHBOR toppled 'the greatest superpower' — 'THAT'S DANGEROUS'

@UpdatingOnRome I'm just like you but about Jesus.

Someone asked me recently what my political position is: Total undying loyalty to Julius Caesar. That's it. There's nothing more.

@WelDemi161 You're not the first Japanese person I've heard refer to Americans as big bro. Is there a cultural meaning behind this? If it's a matter of cultural stature, we see you guys as total peers. Also, is there a single word that I can replace "Japanese person" with that's not racist?

アメリカアメリカとうるさく思われるかもしれませんが、文中にアメリカと入れないとアメリカニキ・ネキ達にリーチされない気がしてるのでアメリカを連呼させていただいております🙏

@flmanadventures @stonetoss The Gospel according to 4chan

@stonetoss Happy Easter

Happy Easter 🐣

@VadeadIesum Murderhog goes BRRRRT

No, but I've meditated so long with my eyes closed that I worried people would think I was asleep. There was a great story I read in a book about the Desert Fathers about Abba Poemen. I think about it whenever the topic of sleeping during Adoration comes up. -------- A brother asked an elder, “If I see my brother nodding off during prayer, should I wake him?” The elder replied, “If I see my brother sleeping, I put his head on my knees and let him rest.” The brother asked, “Then what do you do when you fall asleep?” The elder answered, “I ask God to forgive me.” -------- I loved this because it showed they cared more about love for their brothers than judging them for their failures. Also, the ascetic life is hard, and they were there for each other.

Have you ever fallen asleep in Adoration?

@BShillyshally @CatholicDanni St. Paul Center's Mary and the Bible series was great. Also prayed the rosary long enough to feel something.

@stankadin @CatholicDanni Marian devotion has been one for me. Marian topology is there in the Bible, but it takes a lot good faith discussion to get someone there. I think you said you’re a convert (iirc). How did you get past the Marian wall?

Who’s gonna tell her?

@BShillyshally @CatholicDanni Agreed. The hardest ones that I find are the dispensationalists that believe Israel and the Church provide parallel salvific tracks. That one just seems ontological and harder to get through.

@stankadin @CatholicDanni Yeah. It’s just harder than proving the Eucharist from the text, for example.

Also, you can get someone there with Scripture Prots accept. You just have to walk the dog on 1) the Church is the Body of Christ 2) the souls in Heaven aren't dead 3) the body of Christ is meant to intercede for each other 4) prayer to God is praise, while prayer to saints is asking for intercession Most get hung up on Deuteronomy 18's necromancy thing, but you can get rational people there despite it.

@stankadin @CatholicDanni Number 2 definitely take more work if he doesn’t accept 2nd Maccabees as inspired. Number 3 can become a bit like splitting hairs sometimes. But at least he understands you and isn’t making up stuff to get mad about.

@BShillyshally @CatholicDanni Oh, yeah, he's totally cool. He studies theology quite a bit. He bought the Catechism when I told him I'd bought one to learn before joining the Church. He didn't even know it existed.

I was kind of private about my inner workings of faith for the first 14 years of my daughter's life. We went to church, but that was about it. I was really lukewarm. But my wife and i decided to become Catholic, and I got REALLY into it. Both of my kids just followed my lead. All four of us have joined the Church now. As a Dad, the kids will follow your lead if you are glorifying the Lord with your life. Get excited about it and they will too.

My Dad never forced religion on me at all. In fact, he never really spoke of it even. Believe it or not, he waited until he saw a post of mine on X. I was sharing my personal struggles finding faith. I'm 45 years old lol. Turns out he believes in Christ. His father was Jewish. He never went to church. He believes that the bible is God's word, but corrupted by man. I might have never known. He said he didn't want to push anything on me. That I should find it myself. He wasn't sure if it was a mistake, or if he would regret his doubts about the corruption of the word, or not sharing his own beliefs with me sooner. But he is cut from the same cloth as I. He loathes hypocrisy, loves evidence, and is mercilessly logical. As I'm finding my own way, I wrestle with when to get my own kids involved. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing, or even where I'm going. Been wanting to find my feet before bringing them in. I like to be sure about things. Anyway, just sharing the journey. God bless the entire simulation.

Yeah, my Protestant friend bought one for the 99.9% of stuff he agrees with. Says it's a great resource. His issues from most controversial to least are: 1) Mary's Immaculate Conception and Perpetual Virginity 2) The Communion of Saints 3) Salvific works (he agrees that we should, but believes in forensic justification)

@CatholicDanni Nobody apparently. She locked the replies. I think she’s talking about the Catechism. Which is crap because the vast majority of the Catechism is stuff that any Christian should have no problem with.

OKAY SOOO WHEN WERE YOU GUYS GOING TO REACH OUT TO ME AND TELL ME OF THIS SUDDEN FRINGE RENAISSANCE. HOW DID THIS HAPPEN HOW DID WE GET HERE AND I’M NOT COMPLAINING. I’VE JUST BEEN PRAYING FOR TIMES LIKE THESE SINCE LIKE 2016 😭😭😭 WHERE DID YOU ALL COME FROM SERIOUSLY I LOVE IT

@SCfactsonly @Talonthepapist It is, but it's Limestone County. It's about as far west in Madison as you can get.

@stankadin @Talonthepapist Interesting, I thought that was in Madison

Can someone do a count on how many people are becoming Catholic?