Creativesoul, what you see is either an illusion or you can call it real. What you 'think' or 'believe' it is, or what you call it is irrelevant.

You call it real, fine. I call it illusion, fine. It makes no difference.

It is what we say and decide it to be. We name it what we want to name it.

So sit back, enjoy the show and stay out of the way.

The smart thing to do is to not believe ANYTHING. Just sit back and observe the illusion and stay out of the way.

I can handle religious people as long as they at least use some of their brain and view it all objectively but if all they do is read outta their bible and god this and god that and "it is because it is" while blindly following an invisible non-existence then go back to your religious-zombie lifestyle, don't got the time for you. lol.

William James.

Will Durant

“Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.”

“We have here the fundamental problem of ethics, the crux of the theory of moral conduct. What is justice? -shall we seek righteousness, or shall we seek power? -is it better to be good, or to be strong?”

“And last are the few whose delight is in meditation and understanding; who yearn not for goods, nor for victory, but for knowledge; who leave both market and battlefield to lose themselves in the quiet clarity of secluded thought; whose will is a light rather than a fire, whose haven is not power but truth: these are the men of wisdom, who stand aside unused by the world.”
― Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy

The word of god is the truth and leads only to the righteous path. So with your brain you should be able to tell. And what stops you from asking god himself for guidance if you truly want it that is.there is one book That I myself can bare witness too that it is no other than the word of god. The Qur'an. It was giving to me in prison by an inmate who was let free. It makes the hairs on my body stand, it brings tears to my eyes, it makes my heart tremble , it gives me hope, peace and guidance. It informs me of events that are taking place today yet this book was revealed in stages to a prophet centuries ago. I've recited the Qur'an 10 times and everytime I read it, I learn something new . It is the word of god that it will remain pure and unchanged, under his protection. Name me just one book that is as old as this one that has not been polluted or changed.

Here is a better example of what I was talking about...

"Hello friend, would you lend me some money?"

"What for?"

"I want to play the lottery. I promise I'll give you all my winnings, ha ha" (I promise to do X is explicitly stated)

"yeah, whatever, here is the money..."

So you have the borrower making a verbal promise without intending to make a promise and without intending to deceive the lender. They both understand that the promise is just a joke.

In this case, "I promise to do X" does not mean the "I intend to do x" nor does it mean that I am deliberately trying to deceive the listener, because we both know it's a joke.

I thought you might want to consider this case because kidding around is an important part of relationships. Ironically, kidding around can also cause the greatest harm when it effects miscommunication.

Actually, this is a good point. But what I'm trying to say is that I have known people to use the word "promise" in their sentence without intending to make a promise and without the intent to deceive. That's all I mean.