Best I could come up with is is "If you talk to God, you're religious. If he talks back, you're schizophrenic," or from Harry Potter, "Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't good."
As for cults, I do agree that people with a handle on the "truth" can be pretty obnoxious at times. But as hard as it may be to hear it, it is even worse to have to carry it. Take Cassandra for example.

If you worship a God that never talks back are'nt you just worshipping yourself by proxy? Who would want a god that cannot impact our life unless we say so?

Good point Peleg.

I avoided this thread until recently. Being engineering minded it's easier to deal with the nuts and bolts and not the abstract. This being done despite the fact that most actions/no actions towards PO will be driven more by the chains of human psychology then science or economic principles. I'll skip the details but I do believe in a real physical God and Devil. And I pass them both dozens of times on the street every day. And they cohabitate the same body. As the effects of PO approach I suspect one of them will dominate the landscape. Long ago and far away I got to watch such a battle for control waged in truly desperate times. Not just high priced gas prices or cutting down on trips to the mall but real survival scenarios. So I'll never be surprised again at the low level to which rational and good folks will resort.

So if you hear voices your god is real? That's neat!

Voices in the Sky

No.

Peak Oil is a geologic phenomena.

No one "denies" Peak Oil. The idea that oil production will one day reach a maximum point and then begin to decline is a basic principle that shouldn't be difficult for anyone to understand if they are given a decent overview of the topic.

Denying that Peak Oil will happen is like denying that the Earth is a sphere or denying that Rob Thomas is one of the greatest singer/songwriters of all time.

You just can't do it.

What happens to the world after oil production begins to decline is The Question.

Some versions of the answer to The Question qualify as cults, in my opinion.

Really. Especially the optimistic scenarios.

Just kidding, although I submit that many of those who dream of a neverending Green Tomorrow haven't taken into consideration any of the hard details involved in attaining such, and vehemently deny that their outlook could fail to come to pass. That has all the earmarks of a cult too.

Their preeminence in the mass media isn't surprising either. No political figure is going to get far with a message of impending gloom and hardship, excepting your occasional Bartlett.

LATOC is a bit of a cult, though - you're booted out by [s]Charlie[/s] Matt just for suggesting it won't be TSHTF soon.

Nice spin Ludi, you are an excellent dancer.

Let me make it plain,

'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;'

John 10 :27

(If needs be I can make a list of verses showing that God spoke to every major figure in the Bible, and not throught a pastor or through reading the Bible. God speaks to people, that is a Christian belief.)

Now we have to be careful since there are many 'voices' in this universe, and not everything is explained well by science. So we are warned by John,

'Beloved do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;' 1 John 4:1

Understanding science as I do, I admit freely that the Bible is either total nonsense or it is true. Jesus was either a liar, a madman or He is who He claims to be.

As for their being a spiritual component to life I deeply doubt that you are questioning that. For you it always seems to be a matter of the Bible being true. I understand, it won't be that way forever for you.

Fallacy of false choice.

He may have been misrepresented and misquoted, the victim of other people's fantasies and expectations.

You cannot out argue me Ludi. So exhaust the posiblities...

They made Jesus up, he did'nt even exist, none of that amounts to anything but excuses in the end. I'm sorry that Christianity did'nt work (or is'nt working) for you but really that's between you and God.

I'm not interested in "out arguing" you Peleg.

I have no argument to make, merely comments and observations, and questions.

Peleg, your statement about Christ and His claims remind me of Josh McDowell's books on apologetics- I think one of the ways he stated things was Christ was either Lord, liar or lunatic based on His claims. I like Josh's books and purchased a set of them for our S. Korean exchange student that lived with us for two years and accepted Christ as her Savior. She is now at Libery Baptist in premed, we are very proud of her. Her summer was spent in Guatamala doing medical missionary work, she really enjoyed it and felt like she learned alot.

I'd be very careful about listening to voices in the head these days. You never know who it might be talkin to ya.

God is about love. something this world needs a whole lot more of.


Peak oil is not about God. Its not about religeon. But it does happen to correspond with one of the most spiritual times in human history. Expand your mind people.

Good point madscientist!