Introductory story

Introductory story…

Jules Verne in his book The Mysterious Island describes the shipwreck of a group of five Air oplaves, flying the balloon over the Pacific, amid a storm on an unknown coastline. Four will be saved, but one of them, the engineer Cyrus Smith, is missing. After a long search and quest it will eventually find a few days lying in a kind of hole in the middle of the rocks. At first it seems to be dead – but eventually, furious and cured, yet only takes over… :

“— My lord! My Lord! — Convene Nab.

The engineer heard him. He met Naba and Spiletta, then the other two, Harberta and the seaman and the faint of his hand.

In turn, he made her mouth a few words, which he wanted to say before and which he had said, what thoughts he was going to mind. This time, his words were already intelligible.

— Island or mainland? Whispered.

Oh! — exclaimed Pencroff. — What about us after that, just when you live, Mr. Smith! Island or mainland? We’ll see it later.

The engineer weakly nodded and then shut his eyes again. But it was no longer unconscious, but sleep. NAB, Harbert and Pencroff came out of the cave and headed to the high dunes, which grew a few curved trees. The sailor was not able to sustain and more of a few times he repeated:

— Island or Mainland! Think of such a thing when you barely wave to breathe! This is a guy!

On the second day, 28. March, when the engineer finally woke up around the eighth hour, also as yesterday his first words were:

— Island or land?

As you see, he, in his head, wandered the idea.

— We do not know anything yet, Mr. Smith! — has replied to Pencroff.

You Don’t know?

— But we know, — the Pencroff, — if we examine this country under your direction.

— I think we can start now, — he replied the engineer and stood up. Others looked for him silent. Cyrus Smith crossed his hands and said:

— Then, friends, you still don’t know if the fate threw us to the mainland and whether the island?

— No, Mr. Cyrus, — he replied the boy.

— We learn this tomorrow, — the engineer continued. — Nothing can be done. “

<Why this question? And why can’t I do anything without her responsibility? >

The answer is simple: The answer to this question is to decide on everything that will shipwrecked a business:

• If it is a MAINLAND, prepare to March and try to get to some people and into civilization.

• If it is island, then:

  • If it is NEAR the mainland, they begin to build a ship.

  • If there is a FAR mainland, start building at home and prepare for a long stay, maybe forever…

So without answering the Smith’s questions, you really can’t basically “do anything”!

<The Most crucial issue in our lives>

Basically, we are in a similar situation as Verne shipwrecked:

• We just one day found themselves (= born) in this our world: The Nation, the planet, the universe…

• … Left for themselves,…

• … To do with your life, which is known to be the most suitable.

How will we sound our most BASIC and MOST CRUCIAL QUESTION, which we should ask now at the very beginning and  from which to unfold everything else and depend on everything else in our lives  – and which, conversely, is the FIRST ONE AND DOES NOT depend on something else before it?[1]

 

• <Divide into groups of “firefighters”, “sailors”, “motorcyclists” and “ambulations”! Try to find THIS FIRST questions in each group within five minutes, which is no longer in front of you and from which everything else is unfolds! Of Course,  with reasons why they    think that the most important thing is this question!

• After five minutes together, we compare all your answers and find out who answered the closest reality!

• Option: You can do this even in a discussion with the whole class, or as a competition of two groups,  each trying to ask a question that would preceded the question of their opponents… >

Destination:

To find out that our “first question” is very similar to the question of Cyrus Smitha  – actually its analogy: “The island, or the mainland?” In other words:

“Is this – the universe, Earth, Mass, this life,… – ALL, or is there anything BEYOND ITS BORDERS?”

We are “ISLAND” and in addition to us nothing exists – or are we part of the infinite larger “MAINLAND” and our world is just a run of this excess reality?

The answer to this question will determine everything:

• If there is nothing “behind” this world, then  “We build a house”: We  settle here, and  we will be focused exclusively on it, and we will seek our happiness exclusively in its borders.

• IF THERE IS Something “beyond” the borders of the world, then we need to ask a complementary QUESTION:  is THIS world  “Beyond THE borders”  worth? What is offered to us?

  • If it is worth,  “We build the ship”:  We are going for this, and we do not care what because of this “on the island” we leave the world…

  • If it is not worth it,  then it is only and yet you  “Build a House”… and the nonsense “behind the world” is never more worrying.

But in any case, our entire value system, our entire endeavor, life goals, all will unfold from this key question and  answer!

So, shortly and in the following:  IS THERE a god? Life after death? In EXCESS of the spiritual  World in which the latter is “immersed”?

• <Is there? >

• Why do you think so? Or that not?

  • Do you have something to support your claim?

DESTINATION  Discussions:

Be aware that this is a serious thing, rather than to be checked by the words “not interested in me” or “to teach me the parents” or “because it says Mr. Parish” and the like.

On this issue, we must be CONFIDENT – because regardless of the answer we give (there is a worth; There is and not worth it; There is no), we will build your entire life and your destiny in this response – and it is quite likely that we or we will lose everything or all of them!

Are there any objective facts…

… Which we could substantiate and substantiate the existence of God?

<Search together! >

Conclusion:

“Religion has really convinced people that there up behind the cloud lives an invisible man who tracks everything you do, every minute of each day. And that invisible Man has a special list of ten things that he doesn’t want you to do. If one of those ten things you do, the invisible has a special place, full of fire and smoke, and torture and muse, where you will send live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry for eternal ages by the end of time. “

(George Carlin,  comedian, actor, writer)

But… Really?

In the following hours we will  answer three key questions:

• Is God likely? Is the assumption of the existence of God – the Creator in accordance with the requirement of logic and rationality?

• Are there any objective, tangible manifestations of God?

• Is there a specific, common experience of God in humanity?

On their basis, we can then arrive at one of two possible conclusions:

• OR confidently conclude that God exists

• OR concludes that there are no compelling evidence that God would actually exist…

[1] For every question that the pupils lay, try it out again and ask again: “WHAT is the ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION?” – until we gradually work towards the final “sequence” of the type: Happiness – Depends on the options I have – these depend on the “menu” – and it depends on what “set of things” I can choose… – and what determines the boundaries of this set?