Breathe
Hostis humani generis
Curious, what do you mean by giving it attributes no one has observed?
Just by the label God?
Is it the word God and the things it conjures up, or something else?
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define god...
- Thread starter waitasec
- Start date
Just by the label God?
Is it the word God and the things it conjures up, or something else?
waitasec
Veteran Member
Curious, what do you mean by giving it attributes no one has observed?
Just by the label God?
Is it the word God and the things it conjures up, or something else?
yes exactly, it is what the word conjures up...
Breathe
Hostis humani generis
You mean, I say "I believe in God" and you think of a Cosmic Sky Daddy who shoots thunderbolts and lives on a cloud?yes exactly, it is what the word conjures up...
waitasec
Veteran Member
while not basing that image on empirical evidence to support that impressionYou mean, I say "I believe in God" and you think of a Cosmic Sky Daddy who shoots thunderbolts and lives on a cloud?
Breathe
Hostis humani generis
Looks like I need a new term, then.while not basing that image on empirical evidence to support that impression
There's a lot resting on those three little letters if that's the case...
waitasec
Veteran Member
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
I certainly don't do that, but I do realize that those who utilize the term aren't especially likely to know what they are talking about. If they had deeper realizations, they would not stumble around trying to make the primitive god concepts sound so noble.You mean, I say "I believe in God" and you think of a Cosmic Sky Daddy who shoots thunderbolts and lives on a cloud?
Breathe
Hostis humani generis
What about laziness or just preference of the term because it gives a general idea, although one often misconstrued?
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
What exactly is the point of promoting an idea that is often misconstrued? I guess the reason why I am questioning you as I am is because I have already tried a similar track and found that it wasn't worth the effort. People just get all warm and fuzzy that some new thinker is supporting their delusional thinking. Is that supposed to be progressive? Isn't it more reasonable to stake out new territory and abandon the old concepts altogether?
Kami Servant
All is divine
In my opinion, God is a self-conscious, hasty reaction used to explain everything, when it is clearly untrue.
Breathe
Hostis humani generis
That's true. It can be more effort than it's worth.
I suppose for those who don't wish to drop the term "God" though, it's often either one of usefulness or due to linguistic influence, or in some cases, just summing up what they believe in one simple term, even if it's not one hundred percent?
For example, "I believe in a form of God" or "I believe in an All-Transcendent Transpersonal and Sapient Ground of All Being of which we are part of, but whose qualities, nature and our relationship to it, and thus consequently ourselves is far more than we actually realize" - having something which you can say that gives people a general idea often helps, I guess, as some people don't understand such concepts.
Is it better, or worse to have lots of different words for God going around, or lots of different words?
It just, effectively, boils down to semantics and personal choice in words, I guess, for better or worse, for constructive or not.
I dunno, man, what would you suggest?
blackout
Violet.
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
Intellectual honesty. Perhaps people should just stick to what they actually know about reality and not so much on how they think reality is.I dunno, man, what would you suggest?
waitasec
Veteran Member
Breathe
Hostis humani generis
Good advice, but that doesn't make sense as an answer to my question, Paul; my question was about what one should use as a word if they wish to talk about something that they would consider as a God, but that term conjures up a different style behind that God. Intellectual honesty, I would hope, would be used by everyone when they are discussing something - I know it doesn't happen though.
Besides, if we only stick to what we know about reality, how will we learn anything about it? I didn't start studying Welsh recently because I already knew how to speak it.
YmirGF
Bodhisattva in Recovery
Um, ok.
Then be sure to preface any reference to the use of the word "god" with qualifiers. By qualifiers, try to stick to what you personally know. If it is something you merely think or imagine, say so. Don't leave any wiggle room for confusion to arise.
Oddly, I haven't noticed this much, of late. It would appear that we have moved away from fact based reporting to opinion laced reporting. Perhaps people have become confused about the difference. For example, I have a personal vision of what some may call "god", but that vision is so radically different from any other god concept that I feel ashamed calling my vision "god". It doesn't seem fair to limit it in such a way.
I certainly do not want to have theist getting all warm and fuzzy, thinking that I am meaning what they envision god to be. There is little possibility of that occurrence and so I cannot call what I see "god". The fact IS, I do not know WHAT it is. To me, it is on the periphery of my awareness and so it is largely unknown. I would be being extremely dishonest if I told people, I believed what I saw, was god. I don't know and my previous experiences lead me away from delineating it as such, for the simple fact that my experience has always expanded. In a few months or years, I will undoubtedly have a better understanding of what I currently perceive. After a few times around the "cosmic block" one begins to get a bit wary of laying down terms. I hope you understand.
There is a lot more room to play with here than you might expect. Think smarter and don't rely on worn out ideas to express your own perceptions. If you have to, boldly invent new terms and new symbols. You are limited only by your imagination or lack thereof. In all case, the cream will always manage to rise to the top. It's simple physics. :flirt:
Breathe
Hostis humani generis
That's true, that's very true
I think most only keep it because of convenience though. Using a term that you feel explains it perfectly, even if it's made up, like like Tryzlmaldar or Qlaototh is fine in one's personal life, but when it comes to discussing what one believes with others, it seems to be more tricky because then you have to explain what it means in depth, and they seem to usually say something like "...So it's God?" shortly after.
Generally when I'm considering it to myself or writing something about it, I usually don't use the term God and only use it with others because a lot of people around here don't even know what 'Deity' means for some reason.
Who knows, maybe I'll try and think of a term just for myself. Maybe for now I will stick with the All-in-One or the Unknowable One.
I think most only keep it because of convenience though. Using a term that you feel explains it perfectly, even if it's made up, like like Tryzlmaldar or Qlaototh is fine in one's personal life, but when it comes to discussing what one believes with others, it seems to be more tricky because then you have to explain what it means in depth, and they seem to usually say something like "...So it's God?" shortly after.
Generally when I'm considering it to myself or writing something about it, I usually don't use the term God and only use it with others because a lot of people around here don't even know what 'Deity' means for some reason.
Who knows, maybe I'll try and think of a term just for myself. Maybe for now I will stick with the All-in-One or the Unknowable One.
sandandfoam
Veteran Member
I am convinced of this. In a real sense I believe each of us are gods [or have god flowing through us perhaps?] I am the genesis of my own reality, the higher I might dream the higher I might soar. There is a great intelligence standing behind this little intelligence that says "I" which is doing the being
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
If something exists which I would define as god, I think human beings would have about as much a chance of understanding it's motivations, purpose, and nature, as a bacteria in your gut has of understanding your motivations, purpose, and nature. Perhaps less.
