Subservience? (Religion)

[an anarchist]

If there is a higher power, should us humans be subservient to it?

I think not.

The state of the world is poor, so any being that claims to be the creator I’ll have an issue with. Even if a creator God is real, it will never get my subservience. Not in this life or the next. I remember my Sunday school teacher would brag how after death, Christian God would make people admit that He was indeed God before sending them to Hell. But even after death, I believe my grudge will hold.

Worship is different for me. Worship is not on bended knee. Nature knows not of mercy. To pray is to accept defeat.

If you are subservient towards your gods, how and why?

 

[ChristineM]

Atheist so i see no god to be subservient to. If however I'm wrong and a god (creator god) does exist, how can i be subservient to a being who created life with unnecessary suffering, childhood leukemia, hatred, the mosquito etc and be true to myself?

 

[Eddi]

Worship is different for me. Worship is not on bended knee. Nature knows not of mercy. To pray is to accept defeat.

The English word "worship" comes from the word for to hold in high regard in Old English, it originally had no connection to grovelling or subservience etc

Personally I use the word in light of this even though others use it differently

 

[JustGeorge]

Worship is different for me. Worship is not on bended knee. Nature knows not of mercy. To pray is to accept defeat.

I may worship differently, too. But, I worship many deities...

But, I don't see prayer as accepting defeat. The most memorable prayer of my life was one in which I chewed out a deity I didn't really know for being afflicted with a mental health condition for most of my life(I was late 20s at the time). I didn't think he was actually going to take it away!

I don't know why that happened.

 

[Spice]

Subservient to, no. Humbled by, most definitely yes.

I am what my Creator made me to be, and that is nothing in comparison, so I am in awe, but not fear. I am weak, but not a puppet. I am curious, and I have great potential.

 

[an anarchist]

The English word "worship" comes from the word for to hold in high regard in Old English, it originally had no connection to grovelling or subservience etc

Personally I use the word in light of this even though others use it differently

Even when I was a Christian, I struggled with the humility aspect. Us humans are chaff in the wind compared to God, supposedly.

I think I will explore religion in my life again. But I hold any deities or entities as associates or enemies or neutral. I don’t think it is narcissistic to put myself on the same level of gods. I think it is logical and also partly due to my disdain of gods due to the prevalence of suffering.

I think I can use the word “worship” in the same way you do. If I choose to associate with someone, such as a god, it is because I hold them in regard. It does not make me subservient towards them, rather, potential ally.

Though, the modern connotation of the word “worship” is unmistakable.

 

[an anarchist]

But, I don't see prayer as accepting defeat.

I am stubborn. It took me a long time to learn how to ask people for help. I spent many long times as a Christian on my knees begging God for help and alleviation of my suffering.

Perhaps I just feel jilted. I got problems with forgiveness. Not something I’m glad of.

 

[JustGeorge]

Even when I was a Christian, I struggled with the humility aspect. Us humans are chaff in the wind compared to God, supposedly.

I think I will explore religion in my life again. But I hold any deities or entities as associates or enemies or neutral. I don’t think it is narcissistic to put myself on the same level of gods. I think it is logical and also partly due to my disdain of gods due to the prevalence of suffering.

I think putting oneself on the level of gods is normal in the LHP.

Though as far as suffering goes, I'm convinced the powers that be are not omnipotent. They often are suffering, too.

I think I can use the word “worship” in the same way you do. If I choose to associate with someone, such as a god, it is because I hold them in regard. It does not make me subservient towards them, rather, potential ally.

Well put. I wouldn't hang out with a person I thought was a bad egg, so I wouldn't do that with deities, either.

Though, the modern connotation of the word “worship” is unmistakable.

Its got a lot of baggage, but I don't see why it should.

I might celebrate a friend's birthday, or another day they hold special as a way of showing I appreciate them. I don't see it much different in celebrating during festivals.

I contact a friend to talk, to tell a joke, to exchange information about each other's day. If I just called to whine and ask for things, my friends would get tired of me. I assume it goes the same for prayer.

Likewise, if I only called to tell them how awesome I thought they were, they'd get creeped out. So, I try not to pray like that, either.

I try to build friendships with my Gods.

 

[Madsaac]

If there is a higher power, should us humans be subservient to it?

I think not.

The state of the world is poor, so any being that claims to be the creator I’ll have an issue with. Even if a creator God is real, it will never get my subservience. Not in this life or the next. I remember my Sunday school teacher would brag how after death, Christian God would make people admit that He was indeed God before sending them to Hell. But even after death, I believe my grudge will hold.

Worship is different for me. Worship is not on bended knee. Nature knows not of mercy. To pray is to accept defeat.

If you are subservient towards your gods, how and why?

Certainly not. You can love your god, respect it and hang with it but it should also respect you.

There's a problem there, some people just get too caught up with what god wants them to do and then follow blindly. There has to be give and take.

And that devout following can have negative effects on your life and wider effects with politics and society.

 

[RestlessSoul]

Even when I was a Christian, I struggled with the humility aspect. Us humans are chaff in the wind compared to God, supposedly.

I think I will explore religion in my life again. But I hold any deities or entities as associates or enemies or neutral. I don’t think it is narcissistic to put myself on the same level of gods. I think it is logical and also partly due to my disdain of gods due to the prevalence of suffering.

I think I can use the word “worship” in the same way you do. If I choose to associate with someone, such as a god, it is because I hold them in regard. It does not make me subservient towards them, rather, potential ally.

Though, the modern connotation of the word “worship” is unmistakable.

Humility is the antidote to pride, and pride only hurts; it never helps (as Marcellus Wallace said to Butch, in Pulp Fiction).

 

[RestlessSoul]

Certainly not. You can love your god, respect it and hang with it but it should also respect you.

There's a problem there, some people just get too caught up with what god wants them to do and then follow blindly. There has to be give and take.

And that devout following can have negative effects on your life and wider effects with politics and society.

While others are fixated on what they want, and plough on blindly and miserably.

Following religious leaders may have negative effects. An honest desire to know and serve God, never does.

 

[1213]

If there is a higher power, should us humans be subservient to it?

Why do you think you could go against the higher power? Wouldn't higher power be able to force you to be what ever he wants?

 

[an anarchist]

Why do you think you could go against the higher power? Wouldn't higher power be able to force you to be what ever he wants?

Well if there is a higher power, it is either unable to deny us free will or it enables free will. Either way, I have the free will to not be subservient to an absolute higher power. For if it was not so, I would not be able to do so.

 

[Quintessence]

I mean, to me it's not a question of "should" as that implies there's actually a choice in the matter. Humans are subservient to the gods, by matter of fact. If I stay outside in Sun for too long at certain times of year without protection, Sun will inflict sunburn on me. If I step outside during a Storm, I will get wet from the rain. If I jump into the air, Gravity will force me back down. That's just how it is.

 

[an anarchist]

I mean, to me it's not a question of "should" as that implies there's actually a choice in the matter. Humans are subservient to the gods, by matter of fact. If I stay outside in Sun for too long at certain times of year without protection, Sun will inflict sunburn on me. If I step outside during a Storm, I will get wet from the rain. If I jump into the air, Gravity will force me back down. That's just how it is.

Well, perhaps the gods are subservient to me. Or other humans in general. We can destroy nature, and nature is a god in your eyes, yes? Is this the same logic you are using?

 

[Viker]

If there is a higher power, should us humans be subservient to it?

I think not.

The state of the world is poor, so any being that claims to be the creator I’ll have an issue with. Even if a creator God is real, it will never get my subservience. Not in this life or the next. I remember my Sunday school teacher would brag how after death, Christian God would make people admit that He was indeed God before sending them to Hell. But even after death, I believe my grudge will hold.

Worship is different for me. Worship is not on bended knee. Nature knows not of mercy. To pray is to accept defeat.

If you are subservient towards your gods, how and why?

The kind of relationship I have with my pantheon wouldn't be subservient. I elevate their names and they bring me to them. I allow them to work through me, willfully. They permit me to become one of their own. They aren't looking for "followers". None of them are shepherds, they are wolves. None of them are slave masters, they are barbarians. They are the wild. They are the wilderness. It's loyalty, not submission.

They may even show me how to rise above them.

 

[Secret Chief]

If there is a higher power, should us humans be subservient to it?

I think not.

The state of the world is poor, so any being that claims to be the creator I’ll have an issue with. Even if a creator God is real, it will never get my subservience. Not in this life or the next. I remember my Sunday school teacher would brag how after death, Christian God would make people admit that He was indeed God before sending them to Hell. But even after death, I believe my grudge will hold.

Worship is different for me. Worship is not on bended knee. Nature knows not of mercy. To pray is to accept defeat.

If you are subservient towards your gods, how and why?

I was subservient towards my cat, but that's pretty standard.

 

[Quintessence]

Well, perhaps the gods are subservient to me. Or other humans in general. We can destroy nature, and nature is a god in your eyes, yes? Is this the same logic you are using?

*laughs*

Yes, one is certainly welcome to shoot oneself in one's own foot and spit into the wind, I suppose. I don't recommend it such futilities.

In any case, nature-based and indigenous religions like my own don't really look at things hierarchically to begin with. It's interconnectedness and interdependency and knowing your place within the Weave of existence. Some envision different categories of divine beings and gods, with some being absolutely greater and others being relatively greater. In any case, one learns to not act the fool or pays the price. Tales of acknowledging gifts and dependency - and the folly of hubris like "we can destroy nature" (lol, yeah right) - are fairly common in Paganisms.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

I mean, to me it's not a question of "should" as that implies there's actually a choice in the matter. Humans are subservient to the gods, by matter of fact. If I stay outside in Sun for too long at certain times of year without protection, Sun will inflict sunburn on me. If I step outside during a Storm, I will get wet from the rain. If I jump into the air, Gravity will force me back down. That's just how it is.

Who knew that something as seemingly puny as a thin layer of sunscreen would be enough to thwart a god?

 

[Quintessence]

Who knew that something as seemingly puny as a thin layer of sunscreen would be enough to thwart a god?

It's not puny, it's another one of the gods. Everything is gods, for some of us. Everything has its power.