Makeshift Confidence:The Search for an Ersatz Equilibrium

[CHRISCUNNINGHAM]

Man is hopeless, nearly everyday he sees things that he can't control: death, destruction, endless turmoil, etc. Man has a strong, ovine impetus toward: direction, "free-will", and acceptance-- his most precious desiderata, despite their contradictory nature.

In the case of reality, the attainment and retainment of the aforementioned goals is essential to the wellness and complaceny an individual. But the arduousness--truly the gracefulness-- of balancing such encumbering aspirations is beyond mankind's ability, he is far too gauche for such delicacy.

So, to cope...to compensate, to complement his existence, he creates something that does not have his ineptitude, he creates something that will always prevail against the interminable tumult that is his own existence, but he creates this thing in his image, and he creates it with only the slightest degree of control so as to keep it pure and "above" him and his fellow herd members.

...He creates "God"...

A man with the attributes of omniscience, omnipresence, and unbridled power. But also a man so altruistic, that he will bless you when asked(sometimes) and give you eternal happiness, only if you proclaim an "unconditional" love for him.

With such an efficient mechanism man can live his life, despite how inadequate he may be.

 

[Lori_7]

God isn't a man, and we, as humans, are incapable of unconditional love. You should try to sprinkle a little truth in with your fiction sometimes. It makes the story somewhat more believable for the reader.

 

[CHRISCUNNINGHAM]

You're right...god isn't a man...he is an aggrandized man, a demi-god. And if you were even permissibly discerning, Lori, you would realize that I never once hinted that man was capable of "unconditional love".

 

[beyondtimeandspace]

Chris, what Lori means, I believe, is that God really isn't human. You quote the Bible by saying that we created God in "our image." You forgot the "and likeness" part, which is crucial. You see, historically, theologically, the image and likeness of God do not represent physical attributes of man. In the quoted scripture, Image and Likeness refer to two different things. Likeness refers to whatever a thing has in common with God. All things have likeness to God, some more than others. The mere fact that a thing exists is a likeness to God. Image here talks about humans as having the capacity of intellect and free will (among other spiritual attributes). Likewise, Angels and Demons bear the Image of God in that they have intellect and free will.

 

[CHRISCUNNINGHAM]

Angels and demons with intellect and free-will? Why did god take the time out to make humans, the universe, and everything in it if he had the angels to play the same roles in his existence, namely to worship and love him...to give him laud for being and nothing more?

To move on, the point is that "God" is a man because he (of course anything divine must have a male gender, because man is far too simple-minded to envisage something as exceptional as Divinity to be genderless....it all makes sense...)is emotional, he "cares", he's compassionate, he gets angry, he loves....

 

[Lori_7]

You're right...god isn't a man...he is an aggrandized man, a demi-god. And if you were even permissibly discerning, Lori, you would realize that I never once hinted that man was capable of "unconditional love".

"God is a demi-god"...I think that about sums it all up right there. And oh yes you did hint at humans being capable of unconditional love when you suggested that humans needed to proclaim it for God to receive salvation. You couldn't be any more wrong than you are. You apparently don't understand even the basic tenets of the faith.

 

[Cris]

Chris,

A nice perspective. The mental creation of something perfect, fatherly, and protective, something that will give hope where for many everything is hopeless. For many the trusted existence of this perfect humanized god is what keeps many of them sane or at least prevent endless depression.

Yet this mental creation is not universal. There are many who do not see man as hopeless, but full of optimism for a world and universe full of exciting challenges. In this paradigm, gods are not needed and are indeed a signficant hindrance.

For Lori and many like her, I strongly suspect, the dependence on this mental creation is essential for their continued good health, like an eternal placebo. And is it such a bad thing that so many prefer this vision since most are destined for nothing but to die and to contribute little of value before then.

 

[superluminal]

And is it such a bad thing that so many prefer this vision since most are destined for nothing but to die and to contribute little of value before then.

Yes it is.

 

[Lori_7]

Wow, now there's some hypocritical judgement for you...and I thought church people were bad.

 

[SnakeLord]

What if he's right? Would you ever even entertain the notion?

 

[Cris]

Super,

But why? Without a purpose imposed upon us it is up to us to define our own purpose, most find that too difficult to do - so whatever. Does it make any difference in the long run? Those that can adapt, create, and inovate, will survive - that has been the way of evolution for all time. Those who are too lazy to think and hope that superstitions will solve their problems will die out. Is that a bad thing?

 

[superluminal]

Cris, I posted a thread called "The Power of God". See if that helps with why I still think theists as a group are dangerous (even though individual theists may seem super nice).

 

[MaMaPyCb]

I'm Pretty shure God is Acctually My refrigerator..... But thats another Topic for another Time....

Heres the oddities that Will allow this To go on forever....

If God Exist, then by being Created by him we are set at a point to where we couldn't be able to understand him. We couldnt Prove it.Think about it.. does a Computer Wonder what its purpose in life is? no. WE created it, Heack we do a good job of making them look like they do, after all I assume that everytime I see the blue screen of death its simply my computer understanding why it was built, and deciding to just not bother... :bugeye:

If God dosent Exist....... How in the Heack can you Prove it?.... You would have to to Then Understand ALL OF THE UNIVERSE AT ALL PRESPECTIVES.. and then look at it and go "Nope, he's not there, who woudda guessed?".

You cant Prove or disprove the God thing... Which Is really convient for both sides of the Argument......

Thats Where it Gets Crazy.

Now, Where do I go with all this....

Christainity, Islam, Etc......... Have Survived for a Good chunk of History...

And So have people that say any one who is up in the Sky dictating the Earth have had one to many Disco-Biscuts.......

"Lori and many like her, I strongly suspect, the dependence on this mental creation is essential for their continued good health, like an eternal placebo. And is it such a bad thing that so many prefer this vision since most are destined for nothing but to die and to contribute little of value before then."

Are you shure that Thinking this is a Dependance on a mental creation isnt just a Placebo for you?

I think the Value of someones Beliefs are only meashured upon there death. Many People of faith have helped mankind, and many people have helped mankind who didnt think there was a god or that these any real point to all this...

Insanity and Genius are only meashured by degrees of sucess.

Whos been more sucessful?

 

[CHRISCUNNINGHAM]

And oh yes you did hint at humans being capable of unconditional love when you suggested that humans needed to proclaim it for God to receive salvation. You couldn't be any more wrong than you are. You apparently don't understand even the basic tenets of the faith.

Clearly, noesis is not your forte...

The paragraph where I say "...unless they proclaim unconditonal love for him" is wholly sarcastic after the first sentence. I say "god" is altruistic because sometimes he gives you what you want when you pray for it (yes it is meant to be contradictory), and he also promises you something so luxurious as "eternal happiness", but only if you love him. Agape is the term the most pious use to explain their love for god, but the most ironic and hypocritical thing about their agape is this: if God promised his followers-- those who love him-- eternal damnation and NOT eternal bliss, would they still love him? If they were never granted their wishes and terrible things always happened to them, would they still love him? If they had nothing "coming to them" after life, nothing ensuing their apparently worthless existence, would they love their "god"??? Probably not....that is why their love is far from unconditional, that is why their integrity is far from respectable.

You cant Prove or disprove the God thing... Which Is really convient for both sides of the Argument......

You can't prove or disprove that a giant pink monkey on a unicycle is balancing the universe on his nose: the point is that its implausibility is what leads people NOT to believe it is true...not the fact that it can or cannot be proven.