The irrelevance of God

Yazata said:
I'm very interested in, and to a lesser extent respectful of, religious experience. That extends to the religious experiences of people whose religion is different than mine. (That might include everybody.) I'm willing to accept that subjective religious experiences can be very convincing to the person experiencing them. But I'm much more skeptical about their objective epistemological value for the rest of us.

Even traditions that place great weight on personal religious experience, as the result of meditation or whatever, emphasize the need for each person to experience it for his/herself.
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What is really troubling you in all this?

That you feel a kind of push to go along with whatever anyone claims, esp. when it comes to religious/spiritual topics - and you don't really know how to resist that push? - That you may be well able to resist that push externally, such as by politely ending the conversation, but in the privacy of your mind, it doesn't leave you be?
 
wynn said:
Indeed.
But think about it: Do you really want to be inspired? By just anyone who wants to inspire you or just anyone whom they happen to come across? Do you really want your inner faculties to be hijacked like that?
I think not.
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Yes I do. Unfortunately being inspired usually acts like water off a duck's back, and goes as quickly as it comes. I don't see it as hijacking because I don't believe people will really prove much, so I am not looking for a new paradigm - I feel that kind of external inspiration is less like getting a new way to think and more like getting something new to think with or about.
 
cole grey said:
Yes I do. Unfortunately being inspired usually acts like water off a duck's back, and goes as quickly as it comes. I don't see it as hijacking because I don't believe people will really prove much, so I am not looking for a new paradigm - I feel that kind of external inspiration is less like getting a new way to think and more like getting something new to think with or about.
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Awww. So what do you really want? Someone to tell you in a soft, kind voice - "Yes, sweeping the deck of a sinking ship is such a meaningful task!"
 
wynn said:
Awww. So what do you really want? Someone to tell you in a soft, kind voice - "Yes, sweeping the deck of a sinking ship is such a meaningful task!"
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sure, that sounds great. But unfortunately for some of us, we have to make up our own minds about what is meaningful, rather than being able to actually accept simple platitudes.
 
cole grey said:
sure, that sounds great. But unfortunately for some of us, we have to make up our own minds about what is meaningful, rather than being able to actually accept simple platitudes.
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Pride. The usual resort for those lacking analytical skill ...
 
wynn said:
Pride. The usual resort for those lacking analytical skill ...
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Haha. I include you in those who have to decide for themselves though, since you are about as stubborn as the rest of us, so you are in the same boat, just not willing to agree that you are in the boat.
 
cole grey said:
sure, that sounds great. But unfortunately for some of us, we have to make up our own minds about what is meaningful, rather than being able to actually accept simple platitudes.
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Why did you use the word "unfortunately" here?
 
wynn said:
Why did you use the word "unfortunately" here?
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It is a lot of work, for some of us, to make things meaningful. This seems one of those ways of being that can be described as fortunately and unfortunately, depending on which facet you concentrate on. But, there are a lot of really powerful platitudes out there some of us don't get to use, like "everything works out for the best", and "I think it is this way, so it must be."
 
cole grey said:
But, there are a lot of really powerful platitudes out there some of us don't get to use, like "everything works out for the best", and "I think it is this way, so it must be."
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Well, aren't we a bunch of miscreants then!
 
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