Thread: God is Absolute

Originally Posted by Dreamwalkwr

I believe the way I view god, not some old man in the sky theory, and science can coexist. Everything has been proven to be made up of energy, what if (and of course there's no proof either way and scientists are always discovering new things) god is like a frequency. I know this will sound crazy but I've had the experience of seeing a spirit. I even got very ill after the encounter. It's a blessing though because I can know in my own heart without doubt that there are things of a spiritial nature that we don't understand and the majority will never know it.
It's not evrn like I care if anyone believes it either, we all have our own paths to follow and I don't begrudge them their belief or non belief.

Well, changing the definition of god makes it pretty easy for god to exist. When it comes to debates of this matter, most people just debate whether Yahweh, Allah, or some other god of a major religion. If you want to say God is absolute energy, and essentially what makes up the universe, then God exists. Not as a being like we like to imagine. In that sense, God is neither omnipotent, and it's even hard to say he's omnipresent, and there really isn't an argument you could make for god being omniscient. The rational person would then ask, why call that energy god? Why worship it? Why treat it as more than it is? If god can be something as... I hate to use the word mundane or insignificant, but lacking in the magnificent significance of the god or gods we otherwise try to posit as being the true god(s), then why do we consider it god? Why can't it be something else?

Calling it and treating it like something else helps us for a few reasons in this case. One, it stops the confusion caused by referring it to god, like the kind like christians, jews, muslims, hindus, or other religions worship. People instantly associate the word god with those concepts. Secondly, it helps us to stop associating this "god" you refer to with the lores of said religions and prevents you from coming to any biased conclusions. Case in point, you believe you saw a spirit. If you do not believe in the god that these religions all recognize, then why do you believe in concepts associated with these religions? Spirits and souls are something that belong to those mythologies. What makes you believe in them exactly? Because you associate them with the various other concepts of god you are familiar with? Why don't you chalk your experience up to one of the many times the brain misinterprets reality? Isn't it possible it was a delusion, hallucination, or something else that you wound up deciding was encountering a spirit using confirmation bias (that is, you wanted to believe it was a spirit)? All of those are normal to experience even as a healthy human, once in a while. Why is encountering a spirit more plausible than natural phenomena that are well documented and happen all the time? And lastly, calling this something other than god allows you to come to a better understanding of what you believe the energy or whatever actually is. It isn't constrained to the ideas and concepts of what god is supposed to be like. It allows you to look at the situation more objectively.

Honestly I don't care if someone believes in God as a personal belief. The problem is that pretty much all religions dictate that you are to spread the religion, that religious laws trump the laws of whatever country you are in (especially when it comes to Islam and Sharia law), and that there are other archaic customs associated with them--like how male circumcision is common place in the West (even though it does prevent infection, this next example is less forgiving), and female genital mutilation can occur in Islam. In both cases, genitals are painfully mutilated in accordance with religious belief, partially (if not totally, as with the case of female genital mutilation) to decrease sexual satisfaction or prevent masturbation. It also prevents civil rights of many citizens. Gay people couldn't marry before not too long ago in the United States, and there are cases cropping up all over Europe where Muslim Migrants are not adhering to the civil rights of the countries they are living in, and treating their wives as property. This isn't even mentioning abortion or contraceptAll of this would be fine if they simply wanted to believe in God and that's fine just for them alone, but when you look at all these things that religion demands of its followers, it's toxic. No matter what perceived good the people that follow these religions think they get from believing in God, the amount of bad that comes out of it (even if it's not personally from them, many other people in their group ruin it for them) is inexcusable.

I don't propose that religious freedom be revoked as a right or anything, but you can't ignore the problems it causes. We're all stuck dealing with their failure to adapt and alter their behavior in accordance with law that doesn't discriminate against others for their race, sex, sexual preference, religious choices, or anything else. It's understandable that some people, therefore, harbor animosity toward the religious, especially the overzealous.

Originally Posted by snoop

Well, changing the definition of god makes it pretty easy for god to exist. When it comes to debates of this matter, most people just debate whether Yahweh, Allah, or some other god of a major religion. If you want to say God is absolute energy, and essentially what makes up the universe, then God exists. Not as a being like we like to imagine. In that sense, God is neither omnipotent, and it's even hard to say he's omnipresent, and there really isn't an argument you could make for god being omniscient. The rational person would then ask, why call that energy god? Why worship it? Why treat it as more than it is? If god can be something as... I hate to use the word mundane or insignificant, but lacking in the magnificent significance of the god or gods we otherwise try to posit as being the true god(s), then why do we consider it god? Why can't it be something else?

Calling it and treating it like something else helps us for a few reasons in this case. One, it stops the confusion caused by referring it to god, like the kind like christians, jews, muslims, hindus, or other religions worship. People instantly associate the word god with those concepts. Secondly, it helps us to stop associating this "god" you refer to with the lores of said religions and prevents you from coming to any biased conclusions. Case in point, you believe you saw a spirit. If you do not believe in the god that these religions all recognize, then why do you believe in concepts associated with these religions? Spirits and souls are something that belong to those mythologies. What makes you believe in them exactly? Because you associate them with the various other concepts of god you are familiar with? Why don't you chalk your experience up to one of the many times the brain misinterprets reality? Isn't it possible it was a delusion, hallucination, or something else that you wound up deciding was encountering a spirit using confirmation bias (that is, you wanted to believe it was a spirit)? All of those are normal to experience even as a healthy human, once in a while. Why is encountering a spirit more plausible than natural phenomena that are well documented and happen all the time? And lastly, calling this something other than god allows you to come to a better understanding of what you believe the energy or what actually is. It isn't constrained to the ideas and concepts of what god is supposed to be like. It allows you to look at the situation more objectively.

I still believe that god is spirit and that there is a conscienceness that is a part of all creation because again, as I said before, god created all things and that is how I can perceive god as omniscient. I've also had different experiences than others and have built my insites apon what my path in life and my own search for truth has shown me. This doesn't make me right either, it is simply what I believe.