Explain Your Religious Views or Lack Thereof

[Menassa]

Why would God show you he's there and remove your free will?

We would still have free will, the choice would just be easier. Does not the shepherd calm his sheep by letting his presence be known?

No if God revealed his presence to the human race, the choice would be made for them already.

And perhaps God does reveal himself in little ways, some sheep choose to follow... while others stray.

[Orcoa]

I'm a christian that belongs in the Episcopal Church and is of the Christian Universalism school of Theology.

Haters gonna hate

I thought you were Orthodox.

Nah you are confusing me with Realm of God or the other guys who are Orthodox old friend

[Conscentia]

I have found myself wondering if anyone is really a theist, or if they have merely learned to apply a label of "god" to a figure from a myth that they have been convinced it real but know only from basic descriptions in scriptures.
I wonder if any "theist" could actually recognise a "god". I wonder if anyone could actually recognise a "god".
I sure cannot tell you what "god" even means.
Seems like a meaningless label applied to supposedly powerful figures that are revered because they possess that label or an equivalent.

What a god is really depends on the religious views of who you ask.

The definition for what exactly one is varies as much as any other aspect of religion does, across time and culture. In some religions, a god must be omnipotent, omniscient, etc. The big monotheist religions tend to hold to this view. However, in some other religions, gods aren't necessarily that powerful, are very limited in authority, and there are tons of them, though in some cases that's due to "god" being an imperfect translation of the culture's own word for such things. This is particularly true of more Animist religions.

I don't think a universal, functional definition can really ever be crafted for something that means such different things to different cultures and can in definition only ever really be vague.

I've searched plenty. The only responses to "define god" I have found are either surface descriptions of specific gods, or "we call it god because we revere it".

[Mkuki]

I'm a christian that belongs in the Episcopal Church and is of the Christian Universalism school of Theology.

Haters gonna hate

No wonder you seem so chill.

[The Grey Wolf]

We would still have free will, the choice would just be easier. Does not the shepherd calm his sheep by letting his presence be known?

No if God revealed his presence to the human race, the choice would be made for them already.

And perhaps God does reveal himself in little ways, some sheep choose to follow... while others stray.

And get eaten by hungry wolves.

[Menassa]

If you don't believe in a God than you believe theists believe in something that doesn't exist... so according to that belief their not worshiping anything.

No. I don't believe that theists believe in what they claim to believe because what they claim to believe does not even exist as a concept, let alone in reality.

So you believe that they don't believe in what they believe?

Who are you to tell someone what they do or don't believe?

[The Batorys]

I find it disappointing that no one responded to this post I made I while ago...

So over time, myths and stories get warped by word of mouth, and eventually, those stories and those figures within those stories become our Gods?

Makes sense.

This reminds me of musings I've heard on the nature of godhood before, that perhaps the link between worshipers and gods isn't just one way, but rather is reciprocal, and that the nature of the belief perhaps can shape the nature of the deity. That the power in being a deity has the drawback of being tied to one's worshipers.

[Anachronous Rex]

I worship Flash Gordon.

Sure he's only a man, with a man's courage. But he can never fail. He's a miracle. He will save every one of us.

[Conserative Morality]

Why would you seek to alter someone against their will, if that which you are altering harms no one?

Against their will? What part of argument is against someone's will? I seek to change their will. And I don't see what the lack of harm has to do with this. Again, I'm neither a Christian nor humanist - arguments of live and let live are not relevant to me.

[Menassa]

I thought you were Orthodox.

Nah you are confusing me with Realm of God or the other guys who are Orthodox old friend

Could have sworn...

[Orcoa]

I'm a christian that belongs in the Episcopal Church and is of the Christian Universalism school of Theology.

Haters gonna hate

No wonder you seem so chill.

I try when I'm on here.

What is the point of getting pissed off at someone saying something that goes agasint your religion? On the internet no less

I hold the idea that I get to believe in what I want to and others can do otherwise till somebody tries to impose their views on people.

If you don't do that, then we are cool and I got nothing agasint you.

[Asshatland]

We would still have free will, the choice would just be easier. Does not the shepherd calm his sheep by letting his presence be known?

No if God revealed his presence to the human race, the choice would be made for them already.

And perhaps God does reveal himself in little ways, some sheep choose to follow... while others stray.

No, that is just a weak excuse to try to justify the utter lack of evidence for magical ideas like deities.

It is much more supportable to go with the evidence, and aver that the deity is just a fictional character from the mythology of the ancient Middle East.

The Torah, the Bible, and the Koran are all proof of this.

[Orcoa]

I worship Flash Gordon.

Sure he's only a man, with a man's courage. But he can never fail. He's a miracle. He will save every one of us.

Also he does not want to live forever....

(Favorite Queen song by the way)

[Conscentia]

No. I don't believe that theists believe in what they claim to believe because what they claim to believe does not even exist as a concept, let alone in reality.

So you believe that they don't believe in what they believe?

Who are you to tell someone what they do or don't believe?

No.
I am not convinced that anyone believes in "god" because I'm not convinced there's such a thing as "god" - not even as a concept.

Prove me wrong. Answer the questions I presented in my post.

Also, I'm not telling them anything. They told me - I have simply recorded what I have perceived.

[Mkuki]

No wonder you seem so chill.

I try when I'm on here.

What is the point of getting pissed off at someone saying something that goes agasint your religion? On the internet no less

I hold the idea that I get to believe in what I want to and others can do otherwise till somebody tries to impose their views on people.

If you don't do that, then we are cool and I got nothing agasint you.

Too many people on the internet decide to proselytize, in my opinion.

[Orcoa]

Nah you are confusing me with Realm of God or the other guys who are Orthodox old friend

Could have sworn...

Its ok Menassa

Its not as bad as when I was back in school people thought I worshiped Satan or Thor because I wore a lot of black and listen to Slayer

[The Grey Wolf]

I worship Flash Gordon.

Sure he's only a man, with a man's courage. But he can never fail. He's a miracle. He will save every one of us.

Flash Gordon cannot save you from the Wrath of the Mods.

They come down from the mountains on their black horses, with their ban-swords.

[Menassa]

No if God revealed his presence to the human race, the choice would be made for them already.

And perhaps God does reveal himself in little ways, some sheep choose to follow... while others stray.

No, that is just a weak excuse to try to justify the utter lack of evidence for magical ideas like deities.

It is much more supportable to go with the evidence, and aver that the deity is just a fictional character from the mythology of the ancient Middle East.

The Torah, the Bible, and the Koran are all proof of this.

The first part I understand... and it's not if you could take a bowl of diamonds or a bowl of hot coals the choice is made before you sit down in the chair.

The last part, I don't understand... at all.

[Orcoa]

I try when I'm on here.

What is the point of getting pissed off at someone saying something that goes agasint your religion? On the internet no less

I hold the idea that I get to believe in what I want to and others can do otherwise till somebody tries to impose their views on people.

If you don't do that, then we are cool and I got nothing agasint you.

Too many people on the internet decide to proselytize, in my opinion.

That's because its the Internet, you can say whatever you want to people and not get the shit kicked out of you.

If it was real life on the other hand.....

Yeah so I don't really mind.

[Blasveck]

No wonder you seem so chill.

I try when I'm on here.

What is the point of getting pissed off at someone saying something that goes agasint your religion? On the internet no less

I hold the idea that I get to believe in what I want to and others can do otherwise till somebody tries to impose their views on people.

If you don't do that, then we are cool and I got nothing agasint you.

I like you already.

[Menassa]

I try when I'm on here.

What is the point of getting pissed off at someone saying something that goes agasint your religion? On the internet no less

I hold the idea that I get to believe in what I want to and others can do otherwise till somebody tries to impose their views on people.

If you don't do that, then we are cool and I got nothing agasint you.

Too many people on the internet decide to proselytize, in my opinion.

Where?

So you believe that they don't believe in what they believe?

Who are you to tell someone what they do or don't believe?

No.
I am not convinced that anyone believes in "god" because I'm not convinced there's such a thing as "god" - not even as a concept.

Prove me wrong. Answer the questions I presented in my post.

Also, I'm not telling them anything. They told me - I have simply recorded what I have perceived.

So you don't believe in what they believe exists.

So you believe that according to your beliefs what they believe doesn't exist.

While they believe that what you believe is the real falsehood.

[Firetrap]

I'm an atheist because there is no evidence for the existence of an deity.

[Menassa]

I'm an atheist because there is no evidence for the existence for a deity.

Sounds original.

[Asshatland]

No, that is just a weak excuse to try to justify the utter lack of evidence for magical ideas like deities.

It is much more supportable to go with the evidence, and aver that the deity is just a fictional character from the mythology of the ancient Middle East.

The Torah, the Bible, and the Koran are all proof of this.

The first part I understand... and it's not if you could take a bowl of diamonds or a bowl of hot coals the choice is made before you sit down in the chair.

The last part, I don't understand... at all.

I'm not sure how much more plain I can make it. God is a fictional character from the mythology of the ancient Middle East. Due to a history of people pretending this character is real, to the point of it being socially-ingrained, an inherent special-pleading fallacy has attached to this particular character, meaning it is treated as being somehow more worthy of consideration than similar characters, like Thor, Zeus, Isis, and so on. I'm just taking a step past the historic special-pleading, and looking at it objectively.

[Mkuki]

Too many people on the internet decide to proselytize, in my opinion.

Where?

Seen it a bunch of times on NSG, YouTube, Yahoo (not that I go there often), etc.