The self is not physical, but symbolic

"The self is not physical, but symbolic."

Good. Then I, myself, need to lose 10lbs..... symbolically. :wink:

actually i think this has more significance for weight loss than many things. most people DO carry their weight (or lack of) as a symbol of status, of health, of appeal, but to a point, it only matters a lot because we agree it matters a lot. (at one point, the cardiovascular system cares too, as do the liver and kidneys.)

but of a lot of it is symbolic. as for the flag, we're treating it more like the swastika every day. the swastika of course, exists in many religions, as do white stars on blue backgrounds like we have on the flag. when people are mad for power, symbols often become more sacred. after all, if a piece of cloth can have more rights than you do, you're pretty much taken care of.

what good is freedom of(/from) religion if you have to pretend your country is god? "thou shalt put no other nations before me! for i am a jealous nation..." nonsense.

The "self" that you speak of was created in the image of God (Gen 1:26). If self is a symbol and not reality then the symbol of "self" is a symbol of God's creation, which is reality.

Sounds good to me.

well, just because it's symbolic doesn't necessarily mean it's real or isn't real. sometimes symbols point to reality, sometimes they don't.

money is a symbol based in fiction that points to the reality of goods, but it's very real to us. on the other hand, it's only paper. so that's symbolism pointing to reality.

then you have symbolism like "hitler is germany and germany is god." that's symbolic alright. but germany fell and "god" ended up in a ditch on fire covered in petrol. and it was his honeymoon!

that's symbolism that isn't pointing to reality.