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Are We the Gods?

 
 
MrIVI
 
Reply Wed 10 Nov, 2004 12:37 am
I just wanted to submit an idea.

It's an old idea but hopefully, I'm presenting it in one of its purest forms which makes it at least to my mind original.

We are the Gods.

(Most everybody groans.)

But bear with me for a moment, imagine (just for me) we are. Well, obviously, we're really not much of a god. Last time I tried levitating something it didn't even flinch!

So, let's say we have a power but it's very minor or at least very difficult to channel. Haven't you ever felt you wished something into existence? Or heard someone say the human will is the most powerful force? I'm willing to present: that is the God power. It's a power that is constantly defeated and sometimes completely broken; but it's also the power (I believe) that made the universe, evolved it ever so slowly, painfully, as the ameba wished to be a fish; and the fish wished to flyÂ…yada, yada until the Monkey wished to work a twelve hour shift in a steel mill and eat bread over bananas.

Through out history, almost all humans have had a notion of a spiritual side to the world. May it be because they are the spiritual side to the world; and again may that be why it is so hard to find God? Because we're not looking at that "still small voice" inside ourselves?

Again, I'd like to hypothesize if on some level we are aware of our own Godhood, and if We are the Gods then logically we are the creators of the universe; thus we would have a built in desire to sustain it (which many of us do demonstrate.)

But again, returning to the idea that this power is weak, this power would constantly betray and us and hurt us; we would want to believe in something else, something bigger that would never fail. The God G-Man in the clouds, all powerful, all knowing God. Now, we have freed our consciences.

Working from that basis for religion you might see why especially Monotheistic religions would ban witchcraft and magic. It is what they have been attempting to hide from the proof of their own Godhood.
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sobriquet
 
  1  
Reply Wed 10 Nov, 2004 03:31 am
There was a Terry Pratchett novel which detailed a world full of thousands and thousands of gods, the vast majority without any believers and powerless. The lucky few would manage to perform a minor miracle at an opportune moment and gain a believer. One believer becomes two, two becomes four, and so on until you it would have a mass following.

Could it be true that we are all gods, yet we have no believers and are powerless. Only the rare few that can convince people they are a god gain devine powers, fueled by belief, faith, and worship.
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Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Wed 10 Nov, 2004 05:14 am
We really don't know, do we?

It is an interesting speculation, MrIVI...and the notion of me being GOD certainly has its appeal.

Hell...I can even rationalize the reason that I, as GOD, decided to cloud that information from my mind...and limited what "powers" I have while in this puny form.

But the bottom line is: I do not know what the Ultimate Reality is...and there is damn near no evidence that I can use to make a truly informed guess...so I am pretty much stuck with the "I do not know."

Like I said...it is fun to speculate...but the bottom line remains the bottom line.
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val
 
  1  
Reply Wed 10 Nov, 2004 06:14 am
Re: Are We the Gods?
Are we the gods? Of course, what's the doubt?
I have a church in my brain and my priests - they live there as well - are Kant, Wittgenstein and Heidegger.
The temple is always open and I accept oferends. An island in the Pacific with an harem of beautiful girls - sorry Wittgenstein, but only women!- will pardon you for creating topics like this one.
Let the peace be with you and even Very Happy with those evil skeptics like Frank.
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Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Wed 10 Nov, 2004 06:19 am
Re: Are We the Gods?
val wrote:
Are we the gods? Of course, what's the doubt?
I have a church in my brain and my priests - they live there as well - are Kant, Wittgenstein and Heidegger.
The temple is always open and I accept oferends. An island in the Pacific with an harem of beautiful girls - sorry Wittgenstein, but only women!- will pardon you for creating topics like this one.
Let the peace be with you and even Very Happy with those evil skeptics like Frank.


Well, Val...after hearing about the "harem of beautiful girls" (nymphomaniacs, not virgins, I hope)...

...I have decided to "believe" in you.

Now...are you gonna pay may airfare there...or do I have to put out the money? :wink:
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Phoenix32890
 
  1  
Reply Wed 10 Nov, 2004 06:22 am
Quote:
Are we the gods?
-

I sincerely hope not. We are so damn flawed. Although I do not believe in a god per se, I cannot dismiss the possibility that human beings are not at the top of the evolutionary heap!
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Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Wed 10 Nov, 2004 06:43 am
Here's a joke Cicerone Imposter just sent me. I applies.



A man boarded an airplane and took his seat. As he settled in, he glanced up and saw the most beautiful woman boarding the plane. He soon realized that she was heading straight towards his seat.

As fate would have it, she took the seat right beside his. Eager to strike up a conversation, he blurted out, "Business trip or pleasure?"

She turned, smiled and said, "Business, I'm going to the Annual Nymphomaniacs of America Convention in Chicago."

He swallowed hard. Here was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen sitting next to him and she was going to a meeting for nymphomaniacs!
Struggling to maintain his composure, he calmly asked, "What's your business role at the convention?"

"Lecture," she responded. " I am the lead lecturer where I use information that I have learned from my own personal experiences to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality."

He said, "And what kinds of myths are there?"

"Well," she explained, "one popular myth is that African-American men are the most well-endowed of all men, when in fact it is the Native American Indian who is most likely to possess that trait. Another popular myth is that Frenchmen are the best lovers, when actually it is the men of Jewish descent that are the best. I have also discovered that the lover with the absolutely best stamina is the Southern Redneck."
Suddenly the woman became a little uncomfortable and blushed. "I'm sorry," she said, "I shouldn't really be discussing all this with you. I don't even know your name."

"Tonto", the man said. "Tonto Goldstein, but my friends call me Bubba!"
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Taliesin181
 
  1  
Reply Wed 10 Nov, 2004 05:15 pm
Laughing Laughing That's hilarious, Frank. Not sure how it applied, but it was good nonetheless.
to all: I've posted my belief that what we call "god" is really Jung's Collective unconscious: just the collected force of mankind's will doing whatever; and there's an interesting book called 'American Gods' that deals with the origins of gods as anthropomorphic beings. In a way, this belief does make us 'god', but only as a whole. individually, we're nothing. Just a theory...
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fresco
 
  1  
Reply Wed 10 Nov, 2004 06:14 pm
This one sits nicely with the meditation thread.

I quite like the"collective unconscious" explanation.
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SCoates
 
  1  
Reply Wed 10 Nov, 2004 07:30 pm
I believe that we are God's childrenand we learned from him before we came to expereince mortality.
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Taliesin181
 
  1  
Reply Thu 11 Nov, 2004 02:07 pm
Scoates: I think we need a refresher course, then. Laughing
What do you mean by "before we came to experience mortality"?
fresco: which Meditation thread? I might check it out.
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Ceili
 
  1  
Reply Thu 11 Nov, 2004 02:26 pm
Assorted quotes:

"The trouble with being a god is that you've got no one to pray to."

"He says gods like to see an atheist around. Gives them something to aim at."

The trouble was that he was talking in philosophy, but they were listening in gibberish.

"It's a god-eat-god world."

"That's right," he said. "We're philosophers. We think, therefore we am."

-- (Terry Pratchett, Small Gods)
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SCoates
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Nov, 2004 04:25 pm
Taliesin181 wrote:
Scoates: I think we need a refresher course, then. Laughing
What do you mean by "before we came to experience mortality"?
fresco: which Meditation thread? I might check it out.


Smile I hope we get one after we die.

It is my belief that he has sent us here to learn on our own. It's part of his plan for us. Obviously he wouldn't just create us for nothing--therefor he must have a purpose for our existence.
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Ray
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Nov, 2004 05:32 pm
We are not gods. We can't break the laws of physics so how can we be gods? No matter how we try, will we ever travel faster than the speed of light?

If there is a god, then perhaps it is the everything that is our universe?

We don't know. I would like to believe in a Good god though, like who hristians are praying to, but I don't believe in a "plan" for that would make us seem powerless and not in control of our own lives.

One thing I do believe, is the Platonic sense of reality.
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SCoates
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Nov, 2004 05:49 pm
Maybe his plan is to help us learn how NOT to be powerless and how to BE in control of our own lives. Otherwise he would be here among us, bossing us around.
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Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Nov, 2004 06:28 pm
SCoates wrote:
Maybe his plan is to help us learn how NOT to be powerless and how to BE in control of our own lives. Otherwise he would be here among us, bossing us around.


Or there might not be a God....

...or there might be a God, but not the kind of God that would be interested in what we humans do...

...or...well, ya know. A whole bunch of things.
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SCoates
 
  1  
Reply Fri 12 Nov, 2004 07:15 pm
My whole point is, if there IS a God, and he did in fact create us, then he must have had a reason. Even if it was just for practice or entertainment, or he sneezed and temporarily lost control of his powers. However, I suspect there was a GOOD reason, seeing as he is (hypothetically) God.
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Ethel2
 
  1  
Reply Sat 13 Nov, 2004 01:00 am
Sure I'm a god. Bear just granted me immortality. That makes him a god too.
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Frank Apisa
 
  1  
Reply Sat 13 Nov, 2004 04:17 am
Ray wrote:
We are not gods.


I suspect you don't know if we are gods or not...so you really shouldn't state that as an absolute.


Quote:
We can't break the laws of physics so how can we be gods?


Very easily! We can be gods who have incarnated ourselves without the ability to break the laws of physics.


Quote:
No matter how we try, will we ever travel faster than the speed of light?


Ahhh...you can predict the future!

Can you tell me which team will win the Super Bowl?



Quote:
If there is a god, then perhaps it is the everything that is our universe?


So...you are now saying that perhaps we are gods. Wow...you sure do change your mind in a hurry.


Quote:
We don't know.


That was a very intelligent sentence, Ray.

I loved it.

Of course, you are merely speculating that the rest of us do not know...but I suspect you are correct in that speculation...and I get your message.


Quote:
I would like to believe in a Good god though, like who hristians are praying to, but I don't believe in a "plan" for that would make us seem powerless and not in control of our own lives.

One thing I do believe, is the Platonic sense of reality.


No problem there. You can "believe" in anything you want. All you have to do is to say, "I believe... ."
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MrIVI
 
  1  
Reply Sat 13 Nov, 2004 10:27 pm
Paranormal?
Ray wrote:
We are not gods. We can't break the laws of physics so how can we be gods? No matter how we try, will we ever travel faster than the speed of light?

If there is a god, then perhaps it is the everything that is our universe?

We don't know. I would like to believe in a Good god though, like who hristians are praying to, but I don't believe in a "plan" for that would make us seem powerless and not in control of our own lives.

One thing I do believe, is the Platonic sense of reality.


Ah...You're close minded as a bowling ball. (Thought it was kind of absurdly funny line.) Anyway, you think we can't break the speed of light.

You sound like the people who told the Wilbur and Orville that man couldn't fly.

Beyond that...How do you know we can't break the laws of physics?

I'd dare you to do a serious study of the paranormal.

The military hires psychics.
Millions of people stream to faith healers.
Greater than 10% of the population claim to have seen some form of apparition.

(Surely, not all claims can be correct, but it sounds pretty stupid to deny every one of them.)

PS: Plato believed in a God (Pantheistic) and Gods (Polytheistic). You should check out the account of his near-death experience. (www.neardeath.com)
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