GOD- what does this word mean to YOU?

Re: GOD- what does this word mean to YOU?


A projection of human beings. He is what we are not and wished to be. Immortal, omniscient, powerful. And he protects us. He is interested in us.

I think all that a little childish.

i think of 'god' as a collective consiousness, that everyone and everything shares. but sometimes i just get an image of a dude with a beard playing with lightning.

My definition of god: A three letter word that is a term for the ongoing interaction of everything with everything.

Then it makes sense that "god is everywhere".

So far I like all three ideas. Will keep reading to see what transpires.

A god is any one of the thousands of mythical beings endowed by human beings with magical powers and the ability to capriciously reward/punish people if they so choose. The belief that gods will answer prayers or can be coerced by magical rites/sacrifices to intercede gives relieves our feelings of helplessness against the impersonal forces of nature/fate.

A word that has caused much confusion, ignorance, deceit, and bloodshed.

Angelique wrote:


Look at this:
An old king in a foreign country once told his scribe to write down the following message, in order to stop an execution that was going to take place: "Hang him not, wait until I return".

The tragedy was that the scribe made one small error. He wrote: "Hang him, not wait until I return". A simple error with a comma resulted in the hanging of an innocent man.

(The original phrase is in norwegian, where there is no difference between the words "not" and "don't", hence the peculiar wording. )

What I mean is that confusion, ignorance, deceit and bloodshed are not caused by that three-letter word, but by man's flawed understanding of it. After all, if one comma can be such a matter of interpetation that it can cost a man his life, then imagine what three simple letters might do...

Cyracuz said:
GOD- what does this word mean to YOU?

Sir/Madam, comma error or not, that is my answer. I believe words are just a tool that anybody can manipulate for their own ends. I respect if you beleive in God, I don't. God is just another word to me.


AE

I think some of the other members already have given answers that are more of what your looking for. Why repeat the same thing.

god is the ultimate ambiguity; it can mean anything.
it means everything to some, and nothing to others.
it is one of the simplest ways known to cause strife.
it can cost you your life, in so many ways.
with it we remain as children who never grow up.
without it WE are responsible for everything.

[it represents that schism between all we fear, and all we hold dear]

Angeliqe. do you believe in toothpaste? Or do you believe in man?

You say that god is just a word, but that you don't believe in it. That means that you have a definition, one that makes it impossible for that word to make sense. Then you've just got it wrong. Or do you think that you've got it right, but that the rest of the universe does not compute?

As to answers I am looking for... Not looking for any particular answer. You answer is as good as any, and I am not critisizing your answer, only your logic.

"There is a tree, but I don't know what a tree is, and so I don't believe it." That seems to me to be the sum of your logic.

I like your answer BoGoWo.

God is just a tool.

God is a pretty good name, i think i'll call my first kid God

Hehe.. I just realized that Mad dog is God dam.

Cyracuz,

I have been thinking about this thread, and I hope you see this even if its no longer in the active forum. I'm more a listener, and a reader, not good at wordy debating. I wonder how much wordy debating gives or takes away from the subject that people are debating. I think people complicate things with too much wordiness. Life can be simpler than that, and more satisfying.

I was looking through my library and found these two books one of my math teachers recommended we buy, and read. Maybe you might enjoy them, if you don't already have them.

1.What Is The Name Of This Book (The Riddle of Dracula and Other Logical Puzzles)
By Raymond Smullyan

2.The Lady Or The Tiger? (And other Logic Puzzles, including A Mathematical Novel that features Godel's Great Discovery)
By the same author as above

AE

Love.

I sum up my conception of God as Love.

I know it sounds entirely cheesy - and at times I struggle with getting this conception to fit with the reality I see around me. But I try hard not to shoehorn my ideas into God - but let what this world is inform me about what God is.

God to me = Love.

TF

I disagree. God, by concept, can not mean certain things. God - cannot mean non existence for instance, nor can he mean Evil. It seems to go against the very conception of what God is.

I think BoGoWo makes a more subtle point that what he is trying to make however, that humans tend to make God in thier image - and because our reality tends to be seen as amorphous (as far as our 'mind', 'self', or 'soul' goes) we tend to see God a myriad of ways.

But to dismiss God out of hand because his conception is childish is to dismiss the rich and varied intellectual and in depth accounts of what God could be.

I could similarly say that not to believe in God is childish and egocentric. This, however, would not only not get the discussion anywhere but would be fallacious in reasoning.

TF

TF, I have though of the same thing, and only yesterday I had the privilege of being present when someone made this realization for the first time. All is love. The world is full of examples. We could call gravity love. The devotion our mother earth has for all it's offspring. It spawns us, then holds us to it's bosom. That is love.

But I disagree with this:


God is but a word. The word is often useless, because as soon as you mention it you invoke the mistrust of whoever you're talking to. Because of cristianity and other religions "god" has become a term the critical human being will assume to mean something impossible, because that is what we've learned. But in this case it is the learning that is wrong. What god is can only be figured out by the individual. And if I figure out what god is, it is still impossible to convey it with mere words.

AngeliqueEast, thank you for the referances to thiose books. They sound like books I can really enjoy. I love puzzles and riddles.

And I agree that life can be simpler than it is. But at times this wordiness is very satisfying, if you only remember that it is a means, not an end.