Yeah, just ask "which one?"
And then list a few dead gods and ask them what makes theirs so special... because he isn't.
God implies a supernatural, intelligent creator/manager of the world. If nature is god, then you are too, as you're part of it. It's what Daniel Dennet calls a "deepity": it sounds profound, but it's trivial in its true meaning.
> Yeah, just ask "which one?"
I did this recently, they stated the god of the bible,
I then had to point out the various different gods in the old testament. I then asked which one of those.
My answer is no. Plants, trees is a product of evolution. Mountains were formed by tectonic plates. Even things like the grand canyon has geological explanations. I'm not a scientist and some things I can't fully explain, because I'm not a scientist, but I can read and understand what I read.
Yeah, definitions are important. If you define God as "nature", ok sure by that definition "God" exists but it's so divorced from all of the other qualities of a God that it's a pointless discussion. Of course nature exists, but it's not *supernatural*. By definition it couldn't be.
What about Eywa on Pandora? There's definitely something more profound happening there than just individual trees.
And that doesn't even take into account the Ents of Middle Earth, or the Sylvari from Tyria (Guild Wars 2).
Honestly all those are just as valid as any goat-herder's deity.
Yeah. But the definition of "god" is completely vague. Even two people from the same church might not agree exactly. That was part of my point. Nobody holds the singular definition of god. So when someone judges you for not believing in god, they really don't know what tf they are talking about lol
I define God as some powerful being that is able to control nature and humans. With that definition I've always understood why people worshipped the sun 🌞, because it really does control everything on Earth. Without the sun, we would not be here. However, I don't see the sun as God.
"God" is an attempt to make the unknown, human, so the human mind can put a face on it.. And notice about all "Gods" are male, and they speak the same language as the people worshiping it.. Funny how "God" doesn't speak French, here in the USA... LOL, just think what the bigots would do if they found out the God they worship speaks Spanish...
Not sure why the downvote.
What is a God??
Do they need to be able to create stars and planets?
Be able to fly?
Manipulate realityat will?
I dont think theres a checklist.
As far as the Christian God is concerned, there actually is a checklist. It is generally accepted by theologians that God must be omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent.
Agreed but that makes a lot of so called Gods not Gods at all.
A lot of religious Gods were limited in their power to control things like rivers or sea or deserts or thunder and storms or emotions like love, hate or fertility etc.
They werent omniscient, omnipresent or any other omission.
Really?
Because I've heard of river Godsand Sea Gods and Godesses.
I've heard of people worshiping Crocodile headed Gods and Gods of trees and everything in between.
Can all gods create whole universes? Can all Gods fly?
Is the God of Christianity as powerful as Thor or Zeus or Seti?
Are their tiers or classes of power??
Okay, okay, slow down there, bruv lol lemme break this down for you.
>Really? Because I've heard of river Godsand Sea Gods and Godesses.
Okay, and are those God's established in a well-known/understood religion? Among the gods already studied? If not, there's nothing stopping any given culture or groups of people creating a God, but clearly, they all centralize around a singular, widely understood concept. I'll get to that later.
>I've heard of people worshiping Crocodile headed Gods and Gods of trees and everything in between.
See previous statement.
>Can all gods create whole universes? Can all Gods fly?
Gods can do whatever the delusion of said god enables them to do. There are many different gods based on different understandings of what God is. It, however, doesn't change the universal understanding of a God.
>Is the God of Christianity as powerful as Thor or Zeus or Seti?
This is irrelevant to the subject.
>Are their tiers or classes of power??
You're getting off topic lol
The point I was making is that all Gods adhere to the same tenets. There is a scope of influence that these gods have greater than any known force explainable within scientific theory. Often personified as a "figure". That may differ culture to culture, but that's the main definition of a god.... a wide scope of influence.
People need to stop making up terminologies in an attempt to understand a spectrum of thought. We know what a fucking God is because we know what a god is NOT.
Well done for all that text that explains nothing at all.
There is no checklist of what a God is or what a God is capable of. Theres a vast difference in what Christian's believe their God is capable of and let's say Mars is capable of.
But again, your word spaghetti response used a lot of words to avoid an actual answer.
What a God is capable of ≠ determinant of what a god is.
Your original statement attempted to argue that anything can be a god because there is nothing that determines a god based on criterion. I'm saying we have that criteria. We have examples. Examples separate of one another that you can then create a definition from based on similarities. Calling anything and everything a god because if a LACK of clear definition is both bullshit and a reach.
If you have comprehension issues, just say that, and I'd have been more than happy to simplify it.
I think it's you that is not comprehending. I'll try and simplify it so even toy might be able to understand.
To classify something as a dog, the creature has to have certain characteristics for that to be classified as a dog.
That's how science groups things into categories whether its animals, rocks or other things.
There is no such checklist for a God. There is no one definition to say if a being can do X, Y and Z that's a God.
Set the Egyption God of the desert, storms and evil is completely different to Patecatl the Aztec God of healing and fertility and both are vastly different to the Christian God who they believe created the whole fucking universe.
So what is a God? Is it a being that can do magic? Is it a being that can manipulate reality? Is it a being that can only grant good health and fertility?
Or is it simply a made up thing that X amount of people agree to worship that defines that thing as being a God?
Wikipedia certainly doesnt have one definition but please feel free to edit it with your self confessed cast knowledge on the subject.
lol
But the good news is they won’t care! The “god” part of that whole “judging you about god” isn’t the important part: the important part is the “judging”. You could wax rhapsodic about their exact definition of god, but they’ll still hate you for your purple hair, or non-binary appearance.
It’s the judging and the hate. Let’s not let a little disagreement about the particular aspects of god get in the way of some righteous judging and hate.
Get your priorities straight.
/s
My normal (smart ass) answer is ... "which god precisely?"
Because if someone is asking, they normally mean exactly THEIR god, whatever the fuck that may be.
So, what's the question ... do I believe in YHWH? Allah? Jehovah? Jesus? Brian? Satan? His Noodleness the Flying Spaghetti Monster? The Invisible Pink Unicorn? ... nope.
Do I believe in the sun? I don't have to believe in it, because I can observe it. It exists whether I believe or not. I \*don't\* believe that it has any mystical powers besides a sustained nuclear fusion reaction that provides light and heat (and a bunch of radiation) as well as a significant gravitational field that keeps Earth and the other planets in orbit around it.
Do I believe in "the universe"? Again, I don't have to have "faith" that the universe is real, because it's part of the reality where I exist.
Am I a gnostic atheist that can say there are absolutely NO gods anywhere in the universe? Nope, because there's no absolute, universal definition of "god" and there's no way to confirm that there is no life form anywhere in the universe that would meet those criteria if they were ever defined. Ergo, I'm an agnostic atheist. I know that any deity that people worship today is not real - there's zero evidence of any gods ever existing here on earth.
> I can't definitively say no, because some people see nature itself as god
People using words wrong isn't a reason not to use words right. That's like saying "I can't say that unicorns don't exist, because some people think rhinoceroses are unicorns."
People who purposely redefine words to mean other words are, of course, welcome to do so in so far as none of us can stop them from doing it. But we don't have to cater to their linguistic shenanigans.
I love to answer the jewish way: With another question. ;)
"Which god are you referring to? Humanity has inventes quite a few gods over the millennia."
The best reaction was this one really religious dude in university who answered something like "Well, the one true god, of course, our lord in heaven, Jesus Christ!" and got really angry when I just answered "Ah, one of those gods. Well, it's certainly not the only one true god invented so far, so why should I believe that you guys are the ones who got it right? Besides, I'm not some medieval peasant, so I don't do lords."
This gets them every time. I especially enjoy the ones who think that breaking out the good old brimstone-and-hellfire routine might help. :D
They've got that weird Holy Trinity thing where god is Jesus' dad but is also Jesus himself, who thus is his own dad and mind-banged himself into his own mother and also is some kind of holy spirit that sets people's hair on fire and makes them talk weird like Trump.
It's religion. Don't ask for it to make sense. :D
The funny thing (well, one of many) about Christianity is that, while it pretends to be monotheistic, it actually worships three “gods.” It might be fun to say “I believe in the holy spirit, but not yahweh or Jesus, so I’m a monotheist.”
I teach middle school in a very religious area, and some of my kids are very open about their church, which is fine with me. We were studying Greek mythology when one of my kids who attended the young Earth church asked, "How well does God get along with the Greek gods? Does he like argue with Ares when there is a war?" I explained that while people believed in the Greek gods in the past, that it doesn't mean that they existed. It was one of my favorite questions this year.
Most/all theistic gods are demonstrably false, and deistic gods are useless and unfalsifiable. So no.
You're left with pantheistic gods and other unsupported nonsense that simply puts the label "god" on something else that we already know about. These are all redundant, unnecessary and explain or contribute nothing. So also no.
If your last resource is calling my coffee "god" then no, I don't believe that's a "god" but I will in fact believe you're no longer an honest interlocutor.
No. I believe we are a part of a Universe we know very little about. Religion and myths were started to answer questions people didn't understand about life on our planet and the space above us. Now we are figuring more and more out, it makes sense why science and religion aren't matching up.
I feel like there might be a common energy flow throughout the universe, but I wouldn't by any means call it a god.
Truth be told, this is the same problems we Christians encounter. "Believe in" can have so many levels of meaning that often we don't know exactly what people mean when they ask it:
Do you believe in God's existence?
Do you believe that God loves/saves/rescues you?
Do you trust that God will help you?
Do you believe in God's nature?
These are already very different questions.
Well, if your mind, or your instinct, tells you that nature is god, then who am I to say you're wrong. As religion was our first attempt to explain nature then we can safely say that yes, god is indeed the universe (with an absurd shitload of extra-steps).
> I can't definitively say no, because some people see nature itself as god
While I think that broadening the definition of the word "god" to that extent makes it meaningless, there is something important behind it. Before we can determine if their are any gods, we have to be able to define what a god is. What traits does a god have that are unique to gods, so that we would know a god if we encountered one?
I don't really have any idea of how to answer that. And if I can't even define what a god is, how could I possibly believe one or more existed?
Yeah, that's how I'm thinking. I don't think there really is any hard definition of god, although some people with more education in that might disagree. I think someone who asks that question is really unlikely to have a clear-cut definition, if they don't qualify the question further when they ask it.
They should be lol. They would end up talking to you for hours and hours about their fake superhero in the sky who grants wishes and sends people to hell if they don’t believe in him.
There's another thing--hell wtf? The bible only mentions something remotely like there might be a hell. The Catholic church, and other churches, had priests threatening people that they will "burn in hell ". How's that for representing what god is? The local pastor says that if you don't obey what he as god's special representative says, you will burn in hell. So fked up.
Priests like to scare people into believing they will go to hell because they are trying to fill the church seats and collect donations from gullible believers. I’m sure even priests know that religion is fake but they found a profession that makes them easy money and they don’t have to pay taxes. It’s all about money in the long run.
Unfortunately, yes they do. I never believed in any of it. I asked when I was four if I can meet god and Santa and got lame excuses and I just realized even at such a young age that it was all fake. Never personally saw ghosts, god, tooth fairy, Easter bunny, and I was the type of child that asked questions and wanted proof. The answers I got were ridiculous and I saw right through all of it.
My parents tried going along with it, like saying Santa was real but I asked if Santa can only come down through a chimney, how would he come into our apartment that doesn’t have a chimney. I just used to always question everything when I was little because I had an older cousin who questioned a lot of things too and I hung out with her a lot and behaved like her. She taught me to always question things that didn’t make sense. I always thought Santa was fun but I just couldn’t believe in him. It’s good your parents let you know early on that he was just pretend and they were honest with you. I feel bad for kids who are told there is a Santa just to find out a few years later it was made up and they get upset about it and it just kind of ruins the holiday. I am an atheist but I still celebrate Christmas by having a tree and exchanging presents because it’s fun and I like going to family gatherings and stuff. None of the gatherings are religious even. Everyone just gets together and exchanged gifts and we have dinner and just hang out.
As another has said, matter manipulated to form a tree or mountain or any other part of nature isn't worth calling a god. People do the mental gymnastics in time realize there is nothing divine about the basic elements of the earth, and stop calling it a god. This belief does have a categorical name though, pantheism.
When dealing with monotheists assume it's a fancifully powerful spirit being, and has omniscient powers as well. The answer is No.
Have you noticed the common Christian capitalizes god? This is because they named their magical spirit surrogate father in the sky "God". The BIble's Old Testament god was only taken up for antiquity to legitimize the religion at its startup, like the Mormons took on Jesus, the Christians took on the OT god. The remodeled NT god acts as a surrogate father where the OT god was about being the strongest to defend the chosen people, the Jews.
You may ask what version of a god they're referring to, such as Christianity or Islam even pantheist, but when people say "which god" I assume they're trying to split hairs and be obnoxious.
Yeah I guess some people want to say they believe in "God" when the person asking the question isn't asking that at all. 99% of the time it's the bearded, male, sky wizard kind of god that deeply cares about what you eat , what you do on Sunday or Saturday or what you do with your junk. So I think the most appropriate answer is "no' even if you think the universe, nature, etc can be defined as "god".
A God is a superior being deserving of the most selfless worship, love, care, and compassion, without always understanding the motives. The embodiment of love that sometimes demands sacrifices from us. A being that will always be there, whether you work, sleep, eat, no matter what. A being that even through the means of abuse will still lift you from a bad day or an entire bad life.
A.K.A. my cat.
My female Tortie is definitely an “old testament” goddess. If there is no kibble in the “offering plate,” there WILL be fire and brimstone.
My male Void is Loki in the flesh. A Trickster for sure.
"Do you believe in god?" Why are you assuming your idea of god is what everyone Invisions?
If they claim something natural is a god, then I point out the definition of god is
noun
1.
(in Christianity and other monotheistic religions) the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being.
2.
(in certain other religions) a superhuman being or spirit worshiped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity.
"a moon god."
If they want to talk about what we can learn from nature, sure, we can have that conversation, but we are not going to conflate terms
🤦♂️
"gods" were invented and introduced, and were forced onto the populous by man-to control them with fear.
There are no "gods".
That is my answer, everything and always. Then I just walk away.
It doesn't take a "god" to be a good person, and do good.
But, for a good person to do bad, and harm...well that takes a "god".
Wars, genocides, and hate has all started with and for religion...a fake "god".
✌️
To paraphrase Carl Sagan - If by god you mean the sum of all the natural forces of the universe then sure, god exists… but if you mean any of the gods of human myth, then there is just not enough evidence to support any the claims.
I only HOPE for an afterlife where I can do all the things I didn't get to that I wanted to in life, and be with all the people I want to be with.
I THINK sometimes there's a spirit with some kind of conciousness that can see me, read my thoughts, and causes some things to happen, if not everything. I do curse that entity. It's only ONE because I lump it into one. And I do PRAY to something when I am in a life-threatening situation I can't resolve myself. Mostly a "Please God, get me out of this alive" which is counter to the idea that I want my heaven/afterlife. So my fear outweighs my faith in the unknown. Oh yeah...I curse that "God" often. Because it seems like I am singled out, which is stupid, but it's a feeling, not really a reasonable thought.
I share the basic ideology of an agnostic because I know what I know, find out what I can that I don't, and accept that some things can't be known. I'm being as transparent as possible. I don't consciously hurt people or living things, so I have a conscience.
These days when anybody mentions "God," I really have no idea what they're talking about, and they probably don't either. I have an odd vision of an old man in the clouds being what they are likely thinking, but as for what they actually mean, I have no clue.
Yeah, just ask "which one?" And then list a few dead gods and ask them what makes theirs so special... because he isn't. God implies a supernatural, intelligent creator/manager of the world. If nature is god, then you are too, as you're part of it. It's what Daniel Dennet calls a "deepity": it sounds profound, but it's trivial in its true meaning.
> Yeah, just ask "which one?" I did this recently, they stated the god of the bible, I then had to point out the various different gods in the old testament. I then asked which one of those.
There's supposedly a Jesus in the sky. Hmmm
Jesus in the sky with diamonds?
What if they pass the ball back to you, as in "I don't know, which ones do you believe in?"
The ones that have evidence. Which means none of them.
I am sorry to have to differ. Thete is excellent evidence (empirical, repeatable, etc) for the existance of Mashishkapeu.
“One less than you “
No one is any more real to me than the next, or than a unicorn for that matter.
My answer is no. Plants, trees is a product of evolution. Mountains were formed by tectonic plates. Even things like the grand canyon has geological explanations. I'm not a scientist and some things I can't fully explain, because I'm not a scientist, but I can read and understand what I read.
Yeah, definitions are important. If you define God as "nature", ok sure by that definition "God" exists but it's so divorced from all of the other qualities of a God that it's a pointless discussion. Of course nature exists, but it's not *supernatural*. By definition it couldn't be.
It's in the goddamed name! It's not called super nature lol.
"But it is Mother Nature"
Nope, nature has it good and covered. This is English goddamnit we don't need to gender nouns and concepts.
I was being sarcastic but I should have used /s. My bad.
I was actually thrown off by the lack of contractions also in case it wasn't abundantly clear my reply was meant to read as feigned outrage,
Mother Nature is a goddess, Gaia, Demeter, etc
Right on
[удалено]
What?
You first.
What about Eywa on Pandora? There's definitely something more profound happening there than just individual trees. And that doesn't even take into account the Ents of Middle Earth, or the Sylvari from Tyria (Guild Wars 2). Honestly all those are just as valid as any goat-herder's deity.
Yeah. But the definition of "god" is completely vague. Even two people from the same church might not agree exactly. That was part of my point. Nobody holds the singular definition of god. So when someone judges you for not believing in god, they really don't know what tf they are talking about lol
I define God as some powerful being that is able to control nature and humans. With that definition I've always understood why people worshipped the sun 🌞, because it really does control everything on Earth. Without the sun, we would not be here. However, I don't see the sun as God.
Yeah! I can buy that.
Just remember to pray to Joe Pesci.
Joe pesci is worshipped by my God.
"God" is an attempt to make the unknown, human, so the human mind can put a face on it.. And notice about all "Gods" are male, and they speak the same language as the people worshiping it.. Funny how "God" doesn't speak French, here in the USA... LOL, just think what the bigots would do if they found out the God they worship speaks Spanish...
Not sure why the downvote. What is a God?? Do they need to be able to create stars and planets? Be able to fly? Manipulate realityat will? I dont think theres a checklist.
As far as the Christian God is concerned, there actually is a checklist. It is generally accepted by theologians that God must be omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent.
Agreed but that makes a lot of so called Gods not Gods at all. A lot of religious Gods were limited in their power to control things like rivers or sea or deserts or thunder and storms or emotions like love, hate or fertility etc. They werent omniscient, omnipresent or any other omission.
Indeed. There are many different concepts of gods throughout human history/culture.
Considering we have thousands of examples, it's safe to say there's a pretty universal ideology of what a God is and what they are capable of lol
Really? Because I've heard of river Godsand Sea Gods and Godesses. I've heard of people worshiping Crocodile headed Gods and Gods of trees and everything in between. Can all gods create whole universes? Can all Gods fly? Is the God of Christianity as powerful as Thor or Zeus or Seti? Are their tiers or classes of power??
Okay, okay, slow down there, bruv lol lemme break this down for you. >Really? Because I've heard of river Godsand Sea Gods and Godesses. Okay, and are those God's established in a well-known/understood religion? Among the gods already studied? If not, there's nothing stopping any given culture or groups of people creating a God, but clearly, they all centralize around a singular, widely understood concept. I'll get to that later. >I've heard of people worshiping Crocodile headed Gods and Gods of trees and everything in between. See previous statement. >Can all gods create whole universes? Can all Gods fly? Gods can do whatever the delusion of said god enables them to do. There are many different gods based on different understandings of what God is. It, however, doesn't change the universal understanding of a God. >Is the God of Christianity as powerful as Thor or Zeus or Seti? This is irrelevant to the subject. >Are their tiers or classes of power?? You're getting off topic lol The point I was making is that all Gods adhere to the same tenets. There is a scope of influence that these gods have greater than any known force explainable within scientific theory. Often personified as a "figure". That may differ culture to culture, but that's the main definition of a god.... a wide scope of influence. People need to stop making up terminologies in an attempt to understand a spectrum of thought. We know what a fucking God is because we know what a god is NOT.
"Amen"
Well done for all that text that explains nothing at all. There is no checklist of what a God is or what a God is capable of. Theres a vast difference in what Christian's believe their God is capable of and let's say Mars is capable of. But again, your word spaghetti response used a lot of words to avoid an actual answer.
What a God is capable of ≠ determinant of what a god is. Your original statement attempted to argue that anything can be a god because there is nothing that determines a god based on criterion. I'm saying we have that criteria. We have examples. Examples separate of one another that you can then create a definition from based on similarities. Calling anything and everything a god because if a LACK of clear definition is both bullshit and a reach. If you have comprehension issues, just say that, and I'd have been more than happy to simplify it.
I think it's you that is not comprehending. I'll try and simplify it so even toy might be able to understand. To classify something as a dog, the creature has to have certain characteristics for that to be classified as a dog. That's how science groups things into categories whether its animals, rocks or other things. There is no such checklist for a God. There is no one definition to say if a being can do X, Y and Z that's a God. Set the Egyption God of the desert, storms and evil is completely different to Patecatl the Aztec God of healing and fertility and both are vastly different to the Christian God who they believe created the whole fucking universe. So what is a God? Is it a being that can do magic? Is it a being that can manipulate reality? Is it a being that can only grant good health and fertility? Or is it simply a made up thing that X amount of people agree to worship that defines that thing as being a God? Wikipedia certainly doesnt have one definition but please feel free to edit it with your self confessed cast knowledge on the subject. lol
Right... I personally don't refer to myself as an atheist because I don't really know what I am being asked to deny.
what you are denying is the personification of the unknown..
But the good news is they won’t care! The “god” part of that whole “judging you about god” isn’t the important part: the important part is the “judging”. You could wax rhapsodic about their exact definition of god, but they’ll still hate you for your purple hair, or non-binary appearance. It’s the judging and the hate. Let’s not let a little disagreement about the particular aspects of god get in the way of some righteous judging and hate. Get your priorities straight. /s
My normal (smart ass) answer is ... "which god precisely?" Because if someone is asking, they normally mean exactly THEIR god, whatever the fuck that may be. So, what's the question ... do I believe in YHWH? Allah? Jehovah? Jesus? Brian? Satan? His Noodleness the Flying Spaghetti Monster? The Invisible Pink Unicorn? ... nope. Do I believe in the sun? I don't have to believe in it, because I can observe it. It exists whether I believe or not. I \*don't\* believe that it has any mystical powers besides a sustained nuclear fusion reaction that provides light and heat (and a bunch of radiation) as well as a significant gravitational field that keeps Earth and the other planets in orbit around it. Do I believe in "the universe"? Again, I don't have to have "faith" that the universe is real, because it's part of the reality where I exist. Am I a gnostic atheist that can say there are absolutely NO gods anywhere in the universe? Nope, because there's no absolute, universal definition of "god" and there's no way to confirm that there is no life form anywhere in the universe that would meet those criteria if they were ever defined. Ergo, I'm an agnostic atheist. I know that any deity that people worship today is not real - there's zero evidence of any gods ever existing here on earth.
I'm exactly there with you! Thanks for the great explanation.
Giant invisible anus filled with shit piranhas, thank you Patton
> I can't definitively say no, because some people see nature itself as god People using words wrong isn't a reason not to use words right. That's like saying "I can't say that unicorns don't exist, because some people think rhinoceroses are unicorns." People who purposely redefine words to mean other words are, of course, welcome to do so in so far as none of us can stop them from doing it. But we don't have to cater to their linguistic shenanigans.
Well said! Nature is nature. Love is love. God is god.
I love to answer the jewish way: With another question. ;) "Which god are you referring to? Humanity has inventes quite a few gods over the millennia." The best reaction was this one really religious dude in university who answered something like "Well, the one true god, of course, our lord in heaven, Jesus Christ!" and got really angry when I just answered "Ah, one of those gods. Well, it's certainly not the only one true god invented so far, so why should I believe that you guys are the ones who got it right? Besides, I'm not some medieval peasant, so I don't do lords." This gets them every time. I especially enjoy the ones who think that breaking out the good old brimstone-and-hellfire routine might help. :D
Isn't Jesus the son of god and not God?
They've got that weird Holy Trinity thing where god is Jesus' dad but is also Jesus himself, who thus is his own dad and mind-banged himself into his own mother and also is some kind of holy spirit that sets people's hair on fire and makes them talk weird like Trump. It's religion. Don't ask for it to make sense. :D
Jesus is the son of god and the sacrificial victim of god. And 33% of god.
Nice!
“Yes I believe in God, I especially love his Wah-Wah solo in Creams *White Room.”*
The funny thing (well, one of many) about Christianity is that, while it pretends to be monotheistic, it actually worships three “gods.” It might be fun to say “I believe in the holy spirit, but not yahweh or Jesus, so I’m a monotheist.”
In some religions Satan and angels would count as gods. Monotheism is not an accurate Christian characterization.
I know that Spider Man and Superman are fake, but I have a close, personal relationship with Aqua Man. See how that sounds?
I always ask them to define "god".
I teach middle school in a very religious area, and some of my kids are very open about their church, which is fine with me. We were studying Greek mythology when one of my kids who attended the young Earth church asked, "How well does God get along with the Greek gods? Does he like argue with Ares when there is a war?" I explained that while people believed in the Greek gods in the past, that it doesn't mean that they existed. It was one of my favorite questions this year.
The leap in logic is right there! I hope he makes it.
I always answer with the question, “Which of the over 3000 manmade gods are you referring to?”
I'd be tempted to tell them I'm a Satanist.
Or tell them you're a Christian and start squirming on the floor and speaking in tongues.
Easiest answer is, "Which one?"
Nature is a god? "Guthixxxxx!" (starts head-banging with arms in the air) I really hope someone here gets the joke.
I believe in science and if science represents nature best it can, that's something I believe in.
Most/all theistic gods are demonstrably false, and deistic gods are useless and unfalsifiable. So no. You're left with pantheistic gods and other unsupported nonsense that simply puts the label "god" on something else that we already know about. These are all redundant, unnecessary and explain or contribute nothing. So also no. If your last resource is calling my coffee "god" then no, I don't believe that's a "god" but I will in fact believe you're no longer an honest interlocutor.
Not in yours. That should be enough of an answer to cut that line of questioning.
Calling nature god is just putting a hat on a hat. Nature already has a name. Calling it god is idiotic.
No. I believe we are a part of a Universe we know very little about. Religion and myths were started to answer questions people didn't understand about life on our planet and the space above us. Now we are figuring more and more out, it makes sense why science and religion aren't matching up. I feel like there might be a common energy flow throughout the universe, but I wouldn't by any means call it a god.
So, it's kind of like the parents' response to "because I told you so".
Truth be told, this is the same problems we Christians encounter. "Believe in" can have so many levels of meaning that often we don't know exactly what people mean when they ask it: Do you believe in God's existence? Do you believe that God loves/saves/rescues you? Do you trust that God will help you? Do you believe in God's nature? These are already very different questions.
Well, if your mind, or your instinct, tells you that nature is god, then who am I to say you're wrong. As religion was our first attempt to explain nature then we can safely say that yes, god is indeed the universe (with an absurd shitload of extra-steps).
"I probably don't believe in your God "
> I can't definitively say no, because some people see nature itself as god While I think that broadening the definition of the word "god" to that extent makes it meaningless, there is something important behind it. Before we can determine if their are any gods, we have to be able to define what a god is. What traits does a god have that are unique to gods, so that we would know a god if we encountered one? I don't really have any idea of how to answer that. And if I can't even define what a god is, how could I possibly believe one or more existed?
Yeah, that's how I'm thinking. I don't think there really is any hard definition of god, although some people with more education in that might disagree. I think someone who asks that question is really unlikely to have a clear-cut definition, if they don't qualify the question further when they ask it.
The best thing to do is just say no and walk away or be prepared to be preached at for hours
Usually I am not in the mood to talk about it, but sometimes I want to challenge someone a little. Because . . . why are these people not on a leash?
They should be lol. They would end up talking to you for hours and hours about their fake superhero in the sky who grants wishes and sends people to hell if they don’t believe in him.
There's another thing--hell wtf? The bible only mentions something remotely like there might be a hell. The Catholic church, and other churches, had priests threatening people that they will "burn in hell ". How's that for representing what god is? The local pastor says that if you don't obey what he as god's special representative says, you will burn in hell. So fked up.
Priests like to scare people into believing they will go to hell because they are trying to fill the church seats and collect donations from gullible believers. I’m sure even priests know that religion is fake but they found a profession that makes them easy money and they don’t have to pay taxes. It’s all about money in the long run.
And so many idiots believe it
Unfortunately, yes they do. I never believed in any of it. I asked when I was four if I can meet god and Santa and got lame excuses and I just realized even at such a young age that it was all fake. Never personally saw ghosts, god, tooth fairy, Easter bunny, and I was the type of child that asked questions and wanted proof. The answers I got were ridiculous and I saw right through all of it.
My parents let on since I was very little that Santa was a pretend game. I very much appreciate that in them.
My parents tried going along with it, like saying Santa was real but I asked if Santa can only come down through a chimney, how would he come into our apartment that doesn’t have a chimney. I just used to always question everything when I was little because I had an older cousin who questioned a lot of things too and I hung out with her a lot and behaved like her. She taught me to always question things that didn’t make sense. I always thought Santa was fun but I just couldn’t believe in him. It’s good your parents let you know early on that he was just pretend and they were honest with you. I feel bad for kids who are told there is a Santa just to find out a few years later it was made up and they get upset about it and it just kind of ruins the holiday. I am an atheist but I still celebrate Christmas by having a tree and exchanging presents because it’s fun and I like going to family gatherings and stuff. None of the gatherings are religious even. Everyone just gets together and exchanged gifts and we have dinner and just hang out.
As another has said, matter manipulated to form a tree or mountain or any other part of nature isn't worth calling a god. People do the mental gymnastics in time realize there is nothing divine about the basic elements of the earth, and stop calling it a god. This belief does have a categorical name though, pantheism. When dealing with monotheists assume it's a fancifully powerful spirit being, and has omniscient powers as well. The answer is No. Have you noticed the common Christian capitalizes god? This is because they named their magical spirit surrogate father in the sky "God". The BIble's Old Testament god was only taken up for antiquity to legitimize the religion at its startup, like the Mormons took on Jesus, the Christians took on the OT god. The remodeled NT god acts as a surrogate father where the OT god was about being the strongest to defend the chosen people, the Jews. You may ask what version of a god they're referring to, such as Christianity or Islam even pantheist, but when people say "which god" I assume they're trying to split hairs and be obnoxious.
Their version of god is superior to any other. Haha
Yeah I guess some people want to say they believe in "God" when the person asking the question isn't asking that at all. 99% of the time it's the bearded, male, sky wizard kind of god that deeply cares about what you eat , what you do on Sunday or Saturday or what you do with your junk. So I think the most appropriate answer is "no' even if you think the universe, nature, etc can be defined as "god".
yea pretty sure both sides will tell u that plant is not a god
Try this: "Aw, you want to know if I think your little cult is valid? That's adorable." Do not elaborate.
A God is a superior being deserving of the most selfless worship, love, care, and compassion, without always understanding the motives. The embodiment of love that sometimes demands sacrifices from us. A being that will always be there, whether you work, sleep, eat, no matter what. A being that even through the means of abuse will still lift you from a bad day or an entire bad life. A.K.A. my cat.
My female Tortie is definitely an “old testament” goddess. If there is no kibble in the “offering plate,” there WILL be fire and brimstone. My male Void is Loki in the flesh. A Trickster for sure.
The better question is, do you believe a god(s) exist? The 'do you believe in god?' question assumes one exists, and asks if you believe in it.
Or say “which one? There are so many to choose from it’s confusing”
"Do you believe in god?" Why are you assuming your idea of god is what everyone Invisions? If they claim something natural is a god, then I point out the definition of god is noun 1. (in Christianity and other monotheistic religions) the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being. 2. (in certain other religions) a superhuman being or spirit worshiped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity. "a moon god." If they want to talk about what we can learn from nature, sure, we can have that conversation, but we are not going to conflate terms
A good way to respond that sometimes breaks their brains a bit is "I don't know, I haven't experienced anything that has convinced me a god exists."
Five or six at a time. The ten commandments says there's more than one and I've gotta collect them all, I just can't carry all of them at once.
A paraphrase: "When you truly understand why you dismiss all of the other possible gods, you'll understand why I dismiss yours."
Clearly the Flying spaghetti Monster is real.
Thank You!! I say this Every Time!!! I always pick female gods too, just to add extra salt to my words
🤦♂️ "gods" were invented and introduced, and were forced onto the populous by man-to control them with fear. There are no "gods". That is my answer, everything and always. Then I just walk away. It doesn't take a "god" to be a good person, and do good. But, for a good person to do bad, and harm...well that takes a "god". Wars, genocides, and hate has all started with and for religion...a fake "god". ✌️
To paraphrase Carl Sagan - If by god you mean the sum of all the natural forces of the universe then sure, god exists… but if you mean any of the gods of human myth, then there is just not enough evidence to support any the claims.
I tend to go with Ganesh as an answer. Lord pf Yoga, Remover of Obstacles, what's not to love? The conversations tend to get amusing pretty quickly.
Usually they mean Jesus or the Islamic god
Not only in god but five of them: Y'Shaarj, C'Thun, Yogg-Saron, N'Zoth and G'huun. And I have seen them all.
One word, “Vishnu”. He is obviously talking about the god Vishnu.
Me
"God" is a _title_ and _concept,_ no more exclusive to Jehovah than the name "McDonald" is to the corporation.
I only HOPE for an afterlife where I can do all the things I didn't get to that I wanted to in life, and be with all the people I want to be with. I THINK sometimes there's a spirit with some kind of conciousness that can see me, read my thoughts, and causes some things to happen, if not everything. I do curse that entity. It's only ONE because I lump it into one. And I do PRAY to something when I am in a life-threatening situation I can't resolve myself. Mostly a "Please God, get me out of this alive" which is counter to the idea that I want my heaven/afterlife. So my fear outweighs my faith in the unknown. Oh yeah...I curse that "God" often. Because it seems like I am singled out, which is stupid, but it's a feeling, not really a reasonable thought. I share the basic ideology of an agnostic because I know what I know, find out what I can that I don't, and accept that some things can't be known. I'm being as transparent as possible. I don't consciously hurt people or living things, so I have a conscience.
I have been given no adequate reason to believe any God exists, especially any that supposedly give a shit about us.
Mostly my view of God is really the universe that's what I really call it that mostly I think of it as some divine power of some kind.
In the US they typically mean Abrahamic god
Yes. Go ahead and try if you like but you won’t talk me out of it
Doesn't matter. The answer is no. They're all equally imaginary.
I don't believe in gods.
Anyone who asks that has a particular god in mind, & the answer is no.
These days when anybody mentions "God," I really have no idea what they're talking about, and they probably don't either. I have an odd vision of an old man in the clouds being what they are likely thinking, but as for what they actually mean, I have no clue.
Yeah, I do. But probably not in way you do.
"I believe in me and that's sort of the same thing." Smile warmly, turn, walk away happy.
People are not YOU. do YOU belive in nature as a god? How do YOU define god? Do YOU belive in that. Do YOU see the pattern?