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Old 12-03-2011, 09:33 PM
 
Location: Sitting beside Walden Pond
4,612 posts, read 4,874,620 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodrow LI View Post
Does the owner of a goldfish need to dive into the bowl to feed the goldfish?
Your comments are very insightful.

No, the owner does not need to jump into the bowl, but the goldfish would probably enjoy the company.

I mean, your god may be very satisfied being separate from your life. However, the Christians seem to like having their god right next to them, and that is why their religion is different.

Very interesting!
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Old 12-03-2011, 09:49 PM
 
Location: Florida
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hiker45 View Post
I wonder if polytheism helps people feel closer to their god.

Christianity and the Hindu religion both seem polytheistic to me, and their members seem to be very close to their gods. Christians feel they have Jesus constantly walking beside them and guiding them. All I know about the Hindus is that Ghandi prayed to his favorite god Rama as he was dying, so Gandhi must have felt very close to him.

Maybe the polytheistic religions let people have an all-powerful god at a distance, but also keep a personal god close to them at all times.

Islam and Judaism appear monotheistic, but they also seem like social clubs where the adherents just have to follow a bunch of rules. I wonder if their members think their god is as close and personal to them as Jesus is to the Christians.

Since I am an Atheist, I don't have a dog in this fight, but I really am curious what you all think.
I see some truth in that as far as Christianity goes because we have Communion with the Body of Christ -- (I believe Christ is the light within every person). When I think of Muslims and probably Orthodox Jews as well, I see them as being more devoted to the idea that God is ONE (and separate from humans) rather than being a many-membered body. But I also think that fundamentalist Christians act rather monotheistic in that they do not feel free to seek Christ in every man.

Last edited by Heartsong; 12-03-2011 at 09:50 PM.. Reason: Addition
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Old 12-03-2011, 09:54 PM
 
Location: Logan Township, Minnesota
15,501 posts, read 16,990,671 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hiker45 View Post
Your comments are very insightful.

No, the owner does not need to jump into the bowl, but the goldfish would probably enjoy the company.

I mean, your god may be very satisfied being separate from your life. However, the Christians seem to like having their god right next to them, and that is why their religion is different.

Very interesting!
We see no reason for God(swt) to be part of or within the physical world. We can not comprehend him, he is beyond human limits. but we do know he watches out for us and provides all we need. We do know he has sent his scriptures and Prophets(PBUH) to give us guidance and hope.

We understand He is the creator and we are the creation. we need no false ideas that we can humanize God and make him obey us and grant us every desire we have. we serve God, he does not serve us.
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Old 12-03-2011, 10:13 PM
 
Location: Florida
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodrow LI View Post
We see no reason for God(swt) to be part of or within the physical world. We can not comprehend him, he is beyond human limits. but we do know he watches out for us and provides all we need. We do know he has sent his scriptures and Prophets(PBUH) to give us guidance and hope.

We understand He is the creator and we are the creation. we need no false ideas that we can humanize God and make him obey us and grant us every desire we have. we serve God, he does not serve us.
What good is a God who is not "with us". I ask this with all due respect. The reason why Christianity makes sense to me is because it is a demonstration of God being IN and AMONG his people - very intimately so. If I did not believe that, I'd find religion to be very cold.
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Old 12-03-2011, 10:15 PM
 
Location: Florida
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodrow LI View Post
Yes we do pray constantly for guidance, and to gain strength to overcome temptation. While we do not believe God(swt) is part of or within the world we believe he is in full control and capable of changing what ever he desires. We do believe he knows each of us personally and knows us even better than we know ourselves. We see no need for him to come into what he has created as he can do all things with just a thought and no need to become part of earth. He only need to say for something to be and it is.

Does the owner of a goldfish need to dive into the bowl to feed the goldfish?
I don't think you can compare humans to goldfish because the goldfish is not made in the IMAGE of God. Man is made in God's image (in my belief system).
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Old 12-03-2011, 10:22 PM
 
9,341 posts, read 29,580,264 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Heartsong View Post
What good is a God who is not "with us".
"Judaism maintains that we are all G-d's children. A well-known piece of Jewish liturgy repeatedly describes G-d as "Avinu Malkeinu," our Father, our King. The Talmud teaches that there are three participants in the formation of every human being: the mother and father, who provide the physical form, and G-d, who provides the soul, the personality, and the intelligence. It is said that one of G-d's greatest gifts to humanity is the knowledge that we are His children and created in his image." -- Judaism 101: The Nature of G-d


Avinu Malkenu - YouTube
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Old 12-03-2011, 10:34 PM
 
Location: Logan Township, Minnesota
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Heartsong View Post
What good is a God who is not "with us". I ask this with all due respect. The reason why Christianity makes sense to me is because it is a demonstration of God being IN and AMONG his people - very intimately so. If I did not believe that, I'd find religion to be very cold.
He is very intimate with us. we do know he is aware of every thought we have. We do know he treats us with mercy and gives us much more than what we deserve. We do know he answers every prayer and has given us the ability to live with Him in heaven.

This Dunya (Physical existence) is our test, trial and training time. It is here we find the path to heaven and make our choice to either follow it or stray from it. there is no reason for the teacher to become the student. There is no reason for God to become Human. If we can not love him as the supreme being it is pointless to love him because he would belittle himself.

We can speak to God, we can feel his power, we know he helps us in all matters and gives us guidance to find the Path to heaven. His succumbing to the desire to be one of us, would only reduce our ability to understand his power.
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Old 12-03-2011, 10:40 PM
 
Location: Logan Township, Minnesota
15,501 posts, read 16,990,671 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Heartsong View Post
I don't think you can compare humans to goldfish because the goldfish is not made in the IMAGE of God. Man is made in God's image (in my belief system).
Can you turn a glass of water into sufficient food to feed the world for eternity? God can, you are not God(swt) or even Godlike.

Accept that you are the Servant and God is the master. We like the goldfish are subject to the mercy of God(swt). we place our trust he will judge us with fairness and mercy just like the goldfish trusts we will feed it.
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Old 12-03-2011, 10:55 PM
 
63,470 posts, read 39,732,746 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Heartsong View Post
What good is a God who is not "with us". I ask this with all due respect. The reason why Christianity makes sense to me is because it is a demonstration of God being IN and AMONG his people - very intimately so. If I did not believe that, I'd find religion to be very cold.
The more right brain sensitive we are the more we detect the presence of God who is within all. Separation is illusion.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heartsong View Post
I don't think you can compare humans to goldfish because the goldfish is not made in the IMAGE of God. Man is made in God's image (in my belief system).
In God's imagination and with His capability for imagination would be a better translation, IMO. We exist in God's thoughts and we produce our cellular portions of them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Woodrow LI View Post
He is very intimate with us. we do know he is aware of every thought we have. We do know he treats us with mercy and gives us much more than what we deserve. We do know he answers every prayer and has given us the ability to live with Him in heaven.

This Dunya (Physical existence) is our test, trial and training time. It is here we find the path to heaven and make our choice to either follow it or stray from it. there is no reason for the teacher to become the student. There is no reason for God to become Human. If we can not love him as the supreme being it is pointless to love him because he would belittle himself.

We can speak to God, we can feel his power, we know he helps us in all matters and gives us guidance to find the Path to heaven. His succumbing to the desire to be one of us, would only reduce our ability to understand his power.
You have the relationship backwards, Wood. We humans had to achieve the essential character of the mind of God so that our collective thoughts and feelings (collective human consciousness) would have a connection with God's thoughts and feelings (perfect resonance= identity) . . . or our entire species "output"would have been forever separate from God in dissonance. That required that a human mind accomplish that and Christ did.
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Old 12-04-2011, 01:42 AM
 
912 posts, read 824,712 times
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[quote=Woodrow
We understand He is the creator and we are the creation. we need no false ideas that we can humanize God and make him obey us and grant us every desire we have. we serve God, he does not serve us.[/quote]

BH
Ive always thought it is the servant who is served. Didn't know that about the right brain...

Last edited by Blue Hue; 12-04-2011 at 02:26 AM..
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