Is God just an ego extension? (hell, atheist, bible, quote)
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and this must be why religious people get so offended when they perceive their beliefs to be attacked - because it is really an attack on their own personal ego.
No;ifd you read the bible then beliving means you know you are a sinner and nothing special. Its secular life that tends to make us think we are different from others.
I'd agree to it as long as it came with the caveat that that in itself doesn't make any one position on the validity of god stronger/weaker.
09-30-2012, 09:48 PM
2K5Gx2km
n/a posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by old-goat
isn't that what God is - us glorifying ourselves?
to preach that God is great, is just saying I am great!
surely this is one and the same, and so just an ego extension.
agree?
God is an extension of ourselves but he is the ideal that is perfected and absolutized. As such this metaphysical concept grounds our subjective nature and gives it an objective 'reality' that extends beyond the self. This justifies our judgments regarding our own and others actions and explains certain unexplainable events in human existence. In fact the dialetic history of 'God' follows this narrowing pattern until 2,000 years after Christ Christian apologetics has been reduced to mere syllogisms proving God's existence with a-priori metaphysical abstractions that are epistemologically problematic.
There is a vast difference between philosophy and religion
Quote:
Many of us believe in our gods so much as it protects our egos, gives us a reason to live and hope for, and gives us justification in our actions.
Rather like supporting a favorite sports team or loving our nation.
Ultimately these are just imaginary essences that have no real grounding in reality.
Correct
Quote:
Why does a religious zealot take offense to having his beliefs challenged - isn't this because in reality it is a direct attack on his ego?
Because all gods are imaginary and exist only in their heads. They know this is reality and also know their experiential "evidence" is only real to themselves. Ego comes from the same place and as far as egos go the religious always seem to have this idea that they are better than others with an us vs. them mentality when in fact, someone that has no ego are the better off ones, or perhaps more fortunate (we all have egos to some extent aka feelings)
The religious try and disguise this with the apparent attitude of love the sinner, hate the sin when in fact they really only hate those different from themselves or folk who have a different (more logical) perspective on life.
An example of this is stuff one sees on facebook where the religious have real issues if you comment on one of their mundane PTL shares and I have seen them say keep your godless comments to yourself or something equally offensive and if you dare to post anything atheist, they are quick to come and proselytize on such threads.
The irony is that atheists are expected to shaddup and yet we are not as insulted when they do what they do. We tend to NOT be so overly sensitive as we really have nothing to defend.
If I say "there is no god" or the alternate PC version "there is no evidence for god", this pisses them off because it is the truth. All they can muster is anecdotal or experiential "evidence" that falls way short of what constitutes evidence.
It really boils down to theists attempting to get others to think like they do so that they are not seen as crazy. That said, the majority of atheists have walked in their shoes and experienced everything they have. So we have the advantage of knowing where they are coming from.
Seems that with many, especially the more fundamental religions, god is the vehicle for self-deprecation, to beat themselves up with the nonsense of "I can never please him" or "I'm never good enough in his eyes" and similar.
Many of us believe in our gods so much as it protects our egos, gives us a reason to live and hope for, and gives us justification in our actions.
Rather like supporting a favorite sports team or loving our nation.
Ultimately these are just imaginary essences that have no real grounding in reality.
Why does a religious zealot take offense to having his beliefs challenged - isn't this because in reality it is a direct attack on his ego?
discuss
no. God is real. We have all offended him in our thoughts and actions. We deserve to go to hell as punishment for offending the infinite creator of the universe. Thankfully, God has provided a way to be reconciled to him. He became man and lived a perfect life, then was crucified to take the punishment himself. If you believe and trust in him you will be saved.
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Religion - a philosophical ego extension/defense mechanism?
