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The better question yet is why, given all of Mystic's logic, reason, and years of scientific study, do we not see a thread in a Science Forum outlining hard evidence for "everything is god" theory.
I can't give you a definitive answer but he did reply to my question about that once (even though it was not impossible to leave any reference to 'god' out of it) and said the "those" were not the people he was interested in reaching.
Take that as you will
I can't give you a definitive answer but he did reply to my question about that once (even though it was not impossible to leave any reference to 'god' out of it) and said the "those" were not the people he was interested in reaching.
Take that as you will
Oh man, you should precede these with a health warning next time. I almost got a hernia laughing so hard.
The better question yet is why, given all of Mystic's logic, reason, and years of scientific study, do we not see a thread in a Science Forum outlining hard evidence for "everything is god" theory.
No, that's not a better question. Just a different one from the one I asked. Which was...
"Why is pantheism and/or panentheism banned on a religion and spirituality forum?? Those beliefs are held by many people, including new age spirituality and some eastern religions. This forum has some unusual rules compared to other religion forums I’ve visited."
P.S. The answer to your question is in the Mods' sticky.
I've read it. There's no clear reason stated for why any religion that is pantheistic or panentheistic is somehow off-topic in a religion and spirituality forum. We're only allowed to discuss "sentient omnipotent beings"?? That rules out many people who practice New Age spirituality, for instance.
From the guidelines...
"If somebody interrupts a discussion to say "but EVERYTHING is God!" you could reply "Believe what you want, but we're talking about sentient omnipotent beings here."
"There is nothing to discuss. You believe God is the Universe. You have no holy book. There are no rituals. No organization exists. Tenets of the faith are nowhere to be found. Therefore, you have nothing to say about it that is relevant to Religion or Spirituality."
I've read it. There's no clear reason stated for why any religion that is pantheistic or panentheistic is somehow off-topic in a religion and spirituality forum. We're only allowed to discuss "sentient omnipotent beings"?? That rules out many people who practice New Age spirituality, for instance.
From the guidelines...
"If somebody interrupts a discussion to say "but EVERYTHING is God!" you could reply "Believe what you want, but we're talking about sentient omnipotent beings here."
"There is nothing to discuss. You believe God is the Universe. You have no holy book. There are no rituals. No organization exists. Tenets of the faith are nowhere to be found. Therefore, you have nothing to say about it that is relevant to Religion or Spirituality."
Post #8 in the "Rules" thread sets this in place. Post #9 explained the reasoning behind it. You are selectively quoting only the part with the example and the general explanation. You left out the part about the hours of [volunteer] moderator time required to clean up the messes that were created in the threads that were derailed completely off topic by this nonsense.
Post #8 in the "Rules" thread sets this in place. Post #9 explained the reasoning behind it. You are selectively quoting only the part with the example and the general explanation. You left out the part about the hours of [volunteer] moderator time required to clean up the messes that were created in the threads that were derailed completely off topic by this nonsense.
I agree that people should avoid going off topic in any thread/forum.
What I was questioning is the reasons for making the pantheistic or panentheistic beliefs (of New Age religions, for instance) off-topic in a "Religion and Spirituality" forum. Is the discussion of the concept of God in relation to New Age spirituality effectively banned in R&S?
I agree that people should avoid going off topic in any thread/forum.
What I was questioning is the reasons for making the pantheistic or panentheistic beliefs (of New Age religions, for instance) off-topic in a "Religion and Spirituality" forum. Is the discussion of the concept of God in relation to New Age spirituality effectively banned in R&S?
I don't know how to make it more plain that what is in the rules.
You can find post #622 and see what I posted. One of the members complained about me to the Senior Moderators about that, but the rule stands (with the full knowledge and support of the Senior Moderators).
I've read it. There's no clear reason stated for why any religion that is pantheistic or panentheistic is somehow off-topic in a religion and spirituality forum.
Obviously I can't speak for the mods here so I will only give my personal take. Both pantheism and panentheistic are perfectly legitimate beliefs. However, on a forum set up for discussion using just the one fits all answer to every question may be considered as a bit of a cop out and it could quickly become a nuisance if every thread got derailed by what is essentially a semantic argument. Consider this, if you define universe as god, what's stopping someone else from defining it as devil, or Bob, or covfefe, or any other number of arbitrary things? And because this redefining of things is arbitrary it may be said that it is not conducive to debate/discussion/argument, hence the restriction.
Personally, it's no skin off my nose 'coz if needs be I'm happy to ignore topics that don't lead anywhere. But I can see why in an effort to preserve some sort of semblance of order some restriction could be considered necessary.
I know Mystic will strongly disagree with the suggestion that the foundation of his belief is arbitrary. According to him, his life long search has led him to this answer and he has science and logic and all sorts of things to back it up. Problem is that unlike those members here who support their beliefs with scripture, theological and/or historical arguments, even personal accounts, Mystic's main playing card, as far as I've observed, has been changing the definitions. And this redefining of things is constant and pervasive and doesn't stop at god or universe or consciousness. It's not just moving goal posts, it's moving entire playing fields to different planes of existence that can only be made sense of in Mystic's head.
Why is pantheism and/or panentheism banned on a religion and spirituality forum?? Those beliefs are held by many people, including new age spirituality and some eastern religions.
This forum has some unusual rules compared to other religion forums I’ve visited. The R&S forum seems to favour an atheistic worldview and is decidedly unfriendly to those who wish to discuss religion and spirituality. Very odd.
Those beliefs are not banned. It is the methods certain people use that are banned, such as the misuse of science to pretend opinion is fact, or the misuse of logic that means not only the universe is a god, but so is Justin Bieber.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Iwasmadenew
No, that's not a better question. Just a different one from the one I asked. Which was...
"Why is pantheism and/or panentheism banned on a religion and spirituality forum?? Those beliefs are held by many people, including new age spirituality and some eastern religions. This forum has some unusual rules compared to other religion forums I’ve visited."
No, that is one of the reasons.
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