Define the God you believe in, if you do believe in one (or more) -

[ding]

Personally, I hold no belief in anything I'd personally categorize as a God...therefore, I am without definition.

That’s not true.

You habitually refer to God as a sky daddy. So you do have a perception of God. A false one. One that requires zero intellectual capacity on your part.

I refer to the person I'm addressing's God as sky daddy, it's not my conception, it's my reading of theirs. That's a distinction, ding - - one you have a really hard time with it seems like but I'm sure most adults understand it.

And you do believe in a sky daddy, you professed to jesus being with you and blahblahblah just yesterday. So, magic.

Bullshit. It absolutely is your perception and it skews everything you see.

 

[TNHarley]

My god is one that focuses humor. He has 2 beautiful eyes, a couple ground brisket meatballs (very large I might add ) and long elegant noodles for limbs.
He is a gorgeous god. He also doesnt murder infants and children.
If I make my god happy, when I die, I will be surrounded by strippers and beer. If I dont, lawd help me, the beer will be stale and the strippers will have herpes

 

[Disir]

a beverage made by percolation, infusion, or decoction from the roasted and ground seeds of a coffee plant

 

[presonorek]

My god is one that focuses humor. He has 2 beautiful eyes, a couple ground brisket meatballs (very large I might add ) and long elegant noodles for limbs.
He is a gorgeous god. He also doesnt murder infants and children.
If I make my god happy, when I die, I will be surrounded by strippers and beer. If I dont, lawd help me, the beer will be stale and the strippers will have herpes

Dude. I am a Pastafarian. I am guessing you are not but if you are, PM me. I have small plans to legitimize Pastafarianism.

 

[Meriweather]

I refer to the person I'm addressing's God as sky daddy, it's not my conception, it's my reading of theirs.

When the reading or inference is wrong, it does come across as insulting and spiteful--an attempt to poison their well. You are not ignorant of the fact that no person of faith believes in your juvenile "sky daddy". It introduces immaturity and petulance into the discussion--and honestly, you are better than that. (Just something to consider.)

 

[Meriweather]

I apologize if you feel insulted by my usage of sky daddy.

It IS a pejorative. I AM using it to insult people. There ARE side effects of doing so that I'm aware of, so I AM sorry if that made you feel alienated.

No, I do not personally feel insulted or even alienated, just disappointed because I know you are better than that. As the saying goes, never allow anyone to drag you down to their level and beat you because they have so much more experience at that level. You are good people.

 

[Meriweather]

why does the word TIT need to be in the phrase "tit for tat"

Yay, etymology! Well, I'll tell you. "Tit" back in Jolly Old England meant to tug or jerk. "Tat" was the word used for cheaply made or poor quality goods. I suppose if one wanted to judge the quality of an item, they would tug (tit) for the tat (the suspected poorly made item). On the other hand there is also a good argument that tit-for-tat evolved from an old saying of "Tip for Tap", meaning blow for blow in a verbal exchange.

Hmmm. Does this mean here if we give a tug at someone's verbal argument to see if it holds up, we are engaging in tit for tat--and, if we are exchanging verbal blows we are engaging in tip for tap? Ha-ha...it appears words do matter.

 

[BreezeWood]

the "God" they believe in

a belief there is an Almighty as the gatekeeper to the Everlasting spirits must accommodate as the means for their admission when freed one way or another or perish. not necessarily a deity but as a collective of the metaphysical to become a part of by a set standard. as a life's goal when accomplished.

 

[ding]

Outta curiousity, how do you figure to know what I personally mean by sky daddy, ding -?

Because you believe that man made religions are for the gullible that need a sky daddy to massage their insecurities about the unknown. Because your standard response to God loves you is that Sky Daddy is not your thing. Because you constantly ridicule the accounts in the Bible saying things like "Sky daddy didn't tell him to kill anybody's first born otherwise we'd have another Son of Sam on our hands." Because you believe trusting the creator rather than created things is collectivist daddy worship. Because you have implied that people who have devoted their lives to a man-made sky daddy are played sheep.

Because you use this phrase even when you talk to people who you perceive have never insulted you.

The Belief That Life Was the Result of an Accident Is Unscientific

Why Religion Must Be Banished....

If There Is No God, Murder Is Not Wrong

Can Atheists be Moral?

Which Child Tells the World Her Life Has Been Stolen?

Does Saturn's "Ice Moon" harbor life deep in it's ocean?

 

[ding]

Outta curiousity, how do you figure to know what I personally mean by sky daddy, ding -?

Because you believe that man made religions are for the gullible that need a sky daddy to massage their insecurities about the unknown. Because your standard response to God loves you is that Sky Daddy is not your thing. Because you constantly ridicule the accounts in the Bible saying things like "Sky daddy didn't tell him to kill anybody's first born otherwise we'd have another Son of Sam on our hands." Because you believe trusting the creator rather than created things is collectivist daddy worship. Because you have implied that people who have devoted their lives to a man-made sky daddy are played sheep.

Because you use this phrase even when you talk to people who you perceive have never insulted you.

The Belief That Life Was the Result of an Accident Is Unscientific

Why Religion Must Be Banished....

If There Is No God, Murder Is Not Wrong

Can Atheists be Moral?

Which Child Tells the World Her Life Has Been Stolen?

Does Saturn's "Ice Moon" harbor life deep in it's ocean?

I've never directed the phrase at someone directly that didn't insult me, Ding - you found threads where they didn't insult me...IN THE THREAD...that's your fail because they've probably insulted me elsewhere, and you've also found threads where I said it in general and not to a person.

I question your fuckin sanity and level-headedness for even doing that research project right there, too. What the actual **** must be wrong with you to do something like that?

Also, your explanation of why I say "sky daddy" is partially correct, and partially not - - - - - and I still do, in fact, posit that you believe in a sky daddy. One that's magical, and came to be a human for a little while so that he could do some magical miracles, some Machiavellin stuff too.

Why you care so much as to do all ^^ THAT ^^ is fuggin creepy


"sorry guys, cant do anything at all today, gotta go be right on the internet!"

So you are admitting that you carry around grudges?

I have zero doubt about that. But even your grudge argument doesn't hold water GT. Are you suggesting that Emily insulted you? What did Emily ever do to you?

If There Is No God, Murder Is Not Wrong

Or how about Arthur Blair? What did Arthur ever do to you?

Which Child Tells the World Her Life Has Been Stolen?

Or how about the posts that weren't directed at anyone, GT? What about these?

Why Religion Must Be Banished....

The Belief That Life Was the Result of an Accident Is Unscientific

You question your my sanity and level-headedness and wonder what must be wrong with me to do something like this?

You asked me a question, GT. This is my answer to YOUR question.

Yes, GT, I do believe in a creator. No, I don't believe he is magical. Just beyond anything we can relate to because the creator is beyond anything we can comprehend. That doesn't make it magic. That's your oversimplification because it doesn't match your worldview.

I care because I enjoy these kind of discussions. It isn't about being right, it is about learning more. I am always looking for gaps in my beliefs.

And don't you find it odd that someone would criticize someone else for doing exactly what they were doing?

 

[ding]

When I say sky daddy and magic...I'm not referring to some misunderstanding, I'm referring to your own descriptions of the God you believe in, and how I feel about that.

No. You are referring to YOUR perception of what I believe.

I have been extremely clear that I believe that whatever caused space and time to pop into existence 14 billion years ago from nothing is beyond energy and matter. I have gone into great detail about how I know that whatever caused space and time to pop into existence 14 billion years ago from nothing cannot be made of matter and energy. That whatever caused space and time to pop into existence 14 billion years ago from nothing is totally foreign to us. That whatever caused space and time to pop into existence 14 billion years ago from nothing is beyond our comprehension because we are material beings that live inside of space and time and we can't possibly relate to something outside of space and time that is capable of creating the material world.

I have been extremely clear that my perception of God is consciousness without form; that mind - rather than being a late outgrowth of the evolution of space and time - is the source or matrix of the material world.
Such that the stuff of which physical reality is composed is mind-stuff. It is Mind that has composed a physical universe that breeds life, and so eventually evolves creatures that know and create.

I have been extremely clear that my beliefs are not based upon what you refer to as fairy tales, but rather observations of the material world. That the potential for beings to know and create existed even before space and time itself. That this potentiality is written into the laws of nature. That creating order from chaos is written into the laws of nature. That the very nature of our physical laws point to reason and purpose. That the universe is an intelligence creating machine. I have been making a logical argument for spirit creating the material world. My argument isn't based upon fairy tales. My argument is based upon observations of the material world.

YOUR perception of my argument is based upon your perception that the account of Genesis is a fairy tale. It's not. It is ancient man's understanding of the origin questions. You can't see that because it goes against your worldview.

 

[ding]

The one you say is in your life, watching you/with you, etc etc. - I find that to be magical since it's not established empirically. Not to my satisfaction, not to my standards of skepticism. And that's up to me, not you.

Watching me? No. When did I ever say that?

God is not watching us. God experiences the material world through us. That's my belief, GT.

And if you have never tested it then you can't possibly understand it. God is not some mystery to be solved. God is a relationship to be entered into. And that is totally up to you.