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[yardbird]

There is a writer on Slate.com that is blogging the Bible. It's really a fascinating idea, where he reads, asks questions to the Slate readership and discusses the sorts of things (some of the time) that people would ask about the book. I don't know if book should be capitalized in that sense, but I don't think it is and I don't mean to be

Comments

[katsby]

wow! what an interesting blog!

i, myself, tend to believe that things are just as they are... and what exists is what exists. there are things beyond the realm of our perception as humans, but to me it doesn't imply that they created us, govern us, or really have much to do with us apart from existing alongside us. that is, if we really exist at all. ;)

it's all so random to me. and i'm at peace with that.

which isn't to say i'd argue with any religious sorts of people-- hey, i see it my way, you see it your way. even the really extremely obnoxious folks who see god in everything. everyone has to justify their own existence to themselves. i just don't believe that prayer is ever answered (because there is no one waiting to answer it)... randomly sometimes things can turn out for the best, and randomly things can turn out for the worst. and some things have very neutral conclusions.

in my world, you can pray that a die you roll will end on a 5... or you can randomly roll a die with no intentions... and it has equal chances of landing on any side (provided there aren't any strange circumstances... i.e. one of the sides of the die being wet... or any number of obscure things possibly beyond our perceptions).

of course, that doesn't prevent the kvetching. in fact, i'm a rather expert kvetcher. despite knowing there's little beyond my own action and capabilities that i can hope for. oh well.

[yardbird]

The first paragraph kind of confuses me as to why it was included. If you think that there might be a group of supernatural beings that are imperceptible in every way and exert no influence over us, then what would be the difference between them existing and not existing?

Be careful whom you call obnoxious. God is visible in everything, but it's really a matter of practicality -- the passivity of the divine influence in a sunset isn't going to make a lot of difference to anybody if God was involved or not. It's like watching a baseball player hit a beautiful home run; once the ball is hit, it's going over the fence now without any further input from the batter. When somebody is inexplicably cured of cancer, that has direct influence in more than just in an abstract and artistic way.

The point I was trying to get to, though, was that it is astonishingly easy to neglect the presence of God, even when you have life experiences that remove all doubt at the time you live through them.

[katsby]

oh, right. i guess my first paragraph was unclear. i just meant "forces" beyond our perception, not "beings".... i.e. like how subatomic particles are definitely an element of our existence even though they are mostly beyond our perception (at least with the naked eye).

The point I was trying to get to, though, was that it is astonishingly easy to neglect the presence of God, even when you have life experiences that remove all doubt at the time you live through them.

though i'm not qualified to really discuss this point (which is probably why my previous comment is a tangent-o-rama), i agree that i can see why that would be a problem. but i think there's a difference between people of "convenient faith" and those who are undecided on their faith. for some people, i imagine it's difficult to maintain constant faith without constant reassurance. for others, such faith comes naturally.