Let's talk about God, baby

[rainsinger]

Some questions and a theory from marysiak

1. How do you relate to your parents or parental figures?

2. How do you relate to your friends group?

3. How do you envision your God? How do you feel about him and how does he feel about you?
(If you do not believe in any God you can answer by describing what you think God would be like if he did exist)

Comments

[internetsdairy]

Don't think anyone would consider themselves the random firing of synapses - that would just produce the mental equivalent of TV snow. Perhaps you mean something else?

[rainsinger]

A lot of synapse firing isn't random of course but to do with conditioned learning and response. Mostly it was a light jibe at neuroscientist and the completely reductionist approach to the problem of human psyche and spirit - that that which I consider to be my unique snowflake spirit is mostly just the end-product of the neural connections within me and their firing [whereby my moods are just the sloshing of my internal chemicals at any one time, produced by that synaptic activity]

[casaubon]

Well, I believe that I am a product of my experiences, genes and brain chemistry.
But that does not mean I am not a unique snowflake.

[internetsdairy]

If physical processes can result in billions of unique snowflakes, why can't physical processes result in billions of unique minds (or spirits, if you like)?

[chiller]

Gawd, I had to put "other" for everything, so I didn't answer the ones that didn't have "other" on the end of them. I don't believe in some fat bloke with a beard who lives in the sky. And I actively think all organised religion is evil. I'm not superstitious.

But beyond that, I think everything is god and the whole of everything represents the "omnipotence" and "omniscience" people imagine embodied in some floating dude, or dudes. We're all god in my view. Reality is just us peering at all the bits of ourselves or our whole through a veil we call "space/time", which makes it look as if all the components are separate.

[bluedevi]

Your 'beyond that' is beautifully put. That's pretty much what I believe as well.

[chiller]

Thanks. :)

[shelbydee]

Oh, hi! Almost exactly like me and I call it pantheism ;)

[strange_powers]

I'm an atheist, but I do believe in a higher power - kind of an innate, unwritten law of human behaviour and nature and science that guides and directs us. I am entirely convinced that this does not come from a Creator or God, but from the natural order of things and the basic decency of people.

[verlaine]

I'm sure a lot of us have the same basic thoughts on these issues, but managed to give completely different answers in the polls. I believe in God because I believe the natural order of things and the basic decency of people *is* God, more or less. And I put myself down as a Christian because that's my family's tradition and I basically endorse the moral concepts, though I have nothing to do with the organised aspects of religion.

[sera_squeak]

I'm an undecided! I was brought up as a Christian and went to church but, as many people do, I began to question the whole thing as I grew older.

I definitely believe in "something" but I'm not entirely certain who or what that something is and I'm right at the beginning of trying to work this one out for myself.

[miss_newham]

I'm not sure if lapsed Christian and agnostic come to the same thing - I want ticky boxes!

[rainsinger]

Argh yes, I should have gone with tickyboxes, but the damn thing allows not for the editing of polls. There should probably be a rule about creating them before the complete wakeness of my brain.

But in the absence of tickyboxes... you can draw a pig