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silversoul7
Chill the FuckOut!
Registered: 10/10/02
Posts: 27,301
Loc: mndfreeze's puppet army
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The Absurdity of God
#2168400 - 12/08/03 06:52 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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In my philosophy class, we're reading a book by Iris Murdoch called "The Sovereignty of Good." Anyway, in one part of the book, she lays out why she thinks the idea of God, or at least the traditional Western idea of God, is absurd. To believe in God, by the Judeo-Christian definition, is to believe that there is a higher power in this vast, infinite universe, which values the well-being of human beings above everything else, and set up this entire universe around us, and cares especially for us. While such a thought is consoling, it is highly absurd. It assumes a special status for humanity for which there is no reason to assume one. This does not disprove the existence of such a god, but casts extreme doubt on such an idea. Thoughts?
-------------------- "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."--Voltaire
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kaiowas
lest we baguette
Registered: 07/14/03
Posts: 5,501
Loc: oz
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: silversoul7]
#2168416 - 12/08/03 07:14 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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quite so! but really, I always like to ask, "concerning God, who can say what is what for sure 100%?" no one can. that thought alone that you put down sure shows me how rediculous this assumption really is.
and haven't you ever heard that one argument, "well can god make a rock so heavy god can't life it?"
gotta love the way that works!
but yeah it does seem really absurd that humans would be a focus of anythng huge when there's such a huge universe out there.
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silversoul7
Chill the FuckOut!
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: kaiowas]
#2168423 - 12/08/03 07:21 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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Even more absurd is the notion that God would pick sides in a sports event.
-------------------- "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."--Voltaire
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Alan Stone
Corpus
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: silversoul7]
#2168440 - 12/08/03 07:30 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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Like the war in Iraq? Think about it, if it wasn't for finding weapons of mass destruction, wasn't it just for sport?
-------------------- It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. - Aristotle
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whiterasta
Day careobserver
Registered: 04/09/02
Posts: 1,780
Loc: Oregon
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: silversoul7]
#2168448 - 12/08/03 07:37 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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By definition God(infinite ,perfect intelligence) cannot be absurd however man is very good at it.One may believe or not but that does not make the experience of those that do absurd. WR
-------------------- To old for this place
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muhurgle
Turtles all theway down
Registered: 10/29/03
Posts: 299
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: whiterasta]
#2168472 - 12/08/03 07:54 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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Do not question the absurdity of God, because "God works in mysterious ways" or something like that. Bah.
-------------------- "To make this mundane world sublime Take half a gram of phanerothyme." Aldous Huxley
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Anonymous
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: muhurgle]
#2168477 - 12/08/03 07:56 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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God is dead.
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silversoul7
Chill the FuckOut!
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: whiterasta]
#2168486 - 12/08/03 07:58 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
By definition God(infinite ,perfect intelligence) cannot be absurd however man is very good at it.
You are talking about God as an entity, and of course if such an entity exists, then he/she/it cannot, by definition, be absurd. What I am referring to, however, is the IDEA of God.
-------------------- "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."--Voltaire
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fireworks_god
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: ]
#2168513 - 12/08/03 08:15 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Cartoon_Nightmares said: God is dead.
God is in the tv. Peace.
-------------------- If I should die this very moment I wouldn't fear For I've never known completeness Like being here Wrapped in the warmth of you Loving every breath of you
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Anonymous
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: silversoul7]
#2168591 - 12/08/03 09:08 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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My personal belief is that the power of God is essentially the power of thought. God has the power that man associates with him/her/it. It's like a collective consciousness. We pray, believe the Holy word, and go to Church. In the end, all that God is is what we've associated with him. It's like how people think if they're lucky or unlucky. If they think they're a lucky person in general, their luck will be vast. If they think they are unlucky, they face a life of disappointment. It's a subconscious thing.
If I believed God was a pancake, when I died, I would be bathed in the Holy maple syrup with visions of pancakes, and as absurd as it sounds, it'd still be God to me, because that's the God that I've created in my mind.
Traditional God, my God, your God.. they all exist, but only in thought. There's no way to rationalize something that is irrational to begin with, but we can try. Organized religion is shit.
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Swami
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: ]
#2168839 - 12/08/03 11:21 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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Can those be blueberry pancakes?
-------------------- The proof is in the pudding.
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Anonymous
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: Swami]
#2168845 - 12/08/03 11:25 AM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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Only if you pass the collection plate.
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Funguy
Homo SapiensEntheogenous
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: silversoul7]
#2169182 - 12/08/03 02:55 PM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
silversoul7 said: It assumes a special status for humanity for which there is no reason to assume one. This does not disprove the existence of such a god, but casts extreme doubt on such an idea. Thoughts?
Some atheists believe humans have a special status because we are "higher-evolved" that other creatures. Someone's personal beliefs without research to back it up does not cast extreme doubt on anything (we are all guilty of that). What else did she say? Was it all just personal beliefs or did she in fact have evidence to back up her claims?
-------------------- OTD UNDERDOGS Is attention your retarded heroin?
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Deiymiyan
I AM
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Quote:
fireworks_god said:
Quote:
Cartoon_Nightmares said: God is dead.
God is in the tv. Peace.
Heh heh heh... Here we go on a trip from NIN to MAN5ON... Awesome !!!!
-------------------- Dei Gratia de integro, Veni Vidi Vici: In Nomine Domini..
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entiformatie
EvolutionaryMovements
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Quote:
fireworks_god said:
Quote:
Cartoon_Nightmares said: God is dead.
God is in the tv. Peace.
thats exactly what was going through my mind when i read that :-)
anywho, it might be absurd. might not. maybe i'm just missing somethign that they get. or maybe they're faith isn't as intangible as i think it is.maybe they really do FEEL something when they pray. of course, i don't think so, but who's to say otherwise. who cares how absurd they are. its when they start telling me what to o that i have a problem with them. get off my fuckin front lawn!
-------------------- /opinion .sean
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silversoul7
Chill the FuckOut!
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: Funguy]
#2169291 - 12/08/03 04:01 PM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
What else did she say? Was it all just personal beliefs or did she in fact have evidence to back up her claims?
Well, like I said, her claim does not disprove God. It merely casts a shadow of doubt over the idea. Basically, she is suspicious of anything that is consoling, such as the idea that there's some divine entity looking out for you, because life itself is not consoling. You are put on this earth, you live your life, and you die, and there's really no ultimate reason behind it. That's just how it is, and we believe in things like a personal, loving God in order to console us and let us to believe otherwise.
What's interesting, however, is when she talks about goodness(the main point of her book), she gives it similar properties to God: real, unifying, perfect, transcendent, indefinable, and mysterious. What separates this idea from God, in her mind, is that goodness is not there to serve you or comfort you. It simply exists, and we can only connect with it by transcending our ego and looking beyond ourselves, observing the good in all things. We can admire the good, and love it, but it is not there to console us or serve us.
-------------------- "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong."--Voltaire
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bumski
cattle russler
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: silversoul7]
#2169300 - 12/08/03 04:07 PM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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God is dead -Nietzsche Nietzsche is dead -God
-------------------- Cheech: Hey man, the house is bein' raided man! opsCays! You hear me man? get-outski!
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LaCasta
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: bumski]
#2169339 - 12/08/03 04:28 PM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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How do you know that this universe is so vast, when we still do not know if there are other universes that will make this one look like a phonebooth
-------------------- "Memories of high speeds when the cops crash, As I laugh pushin the gas while my glocks blast" -RIP Tupac
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LaCasta
Beyond Good andEvil
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: LaCasta]
#2169348 - 12/08/03 04:34 PM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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In Islam there is a belief that there are 7 worlds. This universe is the lowest of the 7 worlds, and its relationship in size to the one above it is like a ring in the desert and that one is like a ring in a desert compared to the next one. I definitely do not excpect any of you to believe this, but if God is such a conception of the mind then the vastness of this universe could be the same.
P.S.
I really appreciate your view point Silversoul, but in the future it would reflect better on you to choose a better title than the absurditiy of god
-------------------- "Memories of high speeds when the cops crash, As I laugh pushin the gas while my glocks blast" -RIP Tupac
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Phluck
Carpal Tunnel
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Re: The Absurdity of God [Re: silversoul7]
#2169416 - 12/08/03 05:00 PM (20 years, 3 months ago) |
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If you just had the faith you'd understand.
-------------------- "I have no valid complaint against hustlers. No rational bitch. But the act of selling is repulsive to me. I harbor a secret urge to whack a salesman in the face, crack his teeth and put red bumps around his eyes." -Hunter S Thompson http://phluck.is-after.us
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