(June 17, 2018 at 1:19 pm)MysticKnight Wrote:

(June 17, 2018 at 1:17 pm)Joods Wrote: Just because something has worth or value does not make it a god. No matter how you try to spin that,  there is no exclusivity between value, worth and any god.

I value my children. Are they gods? Nope. Nice try tho, but you'll score no points for moving your goal posts to fit your narrative.

I do not subscribe to a god or gods.  It really is that simple. But thanks for attempting to tell me how I think.

If you value your children more then anything else, yes they are gods to you.  You choose what to value most (god) but I recognize the only being that ought to valued to a degree by us that everything pales in comparison.

No they aren't. And stop trying to patronize me and my thoughts.

You know MK, I used to think that regardless of your religious views, you at least had the decency to respect others for their views. Now you just go around telling atheists how they feel and what they think.

It's really inconsiderate of you to continue telling me that I believe in a god when I have made it clear to you that I don't. You have lost any respect I had for you. And that's a shame because you used to be one of the nicer theists here.

Quote:If you value your children more then anything else, yes they are gods to you.  You choose what to value most (god) but I recognize the only being that ought to valued to a degree by us that everything pales in comparison.

So, whatever we value most is god?  I KNEW IT - MY PENIS IS GOD!!!

Scuse, please - I have to do a web search and find that emasculating little bitch from high school Sandra Mulvaney and tell her I was right all along.

Boru

Doesn't that kind of devalue the idea of god, if you just say "Whatever you value most is your god"? Otherwise the vast majority of us are gods, because we either value ourselves the most, or we value someone else the most who in turn values us the most.

The sole purpose of religion is to enrich the con men running it and to give them power over the dummies who follow it. That's true of every religion known to man since the first con man created a god.

Religions work best when they are more autocratic and dictatorial than when they are liberal. The intent is to force people into complete obedience and loyalty to the Boss. The people have to follow the rules or else they will be punished. That's the biblical model in both the Old & New Testaments. Islam is also based on that model. Once you join that particular cult you will be killed if you try to leave it.

So if you were to start a new religion you need to draft a lot of rules that believers must follow or else they will suffer all kinds of horrible punishments. It's like running a criminal gang except it's generally regarded as being legal in most countries except those who have their own favorite gangs, like the Islamic countries.

Be sure to come up with an attractive eternal life with all kinds of goodies for everyone. Christianity, Islam, and Mormonism tend to treat women like garbage in their eternal life. Maybe you can give them a better deal. That way you will get a lot of instant converts. And don't be like the Shakers! They died out because they didn't recruit converts.

(June 17, 2018 at 3:44 pm)Chad32 Wrote: Doesn't that kind of devalue the idea of god, if you just say "Whatever you value most is your god"? Otherwise the vast majority of us are gods, because we either value ourselves the most, or we value someone else the most who in turn values us the most.

Whatever is valued most is a god and is worshipped, but there is only one being that deserves to be valued most.

The greatest difficulty for monotheists is not to just believe in God intellectually but convince their hearts that God is to be valued above us by a great valuing above us, and also if we truthfully want to value things as they are, to wish for others what we wish for ourselves.

Otherwise we are being dishonest, we may intellectually hold God is God, but then associate ourselves with God and value him and even use him for our egos rather then serving him.

(June 17, 2018 at 3:44 pm)Chad32 Wrote: Doesn't that kind of devalue the idea of god, if you just say "Whatever you value most is your god"? Otherwise the vast majority of us are gods, because we either value ourselves the most, or we value someone else the most who in turn values us the most.

It just shows it's a meaningless word, as usual. This is really desperate equivocation.

(June 17, 2018 at 4:36 pm)robvalue Wrote:

(June 17, 2018 at 3:44 pm)Chad32 Wrote: Doesn't that kind of devalue the idea of god, if you just say "Whatever you value most is your god"? Otherwise the vast majority of us are gods, because we either value ourselves the most, or we value someone else the most who in turn values us the most.

It just shows it's a meaningless word, as usual. This is really desperate equivocation.

It's most meaningful. Otherwise what's the point and relationship with the word to ourselves.

It means we ought to love God above all else and when that happens, we care about God's face in everything to whatever degree of light and whatever right is asked through that is giving it it's proper due.

Not only it most meaningful but it makes us realize the struggle between truly worshiping God or polytheism, is not just intellectual, but something that heart has to incline to through love and truthfully believe God is most worthy of being valued most, such that he is the only God.

Yeah, so everything is a god, and as always which god should be valued most will vary wildly from person to person. I guess my favorite god is Mom. She's the best.

(June 17, 2018 at 4:40 pm)Chad32 Wrote: Yeah, so everything is a god, and as always which god should be valued most will vary wildly from person to person. I guess my favorite god is Mom. She's the best.

Yeah, when you don't worship God, and value many things pretty much the same, you are polytheistic.

Saying "everything" is god is both a way of undermining non-belief and overcompensating for lack of religious ingenuity. In the end, it is the religious paradigm that suffers, because why else would one need to constantly apologize for lack of knowledge in the religious world if it actually existed? True knowledge stands on its own, it does not rely on the absurdity of religious absolutism.