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Atheists: Your Perception of God

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
When people of varying religions speak of God, they typically are speaking of their perception of God from their own religious experience unless otherwise specified.

When someone speaks to you of God, what springs to mind?

If you were raised into a religion and now identify with atheism, is it the god of that religion? Is it the God you think the speaker is speaking of?

What God do you default to?
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Just a concept....some disembodied elsewhere thingie.
Not at all like the God in The Simpsons.
 

McBell

Resident Sourpuss
For me, the word god is so subjective it is pretty much worthless outside of "higher power than currently known highest power".

Seems to me that each theist has their very own personal idea of what god is and isn't and though there is some over lap from individual to individual, the problems arise from the non-overlapping areas.
 

Altfish

Veteran Member
When people of varying religions speak of God, they typically are speaking of their perception of God from their own religious experience unless otherwise specified.

When someone speaks to you of God, what springs to mind?
Sorrow, control, and then my mind switches off.

If you were raised into a religion and now identify with atheism, is it the god of that religion? Is it the God you think the speaker is speaking of?
The Christian god is a big white man with a beard in the clouds, If someone says 'god' that's what I default to.

What God do you default to?
Same answer as above...
The Christian god is a big white man with a beard in the clouds, If someone says 'god' that's what I default to.
 

SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
For me, the word god is so subjective it is pretty much worthless outside of "higher power than currently known highest power".

Seems to me that each theist has their very own personal idea of what god is and isn't and though there is some over lap from individual to individual, the problems arise from the non-overlapping areas.
So how do you carry on discussion about God when you have no idea what the discussion partner is speaking of?
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
When people of varying religions speak of God, they typically are speaking of their perception of God from their own religious experience unless otherwise specified.

When someone speaks to you of God, what springs to mind?

If you were raised into a religion and now identify with atheism, is it the god of that religion? Is it the God you think the speaker is speaking of?

What God do you default to?

Good question. When I think of god, I think of deities: Zues, Jehovah, Yamaya, et cetera. So, if someone said "god created the world" I think deities creating the world. If someone says god loves them, I think of deities like Zues giving love (best way I picture it is from Star Trek to tell you honestly).

The language use throws me off.

Only @PureX really explained it to me when it comes to mystery of one's being. If someone is talking about deities in my mind I have to translate it into cultural anthropomorphized representations of the unknown.

On RF it's mostly christians I speak with. Other theists don't describe their gods if more than the basics if they do. So, it's hard to build other opinions about gods-especially when I'm honest and curious about them. Leaves me to a guessing game since I know god isn't owned by christianity.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
When people of varying religions speak of God, they typically are speaking of their perception of God from their own religious experience unless otherwise specified.

When someone speaks to you of God, what springs to mind?

If you were raised into a religion and now identify with atheism, is it the god of that religion? Is it the God you think the speaker is speaking of?

What God do you default to?


Quite honestly, delusion and gullibility

I don't
 

Polymath257

Think & Care
Staff member
Premium Member
When people of varying religions speak of God, they typically are speaking of their perception of God from their own religious experience unless otherwise specified.

When someone speaks to you of God, what springs to mind?

If you were raised into a religion and now identify with atheism, is it the god of that religion? Is it the God you think the speaker is speaking of?

What God do you default to?

I was raised Christian (Lutheran) and so that tends to be my default understanding of the word 'God'.

But I can adapt to use whatever definition is used in any discussion.

Generally, the term 'God' includes some, if not all, of the following: all powerful, all knowing, all good, creator of the universe, decider of morality, judge of those who have died, sustainer of reality, a necessary being, a very powerful entity, a metaphor for goodness, a metaphor for knowledge, a metaphor for power, etc.

The God of philosophers tends to be different than the God of Christian fundamentalists, which tends to be different than the Gods of pagans, etc.

I don't have a preference. Just let me know which one you want to discuss.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
When people of varying religions speak of God, they typically are speaking of their perception of God from their own religious experience unless otherwise specified.

When someone speaks to you of God, what springs to mind?

If you were raised into a religion and now identify with atheism, is it the god of that religion? Is it the God you think the speaker is speaking of?

What God do you default to?
Well I certainly don't see God as some kind of real entity. If anything, my 'God' is the natural processes of nature that we experience first hand.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
When people of varying religions speak of God, they typically are speaking of their perception of God from their own religious experience unless otherwise specified.

When someone speaks to you of God, what springs to mind?
"God" as in God-with-a-capital-G? I'll generally assume they're talking about some version of the Christian god unless I have reason to think there talking about another one, just based on the demographics of my area.

If you were raised into a religion and now identify with atheism, is it the god of that religion? Is it the God you think the speaker is speaking of?

What God do you default to?
I don't personally default to any gods. I just have ideas about which gods are commonly believed in in my society.
 

PureX

Veteran Member
Good question. When I think of god, I think of deities: Zues, Jehovah, Yamaya, et cetera. So, if someone said "god created the world" I think deities creating the world. If someone says god loves them, I think of deities like Zues giving love (best way I picture it is from Star Trek to tell you honestly).

The language use throws me off.

Only @PureX really explained it to me when it comes to mystery of one's being. If someone is talking about deities in my mind I have to translate it into cultural anthropomorphized representations of the unknown.

On RF it's mostly christians I speak with. Other theists don't describe their gods if more than the basics if they do. So, it's hard to build other opinions about gods-especially when I'm honest and curious about them. Leaves me to a guessing game since I know god isn't owned by christianity.
So, logically, then, when you reject the conceptual images and ideals that religious theists dress the Great Mystery of Being up in, that's actually all you're doing ... rejecting the 'artifice'. Not the actual content that the artifice is being used to 'embody', and represent.

I.e., "jousting at windmills" because someone else imagines them to be "dragons". This is what a lot of "atheism" seem to essentially be about, IMO.
 
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PureX

Veteran Member
When people of varying religions speak of God, they typically are speaking of their perception of God from their own religious experience unless otherwise specified.

When someone speaks to you of God, what springs to mind?

If you were raised into a religion and now identify with atheism, is it the god of that religion? Is it the God you think the speaker is speaking of?

What God do you default to?
It's the one they can dismiss most easily. :) :) :) (OK, I'll stop.)
 
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Aupmanyav

Be your own guru
What God do you default to?
In this forum my default is Abrahamic God. The big fat white man with a beard in the clouds showing his finger to Adam. When I have Hinduism in mind, then I will say Gods and Goddesses, just a God will not suffice. As for belief, I believe in none. My Brahman is not a God.

proxy-image
 
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Samael_Khan

Goosebender
When people of varying religions speak of God, they typically are speaking of their perception of God from their own religious experience unless otherwise specified.

When someone speaks to you of God, what springs to mind?

If you were raised into a religion and now identify with atheism, is it the god of that religion? Is it the God you think the speaker is speaking of?

What God do you default to?

I default to monotheism because I usually get into these discussions with those in the Abrahamic faiths. The nature of their argument also plays a role because they have set arguments.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
So back to the OP, it's the God you think the speaker is speaking of...

When i was a child and a christian my idea of a grandad in the sky was god for me. I left christianity and grew up.

I simply have no concept of a god. Everyone who does has their own idea of what a god is, that's up to them. Only when they can provide falsifiable evidence that their idea is more meaningful than every other god idea by providing evidence will i review that evidence.
 
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