Questions About God(s)

[SalixIncendium]

I’m opening a thread for atheists to ask theists questions in a non-debate setting about their gods in order to educate themselves on what they actually lack belief in, as most, in my experience, lack belief in only the god(s) they’re familiar with.

As a moderator who has no horse in the race, I promise to keep the discourse as fair as I can.

 

[ChristineM]

Anyone

What is the need for the god(s) you believe in?

 

[Quintessence]

What is the need for the god(s) you believe in?

The question doesn't really make sense to me.

What "need" is there for the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, and literally everything in the universe?

I mean... the question couldn't even be asked without the gods/reality/nature? They're literally all existence and all reality? Are you questioning the "need" for reality, existence, and everything to... be a thing at all? I guess you can ask that question, but... that's... kind of weird.

 

[PureX]

Anyone

What is the need for the god(s) you believe in?

As a focus for positive awareness. Whatever is responsible for this gift of my being alive and aware, of living in relative peace, of humanity, both mine and everyone else's, and of autonomy (to the degree that I have it). I pray my thanks to this Great Mystery Source every morning to help me begin the day in a state of profound gratitude. Because while I'm in that state I'm pretty impervious to the normal "slings and arrows" that tend to come our way in life.

As a source of hope. I am a recovered alcoholic, and have found that it's very important that I don't allow myself to wallow in negativity and hopelessness because that way leads to the insanity of addiction. And because the existence of a God of my own understanding is a real, actual, logical possibility, that possibility gives me a perpetual reason for hope. No human, especially including myself, will ever be able to prove to me that the God I choose to hope in, does not exist. And as long as this remains possible, I remain hopeful.

As a value barometer. We humans tend to endow our ideas of God with our own most highly valued ethical imperatives, such as kindness, generosity, forgiveness, honesty, and so on. As such our gods tend to become the icon for all things moral so far as we assess morality and immorality. And I like having a kind of quick and easily accessible reminder of what these ethical imperatives are for me. It enables me to trust in my intuition regarding these kinds of issues and circumstances and as someone with an artist's nature, trusting my intuition is an important consideration, and an important asset.

I have lived without a 'God' to provide these cognitive assets, and I have lived with a 'God' to provide these cognitive assets, and I have found the latter to be far, FAR, better than the former. Which is why I would now accept the notion that I "need my God" to provide these very important cognitive assets to my experience of living.

 

[ChristineM]

The question doesn't really make sense to me.

What "need" is there for the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, and literally everything in the universe?

I mean... the question couldn't even be asked without the gods/reality/nature? They're literally all existence and all reality? Are you questioning the "need" for reality, existence, and everything to... be a thing at all? I guess you can ask that question, but... that's... kind of weird.

The need for the sun and earth are pretty obvious, without them we wouldn't exist. Not so much the moon though.

So you take the view that your gods exist in reality? Thats a good enough answer for me, and I don't see an enquiring mind as weird

 

[Vinayaka]

Anyone

What is the need for the god(s) you believe in?

I have no need for Siva, Ganesha, or Murugan, the three main Gods I worship. For me, it is more want than need. It's like I want friendship, but could also do without it. But hey, perhaps I misunderstood your question.

 

[ChristineM]

I have no need for Siva, Ganesha, or Murugan, the three main Gods I worship. For me, it is more want than need. It's like I want friendship, but could also do without it. But hey, perhaps I misunderstood your question.

No, you didn't misunderstand, your answer tells me much about your relationship with your gods.

 

[Quintessence]

The need for the sun and earth are pretty obvious, without them we wouldn't exist. Not so much the moon though.

It's all part of the interdependent web of existence, though - Earth would not be as it is without Moon. Moonlight and tides have a major effect on the planet's living organisms. See:

Sex, Death, and Pollination: How the Moon Changes Life on Earth

National Geographic's TV special Earth Live will film wildlife using only moonlight—but animals have relied on the moon’s glow for eons.

www.nationalgeographic.com

So you take the view that your gods exist in reality?

My view on reality is that if it can be understood and known in any way, it is real and it exists. I don't constrain what "real" means like many do in my culture. But if, hypothetically, I did? Most of the gods I worship on a regular basis are indisputably "real" even by a narrow understanding of what "real" means. Whether or not an individual regards various aspects of our reality as worthy of worship, though? That's a matter of preference. There are many who take for granted the interdependent web of existence (the Weave) and do not view it as sacred and worthy of celebration. Such is the disconnection from nature/gods of modern, domesticated humans. It is what it is. There are also many who in effect do celebrate the Weave but don't use religious-sounding terminology words to label it. The word applied doesn't really matter, the substance of action does. Celebrations honor the sacred or special relationships humans have with other humans or the greater-than-human regardless of it words like "gods" are used or not.

 

[sun rise]

Anyone

What is the need for the god(s) you believe in?

None. For me it's not a matter of need in the day-to-day sense of the word "need".

For me it's like the story of the musk deer which one day detects a beautiful scent and wants to find its source. In my case the need is the product of experiences. Another metaphor is someone who discovers great sculpture and as a result feels the need to become a sculptor.

 

[JustGeorge]

Anyone

What is the need for the god(s) you believe in?

I don't 'need' the Gods anymore than I need the neighbors.

But, sometimes they make life better. Pleasant friendships. An occasional hand. Generally enrich life. (And a couple of them might be a pain in the hindquarters, too. )

 

[LuisDantas]

Do you, theists, see any clear reason to call what you believe in a god or gods?

Are there alternative names that you might use? Do you have personal preferences on this matter?

Do you have any definite stances on whether it is better to use umbrella words that do not differentiate between gods of specific doctrines or traditions or to instead avoid those?

 

[Quintessence]

Do you, theists, see any clear reason to call what you believe in a god or gods?

Yes and no.

Ultimately, the word-label-thing humans attach to the landscape of reality - any bit of that landscape - is irrelevant. This is as true for the word "god" as it is for any other word in human languages. The Dodecatheon media (Shooting Star) plant is what it is regardless of what humans stick on it for word-label-things.

But humans are word-label-thing makers and users. And the use the word-label-things to communicate primarily with each other. Different cultures develop different languages and different word-label-things to apply to the landscape of reality. It's why language is inherently polysemic, fluid, and evolving. If a particular word-label-thing is useful to a given culture to communicate some particular thing, it continues being used as a word-label-thing. And the word-label-thing "god(s)" is quite enduring indeed.

Humans simply know they are not the biggest kids on the block; that's obvious and self-evident to anyone. The word-label-thing "god(s)" is an acknowledgement of that which is greater-than-human, of that-which-is-sacred, sometimes of-that-which-is-beyond-mystery. It is an observation that seems fairly universal across cultures even if the specifics vary from culture to culture. Higher powers - things greater than humans - indisputably exist. And often the word-label-thing "god(s)" is put to those things. But it doesn't have to be.

Are there alternative names that you might use? Do you have personal preferences on this matter?

Yes.

For a few years when I was struggling with theology, I could not muster using the word "god" at all. The reason for this was fairly straightforward - cultural upbringing. I grew up in a culture where "god" only meant the one described by Abrahamic religions. And I had a pretty deep anti-theist phase before discovering contemporary Paganism so to say I had a bad relationship with the word "god" is putting it lightly. Then I came to realize there was no reason for me to permit Abrahamic religions - traditions I had already decided I didn't agree with theologically - to define the be-all and end-all of what "god" meant. But before that time I almost exclusively used the word "spirit" to describe the gods because I wasn't over my Abrahamic cultural baggage. I still often refer to the gods as Spirits - Sun Spirit, Moon Spirit, and so on - but I also mean they are gods.

Do you have any definite stances on whether it is better to use umbrella words that do not differentiate between gods of specific doctrines or traditions or to instead avoid those?

I'm not sure I entirely follow what you're asking. But whenever using word-label-things, additional qualifiers are usually and often helpful. One can talk about a "human" but that doesn't tell us much without additional word-label-things. What kind of human? What do they do? What is their appearance? It's the same with the gods. The word "god" doesn't tell us much without additional qualifiers. What kind of god? What kind of greater-than-human aspect of our reality? What kind of thing deemed sacred and worthy of worship?

 

[sun rise]

Do you, theists, see any clear reason to call what you believe in a god or gods?

My spiritual teacher sometimes referred to the Divine as "that" pointing upward. Personally I'm comfortable with the Eastern Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu the word "God"; the word "Allah" and other words. To me the word does not matter.

Are there alternative names that you might use? Do you have personal preferences on this matter?

I take my cue from Meher Baba's "Master's Prayer" which includes these names: Parvardigar, Ancient One, Prabhu, Parameshwar, Parabrahma, Allah, Elahi, Yezdan, Ahuramazda, "Beyond God", "Beyond-Beyond" God, "God the Beloved" and Ezad. I'll also add the Judaism's Hashem and "YHVH" and "G'd"