Some call it Allah, some Yaweh. There are lots of different names for an all encompassing "energy". What should be evident is that intelligence doesn't spring from stupidity. Is it possible a system as vast and complicated as the Universe is intelligent? There are those who believe God is the Universe, pantheists, and there are those who believe God is the Universe, but also outside of it; panenthiests.
so, what do you conclude about God.. from these things? I'm sure the many atheists here would disagree. You must have missed my meaning in that post to one of them. 'Godless Commies', works for me, but does not cover everyone. 'Militant atheists' is another i have used. But i think my favorite is 'Religious bigot', as it is more universal. I see atheism as very much a religion/worldview/philosophy, & the intolerance & hypocrisy of the 'militant atheists' is nothing but religious bigotry, which i point out from time to time. But in this thread, i am attempting a purely 'what if' scenario, that does not require defense of, or attack toward, one's own, or other's, beliefs. I don't expect anything of it. But it is no more pointless than a great number of threads, here.
I was responding to what appeared to be your lack of understanding of my point. And this isn't a logical exercise in "concluding the attributes of god if we premise his existence" its a flight of human imagination and conceit. THAT WAS MY POINT. Since I have faith that god solely and firmly resides in the human imagination, any and all speculation about the nature of one's god is a product of that imagination. Turns out the ultimate human conceit of genesis 1:27. is rather a major convenience for the religious apologist.
Whatever. But, i think you may have hit your own dogma, with your karma.. and i'm glad you got to reaffirm your beliefs.. don't want anyone thinking you might be a theist, debating in a 'What is God like?' thread... ..oh, & i'm glad you got to toss in some ad hom, too.. can't go too long without that, can we? What is the difference between 'projecting conclusions, based in a prediction of a premise', and 'a flight of human imagination?' ..pretty much the same thing, you just phrase them how you want the narrative to appear.
What is God like? God is more patient, understanding, forgiving, compassionate, and loving than most of us give him credit for being. Coupled with that, he is less judgemental, harsh, demanding and unforgiving than many of us have been taught. Evidence for this is provided by those individuals who have died and been medically resuscitated (Near Death Experiencers--NDErs). Although 15% of NDErs report having partially negative experiences, most of those join the all positive 85% before they actually end. Of the now several thousand confirmed Near Death Experiences that have been recorded, NONE have reported being subjected to harsh judgements by God for their failures and mistakes during life on Earth. Indeed, it's overwhelmingly the precise opposite, having experienced a deep sense of love, acceptance and non-judgement while they were out of their physical bodies and in the spirit world. Every NDEr returns changed by their experience toward focusing their lives more into serving others and learning to love others unconditionally, much as Jesus Christ is reported to have done, and other special individuals such as Paramahansa Yogananda exemplified more recently. Learning to love unconditionally appears to be a paramount goal of life here for us all, and stands in accordance with who and what God is.
This you call compassion? http://www.realbiblestories.com/10-biblical-atrocities-that-go-overlooked-part-1-2/ http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/cruelty/long.html
Ok, so i am trying to compile a list of attributes of God, gleaned from the observations in the natural world. I'm not sure i can override my natural skepticism for the NDE's. I'm not aware of any soundly produced studies of this phenomenon, so am skeptical of the 85% positive claim. But IF.. this is an accurate picture, THEN i would not see how you could project these feelings onto God. One could as easily argue that the fear & anxiety emotions that accompany death were 'dying' too. That can explain the 'sense of peace'. For what is 'peace', but the absence of fear & anxiety? So i'm not dismissing this altogether, but i have to hold on to my skepticism.. i'd need to see other corroborating studies or arguments that compel such a conclusion. Why would people feel, 'harsh judgments' if they were dead? That merely is presuming something about God.. that He is harsh or judgmental.. how do you arrive at those traits of God, from the material universe? Good, thought provoking post, though.. and something to delve into more.
A central theme of most religions is "fear of god". Why fear a loving, merciful and benevolent creator? Could it be because the scriptural stories of the abrahamic god's interactions with man clearly demonstrate that he is harsh and judgemental. And if the material universe in all its wonder and glory are odes to the magnificent nature of god, then why isn't the human condition also an ode to the brutally harsh nature of that same god? It seems so much about the nature of god is predicated on the religious belief that at the end of one's life they will be judged and either attain everlasting blissful metaphyiscal existence or eternal pain and suffering. to me religion can't get much more anthropomorphic than that, given the material universe we all live in.
I looked at your links. Clearly the vast majority of the examples cited as non-compassionate were from the "Old Testament," which is from the Jewish faith--all completed before Jesus offered his alternative teachings. It has often been noted that the God of the Old Testament was a God of vengence; while the God of Jesus' New Testament is a God of compassion. This is not entirely true, for early Christianity was embedded in Judaism for its first two centuries, and the books included in the New Testament later were by no means the most important ones available to scholars at that time. For example, the Gnostic Texts, which were probably written by several of the original Apostles themselves, were not included in the New Testament for political reasons. All this is historically interesting, but nearly irrelevant for me personally. I never suggested the Holy Bible was a book of compassion. Nor do I believe it is. I said NDErs experience a place outside the physical body where love is a core ingredient of reality, and the judgementalism taught by the three prevalent monotheistic religions doesn't seem to exist. I'm not a traditional Christian. I regard the Christian Holy Bible to be a poor and incomplete representation of Jesus' life or teachings. I'm convinced that the works called The Second Coming of Christ - The Resurrection of the Christ Within You, by Paramahansa Yogananda is the most accurate interpretation of Jesus' actual teachings in existence today, but few are acquainted with them. None of this is really my point. My point is that the Near Death Experience begins to show us the connections we all live with unconsciously or semi-consciously between the spiritual and physical dimensions, and both of those work together in intricate ways to produce the lives we experience as individuals. And the central core of that partnership is the force of love, for everything ultimately revolves around it. The sooner we begin to understand that and accept it and incorporate it into our daily consciousness and lives, the faster we accomplish the reason for our being here.
