Exactly Carpathian, each person sees in the God-figure the aspect they choose, (the aspects they choose not to see usually get shifted to the devil.)
It’s becoming increasingly important that we don’t confuse our subjective views of God (or… you know… inifinity and spirituality and all that stuff…) with objective reality. Reading Joseph Campbell’s “Creative Mythology” lately, (I know some people on the board aren’t fans of Campbell or the whole Jungian school of thought, but bear with me,) I’ve become convinced that relegion (and belief in general for that matter,) is becoming more and more decentralized as more people look to their own experiences to shape their beliefs, (progressing over the centuries in the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment and, or course, the work of Nietzsche…)
However, if we continue to cling to the old objective view of God, this splintering of belief will breed far more strife around the world as people try and fail to reconcile their God with the Gods of others. Hopefully people will realize that in truth it’s really all the same idea, split into differant aspects, (the metaphor of a prism seems appropriate…)
Sorry about the interruption, guys. But to add a little something to the topic (and to defy the present conversation)… the biggest irk I get from being an atheist is the misconception that I have no morals.
Just on a side-note: Surely an all-powerful God would have the abililty to simultaneously exist and not-exist at the same time… Lowly Politicians may never be able to please everyone all the time, but hey - this is God we’re talking about here, isn’t it…?
It´s certainly expected becasue they are told by their beliefs that God endowed them with a moral faculty. However it is not right then assume that God is necessary for someone to be moral.
A theist acts morally because he is commanded, whereas an atheist does so off his own back. I know which I think sounds the more honourable.
No, I disagree. Morals to an extent were crafted by the need to establish a society. If everyone were to kill anyone they wanted to, there’d be no functioning society. Same goes for a certain level of honesty and child care.
It definitely isn’t only right they look at atheists as having no morals.
(I haven’t been on in a few days, but it’s really late so I’ll make this quick…)
You’re quite wrong Duder; ethics stem from a the need of a society to keep itself together, a common moral code is the best way to do this. Society has often employed relegion in expounding upon, preaching, etc. this code, but to think it must stem from relegion and, therefore in many’s view, God, I’m afraid has brought some great misunderstandings upon our heads.
Of course morals and ethics are totally differant, (former is personal, latter is formed by group,) though one can easily influence the other. Morals, on their own, may very well come from God, I don’t really know, but your God, not necessarily someone else’s…