Reading God\'s mind (The nature of a \'Creator\')

by dhw, Friday, December 21, 2012, 18:52 (4353 days ago) @ David Turell

dhw Your dislike of imposing attributes on God (e.g. that he loves us) raises another important question. If you don't believe in any of these religious conventions, and you are open-minded about whether or not there is an afterlife, and you think God may have created us and is watching us for company, entertainment, interest or stimulation, and he keeps himself hidden from us, he might as well not be there. So why does God's existence matter to you? -DAVID: Whoa! Where did you conjure up the idea that I don't believe in an afterlife? After all our discussion about NDE's and the way they prove there is communication with the dead. -My apologies. I thought NDEs were integral to your investigations into the nature of consciousness, but I didn't realize you were committed to belief in an afterlife.
 
DAVID: As for God's existence mattering I am fascinated by undestanding the source of 'all that is', to quote bbella. I am convinced that God exists. I am disturbed by religions' assumptions about Him. I'm not sure love is an issue. But universal consciousness is.-I suspect you mean the reverse: that you believe in a universal consciousness, but not necessarily that it loves us.
 
DAVID: I believe we can have a personal relationship with God, each in our own way.-This, of course, presupposes a) that God exists, and b) that he is interested enough in us to have a relationship. I can't imagine that your own relationship with him (or your image of him) would be anything other than a pleasure for both of you. However, I must say I would find it difficult to have a relationship with anyone or anything if I didn't know what they were like, what they thought, and what they wanted.