The Nature of this Conflict (Humans)

by David Turell , Tuesday, January 19, 2010, 16:24 (5421 days ago) @ dhw


> GEORGE: Of course if you are prepared to water down your concept of "God" until it is so vague or so ineffectual as to bear little resemblance to any "God" that has ever had any popular acclaim, you are on safe ground in being agnostic.-> 
> dhw: However, I do think that a watered-down version of a God without attributes doesn't serve much of a purpose, and an uncaring, impersonal, deist God might just as well not be there. -
 
I don't see what is wrong with a 'watered-down' version of God. First of all, none of us, including the most devout religionist, have any idea of what or who God really is, if He is at all. What you seem to want is a soft and fuzzy father figure to nurture you through life. You seem to have done very well as an agnostic; it is obvious you don't need such a figure to enjoy life, to have succeeded in your chosen line of work, have a loving wife and family (one assumes), etc. -What if God is a tough-loved God who expects you to rise above the challenges of every day life, to, in a larger sense, have the smarts to develop a way to knock off asteroids about to kill us all, and at the same time maintain this Earth of ours with proper dominion over animals and plants, basically all by your self (by this I mean the human race). After all God gave you the brains to do it all. He is out there, still watching, as Frank implied. You can still pray to this kind of God, if you wish, and thank Him for the strong self-reliance He instilled in you, if you will accept that gift and recognize it and use it properly. It makes you stronger as you follow a morality that creates in you a kind and caring person for others, as you see it is the right way to live. As this all comes from within yourself, from a brain God gave you, you will have no 'self-esteem' problems so common in this post-modern God-ignoring world we now live in. -(End of Rabbi David's sermon)