Tony\'s God (Introduction)

by dhw, Sunday, November 27, 2011, 16:01 (4746 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

I asked Tony if he had any thoughts about a possible afterlife.

TONY: This is a hard question to answer, primarily because any answer I give is a) pure speculation, and b) subject to being interpreted as subscribing to a particular belief system despite the disclaimer that it is merely speculation.

Erm…another bad day at the office? But this is an important point for future discussions. On an absolute level, ALL talk about God and his nature is speculation, since none of us can ever “know” anything. That is my position, but it’s not yours, which is where the misunderstandings arise. You actually BELIEVE in a loving God, and I would like to know why. From that moment on, I have no idea how much of your “evidence” constitutes belief and how much speculation. (I now know that experience is the main “evidence”, but it took quite a while for that to be established.) For instance, when we talk about the bible, unless you tell me specifically, I have no way of knowing initially whether you regard the Eden story, the Exodus story, the Jesus story as myth, truth, or a bit of each – in which case, which bits? It’s only by continuous clarification that I can find out what YOU regard as speculation. As regards a belief system – as opposed to an individualistic belief like David’s – I’m not sure even now to what extent you’re bound, say, to the central Christian concept of Jesus as the Saviour, Messiah, Son of God. You’re clearly a very independent thinker, which also suggests that you subscribe to some parts of belief systems but not to others. So it may just be that sometimes you know what for you is belief and what is speculation, but I don’t. It’s not always easy to tell!

I will just add that from my perspective, if there is a God, I would regard his existence as almost irrelevant unless there really is some kind of afterlife. I say “almost” only because some people derive great comfort in the here and now from believing in him. The subject is therefore central to our discussions, but please don’t feel obliged to respond. That wouldn’t be fair. If you do respond, though, I promise that I will NOT interpret what you say as a belief! Your disclaimer could not be clearer.