Posted by alexandra_k on September 1, 2004, at 17:42:22
In reply to Can God make a rock so big..., posted by alexandra_k on August 31, 2004, at 20:26:23
I don't mean to offend anyone with my posts on the nature of God. I guess that maybe what I am trying to express is that to me faith, hope, love, and all those things are attitudes that we take, and things that we can foster. So for me, the concept of God will not do what we have always tried to make it do (I use the 'we' there because this is the way that Wittgenstein said it).
If there is nothing objective to give us a meaning for our life and a point to it all, then that means that we are in a unique positon. We get to create our own meaning. The world, or what is does not contain any higher purpose, or any meaning, or point. But this means that life is a journey within which we have the opportunity to discover or create our own meanings, attachments and relationships, and our own purpose.
To me I sense the mystical when I consider that we have evolved from macro-molecules. That at one point in our evolutionary past there was to reason, mind, consciousness, meaning, intentionality, or purpose - and now, today, there is.
My mantra (when I meditate) is 'I am an active information processor' and I actively focus all of my attention on my breathing. I like to think that faith, hope, love, charity and all the rest are attitudes that can be fostered aside from what one may or may not believe about God.
This being said, I do respect others positions on this, and I also respect that while there may be other ways in which to foster these attitudes, some people find that the best place for them to do that is via church or established religion, or even by their personal belief in God. All I really wanted to say is that all those things are not exclusive to those who believe in God.
With respect to reason and argument, one might consider that our ability to reason and argue is a gift from God. Aquinas, Descartes, etc attempted to use reason to show that it is rational to believe in God and thereby win converts. Centuries of argumentation, however, have resulted in inconclusive arguments either way. So for every argument there is an equally valid / logical counter-argument. But is it wrong, or misguided to attempt to use argumentation to establish Gods existance or non-existance? I think that it is a valuable exercise because it establishes something very strongly indeed: Religion and the notion of God is not a matter of logic, it is not a matter of what is most logical or most plausible. It is a matter of faith. And if logic can show us that then that (in my opinion) is a significant discovery indeed.
I won't be responding to any further posts on this topic (and I don't really think anyone is terribly interested on my thoughts on this one anymore at any rate).
poster:alexandra_k
thread:383975
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040830/msgs/385365.html