limpid Posted June 24, 2014 Administrator Share Posted June 24, 2014 What I mean is that most polytheistic religions freely accept foreign gods. That's not to say that the Abrahamic religions do not borrow from other religions, of course. But exclusivity (i.e. "I'm the one true path") is part of their doctrine. It isn't for polytheism, which tends to be much more flexible. The view that religions are mutually exclusive is therefore largely an Abrahamic one, and should not be applied to adherents of other religions (in general). The Abrahmic religions are polytheist. Their God references the presence of other gods on many occasions. mainly in parts of the holy books where the story is lifted from earlier works. Their God clearly believed there were other gods. The Christian God is a triumvirate godhead, because the cult founders needed to try and explain things that weren't adequately covered in the Torah. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 (edited) What I mean is that most polytheistic religions freely accept foreign gods. That's not to say that the Abrahamic religions do not borrow from other religions, of course. But exclusivity (i.e. "I'm the one true path") is part of their doctrine. It isn't for polytheism, which tends to be much more flexible. The view that religions are mutually exclusive is therefore largely an Abrahamic one, and should not be applied to adherents of other religions (in general). The Abrahmic religions are polytheist. Their God references the presence of other gods on many occasions. mainly in parts of the holy books where the story is lifted from earlier works. Their God clearly believed there were other gods. The Christian God is a triumvirate godhead, because the cult founders needed to try and explain things that weren't adequately covered in the Torah. Oh, no, again, I agree with you, fully. What I'm saying is that the idea that religions are mutually exclusive to each other seems to be a very Abrahamic one (most other religions seem to be quite tolerant in that sense) Shouldn't have used the word "polytheism", it was misleading, in hindsight. Edited June 25, 2014 by legov 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted June 25, 2014 Author VT Supporter Share Posted June 25, 2014 My point was simply that the subjective perception of 'self' and the god delusion are not really equivalent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 My point was simply that the subjective perception of 'self' and the god delusion are not really equivalent. And my point was that the belief that one's own religion should be strictly adhered to to the exclusion of other gods is not quite as prevalent as one might think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 (edited) My point was simply that the subjective perception of 'self' and the god delusion are not really equivalent. But aren't concepts of the self and god a reflection of each other? So a belief in a god has tended to include the idea of a soul as self right up to Descartes' dualism. Freud introduced his tripartite structure of the mind/self and various schools of psychology, from behaviourism to psycho-pharmacology, have taken various views and perspectives, on what amounts to the self. If, as some claim, god is a projection of human qualities (good and bad), which is evidenced by the changing view of god over the ages, can't we say that there seems to be a great deal of equivalency, between our vision of god and our concept of self? Edited June 25, 2014 by MakemineVanilla 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 My point was simply that the subjective perception of 'self' and the god delusion are not really equivalent. But aren't concepts of the self and god a reflection of each other? So a belief in a god has tended to include the idea of a soul as self right up to Descartes' dualism. Freud introduced his tripartite structure of the mind/self and various schools of psychology, from behaviourism to psycho-pharmacology, have taken various views and perspectives, on what amounts to the self. If, as some claim, god is a projection of human qualities (good and bad), which is evidenced by the changing view of god over the ages, can't we say that there seems to be a great deal of equivalency, between our vision of god and our concept of self? Here we go.....I feel so out of my depth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 god(s) are undoubtedly a reflection of the 'self' but I think the original point was that because most people experience 'self' in a similar way, it is sufficiently different from the concept of god(s) which vary quite wildly from the more personal God to the distant, controllers of fate. The idea being that the sheer variety of gods brings into question the whole notion of gods, while self can't be questioned in a similar way as it is more universal - therefore the two aren't really equivalent, as the self is not created by us, it is very much part of us. or summat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PussEKatt Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Had a pleasent surprise today.Some relegious people knocked on the door ( 7th day adventist ) and after I told them that I am not a believer they wished me a good rest of the day and went away. First time that has ever happened to me, usually when I say I am not a believer they try really hard to save me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted June 25, 2014 Moderator Share Posted June 25, 2014 They must have spotted the doors of fiery hell over your shoulder awaiting you and figured it was too late for your soul. Faced with your impended future date with eternal damnation wishing you a pleasant rest of the day was the least they could do, in fact it was their sky fairy worshipping duty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 They must have spotted the doors of fiery hell over your shoulder awaiting you and figured it was too late for your soul. Faced with your impended future date with eternal damnation wishing you a pleasant rest of the day was the least they could do, in fact it was their sky fairy worshipping duty. It is a pity Christians are not more like Puddy at 2.16. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designer1 Posted June 25, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted June 25, 2014 Had a pleasent surprise today. Some relegious people knocked on the door ( 7th day adventist ) and after I told them a joke they wished me a good rest of the day and went away. Fixed... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjw63 Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Had a pleasent surprise today. Some relegious people knocked on the door ( 7th day adventist ) and after I told them a joke they wished me a good rest of the day and went away. Fixed... Beat me to it ya bastid 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted June 25, 2014 Author VT Supporter Share Posted June 25, 2014 god(s) are undoubtedly a reflection of the 'self' but I think the original point was that because most people experience 'self' in a similar way, it is sufficiently different from the concept of god(s) which vary quite wildly from the more personal God to the distant, controllers of fate. The idea being that the sheer variety of gods brings into question the whole notion of gods, while self can't be questioned in a similar way as it is more universal - therefore the two aren't really equivalent, as the self is not created by us, it is very much part of us. or summat.Yep. Exactly what I was getting at. Perhaps in some far distant future (if we survive) we will abandon the concept of 'self' in favour of some sort of hive mind group awareness. But for now, the self is a 'given' - we can't conceive of existing without it. Not true of religion - although it's still depressingly prevalent, millions of of us have already abandoned it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted June 25, 2014 Moderator Share Posted June 25, 2014 A hive mind group you say, I take it you've not seen Facebook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakemineVanilla Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 People seem pretty certain that god does not exist. I tend to think it is a socially useful fiction which serves a purpose. But what of love, isn't that also a socially useful fiction, which relies on a mixture of projection and the right levels of oxytocin. Atheists don't seem to be so keen to apply the same forensic analysis of a useful fiction they rely on themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted June 25, 2014 Administrator Share Posted June 25, 2014 Had a pleasent surprise today.Some relegious people knocked on the door ( 7th day adventist ) and after I told them that I am not a believer they wished me a good rest of the day and went away. First time that has ever happened to me, usually when I say I am not a believer they try really hard to save me. "Satan has sent a talking cat to test us". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
limpid Posted June 25, 2014 Administrator Share Posted June 25, 2014 Atheists don't seem to be so keen to apply the same forensic analysis of a useful fiction they rely on themselves. I don't claim to speak for all atheists, but please don't put words into my mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Atheists don't seem to be so keen to apply the same forensic analysis of a useful fiction they rely on themselves. Cobblers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 Had a pleasent surprise today.Some relegious people knocked on the door ( 7th day adventist ) and after I told them that I am not a believer they wished me a good rest of the day and went away. First time that has ever happened to me, usually when I say I am not a believer they try really hard to save me. "Satan has sent a talking cat to test us". 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted June 25, 2014 Share Posted June 25, 2014 never ever question the thought process of an atheist you going the wrong way up a one way street there boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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