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Debate Score:124
Arguments:55
Total Votes:184
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 What is your concept of God? (55)

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What is your concept of God?

The nature of God
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5 points

The concept of a god was the thing that humans needed earlier on in our development. When we were all a simple bunch, things that a common knowledge now were absolute mysteries then. The sun moving across the sky, for example, could only be explained in the form of a sun god. Crops failing would be explained by a god of the harvest, etc, etc. These was the original forms of gods. Nothing more than a way of explaining the things we couldn't possibly understand.

As we all grew smarter, and started to understand more and more about the way the universe and the world worked, these primitive physical gods started to morth into metaphysical gods. Gods who, instead of simply performing a purpose, actually loved us and cared for us. This makes a lot of sense. The human race was growing in intelligence, and soon the questions that we posed had changed from "why do my crops fail?" to ones such as "what happens when I die?" The transition to a loving caring god was simply the next rational step in human development.

Now, in a time where science prevails, god has become more and more elusive, spiritual and metaphysical then ever before. Now he is everything and nothing; an undisprovable all-powerful entity who "has a plan."

So, my concept of god is as follows. God is a figment of the imagination that people latch on to, simply because it gives them some hope and makes it easier for them to try and understand the world around us. It gives people a sense of purpose, assures them (for those who need it) that there is a reason why we're here, and also takes away the fear that when you die, you're dead, and that's it. These are thoughts that people would rather live without, and god (now that he is no longer required in physical form) slots nicely into that position. God is the convenient answer to all the unknown questions.

There are also evolutionary reasons and advantages behind religion, but I won't get into those now.

Side: God of the gaps
vertigo(29) Disputed
1 point

xaeon,

You seem to think that providing a 'scientific' explanation for our concept of God somehow shows that God does not exist; a classic example of the genetic fallacy. The origin of a belief says nothing about the truth of a belief.

Side: God of the gaps
xaeon(1095) Disputed
4 points

I think you're wrong. I feel that tracing the origin and evolution of religion shows quite clearly what a backwards way of thinking it is.

And, I was only providing the very brief history of religion in order to justify my argument and my concept of god.

Side: God of the gaps
0 points

"There are also evolutionary reasons and advantages behind religion, but I won't get into those now."

Go on!

Side: genetic fallacy
1 point

Well to answer your question, those societies who had religion in one way or another were able to survive. This is because in most cases people feared that if they committed a crime such as murder or something that would hurt that society as a whole then there would be retribution from some kind of supernatural being (God). Religion acted as a buffer to keep people in line. Those societies without out some set of beliefs tended to fail because people had no reason to not do what was in their own best interest. At the most basic level, early religions used fear to keep people in line, and it worked. Almost every civilization that survived up until more modern times had a set of beliefs. Another reason that religion was beneficial to societies is it usually explained death. As xaeon explained earlier, religion was used to explain things that people did not understand. Most people fear death, and if you get and explanation that you will be reincarnated or go to heaven then your not so afraid. In this way religion acts as a drug, altering the mind state of the masses so that they will not question long held beliefs.

Side: genetic fallacy

I hope that whatever God turns out to be that I can reason with him. In other words, I would like to communicate with him and have him respond. Hopefully he wont call me a troll and vote me down ;)

Side: genetic fallacy

The concept of God is the embodiment of Bronze Age wish thinking and tribalism.

Side: genetic fallacy

There are many gods, not one single, all-mighty, all-knowing, all-good, all-all ruler of all creation.

The highest of the gods would be the universal god, the universe itself. This god, however, is impersonal and neutral. Don't expect any help from it; it is nature itself and is therefor entirely impartial to your wishes and demands. You are as important as a deer,a rock, the planet Saturn, and Alpha Centauri as far is it is concerned.

Behind creation is the universal force of contradiction; the force that brought something from nothing, light from darkness, and sentience from thoughtless matter.

Below the universal god and in accordance with the universal force of conflict there are innumerable gods and goddesses representing various forces on earth (and elsewhere, I would assume). These deities act in accordance with the forces which they are a part of, they are the self-aware aspects of these (as far as I believe).

Good, evil, and essentially neutral; they are diverse and many and they listen only to those they deem in accordance with their force (if you are a good person a good god will help you, only evil gods help the evil) and, depending on their temperament, may expect some amount of personal skill, effort, and sacrifice in order to solicit their assistance.

Side: genetic fallacy
xaeon(1095) Disputed
2 points

Good old polytheism. Possibly even more nuts than the idea of the Abrahamic gods.

Side: genetic fallacy
1 point

Everyone is entitled to an opinion I suppose. I would enjoy a debate rather than bland dismissal, though.

Would you like to point out what is insane about my belief structure, specifically, and find some logical or factual fault with it?

Side: genetic fallacy
0 points

Jesus Christ! What are you talking about? Where did you get that from???

Side: genetic fallacy

Bradford, someone voted you down to -1. I can only vote you back up to zero. There. I like being moderator ;)

Side: genetic fallacy
0 points

I formed my belief structure using various beliefs, philosophies, and religions as well as my own understanding of things. I didn't realize my beliefs were terribly outlandish (especially so outlandish as to get "voted down". I found that to be a rather odd thing).

Side: genetic fallacy
2 points

God or source or whatever we choose to call it. I don't think you have to walk outside very far before you recognize something bigger than us at play here. What is it? who can know?

But that it is a thing or a God is just mere speculation. I grew up being indoctrinated and have tried extremely hard to look at the the entirety of Religions and higher powers. Most peoples understanding of the concept of God is based on geography and indoctrination. But, If there is a god I would bet he doesn't write books.

In the words of Jack Kerouac, All I have to offer is my own confusion.

Side: genetic fallacy
2 points

God is something, but unexplainable. the universe? a supernatural being? it is something beyond understanding. it could be the very human mind. we, in fact, could be god.

Side: genetic fallacy
1 point

I concur with "the pyg", the whole concept of God and religion would fall through if God was a tangible and "know-able" thing. For an illustration see: Thus Spake Zarathustra by Nietzche and "divine donkeyism".

Side: God of the gaps
1 point

God is an unembodied mind; both rational and personal.

Side: God of the gaps
xaeon(1095) Disputed
3 points

How more wishy washy can you get?

Side: God of the gaps

So can we communicate with it?

Side: God of the gaps
1 point

I don't know... I think there's a few questions that proceed this one in importance. Firstly, is whether or not we can even know if there is a god. Secondly, does it matter if there is a god?

If we're talking about one god here "God", then you're basically asking from which religion do you get your concept of God.

If we're not talking about the God, then how can we even know if we can know? I mean, someone explain to me what truth means, and then I'll consider what god is to me.

http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/ WHAT_IS_THE_MEANING_OF_TRUTH

Side: God of the gaps
Bradf0rd(1431) Disputed
2 points

I wrote that when I was drunk... sorry if it doesn't make sense.

Down vote for me :^/

Side: God of the gaps

Some of my stuff was written while drunk (notice, I didn't categorize it). Can you tell ;)

Side: God of the gaps
1 point

A blind man who examines the front of an elephant will have a much different understanding than a blind man examining the elephant's rear. The two blind men's descriptions would even seem contradictory. . .

The atheist often seeks to understand his world by understanding its smallest parts and putting the pieces together, i.e. a bottom-up approach. "God", on the other hand, is quite simply the top-down approach of understanding the universe. God and nature are synomous; the only difference is which end of the elephant that blind humanity desires to study.

Side: God of the gaps
1 point

One day, an astronaut (an atheist) and a Brain Surgeon (a christian) were talking about their views on religion. The astronaut says to the surgeon: "I've been into space many times and I've never seen God or any angels." To which the surgeon replied "So, I've operated on hundreds of brains and never seen a single thought...."

Side: God of the gaps
1 point

I am now 84 years old and still question the concept of "God". The monotheistic concept of "God" seems to be the most reasonable but I prefer a different title, perhaps a "Power beyond Mankind." I cannot conceive the creation of the Universe and maintaining what it must take to keep it functioning properly, and I certainly cannot conceive of an intelligence that observes and controls the life of every single living thing from the smallest germ to the largest galaxy.

I believe that my concept of such a power would not be a controlling power but one which established order after creation but allows it to operate without continuous interference and guidance. This would apply not only to the Universe but all living things no matter where they exist. Under such a concept, evolution should naturally occur throughout the entire Universe. It would also be reasonable to assume that mankind would evolve who would attribute their existence to "gods" and expect these "gods" to require mankind to follow rules. They would expect to be rewarded if they did and punished if they if they did not. Mankind therefore creates in their rules, the reward concept of Heaven and the punishment concept of Hell.

I would like to think that the "Power beyond Mankind" has a sense of humor and that laughter is necessary for the development of humanity. I would like to think that the "Power beyond Mankind" finds that Mankind's rules for themselves make no sense, are unjust and impossible for everyone to meet, even for many of those who made them.

For example, within the Jewish belief for several thousand years, pork has been considered unclean and forbidden by the dietary code of Judaism. I think that the "Power beyond Mankind" has the sense of humor to point out that Jews have missed one of the great joys of life by refusing to eat bacon.

As for the Christian faith, there are so many who believe so many different things about their "god" that it is impossible to know which group comes close to the one which the "Power beyond Mankind" could chose to represent the unknown and unknowable. Christians would therefore be allowed eternity to argue among themselves who is correct and who is not. When they all agree then all may enter their Heaven.

The Muslim's would be chastised for their expectations of 70 virgins as a part of their heavenly reward for denying their daughters their right to marry her own choice. Muslim men would all suffer from ED with the only source of Viagra being in Hell in the hands of the Devil. For Muslim men to leave "Heaven"and go to "Hell" to negotiate with the Devil for Viagra would prohibit them from ever returning to "Heaven" Their choices would be to remain in "Heaven" with their Erectile Dis-function and their 70 untouchable virgins or to go to Hell and remain there with the devil.

"Power beyond Mankind" as described above, makes more sense to me than any other "God" theory offered from "Creation" until now.

Side: God of the gaps
1 point

I maybe could get in to a Rene Descartes like God idea of the word God being used to define an infinite strength in the universe that keeps things in existence through the duration of time. But I sure as hell ain't going for the magical man in the sky and his loony son!

Side: God of the gaps
-1 points

God is like a father to me.

Side: God of the gaps
xaeon(1095) Disputed
2 points

Another day, another Joe.

Side: God of the gaps
0 points

Xaeon, that's not me.

Side: God of the gaps
-1 points

God is a figure of mind made up by people who need to feel 'special' or 'loved'. people devote their entire lives to this one thing, the idea of God. it shows a weakness in their emotional or spiritual side, seeing 'god-incidence' or things that would require some kind of supernatural being, i.e. people who get cancer then randomly dont have it... christmas has become more 'giftmas'. it has become something that has completely lost all meaning of christianity, a day when all people, whether they believe in god or not have a day to get a whole heap of presents and awesome ham etc. The meaning of life is apparently in the bible. IV READ THE WHOLE FUCKING BIBLE AND ITS NOWHERE IN THERE!!! the closest iv come to knowing the meaning of life is 42!!! basically the idea is, God is a figment of peoples imagination, built up to the ideology of religion. as intelligence goes up, beliefs go down. less and less people are getting into religion. as people grow up, starting to think for themselves, they find themselves wondering what this shit is that their parents have been stuffing down their throats. MORAL OF LE STORY: God doesnt exist.

FUCK GOD!!!!

Side: God of the gaps
iamerin(18) Disputed
2 points

reading bible doesnt mean you will understand it itself...

some articles/phrases from the bible are hard to understand that even your intelligence couldnt reach the meaning of it...

thats why ther is the science,to support the bible,actually if people will just search answers combining the two,it would clear the 'the meaning of life'...

both compliment each other, i read science and bible and just found it both overwhelming each other... then the 'knowledge' replaces the 'belief'.

--believing,somehow, help those people you describe as need to feel special or loved...how,ther faith to God are stronger than the intelligence you actually has found--

Side: God of the gaps

Yeah but don't you think we need like a trinity or something? I mean, a little science, a little bible, a little alcohol (or pot. Please note reference: http://tinyurl.com/4svxrz))

Side: God of the gaps

Father, forgive him; for he knows not what he types.

Side: God of the gaps