Aloysium, I bow to your superior knowledge of what I believe in. If I do believe in God, it must be on a very deep level of my sub-conscious, far removed from my higher cognitive functions where I do my reasoning, and certainly not accessible to my conscious mind. I find it quite surprising (and just possibly a bit insulting) that you presume to have an opinion on what I believe that is contrary to what I have expressed in my posts. On what do you base your opinion?
But I don’t claim that the source of these ‘truths’ does not exist. Quite the reverse. The source does exist. It’s just that I don’t attribute these ‘truths’ to the same source as you do. You repeatedly state that you find it odd. I suppose I find it odd that theists cannot even imagine that the universe we experience could exist without God. Yet to me, it seems not only believable, but the more likely explanation.
Making fun of what sounds like a claim by another that they might know more about oneself than one does being oneself, reveals a profound truth about our human condition. We only darkly see one another and barely even our own self.
I wouldn’t pretend to say know you. I have for example no idea why you would feel insulted.
What I was doing was feeding back how your statements fit into my world view. When you speak about love or truth or beauty, their Source is included in my vision of what they entail. Whatever you may think, however you may conceptualize the universe and your place in it, your expression of that understanding has to be “processed” through the cognitive grid by which I understand everything. So to me, when you speak of such things, especially if you act in accordance to their reality, you are involving God.
I presumed you do not attribute the source of truth, goodness, beauty and life as you yourself.
We all develop rules as to how to behave. The most primitive views have to do with not provoking the anger of someone more powerful. More sophisticated visions speak of ethics, justice, Dharma or some other moral structure involving the meaning and consequences of our actions. They are based on the reality that we respond to a choice, through our action or inaction we not only affect what is outside, but we ourselves are transformed into who we will ourselves to be. It is our decision to favour one good over another. From what you say, you believe there to be some goods, say feeding your family, that are better than other goods, like spending the money on a night of pleasure with prostitutes. Whatever we decide is good for us, it has its place in a hierarchy of goodness, ultimately based on love. Maybe you do not believe this at all. How I interpreted your words suggested you might.
In real life, I find I can find a common ground with pretty much anyone who has a religious belief. Very difficult to do with atheists because of their negative approach and skepticism. Scepticism is a destroyer of connectedness. You seem to be clearly stating that we have no common ground. At this point I will have to tell you that I see God everywhere, in everything. I can no more imagine there being no God than I can imagine there being no me or to have vision without light. Sure, I have put those words together, but they depart from reality, from what is obvious and rational. Seems I have found another absurdity in atheism.
