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Dear Yuyutsu,

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I wrote :

« Based on your indications and explanations, it appears that there is no doubt in your mind that your God appreciates all the adoration and worship his faithful servants fervently express to him »

And you replied :

« I have no idea how you arrived at this incorrect conclusion »
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I have known you for quite some time now on this OLO forum, Yuyutsu, and judging from your posts – not just to me but to all your correspondents – I see that you continue to adopt a posture of humble servitude to the beloved God of your concept.

Knowing you as I do, if it had ever occurred to you that your constant effusion of adoration and worship had aghast or displeased him/her/etc., you would surely have adopted a very different posture (or concept?) long before now.

But as I have never observed any such change over the years, I can only presume, as I indicated in my previous post, “that there is no doubt in your mind that your God appreciates all the adoration and worship his faithful servants fervently express to him”.

Therefore, presuming that to be the case, it would appear that you “laud narcissism to the point of attributing it to your ideal of deity”, as I also indicated in my previous post.

By the way, Yuyutsu, deity simply means “a god or goddess” (OED). As you accept the latter denominations, I see no reason why you should not accept the former.

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Dear Banjo Paterson,

You spoke of "my" God, but God is not mine (or anybody else's for that matter).
You spoke of "the beloved God of your concept", but what has God to do with my stupid concepts?

Your conclusion that "that there is no doubt in your mind that your God appreciates all the adoration and worship his faithful servants fervently express to him”, is simply incorrect.

I do not believe so at all: since God does not even exist, how could He possibly either appreciate or be displeased of anything?

«Therefore, presuming that to be the case...»

Well that is not the case - case closed!

«By the way, Yuyutsu, deity simply means “a god or goddess” (OED).»

OK, but what has God possibly to do with these gods, goddesses or deities, and why should we be discussing these in the first place?

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Dear Yuyutsu,

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You wrote :

• To me (page 7 of this thread) :

« Since we already ARE God, there is no need to "become”. »

• To diver dan (page 8) :

« This is a good way to bring you closer to God »

• Again, to me (page 9) :

« … since God does not even exist, how could He possibly either appreciate or be displeased of anything? »
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I understand your predicament and sympathize with you, Yuyutsu. I also agree with your final remark that God does not exist – and as he/she/etc. does not exist, there obviously is no God at all. There is only the idea of God (or gods).

Naturally, each person has his/her/etc’s own idea, his/her/etc’s own concept – whether it be a unique, all-encompassing, God or, to quote Sri Rama Krishna :

« There can really be as many Hindu Gods as there are devotees to suit the moods, feelings, emotions & social background of the devotees »

God is simply a mental construct, an idea, a concept in the mind of each individual human being.

You ask :

« How could He possibly either appreciate or be displeased of anything? »

That is for you to decide, Yuyutsu. As there is no God – just the idea of God – your idea, your concept, Yuyutsu, it’s up to you to decide if your God could “possibly either appreciate or be displeased of anything”.

I leave you to contemplate on the question and would be interested to learn what you finally decide if you care to share your decision with me.

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o the right thing.

Get yourself locked up in a Mexican jail for six months for the answer.
In a cell smaller than a single car garage with thirty prisoners, and one bucket for a toilet overflowing onto the concrete floor you sleep on. What’s amazing is how many devout Christians you’ll be amongst, most of them looking like they’ve been spat out from under a bus

Events put a flux to the answer.

Dan

Dear Banjo Paterson,

«there obviously is no God at all. There is only the idea of God (or gods).»

You also are God, so are you claiming that there is no you?? Or are you claiming that you are just an idea? Surely you have some ideas about yourself and about God, but they are just ideas, we are not talking about ideas here!

And please leave out the "(or gods)" - they are not related and can only complicate and confuse the matter.

« There can really be as many Hindu Gods as there are devotees to suit the moods, feelings, emotions & social background of the devotees »

Since I know a bit about Hindu gods and about Shri Ramakrishna, I can tell you emphatically that this is a mis-translation, that it should read "Hindu gods" with a small-g (which could be described, if that is of any interest to you, as focal points for worship and meditation), so that statement does not even speak about God (which is not a god).

«God is simply a mental construct, an idea, a concept in the mind of each individual human being.

Are you still talking about these gods with a small-g?
Perhaps that is why you keep speaking of unrelated mental concepts...

«As there is no God – just the idea of God – your idea, your concept, Yuyutsu»

You still don't get it, Banjo, I may happen to have ideas about God and/or gods even, I could have one, several, or none such ideas, what do they matter at all? I don't think that you consider yourself to be an idea in my mind, do you?

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Dear Yuyutsu,

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You wrote :

« You also are God, so are you claiming that there is no you?? Or are you claiming that you are just an idea? Surely you have some ideas about yourself and about God, but they are just ideas, we are not talking about ideas here! … I don't think that you consider yourself to be an idea in my mind, do you? »
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So far as I am concerned, Yuyutsu, all our correspondence here on this OLO forum is the expression of ideas and opinions – nothing but the expression of ideas and opinions.

I am, indeed, an idea in your mind and you are an idea in mine. God is an idea in both our minds but not the same idea.

Reality is that which exists independent of ideas concerning it (OED).

You and I exist independent of ideas concerning us. We correspond to reality. God does not. He is just an idea.

It is not sufficient to simply claim that an idea corresponds to something that exists independently of the idea concerning it, Yuyutsu. You must be able to prove it. Otherwise, you could get away with claiming that all sorts of weird and wonderful things exist that don’t and never will.

Donald Trump continues to claim that he won the 2020 US presidential election, and a lot of people believe it despite the fact that he and his lawyers and supporters have never been able to prove it. In fact, the exact opposite has been proven.

That does not stop his supporters from continuing to believe that he won the election.

No doubt they have their reasons for believing that, but it does not correspond to reality. It is just an idea. A false idea.

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