Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Kia Ora,
This topic is open to all... Theists. Atheists, Agnostic and the Couldn't Give a Toss about it ers...

::)How would you describe GOD? 

What comes to mind when you think of this often described as elusive, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, wholly benevolent supernatural being? Is it the child-like Abrahamic/Semitic image of an old man with white hair, white beard and dressed in a white robe sitting upon a throne?

As for myself "it" is indescribable, beyond description hence my mind is empty of any association with this GOD character apart from the letters...In other words GOD is an empty word, void of any mental structure/meaning...

But in everyday life the word GOD tends to crop up often, for example  "Oh My God !"  "For God Sake I" "God Almighty!"  "Only God Knows or God knows !"  "God this...God that!"...But who or what is this GOD that people are talking about  or calling out for help to or for that matter praying to?

This is s serious topic open to all as mentioned "above" so please be respectful of others with your comments REMEMBER we all have a right to express our opinions and there's no right or wrong answers...Just what comes to mind, if anything...

::)God knows why I came up with this one... ;)


Metta Zenda :)

Interesting topic.

I tend to think of a divine presence as internal rather than external. The spark of sentience present inside, call it a soul, or consciousness if you like, which provides the capacity to ponder such questions, illuminates thought, and empowers the individual to see beyond the literal - to define a self which isn't constrained by physical boundaries - and to strive beyond the basic evolutionary needs. Divinity, to me, is the light within each of us which enables us to live rather than exist. :)

My belief is that god is the creator of all the rules and area of reality...so...just by looking upon reality interacting we see god itself.  Yet, I feel that specific instances of everything are bits of reality that god permitted, and chaos formed around the permissions of...Really, I don't think the things, creatures, and people IN reality are part of god, and furthermore I don't think time is part of god either, because I feel it's a construct soley of the chaos-formed objects.
So yeah, I would describe god as physics in action. x3

Kia Ora,

::) Sarah, Yes I thought the same thing about the pronoun use...  "To know god is not to know god - for how can one know or even know of the unknown" This seems to be the paradox of the Judeo-Christian   "faith"...Their description sounds more like a  Zen "Koan"...

It would seem god "only" exists within the individual's  mind, in "thought" alone...That is, ones thoughts have been conditioned to accommodate this concept...And whether ones a believer or not, we all tend to live in a god-centric society...

::) However could god be just a figment of ones "creative"  imagination ? All in the mind !

Metta Zenda :)

Love

there's no right or wrong answers

Right.  People who believe in imaginary beings that 'control' all time and matter are equally right with those that don't.  Right.

"humanised". that's all I got right now :P

QuoteHow would you describe GOD?

I wouldn't.  Such an entity hasn't appeared to do anything for me, so I don't see why I should spend time pondering such an entity.

Quote from: tekla on May 21, 2011, 12:42:15 AM
there's no right or wrong answers

Right.  People who believe in imaginary beings that 'control' all time and matter are equally right with those that don't.  Right.

Kia Ora Tekla,

::) There are no right or wrong answers so I guess you're "Right" "Right" ?  ;)

Metta Zenda :)

DOG in reverse.

I've often thought that to believe in God is necessarily to diminish the concept.

I don't know if I'm right or wrong, but its a big deal either way.

I picture god to be a long, straight pole that is of an adjustable length so as to be able to comfortably fit under the armpit, with an ergonomic cushioned top and handle just above waist height.

I have always been partial to the definition made popular by St Anselm (1039-1109) who described God as: 'That than which nothing greater can be conceived.'

god is the male side of the total life force that runs through every living thing.  the Goddess is the female side.  Ying and Yang if you are into eastern beliefs.

And yes I deliberately spelt  the male in lower case.  It gets way to much attention.  And the female side gets hardly nothing.  Making the male side start with a capital letter comes from the male dominated beliefs that see women as less than important and property.

Quote from: tekla on May 21, 2011, 12:42:15 AM
there's no right or wrong answers

Right.  People who believe in imaginary beings that 'control' all time and matter are equally right with those that don't.  Right.

    I'm completely on your side but you can't necessarily prove that there is no god. Even with all the research and evidence theists can simply claim that "God" created the earth in that way. It's an endless arguement because there's no way to physically prove or disprove a spiritual or imaginary being.
   
BTW (to the theists) You all owe me $100. I can't prove this but to question me makes you a bad person and I ignite bad people. Email me for my paypal account and a recommendation to heaven.

God is love
Love is God
we make a resting place in our hearts for Love/God (to grow)
We were born in the image of God (as lil babies)
But we have the choice/freewill to change and become Unlovable/Ungodlike

Kia Ora,

::) Could god be just some form of very complicated energy-force ? And perhaps someone came up with the more simple term "god" to describe this energy, because by just having to say "god" beats having to go into page after page of defining detail where the chances are one could miss some important points... A "God" of the gaps, so to speak... ;)


Metta Zenda :)

When I think of God, it reminds me of every single person who has forced their beliefs on me, and I wonder why their God would ever condone the abuse of his so-called children that claim the abuse is in his name. To me, God is a figment. A storybook character built thousands of years ago to create faith in a broken people. We are still broken, and people violently reach for anything that can give them the easy route.

Quote from: VakarianPride on May 21, 2011, 06:30:13 PM
When I think of God, it reminds me of every single person who has forced their beliefs on me, and I wonder why their God would ever condone the abuse of his so-called children that claim the abuse is in his name. To me, God is a figment. A storybook character built thousands of years ago to create faith in a broken people. We are still broken, and people violently reach for anything that can give them the easy route.

That's almost exactly what I was going to say about it. If you watch the movie "The Invention of Lying," well, that's probably how the God myth began. Someone decided it would be easier to accept death if people believed they would be going to a better place, and made it up. That, or more likely, it's yet another way created to control large groups of people.

I wouldn't even attempt to describe god. By definition "god" is transcendent -- that means beyond anything we can experience or imagine.

Quote from: Kristi on May 21, 2011, 09:12:18 AM
I have always been partial to the definition made popular by St Anselm (1039-1109) who described God as: 'That than which nothing greater can be conceived.'

I don't think that definition cuts it because that still fits just inside of what we can imagine.

Quote from: Sarah7 on May 12, 2011, 02:18:43 AM
In the Jewish tradition god cannot ever be depicted. Actually even writing "god" is against Jewish law, and in orthodox translations will always appear as "G-d." All images of the old testament god are from Christianity.

"I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, has no body, and that He is free from all the properties of matter, and that there can be no (physical) comparison to Him whatsoever." - Maimonides' 13 principles of faith

While I'm not a believer, I was raised in the Jewish tradition so... see above. ;)

Edit: Though I think that the quote uses gendered language is hilarious, because, of course, in order to abide by that description, god can't have gender.

In Judaism's Cabala, Ein soft is the understandable G-d that is within the human mind reach, we acknowledge that there is part of G-d that is out of human comprehensions. At a personal level G-d speak trough my nontarnishable soul and her voice lives me in a state of bliss

Quote from: Lisbeth on May 21, 2011, 07:29:07 PM
I don't think that definition cuts it because that still fits just inside of what we can imagine.

I would agree to some extent.  However that distinction begins to blur as you expand your understanding of who/what is doing the conceiving.  Anselm did not have in mind an individual's imagination.  Nor is the definition limited to "we" as you suggest.

Quote from: Imadique on May 21, 2011, 08:34:36 AM
I picture god to be a long, straight pole that is of an adjustable length so as to be able to comfortably fit under the armpit, with an ergonomic cushioned top and handle just above waist height.

Kia Ora Imadique,

::) It brought a big smile to my face when I read that... ;D  A good "atheistic" description  ;)

Metta Zenda :)

Quote from: Muffin on May 21, 2011, 12:43:19 AM
"humanised". that's all I got right now :P

I wanna change my answer!!!!!!!!!!111111111

"subjective".

8)

Kia Ora,

Sticking with the topic....

::) I guess those for whom their god's rapture didn't eventuate-they would describe god has a big "disappointment" ...And all the sinners who believe there is a god will be "thanking" god  ;)  ;D

Now one can take the above comment two ways, tongue in cheek sarcasm or serious..

Metta Zenda :)

We had a countdown to the rapture where I worked.  What the hell, we figured (and correctly no doubt) that anyone with a San Francisco Filmore laminate was not exactly eligible for the rapture list, nope, we didn't have the tickets punched for that train ride, as we're on a different set of tracks to be sure.

Still, just to be sure, (and as a total coincidence too of course) we had the Filmore decorated and media blitzed to look like a Hindu temple, complete with lots of pix of Shiva and the Elephant God, with alters and incense and all that just to make sure Jesus was not stopping at our address.*

When the appointed hour came.  Nothing.  Sure not us, we weren't expecting that, but not anywhere else either.  Was the entire city of San Francisco rapture exempt? - oh spare my heart...But hey, I'm still here.  Guess most of us are.



* It was a huge 'women empowering women through yoga' session, lesson and dance (or hippie chicks gettin' all jiggy with other hippie chicks, either way) so we spend a solid 5 hours building alters, putting up decorations, flowers, crystals, flowing fountains, video screens and the like, and since the interior is a deep maroon with gold trim, we were halfway to temple before we started.

NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO I GGOOTTTT ZOOOMMBBIIIIIIIFFFFIIEEDDDD!!!!!!!!!!11111111111111111111 BBBRRAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinNNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!11 NOMNOMNOMNOMONMONOMONOMNOMONOM<NOMMMMsssssss.....

...wait thi sis not brainsss..... it's it's................... ...............................
....................................................................................peanutbutter and jelly sandwich? meh NOMONMONOMNOMONOM<NOM<OONMNOMNOMNOMOMOOMXONMSDOOSSOMSOMOSO SO NOMONOMNOMsss
0____o

</muffin moment>

Kia Ora,

::) Now every description of god so far is 100% correct[including Muffin's  ;) ;D ]...God is whatever the individual makes god out to be [or not to be- as Shakespeare would say] !  ;)  Wow I've just had a eureka moment>>>

Metta Zenda :)   

my god is a tomato, I think it came about from my overly enthusiastic love of tomatoes.

Must not lick god ...must not lick god ...must not lick god ...sssssooo tteempptttiiinnggg >_<

higher power, consciousness. the "I Am" without identity or thought but constant moving energy that can never be seen or heard, only felt within every living thing in the universe. and only through silence can it be found. all of nature, the ground, trees, grass, water, humans, animals all have the same energy..or so I read in a few books by more than one author. makes sense.

i agree that "God." shouldn't be described as a person, especially not the old man with the long white hair and beard sitting on a cloud or thrown in the sky. but more like the positive energy in all life. i don't even like saying God all that much it's just no one goes around saying "the great Tao," "consciousness" or "higher power." we're all raised with the word God.

Kia Ora,

::) I guess some scientists would describe "God" as "gap filler" you know like "No more gaps"  ;)

Metta Zenda :)

guess some scientists would describe "God" as "gap filler" you know like "No more gaps"

Damn, now that's an idea I could get behind.  I hate that store.  You know why they call it 'The Gap" - because there is such a large gap between what's in style, and the >-bleeped-< they sell.

I thought it was because they filled in that gap between starbuckses.

Kia Ora,

::)  "No more gaps" is a DIY product ! That the "agnostic" scientist might use... ;)

Metta Zenda :)

Quote from: tekla on May 23, 2011, 05:06:04 AM
We had a countdown to the rapture where I worked. 
...
When the appointed hour came.  Nothing.  Sure not us, we weren't expecting that, but not anywhere else either.  Was the entire city of San Francisco rapture exempt? - oh spare my heart...But hey, I'm still here.  Guess most of us are.

Maybe we got this rapture thing all bass ackwards.  Maybe instead of the good people being taken from this earth it's the problematic people who will be taken.  You know, the ones who make life miserable for the rest of us by trying to force feed us with THEIR way.  I've heard an awful lot of rapture disbelievers cheer at that thought.

Nah, if that were true the club manager would have been taken.

The words "God" and "religion" took on a whole new meaning for me once family, friends and co-workers learned I was trans.  In the blink of an eye I became a bad person, evil to some, sinner to others.  And for the first time in my life I found people (ab)using God and religion to judge me, not for what I do or who I am as a person, but for how I was born.

So when I see a question like the one posed in the title of this thread, my mind quickly jumps to this new world I was placed in after it became known I am trans.  And my first reaction to answering this question comes from the point of view of the people who now are acting as my god and judging me, condemning me and rejecting me.  And the god they claim to know and be guided by is just a lame excuse for their inability to deal with their truth.

But to me, God is me, you, any of us, all of us. 

When growing up I often heard only God can create.  That was usually followed up by pointing out a tree, a mountain, a river or the sky.  And it was defined as making something from nothing.  But if the ability to create is the ultimate criteria for defining God then each one of us is God.  We create ideas.  We create music.  We create all kinds of things, with our mind. 

This idea isn't original.  It's in the Bible, the Torah, the Qur'an and other ancient writings.  The Ancients had a much better grasp on the power of the mind than we do today.  We began to really lose touch with the advent of electronic stimulation.  But God is still here because we still have our minds.  I'm just not sure how long.

Quote from: Valeriedances on May 31, 2011, 07:19:03 PM
I dont have a belief in a GOD as an entity that is separate from us. I believe we are all individual manifestations of... something that is experiencing life through us all at the same time :). Nirvana is when we become aware of it.

Kia Ora Valerie,

  ::) That's an interesting take on it...

Metta Zenda :)

Quote from: Julie Marie on June 03, 2011, 06:23:42 AM
The words "God" and "religion" took on a whole new meaning for me once family, friends and co-workers learned I was trans.  In the blink of an eye I became a bad person, evil to some, sinner to others.  And for the first time in my life I found people (ab)using God and religion to judge me, not for what I do or who I am as a person, but for how I was born.

So when I see a question like the one posed in the title of this thread, my mind quickly jumps to this new world I was placed in after it became known I am trans.  And my first reaction to answering this question comes from the point of view of the people who now are acting as my god and judging me, condemning me and rejecting me.  And the god they claim to know and be guided by is just a lame excuse for their inability to deal with their truth.

But to me, God is me, you, any of us, all of us. 

When growing up I often heard only God can create.  That was usually followed up by pointing out a tree, a mountain, a river or the sky.  And it was defined as making something from nothing.  But if the ability to create is the ultimate criteria for defining God then each one of us is God.  We create ideas.  We create music.  We create all kinds of things, with our mind. 

This idea isn't original.  It's in the Bible, the Torah, the Qur'an and other ancient writings.  The Ancients had a much better grasp on the power of the mind than we do today.  We began to really lose touch with the advent of electronic stimulation.  But God is still here because we still have our minds.  I'm just not sure how long.

Kia Ora Julie,

Sadly this does seem to be the case, and many members here no doubt have experienced the "Doctor Jackel and Mister HIde " split personality of some members of their church congregation...

::) So how would one describe God ? Well "human" of course...What else would s/he be ?

Metta Zenda :)