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I believe in marketing and PR.
When it comes right down to it, in the literal sense, I believe somewhat in the new testament and an existence of a rather special individual that brought about all this furore. But I also believe that the Coptic text written by Philip which places more emphasis on Mary Magdalene's role is something that the primary christian religions should place more emphasis on/investigate further rather than relying on dogma. I think Mary Magdalene had a more significant role, and I'm curious about it more from a
historical perspective than a religious one. Particularly because up until the end of my primary education we were always led to believe she was a prostitute, and that was even though that the Vatican deemed her no longer so in 1969. Doesn't it smack of something dodgy to you?
It goes without saying that I believe in God, partly because it was rammed down my throat from an early age and catholic guilt is knitted into my DNA, and partly because somewhere between the ridiculous OCD mass/sermon choreography (honestly, I feel like it's a really slow version of the macarena) and a series of fortunate events I had to believe/or attribute it to something.
I believe in the God of anyplace, anytime, not the God of Sunday best and stained glassed windows.
They say seeing is believing, but, one doesn't necessarily do all the seeing with one's eyes.
posted by
CringeintheUSA
on August 3, 2008 at 6:48 AM
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It's been good
Naut, I'm dropping by to say goodbye. Take care of yourself, and thank you for your kindness and understanding.
cheers,
silvermoon
scribnerin@yahoo.com
posted by
SilverMoon7
on August 2, 2008 at 5:09 PM
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Naut, It is interesting to me how God gets reinvented every so often. A new concept... a new suit of clothes..Imagination is a wonderful thing. Wonderful post. ~Peace, OTA
posted by
Blue_feathers
on August 2, 2008 at 6:59 AM
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hehe and to think in terms of hundreds of years in ages so confusing - symbols of times often are left out mysterious blanks we fillin our own will and feelings what matters when it comes times to present your
love offerings
posted by
Smittenheimer
on August 1, 2008 at 12:42 PM
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Hey bro! This is great food for thought! I just know what works for me! I would never push my beliefs on anyone because it just might not work for them.
Thank you for your words at my blog. I did lose focus, I was so shocked and lost. I know everything is going to be fine. Love to Bro! Shelly 
posted by
sam444
on July 31, 2008 at 12:01 PM
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I guess that's an idea, but it still leaves the WHY
Why would a creative sort sort of god be hugely creative and then leave? What is the purpose in that? Because he/she/it can? Does there need to be purpose? Hmmmmm.
posted by
JanesOpinion
on July 31, 2008 at 9:39 AM
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Naut - Good Post; partially overlaps with my thinking....
The mystical teachings of Judaism stress that there is a spark of the divine in each of us. There is, in other words, three present in the creation of a new life; the mother, the father and God. This is my own personal belief, one that I don't foist on anyone else. I do believe in the "creative force" -my conception of God - not a "generator God" who sets our physical world in motion then leaves. And I do find it comforting to "talk" aka "pray" to God in my times of trouble and grief; only because, for whatever reason - conditioning, tradition, something "really" out there - it helps. Are there atheists in foxholes? One never knows until that moment is upon you, I guess!
posted by
gapcohen
on July 31, 2008 at 5:29 AM
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Nautikos - No matter how you look at it, it's amazing. My little mind says there's got to be somebody bigger than you and I.
posted by
TAPS.
on July 31, 2008 at 2:39 AM
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I can live with such a definition of God for the many. I also do not think that conceptual knowledge of God is at all possible. I do however call myself Gnostic because I am convinced that there is direct knowledge of the Infinite possible on a level closer to, yet transcending intuitive knowledge and that this knowledge can be "come across" by following a path of spiritual awakening that is not all that different from the Buddhist idea of Enlightenment and the Mystic idea of Union with God. I also agree that the natural world of events is the site of experiencing God, but in natural I include that which is sometimes referred to as supernatural (super, only because it is not commonplace). For me God is therefore immanent and transcendant and that is why I would also classify my own view as panentheistic. A Gnostic panentheist will have no problem whatsoever with accommodating any view on life as naturally part and parcel of the given reality without limiting him- or herself to any particular view in a dogmatic fashion. All definable views are concept bound and therefore limited to the realm of reason and logic and however much many pretend that it is possible to be objective creatures governed by reason alone, we all know, to greater or lessor degree, that there is much more to Life than this aspect of Life. Although we seem to stand at opposite ends of the spectrum of theisms and knowledge we are both "symptoms" of a spirituality that is growing in numbers as part of humanities natural evolution to more complete understanding of the realities we find ourselves part of. Do you agree?
posted by
AardigeAfrikaner
on July 31, 2008 at 1:11 AM
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Nautikos
I do understand what you are saying and how you yearn to have an ultimate proof. There is no way to have that proof without the faith; proof follows. I hope you find a complete peace with this difference between agnostic and atheist. You are a fine man and I respect you for what you believe and your tenacity to hold on to that belief. I have personally witnessed too many miracles that nothing in the world can explain except God. Thank you for writing on here.
posted by
Justi
on July 31, 2008 at 12:17 AM
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Change is up against the most controlling core-belief programming there is.
All the stuff coagulating around a concept of God--the interpretations of what that God thinks, plans, wants, hates... The Right Way to live, to please that God... The enemies that it would please that God to see destroyed... It all becomes a cultural complex of traditions programmed into people in such a way that it defines that society's absolute beliefs about Right and Wrong, Good and Evil...
And then there has to be a church or some such structure to maintain the culture and the passage of it to subsequent generations... a church which becomes a power center in every temporal sense, and does all the things any corporate entity does to assure its own survival with a complete disregard for the interests and needs of humanity.
And finally, the cultural complex needs its God to be that God that needs all that packaging... It dares not upgrade to a new concept that doesn't need all packaging, indeed has no use for it at all.
I agree entirely with the idea of God--the generative force, maybe... being more force-like than human-like. I have my own reasons for believing that there is a personal aspect to it as well, but I just can't see killing anyone over it.
(I'm sure there is a simpler way to have said this, but I am trying to do 30 things at once right now, several of them involving elements of puppy-training.)
posted by
Ciel
on July 30, 2008 at 9:29 PM
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Nautikos
I read a similar depiction of God years ago. Believe it or not, it was in a work of fiction, Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian. The diety that Conan's people worshipped, Crom, was a Generator God. He "created" and one should thank Him, but don't waste your time praying because He's not listening and most certainly not going to "interfere."
Your outlook in astoundingly similar to mine. I don't believe for a second in any God as portrayed in any religion, but I'm not an atheist. I'm an agnostic because there could be something out there so big, so powerful, so immense that my pitiful human brain can't possibly understand it. I'm willing to call it God, for lack of a better word, but I feel absolutely no obligation to thank it, pray to it, or live my life trying to please it. If it's out there, great. If it's not, well, that's great too. Either way, it really makes no difference to me.
posted by
Talion_
on July 30, 2008 at 9:28 PM
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