Rajesh: Thanks for sending me an e-mail telling me about your response, here, and inviting me to respond to you. What is the technique for doing this? I, too, would like to send out e-mails inviting for fellow posters to respond.

THE BASIC CONCEPT WHICH I, AND OTHERS, CALL UNITHEISM

Note the way I spell 'god'. Also note how I define the idea and concept of what 'god' means to me. The spelling, 'G-d', is also used by Orthodox Jews. They do this out of awe and respect. It is their way of avoiding confusing anthropomorphisms--thinking of 'god' as some kind of personal and objective being. It is their way of avoiding makaing 'god' into a mental idol. Until something better comes along, it works, for me.

For me--and, keep in mind, I am not preaching, here, or trying to coerce people into thinking, believing and acting as I do-- G-d is the What in things, the When in time, the Where in space, and the Who in human beings. G-d also that which is spiritual; that which provides us with the Why, and/or meaning of life.

I neither pray to, nor speak to, a personal god, per se. I simply connect with, tune into, and turn on to G-d, as that which is goodness, order and design; that which is total, universal and all-encompassing. I do this much the same way that I turn on and tune into this computer.

If you like, think of G-d as an omnipotent and omniscient computer equipped with an infallible search engine to which we--providing we are moral, ethical and loving people--have access. Thus G-d makes available to us the How we can integrate with all that is, physically, mentally, and spirituall.

Unitheism--which we discuss in more detail in our free forum--is not a religion. By the way, feel free to join us at http://www.flfcanada.com It is more of a philosophy, a theological approach to all religions. It is not unlike panentheism. It builds on the foundation of all theisms, and respects agnosticism, humanism and atheism.

I have had theists tell: "Oh ya, I used to go to church--still do on special occasions--but all those doctrines, creeds, hymn singing, rituals and the like just went over my head. I used to say my prayers, as a child. Then I discovered that all those presents came from my parents, not a Santa Claus. I gave up praying when I got old enough to be aware of all the children who did not get presents at Christmas. One day I asked my Sunday School teacher: Why does God allow children to die, even at Christmas? The only answer I got was: We just have to learn to trust in his will for us...[More, later, on how unitheism help us deal with the tough questions life throws at us. I presume you are interested.]

"...Only three things?..."


The biblical story of creation is triune with these aspects;
i) the creator (God)
ii) His creation (universe)
iii) His creature (mankind)

I suggest these aspects may be considered as;
i) reality (God)
ii) objective reality (universe)
iii) subjective reality (mankind)

Considering the stories of the bible,
I would suggest that the nature of a story is triune.
The nature of a myth is a trinity.

The three aspects of this trinity are;
i) the one who wrote (or is writing) the story
ii) the one who is living in (or “ living out”) the story
iii) the one who is reading the story

Note: "story" can be taken to mean cultures and societies as well as the lives of individuals,
these aspects of "story" are not mutually exclusive.

These triune world views also represent the media of myth / story / communication / language / prayer.

As we consider we are the likeness of the triune God,
we may consider the Holy Trinity represented in the phrase “I and Thou”,
and its three aspects as;
i) “Thou”...(God) the Father / other / (mother)
ii) “and”...the Holy Spirit / relationship
iii) “I”...the Son (of God) / self

To reiterate, The One who wrote and is writing the story of life (and our lives) is God the creator, reality, the (original) Other, the immediate (and ultimate) Thou.

The One living in and living out the story of life is the Holy Spirit, objective reality, the relationships we enter and realize.

The One reading the story is the Son of God, subjective reality, (man, the creature), the ideal “I”, Self.

There are undoubtedly holes in this philosophy,
(but who would trust someone who has no holes in their socks?)

S

you don't have your story straight, Rajesh. That's not unusual, hardly anybody does

Hypothesizing the existence of a god can be justified only if such a hypothesis adds explanatory power to the model of reality. As all the god hypotheses I have seen add no explanation, but only add complexity and invite new questions, the atheistic assumption is superior.

pretzels! Pretzels! get yer hot, salted pretzels!


speaking plainly,

I and Thou
is
the existance of God

otherwise
is
nonexistance


Note to self:

this light too bright for eyes to grasp
these lines drawn in the shifting sands

our silhouette defined and splayed
we break the failing sun to words

Rick, I presume you understand that I do not hypothesize that there is A god; I simply define that G-d, for me, is the all-that-is--physically, mentally and spiritually. If you assume that what I am saying equates G-d with existence, then I define that G-d IS existence. G-d is as real to me as my next breath.

I have a great respect for moral. ethical and honest atheists, and/or angnostics.If you do not believe in "God" do you have anything in mind when you think of the concept?

BTW, what is, "explanatory power to the model of reality"?

Is theology and God hardwired into the brain of human kind?

And/Or 'consciousness' in general?

Why do so many different people, cultures, societies, nations, and continents have theology and some form of God at the helm of existence?

my guess is that it has been 'selected' into our brains because it offered a substantial survival advantage

I agree that a Darwinistic explanation is likely.

So is it a socially (culturally) motivated (coerced) global phenomenon or is it an inate concept that every child is born with, like right and left, up and down , in and out, back and forth, etc.?

Darwinism is too God-dammed dogmatic.

Is God objective reality or is God subjective reality?

"Is god objective reality or is god subjective reality?" Trip asks.

Trip, i discuss this question in greater detail than i will here, and now, in my personal forum. one day, i plan to get it all down in a book form in which i will discuss the idea, or concept i call unitheism. unitheism is not a religion per se; it is a non-doctrinaire, open-ended, attitude towards religion and the idea or concept of god, which monotheism calls god. to use the trinitarian formula theists speak of: god, the father, the son and the holy spirit. i grew up under this concept, but because of the kind of mind i have--very left-brained--it is a concept with which i have never been comfortable.

theists admit that, as demanded by atheists, it is impossible to prove that god exists as a person. they put a great deal of emphasis on the virtue we call faith.

as a unitheist, i conceive of g-d--and note the orthodox-jewish way of writing the word--not as a supernatural and personal being separate and apart from what i experience as the physical, mental and spiritual universe. because i conceive of the universe as being more than matter, i would not refer to myself as an atheist, or even a pantheist. unitheism is what some theoligians and philosophers call panentheistic--god in a through all-that-is. i like the shorter term because it avoids confusion with pantheism--the physical universe is god.

sighted faith is partner of reason

unitheism accepts the value of faith. but it must be sighted faith that, while it can go beyond reason, does so without going contrary to reason. because g-d is all-that-is, and because we can, using our senses, sense, know and experience some of the all-that-is--this is the purpose of science--this means that we can, in effect, know that g-d exists in the same way that we know that we exist. g-d is self-evident being, in the process, along with us, of becoming even more. this is what the philosopher and great mathematician, alfred north whitehead said.

What do you think?

My assumption is that 'PERMANENT transcendence of separation' is enlightenment.

Glimpses of transcendence/enlightenment can be experienced anytime, Which would motivate a person towards permanent transcendence.

And, even those glimpses would dampen the focus on the survival of individuality.

The "problem of suffering" is related to the "problem of evil." While these are related to knowledge of identity, they are separate problems.

Yeah, it's not enough to know why stuff sucks. One still has to fix it.

Yes. And just a blunt fixing isn't sufficient. One must respect free will, individual responsibility, growth through struggle, etc.

So maybe we should stop looking for that which does not exist, and focus on the real issues at hand.

God IS found in the minds of men!

And, I believe he resides there to 'explain' away all those things which cannot be explained within such minds.

HE allows such minds to witness what is considered to be freedom from the unknown.

Such need is so extensive that it must serve a purpose like this.

The god hypothesis only adds complexity to a model of reality without increasing its explanatory power. On the contrary, god is usually invoked in efforts to avoid a logical explanation. Evolution? No problem. God did it. Creation of the universe? No problem, god spoke and here it is. Now be good slaves and get back to work. And don't forget to vote for having your social security contribution go to pump up the stock market for all the bankers' and Wall Street investors' benefit.

So my atheistic model is a god hypothesis? Your terminology leads to confusion.

Here's my unicorn hypothesis: they don't exist and never did.

I have a better word for God: nature. It's a lot less controversial and means the same thing. For example, my own ethical, loving, and creative human nature.

There's this pious type woman who lives down the street from me. She has a sticker on her car that reads "prayer changes stuff." There's trash in her yard that blows in from the parking lot accross the street. Maybe she should pray to have the trash removed. If she hears herself praying, perhaps the industrious nature within herself will take action.

If prayer worked, I'd be praying for money