THANKS FOR THE DIALOGUE
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Originally Posted By: Kevat Shah
God, from what I gather, represents any entity which makes the universe work. Often, God is also associated with creating the universe and everything in it....
KS, if this is what you believe thanks for taking the opportunity to dialogue about it.

Your name and the things you write about leads me to assume you are a follower of Islam. What branch? BTW, the wife--BTW, she is a great person--of my only son, and the mother of our only three grandchildren is from Iran. What a wonderful combination of genes they have. She follows the Islamic path known as Suffism. From what I have read about Suffism (the Suffi poet Rumi, who is often quoted by Depak Chopra, comes to mind), it is on the same wave length as what I call unitheism--similar to panentheism. Check in Wikipedia and check how I sign my posts.

Culturally, I was raised a very inclusive Christian church--the United Church of Canada, which was formed in 1925. It is a liberal mix of Presbyterianism, Methodism, Congregationalism and a number of other denominations.

"Presbyterian" means that each person is his/her own priest before God. Presbyterian leaders are strong advocates of education and democracy--government of the people, by the people and for the people (John Knox). Princeton University was founded by the Presbyterian church. Lincoln was a Presbyterian. This is why he quoted this in his famous Gettysburg Address.

Methodism--originally used as an insulting epithet--grew out of the Church of England (the Anglican Church) under the leadership of the Wesley family--especially the mother, Susanna, and her three three sons, John, Charles and Thomas--all loyal Anglican ministers. The Methodists were, and still are, keen on bringing about social justice for all, especially the poor. The Salvation Army grew out of Methodism. So did what we call public education. Boston University--I did two years of postgraduate work there--was founded by the Methodist church.

Congregationalism. Harvard University was founded by the Congregationalists. Congregationalism avoids hierarchical rule. The congregation, the minister and the board make the rules.

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redewenur, You say, "I should add that the eastern philosophy with which I can most identify is that held by the Dalai Lama who, quite typically, said that if there's any dispute between science and Buddhism, then science wins."

I like the inclusive non-theist kind of Buddhism,the kind I presume is preached by the DL. The great inventor, Nicola Tesla, who gave us alternating current was very interested in understanding the nature and role of human spirituality (His father was a minister). He called for Christians and Buddhists to get together. I agree. I am not a traditional and dogmatic Christian, and I don't think that Jesus was. He was a Jew who set out to reform Judaism and make it more inclusive and universal.

BTW, did you hear the saying: "Any dispute between the imagination and reason, imagination tends to dominate." This perhaps explains why many intelligent and imaginative people often do that which is irrational.


G~O~D--Now & ForeverIS:Nature, Nurture & PNEUMA-ture, Thanks to Warren Farr&ME AT www.unitheist.org