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Originally Posted By: Revlgking

Instead of achieving "godness", as you put it, I like to think we are here and free to choose to be GOD-like, or NOT. Use Good/Nature-like, if you prefer.


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As you said, nature can be cruel.

So killing somebody is also GOD-like?


In my opinion, it isn't. BTW, thanks for using the dialogue-method. I find it a very effective way of having a productive conversation.

Think of the acronym, GOD, as somewhat like the acronym, CBC (Canada Broadcasting Corp). The CBC doesn't really bring us all those programs--good, bad and indifferent, people do. Good news, bad news whatever, are created by people and brought to us by people. As Mark Twain put it: "The problems with humanity, is humanity."


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Can you be more clear on what GOD-like means?


Let's see if I can do this by having us take a look on the way monotheism (theism is a short form of it), deism and polytheism use the god-word. Polytheism is the belief in any number of deities. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, to mention just a few polytheistic empires were very religious. Many modern Hindus are still polytheistic.

The polytheisms, along with having their own mythologies and rituals, have always had--modern ones still do--gods and goddesses, for everything and for every occasion under the sun--often assembled into a pantheon of gods.

In English we usually capitalize only the name. For example, Zeus was the king of the gods in Athens.
http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Ares.html

The name used in Rome was Jupiter.

The monotheisms, like for example, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, got rid of the gods and goddesses by rolling them all into one. This is the one we capitalize as God--a proper noun, not to be confused with GOD--not a One, but the oneness of all that is.

So the Book Of Genesis begins with the verse: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..." It goes on to tell the story--I call it a mythical story--of how He--no mention is made of a goddess-like wife, a She--created everything in six days.

For Judaism, God was, and is, The One Perfect Being who was, and is an absolute and omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient--that is, the omni-everything who was a supernatural and fatherly-like being. It looks like that God was just about ready to create a perfect kingdom made up of perfect men, women and their perfect children over which he would be the king. It looked like that all would be sweetness, light and happiness, forever and ever.

But take a look what happened very early in the Bible story. The third chapter begins with the ominous words: "Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the Lord God had made." Then the snake asked the woman, "Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the Garden."We may eat the fruit of any tree in the Garden," the woman answered, "except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do we will die."

The snake replied, "That's not true; you will not die. God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad."

EXILED FROM EDEN--THE GARDEN OF PLEASURE
The story goes on to tell us that Eve risked her life to get rid of ignorance and to become wise. Adam also took the same risk. The disobedience of God by Adam and Eve did help them get rid of ignorance and to gain wisdom, but life was no longer all pleasure. Because of their disobedience they were driven from Eden.

THE TREE OF LIFE
Thus they lost the opportunity to eat the fruit of the tree of life and live forever. Life was now filled with suffering, pain and even death, as the story of their sons, Cain and Abel (Cain killed Abel), make clear. Interestingly is made that God ever destroyed Eden or the three of life.

THE BIBLE AS LITERATURE.
I take the above story, and perhaps most of the numerous Bible stories--including the stories of the Christian era--as literature, not as history to be taken literally. Indeed much of what we call history is open to question.

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How about listing some specific examples of GOD-like things and non-GOD-like things.
IMSO, most good thing we do--especially when we do them for help people we do not particularly like--that is motivated by Agape/Love and carried out under the principle of the Golden Rule are most likely GOD-like things.

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Kallog, you ask me about: Non GOD-like things?


OK! Non GOD-like things--including things, which on the surface may appear to be good--are those which are motivated by pride or shame. They are things done selfishly and just to get praise, credit and rewards.


Last edited by Revlgking; 06/13/11 10:03 PM. Reason: Always a good idea!

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