DanteGabriel Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 1 hour ago, Craving Peaches said: The argument I've seen is that Big G let it happen because 'free will'.* Most arguments seem to be 'free will' or that it was 'all part of the plan', 'God works in mysterious ways'. Also, useful to be able to blame women for everything going wrong. Deadlines? What Deadlines? and LongRider 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darryk Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Polytheism makes for a lot of great storytelling but I do believe in an intelligent force guiding the universe so I guess it would be monotheism for me. Ser Scot A Ellison 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 (edited) Monotheism is a great system if you want to get people to think that having one person in charge is the natural order of things. Edited January 12 by Heartofice Rippounet, Craving Peaches, JoannaL and 4 others 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 1 hour ago, Craving Peaches said: The argument I've seen is that Big G let it happen because 'free will'.* Most arguments seem to be 'free will' or that it was 'all part of the plan', 'God works in mysterious ways'. *Although this appears to contradict the following Bible passage. https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/3/Genesis-3-22.html The tone sounds like it wasn't part of the plan, also why is Adam not allowed to live forever? What about free will? Shouldn't he have that choice? Also, who is God talking to? It's all nonsensical, or as an Australian comedian put it, "Why were there no kangaroos on Noah's Ark?" Justifications are all reversed engineered. 48 minutes ago, fionwe1987 said: It wasn't part of the plan, but it was part of the ineffable plan. Just watch Good Omens, and it'll all be clear (not!). The Omen is probably more accurate. kissdbyfire 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 (edited) I’m a church going Orthodox Christian. I’m fascinated with how much of Christian belief (heirarchy of the angels; Christ being the Logos; even the idea of the Trinity) is to some extent borrowed from neo-Platonist thought. The church acknowledges this we had a deacon teaching an class on Plato last summer. https://catalog.obitel-minsk.com/blog/2021/08/why-are-ancient-greek-philosophers-depicted-in-orthodox-churches Edited January 12 by Ser Scot A Ellison Phylum of Alexandria and DireWolfSpirit 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry of the Lawn Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 There is but one god, the Solitary God, as described by the prophet Fane, all others are but demon fractions. Those who deny the solitary God will bear the onslaught of the waters of Indara-Kishauri. Tears of Lys and Lord of Oop North 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippounet Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 I am the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Thou shalt have no other monsters before Me (Afterwards is OK; just use protection). The only Monster who deserves capitalization is Me! Other monsters are false monsters, undeserving of capitalization. Jace, Extat and fionwe1987 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 2 hours ago, Heartofice said: Well its 2024, we are more aligned to Civ 6 ways of thinking. I think if Christianity could aim for the Work Ethic tenet and get a production bonus from it's Holy Site adjacency then we might see a resurgence worldwide. I’ve bought every version of Civ since Civ 2 but have never enjoyed a new version enough to switch. I think it’s like music: whatever you came of age with will always seem the best to you. Jace, Extat and Heartofice 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongRider Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 14 minutes ago, Rippounet said: I am the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Thou shalt have no other monsters before Me (Afterwards is OK; just use protection). The only Monster who deserves capitalization is Me! Other monsters are false monsters, undeserving of capitalization. Heretic! If you had been touched by His Noodely Appendage you would have been singing its phrases! Into the Garbage Grinder of Liars with you! Rippounet 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Chatywin et al. Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 15 minutes ago, Rippounet said: I am the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Thou shalt have no other monsters before Me (Afterwards is OK; just use protection). The only Monster who deserves capitalization is Me! Other monsters are false monsters, undeserving of capitalization. So does Godzilla or Mothra kill you in this story? Sorry, maybe Kong shows up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartIheartTesla Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 I dont think as an atheist we have to choose between these two less good options, but....if I were to, for polytheism I'd go with Hinduism since atheism can be a subset of it (or rather, there is no real dogma associated with it, so atheism can freely co-exist). For monotheistic religions, I'd have to say Judaism just from the sheer number of 'secular Jews' around, for whom the religion is pretty much a cultural thing. kissdbyfire 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maarsen Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 If one begins with polytheism and then go to monotheism the next step in the sequence is nontheism. DireWolfSpirit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Yep. Short version. Polytheism is for people with way too much time on their hands. Monotheism is for lazy ones, who can't keep up with the demands of more than on deity. Jace, Extat 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormond Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 (edited) I think monotheism vs. polytheism is too simplistic a contrast. There are many varieties of each, plus intermediate possibilities, two of which are called henotheism (where someone believes in the existence of multiple gods but only worships one of them, while believing it is valid for other people to worship different gods) and monolatry, where one both only worships one god and believes that their god is the only one that any person should worship. I think there are many passages in the Hebrew scriptures themselves which imply that originally the Hebrew conception was more monolatry than pure monotheism, where one thinks only one God has any real existence. I think in terms of the effects of deistic beliefs on society that the important question isn't whether one is montheistic, polytheistic, or something in between, but what is one's conception of the moral or ethical implications of the god(s) one worships. As a modern liberal Protestant I think any theism whose god(s) promote love, justice, and equality for all persons is mentally and spiritually healthy. I think often the most problematic beliefs are the dualistic theistic beliefs, as in some forms of Zoroastrianism, where there are basically just two gods, one good and one evil, who are in constant conflict with each other. I think many right-wing Christians at different points in history have elevated the idea of Satan to a point where he is almost such a co-equal "god of evil". I think that belief system much more easily leads to a demonization of those who are different from oneself by assigning everything in the world, including other humans, to be either on the side of the "good God" of the side of the "devil", and that to me seems to lead to more hatred and persecution of those different from oneself than either pure monotheism or polytheism. Edited January 12 by Ormond fix grammer Ser Scot A Ellison and Erik of Hazelfield 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 (edited) If -big if- we make it that far, what will really bake Humanitys' collective noodle will be if our alien conquerors have religious beliefs. Edited January 12 by JGP Jace, Extat and Tears of Lys 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Horse Named Stranger Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 13 minutes ago, JGP said: If -big if- we make it that far, what will really bake Humanitys' collective noodle will be if our alien conquerors have religious beliefs. I just want to see the look on your face, when they tell you they were looking for Kolob. JGP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fionwe1987 Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 25 minutes ago, JGP said: If -big if- we make it that far, what will really bake Humanitys' collective noodle will be if our alien conquerors have religious beliefs. They almost certainly will. And those beliefs will be in contradiction to all of ours, and they will almost certainly use the supposed "superiority" of their religion to justify their conquest. JGP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kalbear Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 7 minutes ago, fionwe1987 said: They almost certainly will. And those beliefs will be in contradiction to all of ours, and they will almost certainly use the supposed "superiority" of their religion to justify their conquest. I don't think this is a reasonable assumption. The reason we have religion is almost certainly due to how our monkey brains work in a variety of ways that combine together to cause religious viewpoints; there is no guarantee that any other intelligent alien life would have those precepts. For instance, humans and monkeys are hardwired to experience awe, which in turn probably comes from social animal's need to have emotion around authority. That isn't a guarantee to exist in other species at all; imagine, for instance, an alien species that was a hive mind and has no concept of a creature other than itself interacting with it. Another part of things may be how we view causality; the aliens from Arrival would not need to assign a creator element to things because they have no need to explain what happened before. Rippounet and Larry of the Lawn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rippounet Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 I'd be more worried about super-advanced aliens revealing that they created us... JGP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissdbyfire Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 I haven’t read the 1st page yet but many interesting points on this one. As a confirmed diehard atheist, if I had to pick between monotheism and polytheism, I’d pick poly b/c it feels less autocratic or, alternatively, something non-theistic like Buddhism. Ser Scot A Ellison and House Balstroko 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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