I've been thinking about thought constructs and how it seems to be human nature to see people as we think they are and not as they actually exist. I would go so far as to say we struggle to really "see" another person, because there is so much projection, reflection, assumptions, and expectations. That line of thought leads me to the many varied concept of gods, deities, or "God" in the almighty sense. Please bare with me on this as I don't throw any of those terms around with intention to offend anyone or their beliefs, but more as an example of the line of thinking I want to share. Why do we seem to personify our gods?
I suppose there are many reasons why we might do this. Perhaps we personify our gods to draw comparisons with ourselves. There's also the idea that religion has pushed the personification of gods into society throughout history for whatever purposes. I find it interesting that if we look at different religions and scriptures we can see many conflicting ideas of exactly what any god is or what it looks like and how it operates. Personally I don't relate to any personification of god or "God" and perhaps that's one of the reasons I spent most of my life identifying as atheist or agnostic in varying degrees.
Saying that, let me also make it clear that I spent plenty of time studying religions throughout my youth. I've written about that in previous posts and I wont go through all of it again here, but I always felt there was wisdom spread throughout different religions. The spiritual truths seem to shine through past any political or societal influence to me. For example, in the Christian bible we can find it written that God is love. Following that line of thought that God is not a person or a tangible "thing" so to speak, let's consider what that may mean.
If God or any other gods are not some grand person or personification, then where do we go from there? I like to consider that fundamental Buddhism isn't about worshiping the Buddha, but about becoming the Buddha. That line of thought can be directly compared to the teaching that we are all created in God's image from Christianity. Taking those concepts at face value, it leads me to the conclusion that we are all God in the Christian sense or that we are all the Buddha. Different religions have different ways of describing what any god is, but somewhere along the way many of us start to worship these personifications and viewing existence as somehow a competition, which leads to spiritual one upping. I just can't see it working like that.
My line of thinking leads me to the concept that we are all one. If we are all created in God's image then we should be able to find God in everyone we meet and everything else. If we can all become the Buddha, then we all already are somewhere inside of us capable of zen. If we can get to a place in our own spirituality to recognize and accept our own beliefs and respect the beliefs of others, is it because we see that same connective force , energy, or God in each other? Perhaps that's where the personification comes from.
If God is love and we can feel that for others, perhaps that also leads to the personification. We project out love and we can feel it reflected back at us, so we can all see the God in each other if we're willing to see it. Perhaps my views and beliefs about what God is and spirituality are very different than yours, but I think the personification of God is a limitation of our own view of reality and understanding. In the grand scheme of things it would make sense to me that God is as much everything as it is nothing. Some things can't really be separated as they exist in correlation to everything else. Just like you don't have a person floating in nothing, I don't think you could have a god without everything else. It's all connected and we are all one. I prefer to think of us as infinite reflections of one source consciousness or endless energetic existence. What do you think? Namaste.
I definitely see my own way of thinking throughout this post. There are things that we do or others do that we don't understand and this is what I see as "God moving in mysterious ways", which is a line from my mom's favorite Christian song. Many see looking for "God" in someone as looking for "good" in someone. To me it's all us, we are it and whatever we do is beyond our understanding until it isn't and it's all God, even the chaos created by man. My brother use to say we are the descendents of God. Everything we search to blame others for, it's us. It's the horrible beauty of it all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. One love
The horrible beauty of it all. Love that saying.
Yeah that's a good one Stace! Damn!
Nice one!
All of these perceptions are interpreted subjectively because we all have our own relative experiences with nature and God.
I share your beliefs this was an insightful piece.
I do not personify God but I understand why people do.
God is a word that means many things - love, universe, nature, divine....and it is everything and everyone.
resteeming
hope thats ok
I'm not a bible thumper by any means. I think you make so many valid points here that if I didn't believe or wavered in them, I would be on your coattails, hanging on for the ride,
But I don't and I am comfortable with that and I still love you, or course, agnostic that you are. No sneering allowed, you hear?
I have blind faith. But, I won't drink the cool-aide.
Tip! Worthy Write
Thanks for the read and feedback! I think agnostic is probably the best term for it since I don't really ascribe to anything in particular, but I do have faith it all works out how it's meant to in the end. :)
You know what? I know you have faith and honor and sincerity and manners and you uphold the right from wrong.
It really doesn't get much better than that. Now, off that box and give me a poem!!!
Pretty please?
It's hilarious to me that I was writing a poem when you posted this. :)
You know I'm clapping inside. :)
Namaste. Great read and thank you for sharing this. Too bad I missed the voting mark. I think I may post about this tomorrow as well— my beliefs. Thanks for inspiring.
I'm glad I could provide some inspiration! Thanks for checking out my work. Namaste.
Nice Article.. I'm also agnostic but not an atheist. I understand why people personify the idea God. That is to find answers, i mean absolute answers which technically don't exist and add mystical experiences to that, which science seemed to falsify. But I share the same belief, we are all one with everything.
The statement of science falsifying mystical experiences I'd say is quite debatable. I see it as science is just another descriptive language that can be used to understand a mystic experience in a different light. If God is everything, then God cannot be separated by or from science. Namaste
@staceyjean Yes, I always look at it that way. I trust science as the detailed answer to some of our questions. I was wrong to generalize science in falsifying mystic experiences. What I mean was that looking at things in black and white, people tend to look science as more on analytical and religion/faith as something more on spiritual. But when you look at things in shades of grey. You'll be able to connect the dots. I'm sorry for that. I believe in God because I can find God in both science and in faith.
I consider science to be my religion. Since the founding of the scientific method, objective observation is the main process by which science happens. The key phrase here is objective observation. This is why the majority of scientific research does not give an opinion on god. However, science shows evidence of god all the time.
People are taught to hide themselves from a very early age. This conformity is drilled in then till adolescence and further. Maybe this is why we do not see others, but just a reflection or a partition of whom we look at.
A God or Gods, I believe are different to religion, Tho a God may be used as an ideology of a religion, this does not mean that God is a representative of the religion. Only that as an organized group of people we will personify that God to our belief. Doctrine, is then built up around this belief and a religion is conformed. Or another way to put it, law's have been put in place on the morality of an action.
In today's society, things are more complicated by design. The average person follows two Gods. One is in the teachings they heard about a God as they grew up. The other is in the teachings of what you will need to be, Rich and wealthy.
Society gives conflicting views on the many issues by design in an effort to keep division within society.
The layers of greed and conflicting ideology in society is pretty astounding to think about. I try to just be mindful of my own thoughts and actions, but it took a long time to get there.
One worth discussion. If there is an end goal.
So much hell yeah in this... my beliefs have changed a great deal throughout my life. In my youth I never thought about religion or spirituality. Then it went to the left as in liberalism. Then agnostic and from there a seeker. Belief is having faith in what you cannot see or touch. Just my 2 cents.
Very interesting and insightful post.
I think there is a difference between the "God Image" (the symbol that represents God to the psyche) and the metaphysical existence of God. "God" is something more abstract and higher-dimensional (for lack of better words) than we could ever fathom with our minds.. yet each individual surely has a unique perspective on this force, through their own experience and perhaps even in their DNA.
I think so long as the symbol of God truly resonates with the individual's perspective of reality and adds to the authentic "myth" of their existence in a way that empowers and helps them, it is amazing. Surely. in a universe full of complex paradoxes, there could be no one way.
I have been thinking about an idea which suggests spirituality is like a tool that allows humans to consciously harness their emotional and mental powers in a way to create and navigate the physical realm optimally.
Makes sense.
Excellent line of thought, and very rational and clear.
I want to make a contribution: Outside of what is "Religion", I believe what the Bible says.
and my last published topics take me to lines of thoughts and understanding never before discovered.
Especially when we speak of ourselves as whole beings (Spirit soul and body), today and here we are 100% HUMAN and as fallible and free in our ideas, that is what makes us rich in diversity.
Then we understand and agree that we are created in IMAGE OF GOD.
(As small gods since we were given lordship and power).
In my case because of the belief of a Triune GOD (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), as the Bible develops, I speak of a belief since it is what I pursue by FAITH and thus the manifest.
This makes me more and more human, believing in the duality of the believing man. 100% God, 100% Human.
Thank you very much for sharing.
I absolutely agree with you! I think that we all have a piece of god, or as a like to see it "some magical force" within us. Thus, we all are united and can be seen as one unity. Great thoughts! 🧠
Anyway, if you are into pole dance, self-development or traveling, feel free to check out my channel! Otherwise, have a fantastic day! HUGS 💛
Hello @clayboyn,
First of all, I would like to note that, like you, I've also "spent most of my life identifying as atheist or agnostic in varying degrees". Superb wording!
Maybe people feel the need to personify god because in order to make him/her/it less abstract and more believable. Also, as most religions have rules which need to be followed, a personified god is more suitable for this purpose as in recognizable form he/she/it has more authority over the believers.
This statement is very similar to something that I've recently written in one of my articles:
I'm glad that I've bumped into your blog as we seem to like similar topics, I'll follow you! 😊😊😊: )
Have a wonderful day,
@lifenbeauty
Thanks for stopping by and checking it out. :)
Who God is to me might not be who God is to you, it depends on our relationship with him. Get to know about His sufficiency,https://steemit.com/christain-trail/@alfredinho/devotional-all-sufficient-god
Charles de Foucald said "the question is not if You believe or not in God, the real question is if it is possible to think to any human life without a reflection about God" this make think
When you truly believe, you believe in yourself. As you say, we are all God.
And when you pray to God aren't you just asking your subconscious to get you past the hurdle in front of you.
Pretty much how I see it. :)
Out of the Abrahamic religions, only Islam does not proclaim humans to be made in the image of god. I had a very strict, batshit insane Christian upbringing. Fucked me up good.
God has a gender. Of course he is a man. Hymns about him having the "whole world in his hands". He needed to rest after 6 days of work.
And his emotional outbursts, jealousy and insecurity as it is written in the bible, well those are very human qualities and frankly weaknesses. So god was anthropomorphized until I found logic and reason.
I mean, he even came to earth as a human to save us from ourselves by getting himself killed. Well until hell got a bit shitty and he resurrected himself.
Christians are taught that they are weaker and unworthy versions of this god.
This is obviously a great writing about religion.Carry on.I will wait for your next one.
@resteem & follow done.
The greatest gain and beauty of repentance or Born Again locating real Jesus Christ is when you are led to repentance with transfer of unbelievable power to you by whoever is leading you to Jesus Christ ,so that witches and wizards, evil people,all evil must fear you and remember the evill spirit said Jesus i know ,Paul i know who are you ,so you must have power,peace and Light the same Light Jesus Christ declared and said I am the Light of the world and afterwards the love of Jesus Christ begins to reign upon your life ,its a must for you if the person leading you to Jesus Christ has real Jesus Christ power, that is what we call being born again and meaning of born again Christian and not after claiming to be Bornagain as per your prophets and pastors traditions yet witches and wizards still feast on you and you can't sleep at night nor have peace. You must check your Bornagain if those are missing in your life. For you to seek the true Bornagain of power no matter your level it is your right to reign in peace,light&unbeleivable power as Jesus Christ declared and gives those who truly locate him .Behold the evil spirit said Jesus Christ I know Paul I know who are you it means you must have that light to be recognized and feared by evil .Mathew 13,13-15
You must have posted it on religion. Well done, thank you for the good coast ....bear @clayboyn
Wonderful article
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The greatest gain and beauty of repentance or Born Again locating real Jesus Christ is when you are led to repentance with transfer of unbelievable power to you by whoever is leading you to Jesus Christ ,so that witches and wizards, evil people,all evil must fear you and remember the evill spirit said Jesus i know ,Paul i know who are you ,so you must have power,peace and Light the same Light Jesus Christ declared and said I am the Light of the world and afterwards the love of Jesus Christ begins to reign upon your life ,its a must for you if the person leading you to Jesus Christ has real Jesus Christ power, that is what we call being born again and meaning of born again Christian and not after claiming to be Bornagain as per your prophets and pastors traditions yet witches and wizards still feast on you and you can't sleep at night nor have peace. You must check your Bornagain if those are missing in your life. For you to seek the true Bornagain of power no matter your level it is your right to reign in peace,light&unbeleivable power as Jesus Christ declared and gives those who truly locate him .Behold the evil spirit said Jesus Christ I know Paul I know who are you it means you must have that light to be recognized and feared by evil .Mathew 13,13-15
Seriously, I respect your personal convictions, but cut and paste evangelization is even worse than that snake Benny Hinn and the rest of them...
Great post from pastor @clayboyn , i allredy know you are pastor . i love the post that is why i upvote ,comment and follow ...keep it up
Great post from pastor @clayboyn , i allredy know you are pastor . i love the post that is why i upvote ,comment and follow ...keep it up
Non sequitur.
Thanks for the mention!
Great read, I for one blame religion but as they say the way of God soars high above the mind of man. How could we try to fit whatever we mean by God into a box that we understand? Impossible...
Here's a really supernatural experience I had which I turned into a poem/short story that sums up my philosphy
https://steemit.com/jerrybanfield/@lionel.thebldrs/the-message-entry-for-swc-by-jerrybanfield-supernatural-writing-contest
Perhaps, it is the connection we all share:)
Because that's what pagan worshipers do? :(
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I suspect it has a lot to do with the human need to simplify thought. It is easy to conceptualize God as something familiar - another person. It is difficult to think about some larger, unknowable, present in all of us, being.
People make judgments about others for the same reasons - it helps them make fewer decisions, and think less.
Non duality - Yes!
We personify God because that's what are brains are meant to do. Personifying what is impersonal is a feature of our brain, whether we like it or not. The various religious and mythological entities we've come up with over the past millenia prove this. Whether they are representations of something that's really out there is hardly relevant, as their existence within our psyche point towards a definite function for our survival