Searching for GOD...

[Gordon]

Of course it does.
Why is God so inaccessible? Because of the convoluted psychological gyrations involved in ego protection.

So why did God create creatures that were susceptible to 'convoluted psychological gyrations involved in ego protection' (whatever that means)?

[bluehillside Retd.]

...theism is quite clear...

Unintentionally funny line of the year.

[Walt Zingmatilder]

So why did God create creatures that were susceptible to 'convoluted psychological gyrations involved in ego protection' (whatever that means)?

Susceptible suggests we have no part in actively avoiding God and that isn't the case.
Suppose you were told that one day you would recognise that you were making the gyrations?

[Walt Zingmatilder]

Unintentionally funny line of the year.

Of course it is. It postulates God as real as anything.
And that is enough to stimulate all kinds of responses....including evasion.

[bluehillside Retd.]

Is it me or has Vlad added twin turbos and a supercharger to his random word generator? 

[Walt Zingmatilder]

Is it me or has Vlad added twin turbos and a supercharger to his random word generator?

I've come over all Charles Hawtrey.

[Gordon]

Susceptible suggests we have no part in actively avoiding God and that isn't the case.

So, if you reject the idea that we were created by God with a susceptibility for 'convoluted psychological gyrations involved in ego protection', this word salad is just code for your oft-repeated charge of wilful 'god-dodging'.

Suppose you were told that one day you would recognise that you were making the gyrations?

Suppose I was told that: why would I need to take the prophecy seriously?

[Walt Zingmatilder]

Suppose I was told that: why would I need to take the prophecy seriously?

Ignorance of the prophecy would be an act or gamble on your part. What would determine that act?

[wigginhall]

But God is not hiding.
He has made Himself known to us by becoming one of us, and next week this momentous event will be celebrated throughout the world.

But you've said that our mental faculties are not adequate, and we have to rely on divine revelation.  How do I know which revelation is correct?   If God is not hiding, why can't I see him? 

[Alan Burns]

The “evil one” eh? What bizarrely stunted infantilism must it take for a (presumably) grown man to think deploying the bogey man is a sensible tactic to try among adults?

You appear to have succumbed to the Devil's tactic of convincing people that he does not exist.

The evidence of evil is all around us, yet secular thinking leads to a conclusion that there is no such thing as evil.

[Stranger]

It isn't daft what you are failing to see is that theism is quite clear and Christianity is plain and God is addressing something you and indeed everyone at sometime has taken great pains to reduce and minimise ........the self. The real motivation of which is to hide it from God.

What utter drivel. You still aren't addressing the question. If god is both able and willing to communicate clearly, why isn't it doing so?

Pretending that there is a clear message that most people somehow don't see is a contradiction - if a message is clear, then people will see and understand it, that's what clear means.

[Stranger]

Susceptible suggests we have no part in actively avoiding God and that isn't the case.

This idea that people are actively avoiding god is one of the silliest theist claims there is. As I said before, quite apart from its basic absurdity, if the message is clear if we don't avoid this god, how come every theist (people who clearly aren't avoiding god) doesn't agree about which god is the true one and what the message is?

[Enki]

Is it God hiding or is God just difficult to make out if you are running full pelt from him and not looking back?

Neither in my case. I have not the slightest reason to run away from any god if I don't believe in he/she/it/them. That whole idea is nonsensical. I also don't have any belief that he/she/it/them are hiding for exactly the same reason.

On the other hand, as a thought experiment, if some such god existed, then Stranger's question is surely an important one.

[Gordon]

Ignorance of the prophecy would be an act or gamble on your part. What would determine that act?

Thank you Mr Pascal.

[wigginhall]

You appear to have succumbed to the Devil's tactic of convincing people that he does not exist.

The evidence of evil is all around us, yet secular thinking leads to a conclusion that there is no such thing as evil.

Interesting switch there.  You go from the devil to the idea of evil.  I bet there are plenty of people who might describe something as evil, without believing in the devil.  So many religious arguments rely on this kind of 3 card trick.  But I suppose Christians are bound to believe in the devil, since they are luridly anthropomorphic.

[Walt Zingmatilder]

Neither in my case. I have not the slightest reason to run away from any god if I don't believe in he/she/it/them. That whole idea is nonsensical. I also don't have any belief that he/she/it/them are hiding for exactly the same reason.

On the other hand, as a thought experiment, if some such god existed, then Stranger's question is surely an important one.

What makes you say it is non sensical?
Theistic arguments are clear.
Non theistic arguments are incomplete and I would have thought by dint of that nonsensical.
Your post is also full of the positively asserted.
I look forward on your post entitled How and why I can completely disregard theism in the face of knowing I cannot be completely certain that it isn't the deal.

What's lacking or ignored is this....there are theisms which propose we are alienated from God and that is why he seems hidden, non existent, angry uncle in the attic or as Wigginhall said monstrous.

[Walt Zingmatilder]

Interesting switch there.  You go from the devil to the idea of evil.  I bet there are plenty of people who might describe something as evil, without believing in the devil.  So many religious arguments rely on this kind of 3 card trick.  But I suppose Christians are bound to believe in the devil, since they are luridly anthropomorphic.

And early CinemaScope was luridly anamorphic.

[wigginhall]

And early CinemaScope was luridly anamorphic.

So do you believe in the devil?

[Walt Zingmatilder]

So do you believe in the devil?

My thinking on the matter is thus
Evil in one sense cannot be an impersonal thing.
The devil cannot be ones own personal evil.
There is temptation both to evil and of evil which we can avoid.
There is a spirit of antichrist above and beyond normal objection. Since this cannot be impersonal
It must be personal.

[Stranger]

Theistic arguments are clear.

This is a joke, yes?

Non theistic arguments are incomplete and I would have thought by dint of that nonsensical.

In what way?

What's lacking or ignored is this....there are theisms which propose we are alienated from God and that is why he seems hidden, non existent, angry uncle in the attic or as Wigginhall said monstrous.

So, if we are alienated from it and this god of yours has an important message, is it unable or unwilling to make itself clear despite this alienation?

[Walt Zingmatilder]

No of course theism is clear about God.

[Stranger]

No of course theism is clear about God.

That'll be why there is only one religion and no disagreements, then.     

[Walt Zingmatilder]

That'll be why there is only one religion and no disagreements, then.     

There are schools of thought and disagreement in all domains........and then there is the unity which identifies that domain.

For reasons that can only amount to special pleading you seem to be ignoring this.

[wigginhall]

It's true that Christian theology has alienation at its core.  In the words of Milton, "man's first disobedience, and the Fruit of that Forbidden tree, whose mortal taste brought death into the world, and all our woe, with loss of Eden".   And it has produced great art, but you can still go back to torridon's critique above.   This is how God set things up, so that we would fail.  If I did that to my child, social services might make an emergency visit.  It's not alienation, but sadism.

[Stranger]

There are schools of thought and disagreement in all domains........and then there is the unity which identifies that domain.

For reasons that can only amount to special pleading you seem to be ignoring this.

And you are still ignoring the basic question of why a god can't make itself obvious and its message clear. This is supposed to be the almighty creator of the universe FFS, why can't it get its message across? Why does it leave people to disagree (sometimes violently) with each other about it?