Man Created God

[alf]

God did not create man, man created god.

Every religion is created by man, but all claim some sort of divine inspiration or transmission, through a human. I could not think of a religion that was directly transmitted by a divine non-human dude in the sky to all humanity.

If man cease to worship a certain god then that god no longer exists. There are a bunch of dead religions that had very real gods when they were active.

At the end of the day, all religions pretty much teach a simple moral constant but one that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Do good, refrain from doing harm.


Edit:
From a couple of posts down, putting it on top to make things clear...

"Forgot to add that this is a hypothesis that i cooked up when I was 12 and looking at various religions. So take it with a grain of salt."

Please do not take this as an attack on your religious belief, it is not. It is a point for discussion and one that I find intellectually stimulating.

[Jim Richards]

FSM


You know that it's true.

[livi]

Speaking the truth, Alfred.

But I thought everyone knew that already.

Those of a different opinion will now smack you on the forehead and tell you a different version. Probably not entirely without a drop of defensiveness.

But I have been wrong before, many times..

[alf]

Forgot to add that this is a hypothesis that i cooked up when i was 12 and looking at various religions. So take it with a grain of salt.

FSM is as real as any religion. Y'all need to get more rituals and cool buildings to do those rituals in. Priests and priesteses would be cool too. That and neat costumes to wear with big hats.

[IROC]

This horse has been resoundingly beaten, but I read a book once that really dealt with this "man created god" concept in great detail. The book was "A History of God", by Karen Armstrong. Excellent, well researched book on this subject.

Mike

[cashflyer]

Have you not heard of that madman who lit a lantern in the bright morning hours, ran to the market-place, and cried incessantly: "I am looking for God! I am looking for God!"

As many of those who did not believe in God were standing together there, he excited considerable laughter. Have you lost him, then? said one. Did he lose his way like a child? said another. Or is he hiding? Is he afraid of us? Has he gone on a voyage? or emigrated? Thus they shouted and laughed. The madman sprang into their midst and pierced them with his glances.

"Where has God gone?" he cried. "I shall tell you. We have killed him - you and I. We are his murderers. But how have we done this? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What did we do when we unchained the earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving now? Away from all suns? Are we not perpetually falling? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there any up or down left? Are we not straying as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is it not more and more night coming on all the time? Must not lanterns be lit in the morning? Do we not hear anything yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we not smell anything yet of God's decomposition? Gods too decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. How shall we, murderers of all murderers, console ourselves? That which was the holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet possessed has bled to death under our knives. Who will wipe this blood off us? With what water could we purify ourselves? What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we need to invent? Is not the greatness of this deed too great for us? Must we not ourselves become gods simply to be worthy of it? There has never been a greater deed; and whosoever shall be born after us - for the sake of this deed he shall be part of a higher history than all history hitherto."

Here the madman fell silent and again regarded his listeners; and they too were silent and stared at him in astonishment. At last he threw his lantern to the ground, and it broke and went out. "I have come too early," he said then; "my time has not come yet. The tremendous event is still on its way, still travelling - it has not yet reached the ears of men. Lightning and thunder require time, the light of the stars requires time, deeds require time even after they are done, before they can be seen and heard. This deed is still more distant from them than the distant stars - and yet they have done it themselves."

It has been further related that on that same day the madman entered diverse churches and there sang a requiem. Led out and quietened, he is said to have retorted each time: "what are these churches now if they are not the tombs and sepulchres of God?"
— Nietzsche, The Gay Science (aka: Joyous Wisdom)







If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.
Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by livi
Speaking the truth, Alfred.

But I thought everyone knew that already.

Those of a different opinion will now smack you on the forehead and tell you a different version. Probably not entirely without a drop of defensiveness.

But I have been wrong before, many times..

From an uninterested party.....why is it you guys always feel the need to proclaim this? Yet you freak out when someone claims their god is real. If you really don't care....prove it.

[Rot 911]

Originally posted by lendaddy
From an uninterested party.....why is it you guys always feel the need to proclaim this? Yet you freak out when someone claims their god is real. If you really don't care....prove it.

+1

[alf]

Every man's god is true to them, that is the point. I never freaked out when someone proclaims their god is real, heck i said that the FSM is real

Jehova, Allah, Shiva, FSM, etc, they are as real as the people that worship them.

[livi]

Originally posted by lendaddy
From an uninterested party.....why is it you guys always feel the need to proclaim this? Yet you freak out when someone claims their god is real. If you really don't care....prove it.

The smiley and me saying I am often wrong was an (apparently inadequate) way of in a humorous tone describe my indifference regarding this subject. As pointed out above my post, the subject has been beaten dry by now.

Sorry if it came out offensive. We all have our own belief or opinion and we all know we will never be able to change another man´s opinion on this issue. Still a countless number of threads contain the same ongoing fruitless debate. Unfortunately, often with personal insults and hard words. I always try to refrain from such remarks as its not worthy of such a fine community.

If never the less, my post was interpreted as such, I sincerely apologies. I have as much respect for a believer as for a non believer - I just happen to belong to the latter.

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by livi
The smiley and me saying I am often wrong was an (apparently inadequate) way of in a humorous tone describe my indifference regarding this subject. As pointed out above my post, the subject has been beaten dry by now.

Sorry if it came out offensive. We all have our own belief or opinion and we all know we will never be able to change another man´s opinion on this issue. Still a countless number of threads contain the same ongoing fruitless debate. Unfortunately, often with personal insults and hard words. I always try to refrain from such remarks as its not worthy of such a fine community.

If never the less, my post was interpreted as such, I sincerely apologies. I have as much respect for a believer as for a non believer - I just happen to belong to the latter.

Livi, I'm not offended, that's not what I meant. I'm of no religion at. But I don't like these threads as they end up being nothing more than a mock fest. People with religion are not deserving of the ill treatment they receive and it gets old to me. Even if your intentions were not that...just watch where this thread ends up

No big deal really.

[livi]

Thanks lendaddy,

I mean I actually took the Hippocrates´oath. You would think that if I can´t do anything to help, I could at least try my best not to hurt.

[Z-man]

It is far easier to accept the existence of God than it is to disprove the existence of God.

It is a question of faith. (Simple definition of faith: believing in that which cannot be proven or seen.) But the interesting this is this: it takes faith to believe in God, and it also takes faith to NOT believe in God!

If man created God, then without a devine being to jump start life, the universe, and everything, (42), all of this must have started via evolution. Since no one was around when that first ameoba decided to jump out of the goop he was swimming in, there is no uniquivocal, completely undisputable proof that we're decendents of said ameoba.

There are many scientific arguments that support evolution. But there are many mysteries that simply cannot be explained via normal scientific method. There is a concept called "scientific creationism" which I believe explains the origins of the universe the way I believe it worked. Check it out.

-Z

[cantdrv55]

What is FSM?

[adrian jaye]

Not really,

(from a Christian perspective)

I can do good and refrain from doing harm and I can also have good moral's, But I would still go to hell.

You can not earn your way into heaven by doing good deeds. only by being saved (which I am)

I "then" as a Christian should follow a "good route/no harm good"

but again, then still falls far from the mark, as I can do good and no harm, but still have problems.

The 2 most important commands are Love God with all your heart, and love one another (even your enemies).

I can do good, but "NOT" love my enemy.

Likewise, Muslims belive that they can earn there way into heaven by good deeds as do other religions, where Chritianity is the only religion wherby you can enter heaven purly be accepting Jesus Christ.

So your statement below is not "quite" accurate

certainly from a Christian Perpective

Originally posted by alf
At the end of the day, all religions pretty much teach a simple moral constant but one that leaves a lot of room for interpretation. Do good, refrain from doing harm.

[Jim Richards]

Originally posted by cantdrv55
What is FSM?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

[alf]

Originally posted by Z-man

If man created God, then without a devine being to jump start life, the universe, and everything, (42), all of this must have started via evolution. Since no one was around when that first ameoba decided to jump out of the goop he was swimming in, there is no uniquivocal, completely undisputable proof that we're decendents of said ameoba. -Z

But who/what created that divine being to kick it all off? You are right, it takes faith to not believe in the divine.

BTW, i am not trying to single out one religion or another to question. I have the utmost respect for moral, spiritual people of all paths.

[Aurel]

Here is my take on this: Yes man created God(s) because it unlocks a mechanism that makes extraordinary things happen. I call it the power of thoughts. Faith is directed thougth towards positive things that make positive things happen. Then you can claim God did it, while it really was you who unlocked some yet misunderstood power of your mind. You can choose to worship an evil God, and evil things will happen to you. You can choose not to beleive in God, but have positive thoughts, and good things will happen. Thoughts and words are a lot more powerfull than we can grasp.
Once you understand that, it really does not matter what religion and what God you use, they are just supports for unlocking the power of your own mind.

Aurel

[Moneyguy1]

Not so much that "man created God" as it is that man attempts to describe the attributes of God in human terms since there is not other yardstick. So, depending on the specific religion, God can be vindictive, angry, jealous, merciful, forgiving, loving. Pick your description. I all probablilty, they are all wrong.

The existence, as Z said, cannot be proven, nor can it be disproven. Those who insist to know the "truth" absolutely are professing something they can never really know for certain. Those who rail against the existence of a Creator are just as mistaken as those who claim they know with certainty of his existence.

Faith is important to me, since there are things I do not know, but I believe. These beliefs are very personal, differ from person to person and should be respected insofar as they do not interfere with the freedoms of others. What is so hard to understand?

[nota]

if there is a GOD would not all people have a religion
that was based on the same GOD instead of thousands of different religions no two the same and no one religion unsplit in to sub-cults

if the christians were correct the holy spirit should guide all the churchs into the same belifes but the christians are the most subdivided religion ever
where is the hand of GOD in the sub-cults
I see only the mind of man behind the divided cults