Why do you worship your god? Or do you?

AlmostAtheist

The discussion on god and why it allows bad things to happen was eye-opening for me. As I had hoped it would be!

One thing I drew from it is that those that believe in god don't necessarily have any basis at all for that belief. Moreover, that's ok with them. They don't see it as a requirement.

It also seems that they don't expect anything from their god. No miracles, no "saving", no answers to prayers. (Not to say that none have been answered, but when no answer comes this is neither unexpected nor upsetting)

This led me to wonder why believers choose to worship god. Scully mentioned a few days ago that she places pretty high value on her worship and wouldn't just hand it out to anything that asked for it. That makes sense to me.

But OldSoul pointed out that parents love their children. If pressed, a parent would find it impossible to actually explain why they love them, but they will have no problem affirming that they do. Even if they screw up, steal from you, commit murder. You still love them.

Ok, so I could buy that you could still love a god that didn't do anything. But worship is more than love.

What prompts you to worship?

Dave

tetrapod.sapien

dave,

as you know, i don't worship anyone but myself. so, i can't answer your main question, but i had a thought about this statement:

But OldSoul pointed out that parents love their children. If pressed, a parent would find it impossible to actually explain why they love them, but they will have no problem affirming that they do. Even if they screw up, steal from you, commit murder. You still love them.

this is a nice thought, but IMO it starts to fall apart when reversed. children are in a place of vulnerability. they look to their parents for security from suffering. when a parent abuses that relationship, they are considered abusive parents.

i think it can be argued quite easily that any of the abrahamic mono-theist gods have been abusive to humanity. not only through their followers, but via the stories in the holy books for which they are supposedly the authors of.

cheers,

TS

Big Dog

Dave, how do you define worship? What are its components?

trevor

It also seems that they don't expect anything from their god. No miracles, no "saving", no answers to prayers.

I struggle with this concept of expectation. Have we not already been given so much? And given is not really the right word. We have shared so much and been a part of life. We have the ability to consciously be aware of that experience and its significance - right now.

Isn’t life in itself a miracle? The fact that we are still searching for answers as to how life has come into being and cannot fully explain it - makes it a miracle in itself.

Life does not require that we worship it but that we celebrate it and appreciate the wonderful opportunity we have.

This requires that we enjoy the moment we are living, which is the only actual reality. Now is the ‘I am’ rather than the I want to be, please give me more, solve my problems - if I say, pretty please, I love you god.

True our moment on earth does not last long, but lets not be greedy. What are we expecting if we are too busy looking for more to enjoy what we have - a refund?

t

daystar

i think it can be argued quite easily that any of the abrahamic mono-theist gods have been abusive to humanity. not only through their followers, but via the stories in the holy books for which they are supposedly the authors of.

tetra

My assertion is that the stories in the holy books are stories only, and are not inspired by any god; that they are used for the purpose of keeping the masses in control more than anything else.

You have charismatics taking advantage of a situation (consciously or not is irrelevant) and using the name of some god to explain natural and human events in order to maintain some level of control over as large a portion of the earth's population as possible. The monotheistic god(s) have been more useful of late in large part by the consolidation of natural powers into one entity rather than parsing them out to a larger group of less powerful gods like the greco-roman pantheon did, for example.

AlmostAtheist

Tetra, agreed on all points. However, the believers that responded don't seem to be too tied to the biblical god and his serve-or-die attitude. I never nailed down what it was, but it seems that part of the deal is the un-nail-downableness of it.

Dog, by worship I mean "The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object." Or to make it simple, if you pray to it, we'll consider that worship. If you're simply aware of it, believe it exists, but don't expect it to know or care that you exist, then we'll say that isn't worship.

Dave

AlmostAtheist

I struggle with this concept of expectation. Have we not already been given so much? And given is not really the right word. We have shared so much and been a part of life. We have the ability to consciously be aware of that experience and its significance - right now.

I don't expect anything, I was just establishing that the believers don't seem to either. It's not meant to suggest that they should expect anything, just making the point is all. For what it's worth, I think your "live in the moment, appreciate life as it is" attitude is an excellent one.

Dave

upside/down

I acknowledge the "possibility"...

Refuse to worship any entity that refuses to deal with me on terms I would afford the lowliest human.

It's not worthy...yet. I'd love to be proven wrong. Really...

u/d(of the I used to..class)

trevor

I don't expect anything, I was just establishing that the believers don't seem to either.

I appreciate what you are saying, AlmostAthiest .

My comment referred to the fact hat most religious people around the world are hoping to achieve a reward by pleasing their god. In some cases this involves blowing themselves or others up, or so they think.

It is their concept of ‘a god’ that is faulty. Too many holy books and not enough awe and appreciation of reality.

Qcmbr

He's my dad.

Why do you worship your god? Or do you?

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