A new word for a new God?

As I read through some of the threads here on the forum, I can't help but wonder, why is the word “god” used by transrational or post-metaphysical oriented people? Since “god” can mean anything from a supernatural bearded man in the clouds to a poetic expression of inner psychology it creates unnecessary confusion. This artificially lumps together the pre- and post-rational perspectives. I call myself an atheist, but I wish there was a better way of short and “straight-to-the-point” explain that this does not mean that I'm excluding spirituality from my life. Even the word spirituality has metaphysical bagage…

Any suggestions?

Re: A new word for a new God?

Which threads have you been reading?  There are a number of threads on 'postmetaphysical theology,' in which 'God,' is used, but very many more where the word is not used at all – because the perspectives discussed don't frame things in those (theistic) terms.

Re: A new word for a new God?

So what words do you suggest then to be used instead? A word that can be used as referring to specific sets of perspectives that are non-theistic.

Re: A new word for a new God?

I am always baffled by such intellects not seeing that Buddha answered this for us:
Dharma, or cosmic law, is God!
Or as the Sufis say: God has many names.

Re: A new word for a new God?

“Or as the Sufis say: God has many names.”

Today for me, S/He is the energizer bunny. Is that an atheist and/or a theist view?

Re: A new word for a new God?

Lol…I would call that a “Mark-ist” view :)

Re: A new word for a new God?

Zakariyya…Dharma is actually much closer to the “god” concept I am trying to explain than the word “god” is.

Re: A new word for a new God?

Atheism or Theism are words that describe the subjective views of some  people.. The REALTY is that we are governed by Cosmic laws [Dharma].
God is The Dharma!
A metaphor for Dharma  [Cosmic Law-God]

God is a being only in the person of an enlightened sage who has chosen to involve him or herself in the affair of the return of humans to their true nature.
That being can only do anything within the dictates of cosmic law [ dharma]

Re: A new word for a new God?

Then what is “cosmic law”? If such laws exists then we have the same discussion again, where the laws came from, “who wrote the Dharma”? The atheism vs theism perspective to me is that of bottom-up vs top-down. Atheism = the smaller/simpler parts make up the larger/more complex, Theism = the smaller/simpler are spawned from the larger/more complex. Either way, we are looking at the same phenomena -conciousness, or “life”, and arguing for the opposide sides of the coin to the whereabouts of its origin. The old hen vs the egg dilemma… To me, it feels like we are observing something like the internet and trying to understand it's deeper purpose by taking computers and telephones apart, or surfing the net trying to find out “who the heck is in charge of this internet thing?”

Re: A new word for a new God?

Ti-Shu: It's funny that you'd post this today; just yesterday I replied to a newcomer in the Lounge who'd discovered Gaia on a journey that started when she was looking for a new word or different name for “God.”

I consider myself a atheistic mystic, though agnosticism might be a little more accurate, as my heart thrills most at the wholly and holy unknown. Also, in writing this I realize I've become more forgiving or flexible about the use of the word God (and other religiously loaded terms) over the past few years. I mean, why don't we just co-opt the word for our postmetaphysical meanings, and drag the rest of the world along with us… ? ;)

Re: A new word for a new God?

“why don't we just co-opt the word for our postmetaphysical meanings, and drag the rest of the world along with us… ? ;)”

Well good luck with that! People tend to cling on to words they consider holy like a child with their favourite teddy bear. I stopped using the word “satan” when I realized the word simply had to much bagage, now I refer to the “shadow side” or “grounding” and I tend to get less antagonism. From my perspective words are just like clothes, changing them doesn't mean you're a different person.

The problem with using a word is that you are then assumed to defend and support all others who use the same word for a different meaning…maybe I should just talk less and act more :-p

Re: A new word for a new God?

I, personally, am not all that puzzled when Nine Inch Nails sing,
“You bring me closer to God.” 
Makes sense to me.
The lyrics may seem odd in the context of that tune,
but I guess it all depends on one's personally understanding of “God.”
There are evocative senses to terms as well;
they need not be strictly referential.

Re: A new word for a new God?

We had a discussion about a year ago on the God Pod called what God is

We got:

 “Infinte ground of all Potential?” We could even acronym it - IGOAP 


Philip K. Dick's VALIS?  It stands for Vast Active Living Intelligence System.


'The One and The Many' - TOATM or without the articles OM


“that Being the greater than which cannot be conceived.”


wakan tanka (lakota for Great Mystery)


(among other meanderings)

Re: A new word for a new God?

I love that song! I listened to NIN during most of my adolesence…

Re: A new word for a new God?

Ti Shu,
You wrote: I call myself an atheist, but I wish there was a better way of short and “straight-to-the-point” explain that this does not mean that I'm excluding spirituality from my life.

If you could be a little more specific here I am sure a least one of us in this neighborhood will know exactly what you mean, and that you are not the first exponent of that point of view, and in fact it probably has a name that you can adopt as a “straight-to-the-point” label for yourself.

S.

Re: A new word for a new God?

Well, if I had a straight-to-the-point way of describing myself, then I wouldn't be in this pickle to start off with then, would I? ;-) I guess my problem is that I don't have a way of explaining what I actually am in a positive way, but I find myself having to explain what I am not. I find myself in the same situation when I try to explain my political viewpoints. I am an anarchist because I am against systems and mechanisms that favour hierarchies and deplete humanity from power and responsibility of their own lives, or discourages solidarity and plurality. So what am I FOR? Well…everything else really, but what is the name of this?

Re: A new word for a new God?

Tie Shoe, (I hope you don't mind if I use the English spelling,)
It gets down to one of those damned figure ground problems:

I value liberty in the agentic and the free communion of sovereign individuals. That is why I am an anarchist. I am not so much opposed to structures of government because then I would have them as part of my self-definition. And who wants negativity as part of an identity? Like French anarchist and theologian, Jacques Ellul, I adhere to ignoring governments wherever and whenever possible as the best tactic toward their devaluation.

I value open-ended inquiry, association, experience, novelty and a general good time. That is why I tend to be nihilistic. I do not oppose beliefs, I just try to keep to a minimum those that impinge on me with their limitations. They come in handy from time to time as ad hoc, contingent and transcient expedients. To not believe in beliefs is sort of like employing the double negative in the English language (though it is the standard in Castellano). And who wants to have negativity as even just as a secondary part of a self-definition?

So between what you oppose and what I value, which is the figure and which is the ground? I hope the difference does not depend on how we regard our selves.

Re: A new word for a new God?

Tie Shoe…lol!!! If that is the english spelling, then what language was I using? I like your perspective and I'm reflecting on how mine would differ. I don't think it really does, except for you this is clarity and for me it's still confusion…

Re: A new word for a new God?

Hi Tie Shoe,
I call myself a spiritual anarchist, if that helps any.
kela

Re: A new word for a new God?

Hi Kela,
Well…I call myself anarchist and I call myself spiritual…so maybe I'm not seeing the forest here because of all the trees? What is spiritual anarchism to you?

Re: A new word for a new God?

Can’t you see? God is everything and nothing, at the same time!   If God is not everything, then what is anything else? There is nothing but God!

Re: A new word for a new God?

Well, I think I do see, even if it's from another angle. The reason why I (and I think many others as well) are atheist is more or less because of that perspective. If the whole universe had a constant light shade of pink, we wouldn't have a name for that color and there would be no need for it either. The only way the concept of god is relevant, is if there is something which is “not god” or “less god”. There is no word for two-legged humans. We just call them humans.

Re: A new word for a new God?

Ti-Shu, you might find this thread interesting, if you haven't come across it yet.

Re: A new word for a new God?

I had a dream last night that was quite vivid.

I was driving on a 4-lane freeway in the fast lane. I crossed the divider and went into the opposing traffic. About a quarter mile in front of me, there was a lot of traffic that was coming right at me. I turned very sharply and pulled off on the shoulder. To my surprise, all the traffic stopped in front of me.

Collectively, all of us turned our attention to the banked shoulder and looked down. The bank was very steep and dropped off about 30 feet. At the bottom of the bank, there was about 6-8 cars piled on top of each other and all the drivers were dead within them. Near the cars, a poor street man was sleeping. We all wondered why this guy was sleeping/camping right next to this horrible scene. He then woke up and started walking away. He had a notebook PC and seemed to be quite agitated about not getting a proper GPS reading.

Meanwhile, the onlookers removed the bodies from the wreckage and brought them up to the bank. They also brought up the cars by hand too. There wasn't a voice that spoke, but there was a conscious realization that the true saviors or heavy-lifters of the world would not be the rich and famous. It would be us.

Re: A new word for a new God?

Thanks Balder,
yes I've read some of it, I'm sorry to say though that even if the topics really interest me at this forum, I do not share the same background knowledge as most of you do and hence find the threads very difficult to follow at times. Just understanding one post might include following several links to essays, websites etc presenting concepts that are absolutely new to me. Then add the extra google-ing I need to do to simply understand the vocabulary that some of you use. I'm certainly not being grumpy, this is a challenge I enjoy very much, it's just that it takes a lot of time and effort and causes confusion. So if you want to give me a suggestion on a topic/thread that you think will be interesting to me, please treat me “like a four year old” and tell me more specifically WHY and WHAT you are referring to in particular. If you think I like blueberries, point me to the blueberry bush, not the forest.

Re: A new word for a new God?

God=the universes
the universes
the multiverse
the One
ha'eckhadvah in Hebrew