Fundamentalist's Christians concept of God

[rob19]

I think the Fundamentalist idea of God as the architect of the Cosmos is a symptom of out of date Aristotelian, & Newtonian conceptions about the "fully automatic", mechanical theory about the cause & effect nature of the universe; Newton's "billiard ball" concept, if you will.



It's never been a train of thought that has appealed to me. However, I did find enlightening the Eastern ideas that God is not something that is separate from the universe, God's not "building" the universe, as if he's somehow outside of it, or different from it. I also like the Taoist conception of their not being a "billiard ball" cause & effect, mechanical, sort of universe, but rather that these things "arrive mutually". They see the world in the way that Ecologist's do; They realize that it's a system of interrelated components, none of which can survive without the other, "they interdepend, and this total system of interdependence is the Tao".



One other idea I'd like to introduce to people is the Hindu concept of Brahma.

[Dovahkiin]

I think Jesus might be a vampire. Guys dies, resurrects himself, gains eternal life and then tells people to drink his blood.

[rob19]

Here's another good video contrasting eastern and western ideas concerning the construction of nature.

[cdz12250]

The different views of God held by Eastern and Western civilizations mirror how they each view the world in general. We organized and industrialized. The Easterners went more the spiritual route. You have seen how that turned out historically, and how today the Easterners have adopted our materialistic world view out of pragmatism. I have seen what works and prefer Newton's billiard ball. God, to me, is not an ephemeral landscape. God is a physicist.

[rob19]

The different views of God held by Eastern and Western civilizations mirror how they each view the world in general. We organized and industrialized. The Easterners went more the spiritual route. You have seen how that turned out historically, and how today the Easterners have adopted our materialistic world view out of pragmatism. I have seen what works and prefer Newton's billiard ball. God, to me, is not an ephemeral landscape. God is a physicist.

I couldn't disagree more with that first sentence. & Yes, we have seen how "that turned out"; I get the feeling that you feel some sense of western superiority and I'm pretty sure it's because of a lack of foresight about the sustainability of our feverish materialistic consumption. If every country consumed the way the United States did, we'd need the resources equivalent to that of 6 earths; The United States is in for a rude awakening within the next 50 years. Furthermore, I disagree with your premise that Western spirituality is more "pragmatic" than any Eastern philosophy; I think that's either a fundemental misunderstanding, or unfamiliarity, of Eastern concepts. If "what works" for you is the rabid consumption of material goods by fevered egos being manufactured out of the bones of a dying world than so be it, but it won't sustain.

[rob19]