Do you believe in God/god(s)/a "higher power"?

Post by **elfshadow** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 9:40 am

I believe very strongly that the idea of God is incredibly powerful. It brings comfort, joy, relief, even sometimes sorrow. The idea of God has touched all of us in a way, some more than others. For me, personally, as much as I would like to believe that the idea of God was an actual physical being...I just can't do it. I don't know how to explain any further, just that the concept of a higher power has always been, to me, just a concept. Not something tangible or real. To me, God exists in people's hearts. God is a manifestation of each person. Some of us have it, some of us don't. I guess I'm one who doesn't.

Post by **yovargas** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 3:34 pm

Only 22 votes so far. We have more active members than that right? Anybody besides Anthy and me abstain?

Post by **Alatar** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 4:48 pm

Some people (like me) just glance at these threads and don't vote either way.

Post by **yovargas** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 4:50 pm

Some people (like you) should vote!

Post by **Alatar** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 4:59 pm

Why? Surely apathy is a vote, in and of itself?

I'm not abstaining, I just don't care enough to vote.

Post by **yovargas** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 5:06 pm

You're messing up my highly scientific survey!

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 5:13 pm

Of a carefully selected cross-section of Internet Tolkien geeks?

Next we should have one about what's our favorite candy.

Post by **TheTennisBallKid** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 5:16 pm

Next we should have one about what's our favorite candy.

Which forum would that go in?

I voted yes...

ttbk

Post by **Primula Baggins** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 5:23 pm

Bag End.

People need to know that their answers to such sensitive questions are hidden from Googlebots.

And I voted yes, too.

Post by **Cerin** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 5:27 pm

yov, perhaps if you personalized the first post in some way, such as why the question interests you, those who don't feel interested in the question itself would have a reason to reply.

Post by **Maria** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:43 pm

I didn't vote because I'm not sure what to vote for. I don't believe in any sort of god as described in any religion, except for maybe the concept of a "Higher Self" that is popular in New Age type stuff.

Is the "higher self" a god?

Or would that be silly? If I believe in such a concept and any "supernatural" attributes a higher self might have, does that count as a god belief?

Or is this a clear case of "other"?

Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:03 pm

Maria, I don't think your belief is much different then mine, and I voted "yes". After all, the question does include "higher power" in addition to God/god(s).

Post by **Cerin** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:21 pm

I'm not sure about that, Voronwë (unless I misunderstand the term 'higher self'). The question asks, do you believe in a higher power, and I think implicit are the question and answer, higher than what? higher than onesself.

Fri Mar 31, 2006 9:48 pm

That, my dear Cerin, implies that one must believe in the duality between "God" and "self". At the risk of sounding blasphemous to some (and with all due respect to their beliefs), I'm not convinced that such a separation exists.

(But then, as Athrabeth has pointed out, I'm probably really a Taoist at heart.)

Post by **Cerin** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 10:05 pm

Then Voronwë, I think 'higher power' is the wrong term to use to express such a belief.

Perhaps yovargas will come and clarify for us.

To me, the phrase 'higher power' does beg the question, higher than what?

So yov, higher than what?

Post by **Faramond** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:26 am

Well, Voronwë, many say that sin is anything that "separates" us from God. But that's not what you're saying.

*******

Higher than what?

Higher than anything. What does higher mean, though?

Surely God defines high and low, for those who believe in God. Or God shines the light that allows high and low to have meaning. Or God is meaning.

Post by **MithLuin** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:37 am

I think that the word "God" used in any way implies otherness. The reason we have a different word for that is that we don't just mean a human being. Human and god are two different things.

Now, if you believe that a human being is divine (or can become so), that certainly means something....but I would say that it means something different from the word "God"

I take "higher power" to be a strange euphemism for "god" - used when people are trying to separate the idea of "god" from the context of any particular religion. The only people (that I know of) who really use the term "higher power" are AA (and the other permutations of it, such as NA). I don't think I have heard it applied to ideas of world conciousness or individual transcendentalism.

For the purposes of this poll, I assumed that the use of "higher power" was for people who would want to answer "I believe in God, but I don't belong to (agree with) any religion" (or something similar to that). But of course, yovargas will have to clarify what he meant by it

.

That is why I think you can only answer the poll meaningfully by discussing "what do you mean by God?" We have to understand what is meant by the word if we are to understand what someone means when they assert that they do or do not believe is such a being/thing/person/concept. In my opinion, it is easier to understand a perspective than to classify it

.

Maria, you are most likely "other"

Post by **yovargas** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:12 pm

I'd prefer to have people define for themselves what the question means.

Post by **Maria** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 3:42 pm

Well, I suspect that any definition of a god would include worshippers

, and as I have no inkling of worshipfulness towards my higher self, I'm going to vote no. The higher self just IS, and is as much a part of me as my body. The fact that my higher self might be controlling more bodies than just my own doesn't change the fact that it is the main part of the motivating force of MY consciousness.

Mon Apr 03, 2006 5:35 pm

MithLuin wrote:I think that the word "God" used in any way implies otherness.

Not according to Michael Valentine Smith.