5 ms·
It depends on what theism is to you. For many people [0] believe in God is tightly intertwined with the idea that this supernatural being has strong opinions ab
by names_are_hard 6y ago
It depends on what theism is to you. For many people [0] believe in God is tightly intertwined with the idea that this supernatural being has strong opinions about how life on Earth is to function. And it's hard to believe that when you look at the scale of the universe and how small our lives are relative to it all.
It's possibly to believe in God and think that God is too busy with the cosmos to be concerned with our tiny lives. But it isn't a very "useful" belief, in the sense that it's a belief with no practical implication.
[0] certainly those who grew up in Abrahamic religions, I'm not familiar enough with other schools of thought to comment
- andyjohnson0 6y ago> It's possibly to believe in God and think that God is too busy with the cosmos to be concerned with our tiny lives. But it isn't a very "useful" belief, in the sense that it's a belief with no practical implication. It would imply that God has limitations, which goes against the usual view (at least in abrahamic religions) of god being unlimited by definition. It would also invite the question of where those limitations come from. If that's not a practical enough implication, there would also be: dont rely on God for personal attention.
- names_are_hard 6y agoI think we're in agreement. What I meant by no practical implication was that if I'm an atheist and then I learn that there is in fact a God, but he's either too busy, limited, or otherwise uninterested in my life, then I can shrug off that information with no negative consequences. It doesn't matter to me if there's no God or if there's an uninvolved God, except as an academic question (ie no practical implication). But if I'm an atheist and I learn that there's a God that cares about me or my behavior then I will likely have to change my lifestyle. Maybe I'll have to start praying, or giving charity, or stop stealing, or start dancing around a fire now and then so that the rain comes, or marry in a certain way, etc. It's no surprise to me that the popular versions of God-belief out there describe a God that's very involved in Earthly affairs. Because otherwise, what's the point?
- frosted-flakes 6y agoMany or most religions are concerned with what comes after life. To many people, that is the point.
- names_are_hard 6y agoExactly. To my knowledge most religions teach that what comes after life depends, at least in part, in what we do during our lives. In other words, God is concerned with us and how we live on Earth. Which is remarkable, given how large the universe is and how apparently insignificant we are.
- frosted-flakes 6y agoWhy is it remarkable? The point is that (in Christianity), God is all-knowing, and doesn't suffer from the same limitations as humans, or ants.
- jlokier 6y ago> It's possibly to believe in God and think that God is too busy with the cosmos to be concerned with our tiny lives. A counterpoint is this idea: Imagine how much awe you feel on realising that the awesome scale of the universe is nothing to the even awesomer scale of God who can give personal attention to everyone's tiny lives throughout the entire universe!
- names_are_hard 6y agoAgreed. A religious person coming to terms with the magnitude of the universe either feels a humbling awe or struggles to reconcile the unbelievable idea that God made all this and is still interested in humanity.