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Interesting point. As a teen-aged atheist and Ayn Rand fan, I was so determinedly atheistic that I couldn't use the word "god" even in a metaphorical way. Perha

Interesting point. As a teen-aged atheist and Ayn Rand fan, I was so determinedly atheistic that I couldn't use the word "god" even in a metaphorical way. Perhaps I was afraid of the concept (or afraid of what devout believers would do to me). My literalism probably interfered with effective communication at times. Nowadays I aim to focus on the underlying intent, rather than the literal meaning. God is a fairly abstract, catch-all word that can mean a lot of different things to different people.

ChuckMcM 14y ago
"God is a fairly abstract, catch-all word that can mean a lot of different things to different people." Exactly right.
- nollidge 14y ago
  But doesn't that make it meaningless? If we can't all agree what it means, then it doesn't mean anything at all.
  - ChuckMcM 14y ago
    It should, make it meaningless, and thus it should be possible to talk about the various meanings like you talk about kitten pictures on the Internet. What I have observed however that talking about God locks some people up. Sometimes in an actively un-responsive way. So for them the word is associated with a meaning they are running away from. And you can't talk about their meaning because, well they are running away. The is the circle I alluded to in my original comment.
    - nollidge 14y ago
      > So for them the word is associated with a meaning they are running away from. This is incredibly presumptuous.