Do you believe in God/god(s)/a "higher power"?
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.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." - HDT
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Of a carefully selected cross-section of Internet Tolkien geeks?
Next we should have one about what's our favorite candy.
Next we should have one about what's our favorite candy.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Bag End.
People need to know that their answers to such sensitive questions are hidden from Googlebots.
And I voted yes, too.
People need to know that their answers to such sensitive questions are hidden from Googlebots.
And I voted yes, too.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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"?
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"?
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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).
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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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.)
(But then, as Athrabeth has pointed out, I'm probably really a Taoist at heart.)
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
Well, Voronwë, many say that sin is anything that "separates" us from God. But that's not what you're saying.
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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.
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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.
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"
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"
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.
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