Is There a Higher Being?

[Götterschicksal]

Ok, let me get this forum up and going.

What is your opinion? Is there a higher being - no matter what one calls it (rather it be God, gods, goddesses, fairies, elfs, giants, titans, etc.)?

My opinion is No. There is not. We are alone (as far as spiritual or super-natural beings on this world, not exculding aliens) I believe when we die, that is it - worms eat your brain and you rot and become one with the earth agian. Sad but true. The only way we live after death is through our decendents that carry our blood and practice our beliefs (hopefully).

What is your opinion?

[Milesian]

Believe in God, but not aliens

[cosmocreator]

There is a God and he looks like this


<-----


I don't think there is a God as a Being with humble white hair and a humble white beard who sits in his chair and looks down on us from heaven.

However, I think there is an "energy" or "force" for lack of a word for it, that permeates all things.

[Milesian]

I always wondered what you look like!

[Borivoj]

I am not a religious person, but I am not an athiest. I often wonder what puts life into the molecules that make us up? Is it just complicated electrical impulses, or is there something more? Also, there is the question of where did all matter originate? did God create it or has it always been present in the universe? I voted "I don't know" on the poll in case you're wondering.

[Azdaja]

I believe in God, but do not view him as some sort of discarnate spirit being. Rather, I hold to the Jungian view of the Self. Stated briefly:
Our individual psyches ('beings', 'souls', 'essences', etc) are unique manifestations of an Archetypal Psyche which exists independently of any one of us. Within this Archetypal Psyche are certain universal principals of growth or psychological & spiritual evolution. These principals are called 'Archetypes".
These Archetypes have a central, ordering principal called the "Self". The Self is also called "The Archetype of Wholeness", which means that all Archetypes (and thus ultimately, all aspects of human existence) are unified 'within' it. Paradoxically, the Self is not only the 'center' of the Archetypal Psyche, but is also the sum total of the Psyche (Archetypal AND individual). The Self is both the circle and the point in the center of that circle.
Unfortunately I cannot go further into this without writing a VERY long post. I am in the process of writing an essay about the concept, similar to my essay on Thelema. When it's done, I'll post it on the board.
In any case, the "Self" is what religion means (whether it knows it or not) when it refers to "God".
The Self has a reflection within the conscious personality of the individual psyche. That reflection is the Ego.
It is the duty of the Ego to gain a maximum amount of consciousness, and to feel itself as a 'separate' being. It is then able to interact with the Self. This process is called "Individuation".
Again, there is more to it than this. But hopefully you get an idea of the whole thing.

[Saoirse]

I've been asked why, considering my judgments regarding biblical religion, that I don't endorse the atheistic concept known as the Church Of The Creator. I've expressed admiration for those portions of COTC teachings which seem valuable, but I'm not an Atheist anymore than a Theist or biblical religionist. In the tradition of the ancients, and of many great thinkers of our race, I am a Deist. Echoing the words of far greater thinkers than myself, I see an intelligent motivating force throughout the universe and behind Nature's Laws.

Our Norse Forefathers, in uncompromising intellectual integrity, admitted that there are things as yet beyond our understanding. Eternity, infinity, the origin of matter, energy, and species, are still subjects of inquiry today. As in other religions, nations, and teachings, our Odinist Forefathers used symbols to represent abstract concepts. Allfather represented the unknowable mysteries of infinity and eternity.

However, unlike the practitioners of priestcraft in biblical religion, Odinists did not, and do not, pretend to speak for "God". The Gods speak to man or woman directly through the evidence of Nature's Laws. The whole purpose of priestcraft is to allow the priest, or the people he represents, to control or have power over others. The power of the pulpit and of "Divine Right to Rule" rests on the words "God said", and a claim of superior access to God. Odinists denounce the whole philosophy of one man having power of compulsion over others.

To Odinists, the Gods and Godesses with names such as Woden (English version of Odin), Thorburn, Frigga, and Sif, represent forces of Nature, fertility, and noble ancestors. They provide linkage between past, present and future. Their deeds are parables teaching courage and other Aryan virtues. Even a treacherous God like Loki teaches a lesson in the dangers from internal subversion.

Regarding "belief" in a God, or a motive intelligent force throughout the universe, let's again define the word belief. Belief can be blind faith, which is a mark of ignorance, and which allows the adherent to be led anywhere like sheep to the slaughter. A constructive belief is a conclusion based on the best available evidence, where such evidence is insufficient to warrant a statement of fact. I believe in the God of my understanding, but to make a statement of fact or demand that others conform to my belief would be intellectually dishonest.

-- David Lane.

[Evolved]

I believe in a God, but no Jesus, Mohammed or anything like that. :no So I'm a non-denominational monotheist, with more of a shamanic leaning but also absorbed a little bit from Semitic thought, European heathenism and Zoroastrianism here and there. Imagine explaining all that to people.

[Ewergrin]

I believe in a God, but no Jesus, Mohammed or anything like that. :no So I'm a non-denominational monotheist, with more of a shamanic leaning but also absorbed a little bit from Semitic thought, European heathenism and Zoroastrianism here and there. Imagine explaining all that to people.

That explanation would be an instant migrain for most of the planet, and would possibly warrant a subpeona in your mailbox on the grounds that you are torturing sheep by making them think: something they were clearly never meant to do.

[Ewergrin]

I dont believe in any gods.
I havent found one yet that was worth worshipping. Besides.. who needs faith when all of that science is there to dissprove it every time?

"Look, Grog.. thunder and lighning... the gods must be angry," said Bog. "No, Bog, thats rapidly expanding air along the path of the natural electrical discharge in the atmosphere."

:giggle