[Wikipedia-l] Re: Why I don't believe (any more) in NPOV

[Vicki Rosenzweig]

At 09:54 AM 6/27/03 -0700, Stevertigo wrote:
>| I know at least two people who have experienced gods, and
>| more than two who survived the Shoah. In both cases, I'm basing
>| this on direct personal report.
>|
>| (One of the two mentioned above is now a serious follower of the
>| gods in question; the other had an idle conversation, enjoyed the
>| garden as the god invited him to, and hasn't changed his life in
>| any way.)
>
>I take issue with the above --for its expression that God as an idea or a
>concept is dead.  This tends to come from a natural rejection of dogmatism
>and puritanical/evangelical/fundamental views (those that contradict reality
>and sense) -- and in that sense its an attitude with which I identify with
>highly.

*HUH?* I report that a friend had an encounter with a god, and is now
worshipping that god, and you think that this means I think that god is
dead?


>But its all too typical in AmSociety to deal see God as a leftover relic of
>a primitive humanity.  The primitive "hand of God" notion -- playing with
>humanity like a bunch of toy soldiers -- is indeed a relic, but a relic of a
>misinterpretation.  The monotheist idea of "all is of one " is equivalent to
>the eastern traditional ideas where "all is one".  The meaing of "God" --
>"that which cannot be named" -- regardless of the the time, is quite an idea
>to wrap a human mind around.  Its the idea of something thats too ... to fit
>into an idea.

That is *one* idea of God, an idea within the monotheist tradition. That
isn't the god either of my friends spoke to. Their experiences are as
real as any.

-- 
Vicki Rosenzweig
vr at redbird.org
http://www.redbird.org