Simone Weil's weird take on religious belief

Simone Weil's weird take on religious belief Apr 25, 2019 10:07:01 GMT

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Post by Arlon10 on Apr 25, 2019 10:07:01 GMT

Apr 25, 2019 8:51:39 GMT rizdek said:

Apr 24, 2019 21:12:09 GMT Arlon10 said:

You say it isn't you, and maybe I believe it isn't you, but it is a lot of atheists. They can't get over the concept of the old man with long white hair and a beard who lives in the clouds. That image is not what religious people believe. That image is just an accommodation to children and retarded adults who are not capable of dealing with higher abstractions.

Do you think you will ever see God? If so, what DO you think he'll look like?

   There are several different concepts that people mean when they use the word "god." The most widely recognized is the "ethical system" in Judaism. Dictionaries often define a "god" as an individual's or group's "supreme" concern or being, which would include things like money, military prowess, physical attractiveness, science or other mundane things. Some poor souls might make a "god" out of tobacco. In that sense everyone has a god even if it is spontaneity. Many Jews might be fairly described as having an ethical code and behavior as the supreme thing to them.

   In science the term of choice is "supernatural" and simply means anything that apparently defies the understanding of nature as currently cataloged. The relationship can be different. Sometimes the unknown is not so much honored as pursued in hope of making it known.

   In Catholicism there is the concept the Beatific Vision, which Wikipedia might describe better than I can. Perhaps one of the several Catholics on this board might have helpful information.

   Whether they admit it or not the god of many people is the "surcease of sorrow" that of course was a concern long before Edgar Allan Poe put it in those words.

   In chapter 11 of the Baghavad Gita, "The Universal Form," Krishna "reveals" to the devotee Arjuna the many and varied incarnations possible. It requires a special dispensation of some sort since like the Beatific Vision it is beyond human perception otherwise. Suppose a blind person tried to understand the concept of "green." It is not really possible without an improvement in the equipment.

   A word often employed to describe god is "love," but that word is usually as difficult to define and any other choice in these matters. The word might be used far more than it is understood.