Philosophy of Religion

I just read a lot of it (the link I provide on the right), and here's what I think:

let it be said that I am agnostic on both my own Godhood and the Godhood of any other, external, being or Being.

Agnostic (a, not. gnostic, knowing) means 3 things
1) that evidence both for or against the existence of God doesn't wash, or
2) the evidence can't be found/known,
3)or is equal -that is, balances- the evidence of Atheism with Theism.

I subscribe to #3. Arguments for both are equally convincing.

But I believe love exists.
I believe anyone can play the role
I believe in goodness (and the good book says only God is good)
I heard a physicist on TV say that it is possible to create a universe.

but there's a lot of other stuff that gets attributed to God, that I think is ridiculous: namely, the Omni's: omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence (in time/space), and omni-benevelence.
That seems to be basic to most people's conception; i.e. infinite power, knowledge, and love. I just picture God as being human with the maximum amount of power and influence to lead and change the world. The power to kill is omnipotence, and I'm not about that at all. We need to say God is omnipotent to intimidate the haters. We need to believe in infinite love to overcome adversity.

God is different things to different people. The definition may not even be clear to the people who believe in Him. The logic, I'm saying, can be fuzzy.

But I don't know. Maybe. Maybe anyone's conception is true. I don't know. Why not.

There's virtual reality and objective reality. An operative concept in your head is true for you, but may not be objectively there, in reality. In other words, it can be a delusion.

I agree with Freud that religion can be a response to feelings of helplessness and guilt. We need security and forgiveness. In the face of uncertainty, we resort to imploring a higher power for safety. And we fear death, so the prospect of heaven is a powerful pull. And it's a meme that has staying power, because people survive better in communities that help each other out.

I'm God because I want to instill a morality that will help a world mired in anger, hate, violence, war, disrespect for life, poverty, disease, and sadness. I want to be good. I want to make a difference. That about sums it up.

I'm pro-life, but I don't like it's affiliation with either the Republican party, or religions and religious belief. I'm a democrat, and prefer the secular point of view. But everyone needs love in their lives. That's religion. And 'Be Good' and 'Be nice to others' and 'love one another' and 'kindness is my religion.'

I have a presumption of atheism. I'm agnostic because you can never really know. And I'm a theist because I can embody God myself; i.e. step up and play the role. Be kind, compassionate, and loving. And I'm not alone. I think everybody claims their own authority for their moralities and preferences. People are their own Gods and they don't even know it.

I agree that it is more economical to postulate the existence of any number of finite beings than to postulate the existence of one infinite One. That sentence is taken straight out of the Improbability of God section. This is what I see- lots of individuals, with their own experiences and opinions. Richard Swinburne says that an infinite being is the most probable kind of being. I think this is laughably ludicrous. Does he have ANY idea what infinite means?? Remember what I called the 'jest'. Infinite space goes on FOREVER. It 's not clear what he could possibly signify by an 'infinite being'. I just say, yeah, whatever.

I've been atheist because of the problem of evil, in the past. But I can see the alternative; namely, that God gives us free will to choose evil, so that we can learn from our mistakes and become closer to God; i.e. become more loving. Slaves or automatons to a universal theistic morality wouldn't be much fun at all. (Being bad can be fun, too. Bad can be good, in a way, or sometimes.) We have long lives ahead of us and we need to keep things interesting. Actually, we have free will whether God gives it to us or not, but that's just a fun way of stating it. Fate exists, in that we all are destined to die. So live life how you want, you only live once.

Religion is fun. Clapping hands, dreaming up sermons, keeping the dark side in check. Let there be light!