On Mon, Jan 27, 2014 at 3:21 PM, Jason Resch <[email protected]> wrote:
>> But Jason I want to ask you a direct question, and this isn't rhetorical >> I'd really like an answer: If there is no all encompassing purpose or a >> goal to existence and if the unknown principle responsible for the >> existence of the universe is not intelligent and is not conscious and is >> not a being then do you think it adds to clarity to call that principle >> "God"? >> > > > I consider this question equivalent to asking "If there is no elan vital > found within organisms, does it still make sense to call those organisms > life?" > Elan vital has never been found in organisms, or in anything else for that matter, so the obvious answer is YES, otherwise there would NEVER be an occasion to use the word "life" (except in the negative, but if every physical thing is not X then X is of no interest whatsoever) and the word "life" should be retired from the English language. > > I think there is a common kernel of idea behind the word God, > I agree, but neither omniscience nor omnipotence are among those key ideas behind the word God, the idea that He created the universe is closer to that core but still not quite there; after all the supreme being need not be perfect or infinite, He or she (it needs to be a being, if it's a "it" then it's not God) needs only to be better than the competition. But calling something "God" (as Einstein regrettably did) that has no goal and no purpose, that has zero intelligence and zero consciousness, that has nothing to do with morality, that does not hear our prayers much less answer them, and is not even a being is equivalent to calling something a "dog" even though the thing can not bark, does not have 4 legs, is not a mammal or even a vertebrate, needs to be plugged in and is very good at opening cans. To avoid confusion I would not call such a thing a dog, I would call it what it is, an electric can opener. John K Clark -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
