Sunday, September 09, 2007

Does God Fart Rainbows?

It is just as absurd to claim god thinks, or makes decisions, or has a will, as it is to claim god is an old man with a white beard and long robes. In both cases, one is merely ascribing human characteristics to deity, and has no evidence for making such claims. Perhaps anthropomorphism permeates all discussions of god, but shouldn't we at least be able to get beyond such silliness as assuming that god thinks, or wills, or decides, or farts?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think it's absurd to presume to think we are the only thinking beings in the universe.

I just don't think human beings set the precedent.

Also, I'm very cautious about casting aspersions toward those of faith. Faith is a fool's proposition, but I envy the pure-hearted fool more than I ever envied a wiseman.

Paul Sunstone said...

Hi Amuirin! I think it's pretty well established that many other animals besides ourselves think. They might not think about everything we think about, but at least they ponder the things they are capable of and interested in pondering.

However, I haven't a clue what it would mean to say "God thinks". Does that mean God has neurons that fire as ours do when we think? Does that mean God has hormones that bathe those neurons in chemical signals like we do when we think? Does that mean God perceives a distinction between subject and object -- which we do when we think? There are hundreds of things involved in human thought, and which of those things is one willing to ascribe to God?

I don't believe it in any way casts aspersions on the purity of someone's heart to suggest they might have an anthropomorphic understanding of deity.

I'm curious though: Are you suggesting that a wiseman cannot have a pure heart? That only a fool can?

Anonymous said...

This is an interesting post...must mull over it. Very interestingly worded!:)

Anonymous said...

Why would God not think? If animals think, and we think, then why not God? It isn’t hard to imagine that a higher being thinks on a more complex scale than humans , in the same way that human thought differs from animal thought.

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