Author Topic: pagan/god (Read 4741 times)

millergrls · « **on:** February 05, 2013, 07:21:40 am »

I was having a discussion with someone and the question arose, can you be a pagan and still believe in God? For me, I believe in God but I also believe that there are many other gods. I was just curious as to other thoughts.

IceAngie · « **Reply #1 on:** February 05, 2013, 08:14:48 am »

Quote from: millergrls;95177

I agree with you. If there are so many gods out there, why the one called "God" wouldn't exist? I choose not to honor him, but it doesn't make him non-existant. What I don't believe in, are his features of omni-omni-omni. I think those are things humans put on him to make him more powerful.

veggiewolf · « **Reply #2 on:** February 05, 2013, 09:05:51 am »

Quote from: millergrls;95177

Yes. There's no reason to stop believing in the deity called God just because you also believe in others.

Sage · « **Reply #3 on:** February 05, 2013, 09:34:10 am »

Quote from: millergrls;95177

Nothing says you can't. Personally, I don't want anything to do with "God" - either with the concept of an omni-everything deity, or with the Abrahamic deity who's snagged that name - and I don't feel bad about essentially ignoring him in my worship.

Gilbride · « **Reply #4 on:** February 05, 2013, 09:54:56 am »

Quote from: millergrls;95177

There is an ancient and widespread tradition of acknowledging a supreme divine reality (God, or the Source, or the One, or Brahman) while also worshiping many lesser deities. Examples include Neoplatonism, Vedantic Hinduism and many others. In this type of theology, God and "the gods" are not the same type of entity at all, because the term "God" is reserved for something so transcendent it doesn't have a personality or a mythology or any other features. It is "beyond qualities."

In this type of system, the deity worshiped in the Abrahamic religions would be "a god," not God as such.

Fier · « **Reply #5 on:** February 05, 2013, 10:13:57 am »

Quote from: Gilbride;95189

I read that as "or Batman". :whis:

*thinks someone with a more creative mind that she should write up what Batman worship would look like*

Nachtigall · « **Reply #6 on:** February 05, 2013, 10:24:58 am »

Quote from: millergrls;95177

What do you mean by "God"? The Judeo-Christian Yahweh? Personally, I don't believe in him, at least not as he is described in the Bible. Or perhaps you refer to the Source of All, a supreme unnamed deity (most probably impersonal one), that all the other deities are facets/emanations of? This seems to be more probable to me.

Shine · « **Reply #7 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:02:27 am »

Quote from: millergrls;95177

Yes, no, maybe. It depends.

Personally, I don't believe in God (if you're talking about the Christian God/Yahweh, anyhow). I prayed to him for years and didn't get a single answer from him. Of course, somebody who goes by the name of God must exist, otherwise a crapton of people are praying to air. I tend to think it's multiple somebodies answering and I don't believe in the omni-everything.

Now, if by God you mean the substance to which everything else can be reduced, then yes, I believe in him-her. I call him-her Atum(-Ra), sometimes Nun, or Bennu-Mehen/Phoenix-Ouroboros. Yay for monism.

Shine · « **Reply #8 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:03:14 am »

Quote from: FierFlye;95192

Great, now I'm going to be distracted all day thinking about this. :s

SkySamuelle · « **Reply #9 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:06:10 am »

Quote from: millergrls;95177

When I parted ways with Christianity, I did so because I had to admit that espousing its cosmology and worldview as whole was impossible to me. Because I could not make a sense of that and it was suggested by its supporters as there was 'one truth' and the trinity could not be considered outside the abrahamaic ideologic framework (as everything not in that framework was a Devil's illusion) I came to believe that the trinity could not exist.

Years after, from a wholly polytheistic viewpoint, I can ironically believe Yahwe exhists - I don't believe him omipotent or allknowing although i suppose it is possible that he likes to be considered that way by humans - i think of him as a deity of trascendence but one among many gods in the world, not necessarily more important or powerful than others . I still don't understand/approve a lot of the religion he is at the center of, but I feel comfortable with the fact it is not really my business to.

I find also not ... appropriate for me to refer to him as 'God' as that has the value, in Abrahamic framework, of underling that Yahwe is the one and only deity in existence. As I don't recognize that as truth, I generally prefer to refer to him as Yahwe or the Christian god-Father.

Fausta · « **Reply #10 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:26:54 am »

Quote from: millergrls;95177

I'm not into denying one god and accepting the existence of others. That said, my view of the JCI-God(s) is quite different from those who worship him/them, starting but not ending with the only-oneness and omnipotence (at first I wrote "omnipotency" and my spell-check insisted on replacing that word with "impotency"

:).

Kimberly · « **Reply #11 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:38:20 am »

Quote from: Shine;95200

"crapton of people are praying to air"....that is fantastic! It made me lol.

I honestly do believe that those who believe in "God" as in the Christian God/Yahweh are praying to air. I don't believe it exists. It's something I feel in my gut that isn't correct. But that is my belief. I may be wrong, I may be right. But I also don't think that IF that "God" does exist that the others couldn't. I don't think it's one way or the highway type of deal. For all we know, all of man kind and all our different beliefs could be wrong. It could be the aliens! We don't know, we just have to follow what we feel in our souls. I also don't believe it should matter, but that is my humble opinion.

millergrls · « **Reply #12 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:40:43 am »

Quote from: FierFlye;95192

To tell you the truth. I have always sort of worshiped Batman. He is sort of hot. even considering buying my husband a batman costume. MMM.......

millergrls · « **Reply #13 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:42:41 am »

Quote from: Nachtigall;95196

More in terms of christianity. That was the discussion I was having that you cannot believe in god and believe that there is more than one. I think that you can. There is more in this world than just one source to believe in. I think we are the divine in a sense.

millergrls · « **Reply #14 on:** February 05, 2013, 11:48:28 am »

Quote from: Kimberly;95205

It all leads to the same destination in the end, just a different path. Might as well be happy while you are on that path.