The idea of a god is a god. Jesus actually exists, He’s a psychological parasite living in the collective imagination of humanity. And He influences the world through His followers, who are sworn to serve Him.
I mean, sort of? That statement isn’t literally true, but taken metaphorically it basically matches what I said.
Jesus actually exists
Scholarly consensus is that he was indeed a real person who actually existed, but he obviously didn’t perform the actual literal miracles described in the bible.
He’s a psychological parasite living in the collective imagination of humanity. And He influences the world through His followers, who are sworn to serve Him.
Yeah, sure. He doesn’t literally live, but the idea of him has a powerful effect, so metaphorically you could say he influences the world through his followers.
Unless you’re getting into some really fucking weird mumbo jumbo bullshit and you’re trying to claim it is actually absolutely literal that he exists and exerts a force on the world directly, I don’t see where you and I are in disagreement.
Umm, no, I don’t believe in any gods. The only effect gods have is the effect caused by people acting in accordance with their belief, shared down through the ages and evolved at every stage by the culture it’s a part of, in those gods.
Gods are like money. They only exist because people believe in them. But they can still have an effect on the world because of how that belief works. For example, I think money makes people more selfish. Money creates billionaires and drives them to run sweatshops and bribe politicians. Money made the oil industry, money is destroying the world.
Do you believe money is capable of agency, of changing people’s behaviour, like I do? Or do you think it’s just people acting on their own based on their belief in money, and money itself isn’t making any of the decisions?
First I’d start out by saying I don’t think money itself “only exists because people believe in” it. Rather, money itself is definitely a real thing, but it gains its value from people’s belief. Maybe you consider that semantics, but I would say we’re already deep in the weeds of semantics.
Anyway, money is inanimate. It can’t per se change people’s behaviour. We might occasionally metaphorically talk about it as though it does, but in reality it is, as you suggest, “people acting on their own based on their belief in money”.
Money is the value of money, not the paper. If you’re saying money is a piece of paper, that’s like saying Jesus is a little wooden statue of a man on a cross. If money most definitely exists outside of belief (as a piece of paper), then Jesus most definitely exists outside of belief (as a piece of wood).
But that’s not what I believe. I believe money is the idea of money’s value, and Jesus is the idea of Jesus’ values.
The idea of a god is a god. Jesus actually exists, He’s a psychological parasite living in the collective imagination of humanity. And He influences the world through His followers, who are sworn to serve Him.
And this means they’re alien intelligence how?
They’re not human. Their minds work very differently to human minds.
I mean, sort of? That statement isn’t literally true, but taken metaphorically it basically matches what I said.
Scholarly consensus is that he was indeed a real person who actually existed, but he obviously didn’t perform the actual literal miracles described in the bible.
Yeah, sure. He doesn’t literally live, but the idea of him has a powerful effect, so metaphorically you could say he influences the world through his followers.
Unless you’re getting into some really fucking weird mumbo jumbo bullshit and you’re trying to claim it is actually absolutely literal that he exists and exerts a force on the world directly, I don’t see where you and I are in disagreement.
Well then you believe in all the gods. Elohim, Thor, Ra, etc. right?
Umm, no, I don’t believe in any gods. The only effect gods have is the effect caused by people acting in accordance with their belief, shared down through the ages and evolved at every stage by the culture it’s a part of, in those gods.
Gods are like money. They only exist because people believe in them. But they can still have an effect on the world because of how that belief works. For example, I think money makes people more selfish. Money creates billionaires and drives them to run sweatshops and bribe politicians. Money made the oil industry, money is destroying the world.
Do you believe money is capable of agency, of changing people’s behaviour, like I do? Or do you think it’s just people acting on their own based on their belief in money, and money itself isn’t making any of the decisions?
First I’d start out by saying I don’t think money itself “only exists because people believe in” it. Rather, money itself is definitely a real thing, but it gains its value from people’s belief. Maybe you consider that semantics, but I would say we’re already deep in the weeds of semantics.
Anyway, money is inanimate. It can’t per se change people’s behaviour. We might occasionally metaphorically talk about it as though it does, but in reality it is, as you suggest, “people acting on their own based on their belief in money”.
Money is the value of money, not the paper. If you’re saying money is a piece of paper, that’s like saying Jesus is a little wooden statue of a man on a cross. If money most definitely exists outside of belief (as a piece of paper), then Jesus most definitely exists outside of belief (as a piece of wood).
But that’s not what I believe. I believe money is the idea of money’s value, and Jesus is the idea of Jesus’ values.