> ***Off topic***
>
> Hey, bfarrant. Are you trying to slow-freeze the German Shepard with snow?

He was having a temper tantrum, we put a muzzle on him to keep him from barking that day and he just laid down and pouted. So I buried him. ;)

> > He was having a temper tantrum, we put a muzzle on him to keep him from
> > barking that day and he just laid down and pouted. So I buried him. ;)
>
> So, as a bfarrantian experiment, did it work and his barking,
> thereafter, was reduced?

Actually, he arose from his snowy tomb, now the other dogs worship him and proclaim his glory.

>Tom-
If there's God it's an unknowable entity
No person has any good info
You can certainly take a guess
But if anybody ever tells you- "God says, wants,has,does,thinks,is,feels,shows,belongs,....''
Then you are either listening to God himself
Or not

> I hope this was not addresses to me as I have stated, several times, there is
> no such thing as a god/goddess - therefore no definition needs be made for
> nothing.
>
> Mathematically, it could be stated as god=zero (and this is not a big inning
> baseball score).
>

Actually, it is addressed to you, and others who use the term. Fairies don't exist, if by fairies you mean supernatural creatures, resembling humans but with magical power. But, maybe fairies do exist, if defined differently (the sweet old lady next door who baked me cookies when I was a child). It's too easy, and inaccurate, to say you don't have to define something just because you don't believe in it.

---

> Actually, he arose from his snowy tomb, now the other dogs worship him and
> proclaim his glory.
>

> > Actually, he arose from his snowy tomb, now the other dogs worship him
> and
> > proclaim his glory.
> >
>
>
>

That's silly! But I like it.

---

> No Mr. Koenig, I need not explain any of my beliefs to you just I as you have
> no need to explain yours to me. As you have not often enetered this thread,
> and from they way you wrote; I assume you are religious but tend to respect
> others in their beliefs whether it is a non-christian religion or ætheism.
>
> Others may wish to engage you but I see no need to do so as we both believe
> what we wish without having to try to convert the other. There are more
> interesting things to do such as bait fanatics with humour amongst many
> things.
>

Whoa! I didn't say you could or should not be an atheist (I don't care one way or the other). But, how can you say you don't believe in somthing and not even say what that something is? You can say you don't believe in having fun, but it still depends on what you mean by fun. My point is that we all here seem to be working with different definitions of "God". I would understand what you mean when you say you don't believe in God if I knew what you meant by that term; even better, if we could agree on the term among ourselves, this discussion might go somewhere.

Yes, I do respect other people's beliefs. Defining what we all mean by "God" is not a trick to make you believe what I do, it is only meant to give us all common ground for the discussions in this thread. I think it is possible to come up with a working concept (and you would still be free to deny its existance). I'm not looking for somthing linked to a particular religion, but a general understanding of what humanity generally means when it uses the term "God".

---

>....religious fanatical zealots.

I'm no Christian but see alot of people going to church and doing stuff together in a Christian context.
Some of these folks are old friends and have consistantly been straight arrow type people who are worthy of alot of respect and admiration for the manner in which they conduct their affairs and interpersonal relationships.
There is no 'spiritual friction' between us- there's no problem whatever that I know about with these folks acting all crazy.
There are people who are sports fans and then there are people who have memorized 100 years of batting averages for their chosen team.
I like to go to a ballgame sometimes but I pick my own companions when it comes to where I sit. I just wouldn't enjoy the game next to a guy who knew all the inscriptions on all the tombstones of every dead ballplayer since 1916 and wanted for me to shut up and listen to a recital.
These folks who are freaked out by anything 'nonjesoid' are but a small and hopefully dwindling band of self-righteous small time cultists.
Their antics go toward depriving practicing christian families and groups of the respect they deserve for being good people....cc

If one day you looked up at a palm tree (a what?) and saw a coconut (a what?) and then at the same palm tree another day and then there was no coconut; would you then need a definition of a coconut? Why, yes. We have a common understanding of the terms "tree" and "coconut", so we understand eachother.

We have to both understand what a tree is, or a coconut before we can discuss whether the coconut is or was in the tree. It seems you have some interest in discussing "God" as you contribute to this thread. But when you say you don't believe in God (as you have a right to do) I do not know what that means because I don't know what you mean by God. If you think my Aunt Tillie is God, and you say you don't believe in God, then even if I don't agree with you, I know what you mean. It's a simple question that you've spent a long time avoiding in the last few posts: what is it exactly that you don't believe in? You don't have to answer, there are others who contribute here who have ideas.

---

Read my new Book: 'How I found God at dictionary.com.'

1. God
1. A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in monotheistic religions.
2. The force, effect, or a manifestation or aspect of this being.
2. A being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in and worshiped by a people, especially a male deity thought to control some part of nature or reality.
3. An image of a supernatural being; an idol.
4. One that is worshiped, idealized, or followed: Money was their god.

A good start. I like #1, but I don't like the word "being" since being implies existance, and H. Richard could never agree to that.
> 1. God
> 1. A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient
> originator and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and
> worship in monotheistic religions.
> 2. The force, effect, or a manifestation or aspect of this being.
> 2. A being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in and worshiped
> by a people, especially a male deity thought to control some part of nature or
> reality.
> 3. An image of a supernatural being; an idol.
> 4. One that is worshiped, idealized, or followed: Money was their god.

How about, God: "Some undefinable state conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator [and ruler] of the universe". I would remove the words "and ruler" since many who believe in God do not think he presently intervenes in the physical plane.

---

I agree with your editting preferences
I would add 'unknowable' -it agrees with my understanding of theology