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I was listening on the radio to a bit of a philosophy last evening where the person being interviewed said the following,

  1. "The power, etc, of ALL God/s, etc, are derived solely from those who pray to them, and,
  2. When the people cease to pray, the God/s, etc, weaken and eventually crumble in to dust just as did ALL the Gods of old."
    Unfortunately I didn't quite catch the name of the interviewee but, imo, I'd say he is about 110% correct.
    Thoughts and opinions please.
Triphid 9 Sep 5
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20 comments

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0

Know anybody still sacrificing/petitioning Baal, Anubis, Zeus?

No not really though I do often make 'sacrifices' to Hephaestus of bits of skin and drops of blood when working with metals, especially when I'm using my little Forge....LOL.

0

That came from the movie "Clash of the Titans". The premise of the whole movie was to punish man and make him suffer because humans didn't pray enough or worship the gods enough and the gods felt slighted and had less power. If someone is passing off quotes to a movie as their own philosophical incite.. . I would be wary.

0

If we understand that the memes collectively known as gods aren't real them it's axiomatic to note that lack of observance means that the memes cease to exist.

Who knew that radio had finally come to Broken Hill?

Hahaha, FYI we've had both radio and television here since as far back as I can remember and I was an Amateur Radio Operator from the age of 19 years.

0

That was the last season of the show Stargate SG1. Gods who were ascended beings who used to be early human beings that occupied the universe millions of years ago, and found a way to become powerful, and got their power when humans of today worship them.

1

Just look what happened to the mighty OZ. 🤪

Oz said what I just said.

You make things happen, yourself.

They were going to see the wizard, just as folks pray to the wizard-god.

The wizard told them they already had what they needed, to get what they wanted.

And, as I wrote above, sensible Christians say,
pray as if it all depends on god,
work as if it all depends on you.
Easy to see how that works out.

@bigjac I was thinking more when Toto pulled back the curtain and exposed the Almighty OZ.

@oldFloyd Yes.
And after that,
They were asking Oz for courage, brains, and a heart.
He told them, they already had those things.
Like asking god for the courage to get things done.
Then, getting them done, yourself.

0

No. The power comes from total commitment to a total system ideology (an ideology which purports to include and explain everything), from "true belief" in such an ideology, and from being lin the midst of a cohesive group of such believers.

It sounds like you're both saying basically the same thing... the believers imbue the so-called god with the power that they already believe he or she has. It is only believing that makes it so.

1

Religions, Governments, Authority, and Money all cease to wield any power once people stop believing in them.

3

There are no god(s) so praying to them has no effect except on the mind of the person praying.

1

...huh. Makes me wanna run a Planescape campaign.

1

The many forms and labels of self-fulfilling prophecy. The idea has been voiced for many centuries.
My favorite example...from Monsters Inc. Monster society relies on children's fear to power it. No fear = no power....or so they've always been taught, to the profit and advantage of the greedy capitalist Monsters running the power corp.

6

Gods did NOT create humans in their own image. Humans created gods in their own imagination. Therefore, humans can rid themselves of gods by simply forgetting about them. 😀

2

This sounds like Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
There's an infinite number of deities that can swell up to full power if given attention but mostly they start out as a bit of ego hungry for attention.

2

I agree and I also do not know the person's name. In my lifetime I have heard of god even filling people's teeth in a religious service. People believed it. All it took was prayer. I doubt that the filling was true but believers just keep on making things up.

2

Sort of like saying that when you stop believing in Santa Clause he disappears (except in the displays in the stores) .

@K9Kohle789 I wish that true in the case of Trump and McConnell.

3

You will find the same ideas in the writings of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.

2

Many Christians say:

Pray as if it all depends on God;
work as if it all depends on you.

So, when any group does that,
they will make some of their prayers get answered, by themselves.

So, during those times, their imaginary god seems effective.

If they stop praying, and stop working,
we know what happens.

Families fall apart,
folks have money troubles like crazy,
and end up dead from smoking, or morbid obesity, or overdose of prescription drugs.

This is why I like keeping a list of daily chores,
so that I avoid pitfalls.

No tobacco is on my list, no heavy drugs, and I weigh myself each day, to remind myself to avoid slipping into deadly levels of morbid obesity.

I'm only five feet nine inches, and weigh 240 pounds.

Monday, I plan to call my doctor, and schedule a routine visit.

So, you see, dedicated Christians are the same as sensible atheists.

The only difference, is the Christians pray, and do sensible things,
while sensible atheists simply do sensible things.

Well, sometimes the Christians vote for Republicans.

For that reason, I wish I could truly preach, on social media, and every which way,
preach atheism and voting for Democrats, both together.

But my family would see my messages, and give me hell.

Oh well.

8

Makes sense to me. He's not really implying that god's are real but that the power generated by belief in them is. 🙂

3

Really? Now religious crap is conflated with philosophy? There are no known gods. How did this person demonstrate any claim made? This person actually believes that gods existed and that peoples prayer gave them power and they dissapear without prayers. Wow I never am surprised by peoples bullshit.

There have been philosophical discussions examining the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions since ancient times. This isn't a new phenomena.

@Amzungu I was being perhaps not satirical enough?

@DavidLaDeau Nope.

I tend to think that the interviewee was not a person of any religious nature given that he, in the interview, both stated his very vehement distrust and dislike of religions and religious/religion biased Leaders and that he had been an Atheist for as long as he could remember.

3

Makes perfect sense.

3

Makes sense to me.

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