Defeating Dogma

[dalebert]

G-d's infinite, right? Can you subtract a number from infinity? Think back to high school math.

BTW, G-d can't make a rock so heavy he couldn't lift it, square circles, or anything else like that. Some things G-d "can't" do.

None of that is any reason why God (if it exists) can't make an avatar.

You're sounding pretty dogmatic about this.

[Turd Ferguson]

It's called an avatar. It's how deities interact with mortals.

It amuses me that Dungeons and Dragons abstractions* are more coherent and consistent than religious ones.




*Yeah yeah I know but I bet that's where you first heard of avatars, just like the rest of us.

For such a smart guy, you do have a big blindspot when it comes to this subject.

Its like object permanence. Stuff is still there, even if you don't see it, and things make sense to other people, even if they don't make sense to you. Have you considered that its you?

[Diogenes The Cynic]

It's called an avatar. It's how deities interact with mortals.

It amuses me that Dungeons and Dragons abstractions* are more coherent and consistent than religious ones.




*Yeah yeah I know but I bet that's where you first heard of avatars, just like the rest of us.

For such a smart guy, you do have a big blindspot when it comes to this subject.

Its like object permanence. Stuff is still there, even if you don't see it, and things make sense to other people, even if they don't make sense to you. Have you considered that its you?

Thats almost amusing.

[Bill Brasky]

Believe what you want..

But  -- realize, everything you believe is probably the thread-bare ends of a tale of a tale. 

All that stuff is moral allegorical tools.  They say Jesus gave sight to the blind...  and really, shouldn't we all try to do that?  If we care about stuff, shouldn't we bleed a little for it? 

These are instructional tools, teaching devices.  C'mon, people. 

I would even go so far as to say Jesus was probably an actual person, who lived, and was crucified, and had a following.  Won't even dispute that.  Nor will I dispute any of the so-called deities who were living incarnate. 

What I question is, if they were actual deities.  I think they were just rock stars of their days.   

[dalebert]

I would even go so far as to say Jesus was probably an actual person, who lived, and was crucified, and had a following.

I don't even believe that, personally. The evidence implies that Jesus' existence began about 100 years or so after he actually supposed to have been around. He seems concocted from a bunch of stories, many of which had been around since long before his birth and used for other messiahs/avatars of other religions.

[Bill Brasky]

I would even go so far as to say Jesus was probably an actual person, who lived, and was crucified, and had a following.

I don't even believe that, personally. The evidence implies that Jesus' existence began about 100 years or so after he actually supposed to have been around. He seems concocted from a bunch of stories, many of which had been around since long before his birth and used for other messiahs/avatars of other religions.

I donno, wasn't around.  (hence, usage of the "probably")

Lots of historical figures are shrouded in controversy of their physical existence.  King Arthur is a good example of that. 

In any case, whether real, or created - there are basically two reasons to support their existence - it was probably hard to get myths to go "viral", and people like to exaggerate tales.  Therefore, I think its more likely that the person existed, and tales of grandeur were probably heaped upon the living dude, who was probably just some ultra-charismatic person.

The people who were "world-changers" during that era were already bigger than life, exalted as living gods.  All your Caesar types, Alexander the Great, the Pharaohs.. 

I'm not arguing pro or con, remember - I'm just saying, it seems more likely to me that there was some living person who that stuff was attributed to. 

Even if it was a scam, its much harder to pull off a scam with no dude playing the role.