and thought the same thing regarding the idea of God being beyond all that is human (including language) in his reference to the same and was reminded of T.Chardin's remark that to say "God exists" is as atheistic as to say "God does not exist".
Even so later on it seemed that SR fell into the same trap as many self-defined atheists do and thought "How anthropomorphic most atheists are in their atheism." - conceiving of a human concept of God and then nixing that as insufficient by definition and contenting themselves with the idea that they'd thought something sufficient that they might be an atheist.
I saw Salman Rusdie speak recently at the PEN center
-
xerosaburu
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Fri Sep 27, 2002 1:54 am
- Contact:
Re: I saw Salman Rusdie speak recently at the PEN center
.
-no name-
xerosaburu - and thought the same thing regarding the idea of God being beyond all that is human (including language) in his reference to the same and was reminded of T.Chardin's remark that to say "God exists" is as atheistic as to say "God does not exist".
-tomas-
Yes, but how else would it quantify as being real?
-no name-
Even so later on it seemed that SR fell into the same trap as many self-defined atheists do and thought "How anthropomorphic most atheists are in their atheism." - conceiving of a human concept of God and then nixing that as insufficient by definition and contenting themselves with the idea that they'd thought something sufficient that they might be an atheist.
-tomas-
Hmm, dunno why the Brits keep that clown on their turf, much less protect him (from what nefarious elements) and by whom?
(its like they trot him out every few years to say something asinine? and it riles up the muslim shia's or sunni's)
ps- Back in 1994 - 1995 timeframe, had an opportunity by way of a diplomat-friend to have tea (an audience) with Salman, turned it down, big mistake, on hindsight... was just too busy doing mindless other things in that London. Some sort of jetlag i remember not feeling too well, the pressurized cabins make me ill for a few days afterwards. An odd sort of "cold" but probably all the different viruses that people are not immune to (with each other) in such close proximity. Maybe in the next lifetime and beyond Salman will appear...
Tomas (the tank)
Prince of Jerusalem
16 Degree Scottish Rite Free Mason
.
-no name-
xerosaburu - and thought the same thing regarding the idea of God being beyond all that is human (including language) in his reference to the same and was reminded of T.Chardin's remark that to say "God exists" is as atheistic as to say "God does not exist".
-tomas-
Yes, but how else would it quantify as being real?
-no name-
Even so later on it seemed that SR fell into the same trap as many self-defined atheists do and thought "How anthropomorphic most atheists are in their atheism." - conceiving of a human concept of God and then nixing that as insufficient by definition and contenting themselves with the idea that they'd thought something sufficient that they might be an atheist.
-tomas-
Hmm, dunno why the Brits keep that clown on their turf, much less protect him (from what nefarious elements) and by whom?
(its like they trot him out every few years to say something asinine? and it riles up the muslim shia's or sunni's)
ps- Back in 1994 - 1995 timeframe, had an opportunity by way of a diplomat-friend to have tea (an audience) with Salman, turned it down, big mistake, on hindsight... was just too busy doing mindless other things in that London. Some sort of jetlag i remember not feeling too well, the pressurized cabins make me ill for a few days afterwards. An odd sort of "cold" but probably all the different viruses that people are not immune to (with each other) in such close proximity. Maybe in the next lifetime and beyond Salman will appear...
Tomas (the tank)
Prince of Jerusalem
16 Degree Scottish Rite Free Mason
.
-
Kevin Solway
- Posts: 2766
- Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2001 8:43 am
- Location: Australia
- Contact:
Re: I saw Salman Rusdie speak recently at the PEN center
"God is beyond language" is a contradiction in terms.
Re: I saw Salman Rusdie speak recently at the PEN center
Kevin Solway wrote:"God is beyond language" is a contradiction in terms.
Yeah, i'd thought about that too. Thanks for bringing it to the fore.
Tomas
.
Re: I saw Salman Rusdie speak recently at the PEN center
Except that, you see, we are circumscribed by our ability to conceptualize and verbalize (which are really the same), and so to speak of god beyond human comprehension is to babble. Those who assert god which is beyond all conceptualization want to have your cake and eat it too.xerosaburu wrote:and thought the same thing regarding the idea of God being beyond all that is human (including language) in his reference to the same and was reminded of T.Chardin's remark that to say "God exists" is as atheistic as to say "God does not exist".
The most important question never is what is. The most important question is, how do we know, and what can we possibly know.
And why not? In order to even approximately match the concept of 'god', the supreme being, the creator of the Universe, etc., this 'god' wouldn't need to be a man with a flowing white beard -- but it would need to possess qualities such as intelligence and intentionality and will, for example, all of which happen to be defined within our spacetime context, in terms of interactions between the entity and its environment.Even so later on it seemed that SR fell into the same trap as many self-defined atheists do and thought "How anthropomorphic most atheists are in their atheism." - conceiving of a human concept of God and then nixing that as insufficient by definition and contenting themselves with the idea that they'd thought something sufficient that they might be an atheist.
No matter which way you jump, god is anthropomorphic, because we are anthropoi, and everything we know, everything we describe, is refracted though us. We are the lens through which we see, and we cannot do otherwise. Duh.
Forethought Venus Wednesday