God is love

[Heretical Rants]

The in your case the Christian message would be this.
1. Give life the first place (Live life to the fullest)
2. Treasure all life as much as you treasure yours.

Yes.  I value my life and my rights as a human being more than anything else.

I don't see why it requires the adjective "Christian," however...  Christ has nothing to do with it.

[fdesilva]

I still prefer "god is a sock".  Makes the same amount of sense.

Is there anything in your life that takes priority above everything else? Maybe that keeps changing from day to day. If there is such a thing in your life and let’s say it is x then maybe you should say god is x. Or is x in fact your socks?

So....you just throw around the word god in place of the word of important.....that just seems like a desperate attempt to find god where it doesn't exist.

My family and friends are god....ya, that makes perfect sense and doesn't in any way make me sound crazy.....

Let me explain ..
Go back to a time when Man lived in small communities. Did not travel very far. Let’s say in each of these communities, somebody pointed at a mountain they could see and said that is the tallest mountain in the world. Some believed him/her others questioned it and some others even said there is no such thing as the tallest mountain in world.

Now if the people that questioned it, took a step further and went looking for it. Then people from most communities, may not have found it, however they might have become more and more sure that such a mountain exist.  However how about the guys living near mount Everest?
So if you start by looking for some X, you will at least come to realize the real deal might exist.

BTW do I count as a friend?

[Whitney]

I don't see how limited scope has anything to do with calling anything important god.

And no, I don't tend to consider people I hardly know and whom I have nothing in common with friends...they are acquaintances.

[Squid]

And no, I don't tend to consider people I hardly know and whom I have nothing in common with friends...they are acquaintances.

It's all about the monkey sphere:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number

[noquarter]

I don't understand why consciousness requires the complication of god.  God seems entirely arbitrarily tacked on to me.

The word is not as important as what it points to. The word god (and the concept) has been in use for longer than the word consciousness (the ancients referred to Spirit  e.g The "Holy Spirit" can be translated as "Purified Consciousness")
But if it is any consolation I think the word God has got too much baggage and negative connotations attached to it.

[elliebean]

It was the concept (not the word) that Pinko was referring to. Still arbitrary. Still tacked-on.

Redundant in a word I'd use.

Are you saying god is consciousness, or something to that effect? Why can't consciousness be consciousness?

[noquarter]

Right, but he also said, "He who does not hate his father and his mother cannot be a disciple to me." Even the generous interpretation of this, which is that it merely is meant to imply you must love Jesus above all others, would support my earlier claim.

What Jesus is pointing to here is that you must renounce everything, even that which you hold most dear.
Not in a physical way but metaphorically.

What is the point of metaphorically renouncing something?

To get to the ultimate "Truth" every word, every concept, every idea, everything that can be clung onto, every security has to be dropped.
Even the concept of God.

[noquarter]

p.s I also read someware that hebrew does not have to many words as such word like hate has more than one meaning based on context

As far as I am aware all of the New Testament is written in Greek not Hebrew. The old Testament may be different.

[noquarter]

What Jesus is pointing to here is that you must renounce everything, even that which you hold most dear.
Not in a physical way but metaphorically.

Got to be honest.... that doesn't make it sound any better. "Renounce everyone but me." That's not love. That's narcissism. That Jesus quote sounds like something a cult leader would say.

Jesus turned ego on it's head, the Me for Me becomes Me for You. Jesus is not saying literally follow the man. He is saying embody this principle "Me for You" which is personified in Jesus. It is the opposite of egotism and also banishes any notion of narcissism. Jesus was not a cult leader he lead by example healing the sick mentally and physically, sharing everything with everybody and accepting those who where rejects in society.
You probably have heard this before but just in case...........Love, is like a flower that gives it scent to the good and the bad or the rain that wets the good and the bad. When good and bad is discriminated it is no longer Love.

[pinkocommie]

What is the point of metaphorically renouncing something?

To get to the ultimate "Truth" every word, every concept, every idea, everything that can be clung onto, every security has to be dropped.
Even the concept of God.

How is this renouncing in any way metaphorical is my question.  I don't think it's possible to metaphorically renounce something.  Either you renounce it or you don't.  Anyway, I don't think your apologist interpretation of the quote is correct.

[noquarter]

It was the concept (not the word) that Pinko was referring to. Still arbitrary. Still tacked-on.

Redundant in a word I'd use.

Are you saying god is consciousness, or something to that effect? Why can't consciousness be consciousness?

The concept or the word is arbitrary to Pinko and of course cannot be "tacked-on" without his wishes.

The word and concept is redundant to you, nevertheless, it is still a valid word and concept to a majority of people on this planet and so cannot be disregarded.

God is All, consciousness is part of All.
Consciousness is consciousness.

[Sophus]

Jesus turned ego on it's head, the Me for Me becomes Me for You. Jesus is not saying literally follow the man. He is saying embody this principle "Me for You" which is personified in Jesus. It is the opposite of egotism and also banishes any notion of narcissism. Jesus was not a cult leader he lead by example healing the sick mentally and physically, sharing everything with everybody and accepting those who where rejects in society.
You probably have heard this before but just in case...........Love, is like a flower that gives it scent to the good and the bad or the rain that wets the good and the bad. When good and bad is discriminated it is no longer Love.

Which is percisely why one cannot love and worship something. It's one or the other. Love says through my love for you I love all. To "love" one thing more than any other is not really love. It's a symbiotic attachment.
I don't agree with the first half of your interpretation. You'll have to argue it more to convince me of it because from here it seems like a massive stretch. It reads plain as day.

[Whitney]

God is All, consciousness is part of All.
Consciousness is consciousness.

I'm not convinced you know what the word consciousness is intended to describe.

But as they say...oh no!  Someone is wrong on the internet!

[i_am_i]

To get to the ultimate "Truth" every word, every concept, every idea, everything that can be clung onto, every security has to be dropped.
Even the concept of God.

How do you know that? Have you yourself dropped every word, every concept, every idea, everything that can be clung onto, every security, even the concept of God?

[elliebean]

God is All, consciousness is part of All.
Consciousness is consciousness.

All is all.


Whether one calls it 'god' is irrelevant, as long as one makes it clear what one means. Thus god is still redundant.