Your body does not belong to you, but to God

[Stevil]

That's largely my basis for what I define as good, and it's the best method that I have for expressing what I see as God's will.

How do you know what god's will is?
What makes you think god wants you to be good?

Could god simply be using people for pure entertainment, or as an experiment to see how quickly we develop certain technologies, or maybe as an experiment to see if people could cast away belief in gods if gods ignored us for all of our existence. Why the focus on good? How do you even know what god would consider to be good?

[statichaos]

How do you know what god's will is?

I don't know for sure.  I'm simply interpreting to the best of my ability, but I'm subject to the same misunderstandings, cultural biases, and so on as anyone else.

What makes you think god wants you to be good?

Same answer as above.

Could god simply be using people for pure entertainment, or as an experiment to see how quickly we develop certain technologies, or maybe as an experiment to see if people could cast away belief in gods if gods ignored us for all of our existence.

Possible.  If so, it's irrelevant to me, since I like to think that I'd be good even without the personal revelation.

Why the focus on good? How do you even know what god would consider to be good?

Personal revelation again.  And, no, I can't really describe it.  If I were trying to convince you, I wouldn't have an argument at hand.  All that I know is that I've experienced it, and I live my life by it to the best of my ability.

[Stevil]

Could god simply be using people for pure entertainment, or as an experiment to see how quickly we develop certain technologies, or maybe as an experiment to see if people could cast away belief in gods if gods ignored us for all of our existence.

Possible.  If so, it's irrelevant to me, since I like to think that I'd be good even without the personal revelation.

You are the first deist (hope you are comfortable with that label) that I have talked to.
It seems to me the god belief becomes largely irrelevant. That you would be who you are regardless if you believed that there was a god or not.

[statichaos]

Could god simply be using people for pure entertainment, or as an experiment to see how quickly we develop certain technologies, or maybe as an experiment to see if people could cast away belief in gods if gods ignored us for all of our existence.

Possible.  If so, it's irrelevant to me, since I like to think that I'd be good even without the personal revelation.

You are the first deist (hope you are comfortable with that label) that I have talked to.
It seems to me the god belief becomes largely irrelevant. That you would be who you are regardless if you believed that there was a god or not.

Well, certainly, although I'm not a deist.  Panentheist comes closer, though I'm wary of a label of any sort, as any attempt to describe what God is almost inevitably ends up implying what God isn't.  "The Tao that can be described is not the Tao".

I don't consider my belief to be irrelevant, actually, as I feel that what I do and who I am (and who you are, and everything else in the universe) is part of a larger, greater design.  I'd still attempt to be moral and ethical for any number of cultural reasons in the absence of God (as I did when I was an atheist), since that has everything to do with being able to look at myself in the mirror in the morning.  I'm suspicious of people who claim that there is no morality or ethics without God, as I worry that if they changed their minds on the matter, then they'd suddenly start killing and raping people willy-nilly.

[Stevil]

I'm suspicious of people who claim that there is no morality or ethics without God, as I worry that if they changed their minds on the matter, then they'd suddenly start killing and raping people willy-nilly.

Lacking a belief in morals is similar to lacking a belief in gods.
A god unbeliever doesn't act untoward in society, there are statistics that show the are more law abiding than the believer.

A moral unbeliever doesn't act untoward in society, self preservation ensures they act reasonably.

[statichaos]

I'm suspicious of people who claim that there is no morality or ethics without God, as I worry that if they changed their minds on the matter, then they'd suddenly start killing and raping people willy-nilly.

Lacking a belief in morals is similar to lacking a belief in gods.
A god unbeliever doesn't act untoward in society, there are statistics that show the are more law abiding than the believer.

A moral unbeliever doesn't act untoward in society, self preservation ensures they act reasonably.

I agree with you on this, although those aren't the only reasons for an unbeliever to act morally and ethically.

Belief is no guarantee in morals.  In fact, history shows that people are capable of all sorts of atrocities if they believe that they have God on their side.

[Tank]

I'm suspicious of people who claim that there is no morality or ethics without God, as I worry that if they changed their minds on the matter, then they'd suddenly start killing and raping people willy-nilly.

Lacking a belief in morals is similar to lacking a belief in gods.
A god unbeliever doesn't act untoward in society, there are statistics that show the are more law abiding than the believer.

A moral unbeliever doesn't act untoward in society, self preservation ensures they act reasonably.

I agree with you on this, although those aren't the only reasons for an unbeliever to act morally and ethically.

Belief is no guarantee in morals.  In fact, history shows that people are capable of all sorts of atrocities if they believe that they have God on their side.

I think history shows that people who think they are unquestionably right are capable off all sorts of atrocities, irrespective of their theistic view point. I suspect that Religions get such bad press in the atrocity stakes because bad people can invoke 'God's Will' just as effectively as good people. And if you can claim God is on your side then that's just one more reason you're right.

[Sweetdeath]

I don't know what you're rambling on about.  I'm obviously the chosen one.

[statichaos]

I don't know what you're rambling on about.  I'm obviously the chosen one.

When you find that you've been anointed The Chosen One, remember to get specific details regarding exactly what it is that you've been chosen for.

[pytheas]

I don't know what you're rambling on about.  I'm obviously the chosen one.

When you find that you've been anointed The Chosen One, remember to get specific details regarding exactly what it is that you've been chosen for.

better still, let me do the annointing with appropriate ointments that some consider spirits in plants

Static i didn't expect you believed really in any god in order to put a capital letter to the word.
I stand corrected

i can easily switch in accepting the greater grid/design or the lack thereof in the visions and revelations when I am entheogenically invited to partake in altered states of perception that scramble the ego's logic for a while.

but we all ought to grasp our breath back when sober we realise the paradoxal void of universal non sense.
painting and blowing our baloon of comfortable "understanding" with any extra imaginery impositions, i hate to point to the needle-pins of experience that pop the baloons

[statichaos]

I don't know what you're rambling on about.  I'm obviously the chosen one.

When you find that you've been anointed The Chosen One, remember to get specific details regarding exactly what it is that you've been chosen for.

better still, let me do the annointing with appropriate ointments that some consider spirits in plants

Static i didn't expect you believed really in any god in order to put a capital letter to the word.
I stand corrected

i can easily switch in accepting the greater grid/design or the lack thereof in the visions and revelations when I am entheogenically invited to partake in altered states of perception that scramble the ego's logic for a while.

but we all ought to grasp our breath back when sober we realise the paradoxal void of universal non sense.
painting and blowing our baloon of comfortable "understanding" with any extra imaginery impositions, i hate to point to the needle-pins of experience that pop the baloons

Actually, I was an atheist, and it was these needle pins of experience (drug free) that caused me to rethink my position.  However, I don't expect to convince anyone else of the rightness of my viewpoint, and am instead more interested in finding common ground.