God

Lyle Burkhead (LYBRHED@delphi.com)
Thu, 14 Nov 1996 17:19:21 -0500 (EST)


David Musick writes,

> Lyle Burkhead has informed me that I have discovered the
> biggest sacred cow in the Extropian herd with my "God" post.
> Is that true? Are you guys all dogmatic athiests?

I'm on your side, David. I'm not a dogmatic atheist. I'm a
creedal minimalist. Maybe you haven't been on the list long enough
to be aware that I'm something of an outsider here. When I refer to
"Extropians," I don't necessarily include myself. The fact that I don't
hold religion in contempt is one thing that separates me from
Extropians.

I agree with much of what you say. I particularly like the fact that you
didn't say God was omnipotent or omniscient. In fact, I meant to
pick up on something Chris Hind said, and start a similar thread myself,
but you beat me to it.

I can't say much about this right now. Theology requires a level of
logical/metaphysical acumen that is beyond my grasp in my present
feverish state. I can talk about rudeness, but God is a bit more difficult.
However, I do want to make a couple of comments.
1. One of the worst mistakes one can make in this field is to assume
that God is a "hypothesis." God isn't a hypothesis any more than
objective reality is a hypothesis.
2. A point of eristic strategy: in a field were arguments easily
degenerate into semantic arguments, it is a good idea to invent new
terminology instead of using words that carry a lot of baggage,
such as the G-word.

Lyle