46 thoughts on “”

  12. I think the idea of ‘writing what you know’ has been rubbished for quite a while now. The very nature of fiction is to write about what nobody knows. Non-fiction is ‘what is’ and fiction is ‘what might be’ and there is far more to learn via the later. The more one writes about what one knows the more the product comes to look more like a text book.
    A story should be a journey of discovery for reader and writer alike, and not a picture of the discovery itself.

    I could add, cheekily, that whilst the bible is a work of fiction it still provides a vital perspective on human though and human reality.
    I suppose the bible might be asking the question, “How would you behave if there was a God?” and then “Why would you not choose to behave that way, regardless?”
    Imagine an abbreviated Bible that simply said …
    There is a God
    Think about it
    THE END.

    It conveys the essential message of one who writes what he ‘knows’, but it does not provide scope for any sort of understanding.

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      1. Hmmm …. you are testing my religious education. But I’m happy to include all religious texts as being part of a quite beautiful fiction. Mind you, even if all of these lovely bits of writing could be proven as fictitious, it really doesn’t add or subtract from the possibility of an existence of God(s).

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          1. I wasn’t really trying to be all atheist about it. God exists or God doesn’t exist and there is nothing that humans can write that changes that. I could, for example, postulate that a being called Xzorba 3 is the true ruler of all existence and write extensively on the matter. If I later confess to making the whole thing up it does not rule out the possibility that Xzorba 3 actually does exist (unbeknown to me).
            Anyway, I thought faith was all about belief without proof.

            But …. I agree. We all should write about the stuff we DON’T KNOW. That’s why I write about all this stuff so much ….

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            1. 😀 You’re a fan of Schrödinger, I see.

              I’m no perfect being in terms of faith, but hardly agree fully with all faith no proof. I think we humans walk with faith but must have affirmation at some points. We’re not faithful enough to keep walking in a dark room full of strange sounds without a chance of a candle.

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              1. I think your ‘proof’ may be circumstantial evidence, at best, or confirmation bias. But if it works for you, then it works for you.
                Imagine that you were born and lived all of your life in a small Villiage in New Guinea with zero contact with the outside world. The available proof there would be the same, but the Christian God would have no reality for you.

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                1. My proof, as anyone’s should be, is a spiritual confirmation of truth. I would often rationalize that such things were confirmation bias or circumstantial evidence or social pressure. Trust me, they’re not.

                  😀 Christians don’t have a monopoly on God. He’s the same in New Guinea as everywhere else.

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                4. A good, concise answer! And, of course, the Gods of the ancient’s had gender and sexuality – they used to procreate quite a lot. The very idea of gender is a bit blurred these days, of course. But for the Christian God to have gender makes no sense … what would you say are the attributes about ‘It’ that suggest ‘It’ is male?

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                6. To clarify … I think that defining the Christian God as being either male or female is a bit disrespectful. God is on a far higher plane that It’s creations – It created the very concept of gender …. God pre-dates gender, in other words.
                  On a more serious note …. I think it is very dangerous to view God as either male or female, for, to do so suggests a certain superiority by association. It is not a huge step from there to suggest that God is a white male, and then God is a white, heterosexual male and then God is a white, republican, heterosexual male. And so on ….
                  Before you know it people are out on the street with banners saying, “GOD HATES MUSLIM HOMOSEXUALS.
                  And that is a view that most genuine Christians and Atheists alike, agree is abhorrent.

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                7. Sure, but hopefully people can understand that God can be male *and* a more enlightened, perfected form. He and a heavenly mother (or mothers) are our creators.

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