God's who lost believers faded away while hipster God's thrived. A Wiccan friend told me that is how she thinks it works. I thought she was goofy until I realized, not many people pray to Zeus or Bhaal and there hasn't been much ado about them lately.

What do you think?

I think Terry Pratchett already beat you to the idea quite some time ago...

Ever read "Small Gods"?

:)

This is why I prefer the Giant Spaghetti Monster.

He exists now matter how many people worship it.

God's who lost believers faded away while hipster God's thrived. A Wiccan friend told me that is how she thinks it works. I thought she was goofy until I realized, not many people pray to Zeus or Bhaal and there hasn't been much ado about them lately.

What do you think?

Gods power does not come from the number of people who believe Him. The Bible says that just before the return of Jesus the number of His followers on earth will be very small.

All Praise The Ancient Of Days

I think Terry Pratchett already beat you to the idea quite some time ago...
Ever read "Small Gods"?
:)
And Frank Herbert before Pterry.
The Godmakers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godmakers_%28novel%29).

If that were true the Messiah (Barack Obama) would be all-powerful. He's not.

If that were true the Messiah (Barack Obama) would be all-powerful. He's not.
Must you turn everything into a comment about Obama? We get it, you don't like him.

Nope. This one was too good to resist.

Nope. This one was too good to resist.

no it wasn't. any decent adult would have passed on such childishness

I think it would make sense, that people too would gain power if others believed in them

I think it would make sense, that people too would gain power if others believed in them
*************
M*W: Or if people believed in what others around them believe. An exaggerated example would be the mass hallucination (or the power of suggestion) at the Fatima sighting. People hear what they want to hear. People see what they want to see. It's selective thinking. It's hysteria.

If that were true the Messiah (Barack Obama) would be all-powerful. He's not.

He does seem to be powerful in direct proportion to the number of people that believe in him.

I think it would make sense, that people too would gain power if others believed in them
only if one's only recourse to power is the manipulation of resources tied to the community offering the support.

only if one's only recourse to power is the manipulation of resources tied to the community offering the support. There's a quality of the sublime in those offerings to the gods of vocabulary and syntax. It's a gift.

Would that it were penitent.

But the core of a reality based meaning is there, somewhere inside the confusion between "number of people" and "community" - the source of the powers of the deities of this world is dimly limned within the fog.

There's a quality of the sublime in those offerings to the gods of vocabulary and syntax. It's a gift.

Would that it were penitent.

But the core of a reality based meaning is there, somewhere inside the confusion between "number of people" and "community" - the source of the powers of the deities of this world is dimly limned within the fog.
huh?
and to think you have problems with my word usage ....

Gods get pissed when you refuse to worship them. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idY20x9QfZg)

I think Terry Pratchett already beat you to the idea quite some time ago...

Ever read "Small Gods"?

:)Wasn't this an episode of the original Star Trek? Kirk goes to some planet where the Aliens were all the old Greek/Roman Gods and needed to be worshiped in order to survive... or something along those lines.

well, it looks like someone beat me to it!!!

Wasn't this an episode of the original Star Trek? Kirk goes to some planet where the Aliens were all the old Greek/Roman Gods and needed to be worshiped in order to survive... or something along those lines.

Oh dude,
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_SjBd7nY9Kp0/SLbm-vGst6I/AAAAAAAAAtk/OTa2jC2ML3g/s400/Adonis.jpg
Who Mourns for Adonais?

That was classic Star Trek :)

Which babe did Kirk do in that episode :p

That was classic Star Trek :)

Which babe did Kirk do in that episode :p

The long hair blond who fell in love with the 'god':p

he sure knows how to treat (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VuIShM5kAQ) a woman

Kirk you old dog.... :p

lol. :D

God's who lost believers faded away while hipster God's thrived. A Wiccan friend told me that is how she thinks it works. I thought she was goofy until I realized, not many people pray to Zeus or Bhaal and there hasn't been much ado about them lately.

What do you think?

Ah, you found it! Proof that GOd actually exists! Or rather, the idea of God exists.

There is no "what if." It is a fact that if there are less believers then the power of God diminishes. Take a look at places where God doesn't have many followers? You see, it is not God who is saving people, it's people saving people. If someone is sick, do you see God's power healing? No, you see a doctor or you see a mother brining a cool wash cloth. If it were true that God had power without worshippers, then we would see Africans or Chinese being converted without a missionary. Or we would have seen divine intervention on the behalf of the Jews who were murdered by Hitler. No, someone needs to go in with a gun and put a stop to injustice. God needs believers to exist. Without them, God wouldn't exist.

Ah, you found it! Proof that GOd actually exists! Or rather, the idea of God exists.

There is no "what if." It is a fact that if there are less believers then the power of God diminishes.
Its not clear what you are calling upon to indicate a god of diminished power


Take a look at places where God doesn't have many followers? You see, it is not God who is saving people, it's people saving people. If someone is sick, do you see God's power healing? No, you see a doctor or you see a mother brining a cool wash cloth.
err ... yet despite such noble attempts to thwart death (or more specifically, to sustain the ego), death (or the complete diminishing of the material ego) has had an unchallenged 100% success rate


If it were true that God had power without worshippers, then we would see Africans or Chinese being converted without a missionary.
given that they are already situated within a theistic paradigm, its not clear why they require conversion


Or we would have seen divine intervention on the behalf of the Jews who were murdered by Hitler.
are you serious?


No, someone needs to go in with a gun and put a stop to injustice.
hehe

the very situation of material existence is the very thing that puts an end to injustice.



God needs believers to exist. Without them, God wouldn't exist.
On the contrary, its the nature of god's magnanimity that we continue to exist even if we disbelieve or lose faith in him.

Its not clear what you are calling upon to indicate a god of diminished power


Anything that a believer uses as a measurement to God's power. How would anyone know about God if they had not been told or read the Bible? If no one knew God existed, does God exist? Maybe, but it's less likely that people would believe in a singular belief without the subject being communicated. The power of God is relative to the amount of effort believers put forth in the name of God. If everyone believed in God, theorhetically, the world should be perfect. That is the point.

The more believers, the more worship, the more work that is done in the name of God, the more power God has.



err ... yet despite such noble attempts to thwart death (or more specifically, to sustain the ego), death (or the complete diminishing of the material ego) has had an unchallenged 100% success rate


I am generalizing with the word "saving". I mean in every context, not just health. Besides, if death gives a stay of execution because of something believers attribute to the power of God, God's power is grown. If death wins, some believers lose faith. It happens when they can't accept it. When that happens, it's one less person to pay a tithe (effort not necessarily money), when the pool dries up, there is less God is able to do.




On the contrary, its the nature of god's magnanimity that we continue to exist even if we disbelieve or lose faith in him.

If God is an entity, and not a concept, sure. If it is just an idea created to represent a way of life, then it is in existence, its power, is because of those who follow the idea put effort or resource into it.

Anything that a believer uses as a measurement to God's power.
Like say the facility for conscious thought and the sustenance of the cosmic manifestation (since god is the creator, sustainer and ultimate destroyer of all things)


How would anyone know about God if they had not been told or read the Bible? If no one knew God existed, does God exist?
If you want to erode the social/language elements that frame epistemological models you have effectively trashed about 99% of all we have in the name of science, architecture, music, morality, and art ... which kind of just leaves animal grunting and the satisfaction of base instincts like sleeping, eating, mating and defending


Maybe, but it's less likely that people would believe in a singular belief without the subject being communicated.
Pedagogy actually sees communication as the most important tool of learning ... as opposed to some sort of disabling feature


The power of God is relative to the amount of effort believers put forth in the name of God.
Its not clear how our dis/belief in god somehow encroaches issues of creation, maintenance and annhilation of the universe and all its constituent elements


If everyone believed in God, theorhetically, the world should be perfect. That is the point.
Hardly
There is literally tons of scriptural commentaries about communities that adhere to the belief but don't make the grade.
Even you have posted about the imperfection encountered within communities that advocate a belief in god.
Actually its faith in any given thing that accounts for the beginning of action ... as opposed to the final last word of it.


The more believers, the more worship, the more work that is done in the name of God, the more power God has.
Assuming that the work and worship is in line with the name, its actually the more purified the practitioners become. God doesn't benefit from it. We do.




I am generalizing with the word "saving". I mean in every context, not just health. Besides, if death gives a stay of execution because of something believers attribute to the power of God, God's power is grown. If death wins, some believers lose faith. It happens when they can't accept it. When that happens, it's one less person to pay a tithe (effort not necessarily money), when the pool dries up, there is less God is able to do.
If the ultimate annihilation of the material ego (or its subsequent set back at the hands of disease or old age) upsets a practitioner/s faith, they've screwed up at the point of theory (IOW the very notion that the material ego is deserving of some permanence is an error of ascribing eternal qualities to the temporary). Similarly the notion that giving a donation is doing a god a favour is a similar miscalculation caused by a materialistic estimation. Actually god owns everything. All we are on show for is to see to what degree we are capable of acknowledging this ownership with a suitable service attitude. When we get that right, we are no longer shackled by the restraints of material existence.





If God is an entity, and not a concept, sure. If it is just an idea created to represent a way of life, then it is in existence, its power, is because of those who follow the idea put effort or resource into it.
If it wasn't possible to entertain a lifestyle where god is a mere concept, the material world would have no function