Sufficient Conditions for Worship

Originally posted by Palynka
Something in your original post rang true to me, but then I started thinking about polytheism and how historically there was worship of "lesser" (and hence imperfect) gods, with temples erected not only to the most powerful among them.

I think that one may argue that they worshipped only the part which was perfect (or nearly so) and not the entity itself (e.g. Diana and hunting), but it would leave the whole argument on somewhat shaky ground.

Well, I'm not a religious man myself so I have to set my own spiritual standards. Only a perfect match would make me call someone a god 🙂

As for common religions, my view is they often seem to serve cultural, social and political purposes as well as spiritual and as such have a more practical influence over a lot of peoples' lives than the rather theoretical question of what a god's really like.

Originally posted by Palynka
You're no better than them. Even worse, considering your only goal here is to avenge what they do in the Science Forum.

True. Bad behavior is not excused by others' bad behavior.

Originally posted by Zipdrive Nightmare
I wasn't thinking along those lines. I guess my point is that as long as the scope of an intelligence is limited, I think that a human being will compare himself with it and relate to it in another way than (what I read into the word) worship.

I'm interested. So what do you read into the word 'worship'. I believe many kings and queens have been worshiped, pharaohs were worshiped, pop stars are worshiped and even judges must be worshiped as a matter of law. Is what you are talking about, simply a matter of degree, or is it something altogether different?

Originally posted by twhitehead
I'm interested. So what do you read into the word 'worship'. I believe many kings and queens have been worshiped, pharaohs were worshiped, pop stars are worshiped and even judges must be worshiped as a matter of law. Is what you are talking about, simply a matter of degree, or is it something altogether different?

Maybe I'm confused about the semantics, but in that case i have to make the standard excuse that I'm not a native english speaker 🙂 My interpretation of worship is that its object is a god or something of a divine quality, something virtually unreachable. I agree that some rulers throughout history have been percieved as a god's alter ego on earth and thus worshipped.

But I would be scared to think that someone actually worshipped Britney Spears for instance. A pop star may be idolized I guess, someone you want to be or a representative of something you long to do or be recognized for. A judge may in some cultures be addressed as Your Worship, but that has to be something completely different, no?

Anyway, as I said I'm not a man of faith so I don't care too much about this whole worshipping business. But if I ever encounter someone/something that fits the description given by DoctorScribbles in the initial post I'm pretty sure i wouldn't regard it as a god. If it didn't scare the hell out of me I would certainly be in awe of its knowledge and abilities though.

Originally posted by Palynka
You're no better than them. Even worse, considering your only goal here is to avenge what they do in the Science Forum.

Again you're way off topic. Isn't this trolling?
Or is trolling to have another opinion than you?
I don't always agree with you, but you never hear any accuses of trolling from me, do you?
RHP provides a forum for different opinions and free debate. Let's debate.

If you start a thread about trolling we can have a lively discussion, if you want. Just to keep this thread from off-topic postings.
Until then - case closed.

Originally posted by FabianFnas
Again you're way off topic. Isn't this trolling?
Or is trolling to have another opinion than you?
I don't always agree with you, but you never hear any accuses of trolling from me, do you?
RHP provides a forum for different opinions and free debate. Let's debate.

If you start a thread about trolling we can have a lively discussion, if you want. Just to keep this thread from off-topic postings.
Until then - case closed.

Again you're way off topic. Isn't this trolling?
No. Trolling is always off-topic, but not all off-topic posts are trolling. Simple, really.

Or is trolling to have another opinion than you?
No. Trolling is going into threads regarding religion and posting just to annoy those participating in the discussion. You admitted to this when you use the (lame) excuse "but THEY also do it in the Science forum".

If you want to be a hypocrite and complain about what some theists do to the Science forum while doing the same here, then go ahead. I'll be there to call you out on it.