[extropy-chat] Putting God to Rest

[Mike Dougherty]

On 4/23/07, Robert Bradbury <robert.bradbury at gmail.com> wrote:
> We have before us a possible intersection -- Individuals such as Eugen or
> Rafal who may have been brought up in societies with no predispositions
> compared with individuals such as myself or spike who had very directed
> dispositions.  And then one adds on top of this people like Anders or Nick
> whose predelictions go off in god knows what directions...

"in god knows what"  - amusing choice of language given the context :)

My wife asked me to go to church with her.  We regularly discuss how
have a belief in a compassionate overlord is easier than trying to
understand it all.  I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, but
that state should not be an end in itself.  We don't expect a 3 year
old to grasp the household budget or the political climate in which
they live - at least until they grow up enough to ask questions.  I
feel encountering stark reality would be an unimaginably terrifying
experience to those who have been taught only a dependence on god.  I
think the aggresive anti-god stance of many hard-core atheists only
alienates the 'believers' into closing their minds even further.  If
christians are talking about actively converting followers, but only
talk to other christians then they're missing the point of their
stated goal.  If extropians only bash god followers with other
atheists, it's the same thing.

So what is it called if you believe in a higher order of being than we
are currently capable of understanding and through the inductive
process believe there will always be a higher order no matter how
exponential growth evolves our understanding?