I agree Dave. The worst thing, is Jim Bakker isn’t even unusual. There are several others out there just as bad and worse. I saw one recently complaining about Trump’s latest pick for the Supreme Court. He’s decided to trust the pick in the meantime, because he trusts Trump. However, he thinks Kavanaugh can’t be a good man because he talked so much about his mother and he’s only got daughters. Apparently, real men have sons and preferably only sons.

Here’s my tweet about him: https://twitter.com/HeatherHastie/status/1017180268858204160

A good site to keep an eye on in you want to know about people like this is Right Wing Watch: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/

Thanks.

I agree imagination is essential and I think it’s part of what makes us human. Every theory a scientist comes up with comes from their imagination.

Imagining the world as a better place and imagining what we can do to make it that way are also, imo, good things, and naturally I’m right with you there.

I just don’t see why God or a god is needed. The sort of ground of being God that you imagine is good. It’s more a deist type being – the sort of god your founding fathers (those that believed in a god) had in mind. I have no issue with that sort of god. If all believers believed in that sort of god I think things would mostly be fine.

The problem is, that’s not the sort of god most people imagine. The God of the Bible/Torah/Qur’an, for example, is real to His followers and has to be worshiped and followed the way they interpret in whatever religion they follow and it creates an enormous lot of hate and conflict. Imo, leaving God or gods out of the equation, teaching our kids ethics, to be kind, understanding, accepting etc would make the world a better place.

Imagination is essential to being human. Governed by reason, it allows us to see things that are not yet fully realized, but that nonetheless are real. For example, most people can only imagine what it’s like to walk on the moon, yet walking on the moon is a real phenomenon. Or, one can only imagine what it’s like to live on Mars, yet that is another phenomenon decidedly within the realm of reality (albeit in the future). In a crudely analogous way, it is not surprising that we rely on imagination when we try to contemplate God, Who is beyond human perception and language.

To the extent that my aspirations are oriented toward good, then my deepest desire is to know and love what is good, and to show it in the world. Thus the ultimate object of our most authentic aspirations is God, Whom we take to be goodness itself.

You aspire to the God you imagine? I’m genuinely curious, not being rude, I don’t understand what that means. Could you explain?

Imagination precedes aspiration — whether it be a better life, world peace, or a hole in one. God is our aspiration par excellence, so it is hardly surprising that we imagine Him.

If you read the “study”, it’s clear that what really is being studied is imagination, a capacity that’s quite unsurprising to observe in a healthy five year old. But at age five, the variable certainly is not critical thinking.

I did not believe in demonic possession before last weekend, but after watching the various Sore Loser parades, I would have to say Bakker may be on to something.

And I imagine you believe that all the Tea Party parades were filled with righteous people possessed by the god. Republicans and their double standards…never ceases to amaze.

And to second Heather, it’s good to hear you’re at least honest about the god being a figment of the imagination.

Good to hear you admit God is a product of the imagination.

After reading the so-called “study” and putting on my critical thinking cap, I would summarize it thusly: In one of America’s most liberal and irreligious cities, a “study” observed two kinds of five year olds: those with normal parents and active, healthy imaginations; and those with atheist parents and tragically diminished imaginations.

I did not believe in demonic possession before last weekend, but after watching the various Sore Loser parades, I would have to say Bakker may be on to something.

Study: Religious children are less able to distinguish fantasy from reality http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-28537149