Found this marvellous quote attributed to Ayn Rand, while poking through a discussion forum on Google Groups.
The good, say the mystics of spirit, is God, a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man’s power to conceive- a definition that invalidates man’s consciousness and nullifies his concepts of existence…Man’s mind, say the mystics of spirit, must be subordinated to the will of God… Man’s standard of value, say the mystics of spirit, is the pleasure of God, whose standards are beyond man’s power of comprehension and must be accepted on faith….The purpose of man’s life…is to become an abject zombie who serves a purpose he does not know, for reasons he is not to question.
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Beyond divine attributes, do we mean the same thing when we use the word “God”? I bet there are family resemblances, at best.
In case you are interested, I’ve just posted on this question at http://deligentia.wordpress.com/2009/10/25/what-does-god-mean/
I believe not, but the overwhelming majority associate ‘god’ with a supernatural entity who intervenes in their lives.
Off course there are those who take ‘god’ to mean a spiritual (as opposed to religious) force/s of nature which if ‘harnessed’ influences their lives.
Both of which is entirely unnecessary…
Your blog posts looks interesting; will make time to go through them.