Is God or Lord greater?

[Jack]

THERE WAS ONCE a wicked Maharaja who could not bear to think that anyone might be superior to him. So he summoned all the pandits of the realm, as was customary on momentous occasions, and put to them this question: "Which of us two is greater, I or God?" The pandits trembled. Being wise by profession, they asked for time; also, an old habit made them cling to their positions and to their lives. Yet they were worthy pandits and did not want to offend God. As they were lamenting, the oldest among them reassured them: "Leave it to me, tomorrow I will speak to the Prince." The
next day, the whole court was gathered in a solemn durbar when the old pandit arrived, his hands humbly folded, his forehead smeared with white ashes. He bowed low and spoke these words: "O Lord, undoubtedly thou art the greater". The Prince twirled his long moustache thrice, and puffed
himself up. "Thou art the greater, Lord, for thou canst banish us from thy kingdom, whilst God cannot: verily, all is His kingdom and there is nowhere to go outside Him".

[Angela]

There were three drycleaning establishments on one block. The first one had a big sign up that said, "We're the best drycleaners in the WORLD!"
the second one had an even bigger sign up that said, "We're the best drycleaners in the UNIVERSE!!"
And the third drycleaner had a little sign posted that said, "We're the best drycleaners on the block."

[jippykid]

Yes, Angela, we get it. You equate people who believe in god to someone who believes in a flying spaghetti monster, and the debate over whether or not god or lord is greater is on the same level as the debate over which dry cleaner is the best, to you. I can certainly appreciate the humor and sarcasm in your response(s) because I am an atheist myself, however some of your responses are disrespectful to those who do believe and are at a different stage in their spiritual development.

I'm all for challenging other thoughts and ideas, but I don't think either side benefits from snide comments. How about you put a little "meat" into your arguments?

[Akashic_Librarian]

How about this then:

When you claim god is Omnipotent and EVERYWHERE. Then you immeadiately nullify his existence. Because when you are everything. You are also nothing.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by jippykid

Yes, Angela, we get it. You equate people who believe in god to someone who believes in a flying spaghetti monster, and the debate over whether or not god or lord is greater is on the same level as the debate over which dry cleaner is the best, to you. I can certainly appreciate the humor and sarcasm in your response(s) because I am an atheist myself, however some of your responses are disrespectful to those who do believe and are at a different stage in their spiritual development.

I'm all for challenging other thoughts and ideas, but I don't think either side benefits from snide comments. How about you put a little "meat" into your arguments?

Hey, jippykid, you thought you got it, but you didn't. Although you are corrrect that I feel belief in a personal interventionist god is the same as belief in the flying spaghetti monster, and that each belief is equally due respect, that's not what I was saying in my drycleaner post, and I wasn't being snide. As a matter of fact, I wasn't challenging thoughts or ideas, or making an argument, either! So, oops, you didn't get it! That's ok, lots of people don't get that story right away.

[jippykid]

Angela - you're right, I completely missed the point of your story (which I'll now agree is a very appropriate little anecdote ) Thank you for pointing out my error. My response to you probably has more to do with my own wrestlings with faith, but I also thought you might want to be aware that, even to an atheist like myself, your words about god, and christianity in specific, sometimes come off as condescending. I'm thinking specifically about the "Why the Bible" thread -again, I'm fully aware that my response is probably an indication of my level of frustration with religion.

Interesting, as I was rereading some threads to understand why I responded the way I did, I noticed that you're a recovering catholic like myself. I think we're very similar in our view on the church and religion in general. Maybe a catholic upbringing isn't such a bad way to go...

[Angela]

Originally Posted by jippykid

I also thought you might want to be aware that, even to an atheist like myself, your words about god, and christianity in specific, sometimes come off as condescending. ...

yup, you are so right, I can definitely see and feel condescension in myself when I'm talking about belief in a personal interventionist god. Anger, too. It doesn't feel good. I tend to get activated by what I perceive as invasive talk by religionists -- that is, when I feel that people are using religious beliefs to control or oppress others, especially me! Having experienced that first-hand from the catholics, it really gets my goat. So far I haven't completely let go of that goat, so I guess I'd better take my own coaching, right?

Thanks for pointing that out, jippykid.