General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: DU religion survey [View all]alterfurz
(2,474 posts)...many levels of consciousness, many gods. Each blind man holding onto a different part of the elephant. Oh sure, on good days I might still muster up a little dishwater agnosticism, but atheism remains far too problematic--as Woody put it, there's no way you can prove God doesn't exist: you just have to take it on faith.
The gods hear and answer all prayers. The answer to the common petition to suspend just this once the Law of Cause and Consequence is customarily No. (Trust in Allah, but always tie your camel. Pray to Neptune, but row away from the rocks.) Sometimes when the gods want to punish us, they give us what we ask for, and to reward us, they don't. General guideline: If you don't pray when the sun shines, don't pray when it rains. Corollary: "If the only prayer you say in your life is thank you, that would suffice." -- Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-c. 1328). Personally, I'm counting on that.
Useful deity validity test:
You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. -- Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies (Pantheon, 1999)