Asking the question "does god exist" can mean a whole range of different things depending on what's meant by "god", and depending on what's meant by the far more complicated concept "exists".
I've had frustrating chats w/ folks who presume that "exists" is a really simple binary state but uhh there's whole branches of philosophy trying to figure out what the hell "exists" means.
The question "does god exist" occurs within a philosophical framework the querant might not even fully understand.
Todo: have a conversation to try and figure out what separates good and bad theology.
There totally is one but I don't know how to explain it.
@starkatt ah the old dunning-krueger thing
they don't know as much about the field so the answer seems simple and obvious!
@starkatt but yeah philosophy is rad imo
@kit @starkatt Probably kinda worse than that? When it comes up in the mass media sphere, "what do we mean when we say a thing 'exists'?" hearkens back to then-President Clinton answering a question with "that depends on what your definition of 'is' is". It's tarred with the brush of well-educated people's disreputable behavior.
@starkatt I would like to be part of this conversation. :)
@starkatt
My simplification: that which does not impose its will upon others without consent (and consent may be revoked).
@starkatt Hot take:
Good theology understands fundamentally that it's presenting a framework of meaning and morality and invites people to partake of its reality tunnel as a tool for investigating the ineffable.
Bad theology refuses to admit that it's a reality tunnel and treats the subject of its investigations as inherent in the universe, rather than inherent in the audience.
@literorrery I think that's probably a partial answer. Will think more about it.
@starkatt I'm sure there's more to it. That's just bleary-eyed snark more than anything. I mean, it's not wrong, but it's not well-considered and I'm sure there's more to it.
Anyway philosophy and theology are really cool actually, thank you for listening to my ted talk.