Re: God Is an "It"
I've noticed that many people from a Christian background seem to use the word "God" a great deal, and often seem to take it for granted that they understand what it means -- and that they're almost kind of on first name intimate terms with "God". The word is not the thing. Whatever "God" may be, I believe hypocrisy is surely one of the quickest paths in the opposite direction.
To somebody from a different religious tradition, that Christian name-dropping seems very presumptuous and probably hypocritical, and ignorant. Nevertheless, the Buddhists do sometimes refer to the universe, or Rhythm's "all that is," where Christians would talk of God. But Buddhists etc have some reference to the notion that you have to have reached enlightenment before you're ever truly in touch with That on an everyday level (and genuinely know that you are).
I understand that Judaism forbade any attempt to utter "God's name" for a number of centuries in the past. Personally, I like that idea.
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