Abstract Concept of God - ACG - a.c.g.

This is a connect the dot thing and about how two totally unrelated subjects have in fact a stake in future global communication.

The first dot happened this morning as I read a piece by Jason Walsh on the Guardian UK news website.

Kick the state out of our bedrooms

Indeed the times, they are a-changin' and it is clear that public opinion on gay marriage is changing with it. When Boyzone singer Stephen Gately died the tabloid press referred to Andy Cowles, as his husband. It was slightly jarring at first but we'll get used to it: the sky didn't fall, thousands of men didn't abandon their wives and head down to the local gay club and although there was something a war of words on the internet … well, who cares?...

Which led to this sentence which leads me back to the topic theme.

The fiercest opposition to gay marriage comes from conservative Christians who see marriage as a sacred bond between a man and a woman before God.

Suddenly I realize how so many of us are confused by terms already in usage, terms in transit and terms yet to be born. And in a present and future global sense.

The article is about how a term such as “husband” is appropriate and needs to understood by all as in a gay relationship. This cradle but not to the grave homophobe has had his share of uncomfortable moments in life seeing gays kiss and or hold hands in public. It takes some getting used to but get over it. Who cares? Who cares about the private lives of other people?

Enough with the gay stuff already. The second quote about alpha-male christians leads to how I have tried to pull my thoughts together about atheism and agnosticism and a whole range of terms I and or you may not be aware of or might need to get used as terms.

“Marriage as a sacred bond between a man and a women before God”

God? What is that? The founding fathers, born in the Enlightenment, were comfortable in their own skins with God being remote and creative (Deism) or God being up front and personal (Theism).

In an interview by Australian Atheist Cameron Reilly with Father Peter Kennedy of St. Mary’s in Exile Brisbane, Reilly kept using the term “Anthropomorphic” – a mouth full - which means giving God an attribute of humanity as in a white haired guy in the sky and or “personal god” concept.

Getting back to the marriage definition used by fanatical christians with marriage, forming a sacred bond, as in spoken vows of a man and a women “before God”. It struck me how God is an Abstract Concept. God might be real in a spirit form but he, she, or it is not visible in this world. The majority opinion and the majority assumption that God is a word or term that can stand alone in understanding or communication is fading with that religious majority into a future global minority opinion.

I came to this new term Abstract Concept of God (ACG) (a.c.g.) to bridge some gaps of understanding in our merging world cultures. God is not real. God may exist but when people are taking vows or swearing oaths they are taking those vows and or oaths to an Abstract Concept of God (to an abstract concept called "God").

Helping me along in my evolving thoughts and understanding about what is real and what is not real is my study recently of Atheism. One of the persons helping recently is the late great artist George Carlin, in a filmed comedy routine from 1999.

I do not invite you to see the video below if you are not curious about atheism. I was a bit squimish when I saw the same routine on HBO a year or two ago. But gradually I have come around, can look and laugh at some of the cultural absurdities and superstitions that still languish in this so called modern civilized culture.

In a way my fear of atheism has done an about turn much like my about turn in terms of supporting 100% human rights for gays and all other human beings on this planet, as well as for those in belief or as non-believers.

Gone are the days of Madelyn Murray O’Hair – angry and reactive atheists to a bad religious experience – and going forward with the young who have not experienced the medieval experience of religion and their atheism is – what is all this “bullshit” about religion and God stuff (?).

The concept about assuming that the word God alone is enough in the public square to express yourself is changing. The concept as described above about forming a sacred bond by taking vows before God is perhaps turning into the perjorative at the moment no matter how much cash and Public Relations reinforcement of religious medieval concepts is going on in the present world.

The majority POV about vows before God may be the minority POV in a future global culture and taking “vows before an ACG (abstract concept of god)” may be the politically correct way to phrase that sentence in a decade or two.

(Warning - there is a lot of street profanity in the video below.)