Ah, 'blasphemy' can apparently be subjectively assumed or defined beyond some some general assumption of it. How is it blasphemous?
Can referring to God as an "It" be blasphemous? While it seems to be de-personalizing 'God',....it may not be blasphemous in the context implied by the poster. There are aspects of 'God' that transcend 'personality', as 'God' is an infinite omnipresent 'being' or 'reality',...in this sense the poster is referring to aspects of God's nature that elude our ability to conceive or understand. In this sense,..."IT" or God as some great cosmic 'Is-ness' (a timeless, infinite energy, or spirit-presence, sustainer of all that is) is not necessarily 'blasphemous'.
Note that JosephR referred to 'God' as 'He/She/It', and I have done so in other places in the past, such referring to 'Deity' as that which includes all gender as well as transcending any human concept of 'gender' or 'personality'. 'God' surely includes all these facets, but transcends any definition we can give to Deity. On a more personal level I sometimes refer to 'God' as 'Father-Mother-God'...this is a more personal intimate title of course. But there are non-personal aspects to Deity as well, IMO.
As far as contesting 'eternal hellfire' or ECT, I've done that elsewhere, because this is an open discussion forum, we are allowed to debate the points and propositions presented in a theological context, or philosophically as is my usual custom. Note my blog-post on ECT
here, includes a post to you on ECT (see last comment), do I get banned for that? Did you read that?
As to this portion of Mickiel's post,...is this blasphemous? We've been challenging the traditional concept of 'hell' thr-out the entire thread, which is its purpose, and elsewhere. What is being contested is the various conceptions and 'beliefs' about 'hell', and ECT (eternal conscious torment). On moral, philosophical grounds alone, as to the principles of justice and mercy....this concept of 'eternal punishment' can be questioned, hence our various points about it. I think its well within the scope of the thread to discuss or question concepts about 'hell'.
By what criteria or standards do you rule anything 'blasphemous' since any honest questioning of traditional beliefs or definitions seems to come near that 'fine line' of controversy, where one ventures into some zone of
potential blasphemy, so how can we properly discuss a subject without going into the 'pro's and 'cons' of it? This micro-managing and over-lording of moderating maybe stifling and limiting discussion, rather than enhancing constructive criticisms and expanding of consciousness which is advantageous to all.
