God.

[elshiva]

A while ago I stopped using lower cases for non-Christian names for God. My name is elshiva no capitalization because I am not those Gods, but from now on I call El and Shiva the Canaanite and Hindu Gods.

I believe that they are all faces of God. I am not a monotheist, but a panentheist and a Trinitarian. Nowadays if you put me into a serious theological discussion about whether I believe in God or Gods maybe, I'd say God and Gods?

:shrug:

Don't like some Christians who do not capitalize names for Gods, it is disrespectful.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Jai Shiva! El!

I try to always capitalize all the Names, for this shows respect. I especially appreciate the Dance of Shiva, where the God dances upon the dwarf of ignorance while beating His drum to awaken our consciousness.

El, the ancient God from Canaan, taken as the Name of God by Ibrahim (Abraham)-I salute You, as well as Baal and Elot.

In dancing the first line of the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic, we do a counterpoint which I love, where we chant the Names for Gods/Goddess in the Middle Eastern region: Allaha (Aramaic) Allah (Arabic) Elohim (Hebrew) Elot (Canaanite Goddess).

[elshiva]

2. Elohim=the plural of El

Elohim is actually is Cannaanite for "Gods," so that is why Gen. 1:26-27 is "Let us create humans in Our Image...Male and Female." So, early concept of Male and Female Deities, but I believe points to some truth.

How do you dance the names? Some times I make up the dance as I go along...

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. Oh yes

We dance those Names in that Dance. We also have Goddess Dances. One has these words:

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hekate,
Demeter, Kali, Inana (repeated)
As the Light
Filleth the crescent moon (words from a prayer of Inayat Khan, a prayer in which he acknowledged the many many names for the Divine)

Personally, I like the Inana Snake Dance, a dance of renewal and rebirth, in which the Dancers figuratively "shed their skin", then become one snake, coiling in upon itself. The words are in an ancient language (I'll have to look them up for the source).

I also enjoy the many Hindu Dances, especially the Shiva Dance where we become Shiva Nataraj.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. I didn't know that about Elohim

and wanted to respond to this part of your message in a seperate post. I was told that "Elohim" means the God Within, but I always wondered, what with the "El" at the front, if it had an older meaning.

[Maat]

3. This is a great thread.

I'm just reading and learning.

[Tux]

6. Me 2

I never capitalized God till recently when I came to the conclusion that no view of God is right. All are right views of the Divine and are also wrong. What do I mean? Observe light as a series of particles and it appears that way. Observe light as waves and it is waves. Both depend on your observation. Each religion is an observation of the Divine which makes them right and wrong in that their views of God depend on their perception of the Divine just as my Deistic view is equally right and wrong. IMO anyways.

[sam sarrha]

7. I dont capitalize the word god because the gods didn't create the world nor

do they rule it or us in it..There is not reason to respect them. This is the Human realm.. the gods have their own realm, where they are busy blissing out doing what they do there, they are also stuck in Samsara and their powers cant get themselves free.. so how can they free us.. that is up to each being, to find their own liberation.

if i refer to particular god.. Allah, etc. that is a formal name such as my own, and that is the only reason to capitalize it..

I dont believe that placating any particular gods ego will save me from anything.

but if that fulfills your needs, i am really happy for you, i wish that worked for me.

[elshiva]

9. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs, but let me clarify,,,

I donot think praying is placating Gods ego, but communicating and asking for help. I donot share your belief that they are not interested in humans, but I base my beliefs on revelation. There is NO Hell, Only Heaven and LOVE...

But, hon, I thank you for posting your beliefs. You are correct in the fact that we have to help ourselves. Really I know that and the Sisters of Notre Dame and all sensible religious people know that...There is just a LOVE that holds us all together. But in NO WAY is there any obligation to believe in anything. Just be who you are, which IS GREAT!

[jmm]

8. Five years of Catholic school drilled it into me that

I had to not only capitalize God but all pronouns referring to Him. Now that my religious views have become much more ambiguous and inclusive then I was raised to believe I capitalize any reference to God, Goddess, Him, Her, etc. out of respect for the faith of others.