Mosques

[Luke]

Really? Those are his questions?

I'm pretty disappointed in Stephen Hawking.

Well, yeah, at least his first few questions in the book.

It is fun to ponder what God did before he created anything. Does that mean he created nothing? How can you create nothing? Maybe he created the Nothing from The Neverending Story? But then, that would be something.

[Limewater]

Really? Those are his questions?

I'm pretty disappointed in Stephen Hawking.

Well, yeah, at least his first few questions in the book.

It is fun to ponder what God did before he created anything. Does that mean he created nothing? How can you create nothing? Maybe he created the Nothing from The Neverending Story? But then, that would be something.

Now that I think about it, having not read the book, perhaps Hawking was not really asking those questions himself, but just presenting them to the reader to establish tone. That makes a lot more sense to me.

The idea of "before G_d created anything" is pretty silly, imo. If you assume that G_d created the universe, then asking that is like asking what Charles Dickens did to the left of page one of Oliver Twist.

[AppleQueso]

why on earth do you keep self censoring the word "God"?

[Limewater]

why on earth do you keep self censoring the word "God"?

I don't self-censor the word "god" in general. I only do so when I am referencing the One in whom I believe. I do this for both religious and personal reasons. If you look, you will find that this practice is common in Judaism as well.

To clarify, before I am accused of misrepresentation, there are some subtleties in Judaism regarding typing on the computer. If you're interested, you can read about it online pretty easily.

My reasons for my actions overlap with but are not the same as those in Judaism.

[jfrost]

You don't want to use His name in vain, is that it?

[Limewater]

You don't want to use His name in vain, is that it?

No, this is not it.

[MrPopo]

why on earth do you keep self censoring the word "God"?

I don't self-censor the word "god" in general. I only do so when I am referencing the One in whom I believe. I do this for both religious and personal reasons. If you look, you will find that this practice is common in Judaism as well.

To clarify, before I am accused of misrepresentation, there are some subtleties in Judaism regarding typing on the computer. If you're interested, you can read about it online pretty easily.

My reasons for my actions overlap with but are not the same as those in Judaism.

Not in English:

http://judaism.about.com/od/reformjudai ... elling.htm

[Limewater]

I don't self-censor the word "god" in general. I only do so when I am referencing the One in whom I believe. I do this for both religious and personal reasons. If you look, you will find that this practice is common in Judaism as well.

To clarify, before I am accused of misrepresentation, there are some subtleties in Judaism regarding typing on the computer. If you're interested, you can read about it online pretty easily.

My reasons for my actions overlap with but are not the same as those in Judaism.

Not in English:

http://judaism.about.com/od/reformjudai ... elling.htm

I do not see where what you posted conflicts with anything I have written above.

[MrPopo]

To clarify, before I am accused of misrepresentation, there are some subtleties in Judaism regarding typing on the computer.

There are no subtleties. As long as you're not typing in Hebrew you're free to go hog-wild.

[Luke]

Now that I think about it, having not read the book, perhaps Hawking was not really asking those questions himself, but just presenting them to the reader to establish tone. That makes a lot more sense to me.

You got it. It's all about establishing a tone, and I would highly suggest reading A Brief History of Time.