I actually agree with you on this. Personally I do not use tne term "God" to refer to the universe in my own thought. That quote that you referred to in the other discussion was actually not originally from me, but is a modification of a famous quote by Frank Lloyd Wright who was also a pantheist.

This is an old debate within pantheism which you can also find in the forums of both the WPM and UPS over the use of the term "God". The original self-described pantheist, John Toland, did use the term God but he was firmly naturalistic and nontheistic. Many folks use the term "God" in senses that are not theistic - such as referring to Nature or Love or the "Ultimate Essence of Being" a la Paul Tillich, but those uses are clearly not within the standard philosophical definitions which is why many naturalistic pantheists have forgone the use of the word "God" because of the vagueness and possible misdirection. (BTW, I think there are quite a few folks in more traditional churches that use the term God in just such a way so they can remain within that community even though they do not accept the traditional theistic definition of God.)

Of course we should point out that there are varieties of pantheism (idealist and dualist) which are supernaturalist and where the use of the term "God" may be more appropriate. These varieties of pantheists, as well as natuarlistic ones, are served by the UPS which was set up for all pantheists.

Dave

I generally use the word 'atheist' to describe what I think and 'pantheist' to describe how I feel. 

Too bad the big three got stuck referring to their deity by title rather than name, thus confounding the two.  I make sure to use the lower-case 'g' when I'm stating my own beliefs, in the hope that people will notice that I'm not referring to something personal and named, but it's usually too subtle for people to notice.

[QUOTE=cheesefeet;210307]I don't use the term god, capitol G or lower case at all anymore in relation to my faith. And when people try to simplify it, or summarize it for me by saying "so you think the universe is god..." I don't accept it.

Because I understand that in their mind they will simply decide that I use all the same "formulas" as they do and replace "god" with "universe" but actually...the formulas themselves are different, and I think it is important for people to understand that, if they want to understand what I believe.

Having a god that is a being, implies certain types of roles and expectations that I don't think the universe has. It is not father, or judge, or in need or desire of certain behaviors out of me. It doesn't "want" me to worship it...it isn't human, or anthropomorphic.

People get frustrated with me, because I won't let them do the simple substitution thing, because I want them to at least attempt to wrap their minds around a very different concept of What Is, and often they don't want to go there.

One of my disciplines is NOT describing my beliefs using the terminology of their beliefs, because they are so intrisically different in most cases.

As the years go by, I find myself benefitting from this discipline, because by not allowing myself to "go lazy" in my own head, my own sense of awareness is heightened and challenged, and my own sense of understanding and awe deepens when I contemplate what pantheism really points to, really is about.

This has been a huge help in my own personal spirituality.[/QUOTE]

Excellent post - thanks!

[QUOTE=bluehorserunning;186023]I generally use the word 'atheist' to describe what I think and 'pantheist' to describe how I feel.[/QUOTE]

That is similar to me, but I'd use the word 'agnostic' to describe what I think.  I enjoy using words to clarify my thinking, but labels don't really matter much to me.  I will use 'pantheist' and I will use 'God'.  I may mean something different than any particular person, but then again I might mean something different from myself when using any of these terms in different contexts.  My non-rational feeling side is very complex and in some ways idiosyncratic.  That is why I use the label 'agnostic' most because it merely means being open-minded to me, and sometimes I'll call myself an 'agnostic gnostic' to emphasize this point.