Personally, I feel anthropomorphization is a slippery slope to neurosis.

To think the Divine is capable of receiving praise usually goes along with the belief of the Divine as an entity much like a person, who can get upset and angry and vengeful as well as pleased and disposed to convey Grace...

I feel the concept of Sin, which is basically an offense against God, is one of the most poisonous concepts in history. To conceive of the Divine as an omnipotent yet insecure control freak who creates individuals whom did not ask to be created, then predisposes them to sin (an even in some quarters, people are born with sin), and takes it as a kind of personal insult when a "mere mortal" acts human and then condemns them to eternal damnation, seems much more the work of an anthropomorphized Devil/incarnation of Evil, or the twisted dogma of human creation with the ulterior motive of controlling the masses through fear, rationalizing slavery (their God is real, but they've displeased him and are being punished), and/or a diabolically clever manifestation of a preistly class' will to power; they place themselves in between the ordinary human and the Divine and declare themselves the sole terrestrial source of guidance, as the ones who know God's will.

That, to me, is a cancer on the beauty of Life. But that's just me.

Sorry, nn123. It's not personal between you and I... I loved the Rumi post... did you see my addition?

To each their own, eh?

Absolutely! the more perspectives you can see from (maybe it's better to say "the more perspectives you are aware from which any thing can be seen"), the better.

When one adheres to a single point of view, the become a slave to it.

If you don't believe God, as an Infinite Being, can also act consciously, within the limited parameters of a human being, that is your choice.

However, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism all believe differently.

All the these major religions, believe that God is a conscious Being who does answer prayers.

That includes Moses and all the great saints of Judaism, Christ and all the great saints of Christianity, Mohammad and all the great saints of Islam, Krishna and all the great saints of Hinduism.  And all the billions of people, over the course of thousands of years who have followed the teachings of these great saints and paths.

Buddhism is one of the non-dualistic paths...as are some with Jnana Yoga.  If you are interested in a mystical pursuit which does not overtly speak of God, one can certainly follow those.

To decry belief in a personal God as a lack of common sense or logic is quite demeaning and does not bear out very well under scrutiny.

Many professional scientists believe in God. 

And men of perhaps the most profound logical deduction abilities, like Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin also believed in God.

I really don't think it is very productive to bring up arguments about the existence of God.  It has the sense of flame baiting - just trying to create an argument for argument's sake.

I am sure there are many boards on which one can pursue such a debate.

But to presume it is one's place, to inject this kind of criticism into any discussion whatsoever, is, I believe, either quite a bit of hubris or a conscious attempt to flame bait the discussions.

Think of it in this fashion.  Say a local church is having a service.  Would it be your place to walk in there and tell everyone there that they are nuts?  Of course not.  It would be rude.

There is an element in which the same thing exists here.  Just because someone posts something online does not, therefore, allow people to presume to just go in there and throw any and every bit of mud on anything they say.

On a level of civility it is rude. 

Sure, if the intent were merely to engage in debate that would be one thing, but online, with the prevalence of trolling, that is rarely the case.  Some people are just bored and like to fight with other people.

The only reason I post is to share a bit of beauty with other people.

One does not walk into a classical music concert or an art gallery and start creating arguments with people.  People should just sit and be and enjoy.  That is real spirituality.  Debate is for lawyers and politicians.

If people come by and say, "isn't that cloud beautiful?"  it is not an invitation to jump all over them.  Unless, of course, you truly believe that spirituality means attacking other people.  If you really believe that, you will need a lot of therapy before you can ever consider attempting a spiritual path.