Godlessness, it's not just for breakfast anymore.
I find myself becoming increasingly atheistic as I grow older, though there is still that nagging agnostic portion of being which I cannot seem to shake. That quiet, yet insistent, part that asks, "what if?" and does not wish to commit to absolutes. I suppose I must allow for a (very) slight possibility that there is some higher power, some deity or other, though if there is, he/she/it is highly disorganized, and possibly little more than a bully.
Again, I fear I must abandon even this pitiful attempt at hedging my bets for one very simple reason…no proof. Not a single shred. Nope, notta. Despite much literature to the contrary, despite numerous proponents of the "one true way" (whichever one true way that happens to be for that particular individual or individuals), despite a great many things offered as proof, the simple fact remains that no one, not a single, solitary soul on this globe has the slightest idea as to whether or not there is a god/dess, and entertaining fantasies will not change this. Attempting to maintain a rational conversation with someone convinced of the existence of things which cannot be proved has been a continuing source of irritation throughout most of my life, and is possibly the reason I am slowly going bald (actually this is genetics- though people who refuse to accept the logical conclusion of genetics- i.e. evolution, cause it to fall out at a much faster rate).
Faith and other vague feelings will not save us from this situation of no proof, for, no matter what we may "feel" or what we wish were so, we still cannot prove it, and so it should be abandoned. Faith is ridiculous, especially in the face of facts. Not that asking metaphysical questions is unhealthy. On the contrary, it is necessary and often leads to wonderful truths (all provable through science). Unfortunately, one of these is not proof of the existence of god It is when we begin answering these questions without proof that we stumble (or more often charge full force) into dangerous ground. Once we have convinced ourselves of the existence of something which cannot be proved, we are free to assign to it any traits we wish, and thus are free to create our own reality, however ridiculous it may be. I think that, if there is a indeed a god, he/she/it is fully knowable through the scientific process, and can be fully quantified and explained. Otherwise it is mere theory, and probably would not be sufficient even for an entertaining science fiction yarn.
I do firmly believe in evolution. I can say, with full conviction, that we (humans) began as some form of single-celled organism, and gradually evolved to our current state at the top of the food chain (not as grand a place to be as one might at first believe). I believe the purpose of the universe is for matter to create more of itself. It has been proved that the universe is composed of energy, though I by no means believe that this is a sentient energy, not in the new age sense. I think that when we die, we as individuals cease to exist and all that is left is energy. This energy is changed into something else, and so on. So herein lies this eternal life, though not one we shall ever know, for, as I said before, in the end we die, end of story. And, I think that this is entirely sufficient; not only is there no life after death, there is no need for it.
One could conclude from the above that I believe in nature and the Gaia theory. To an extent this is true, but only on the level that nature is not in any way a sentient being, but rather the pure mechanics of the universe. There is no connectedness, no great pool of energy we all return to and cohabitate in unending joy.
I think much, if not all, of man's need for faith, religion, etc, springs from one or more of the following: man's fear of death (or rather his fear of not existing any longer- I am guilty of this on occasion), the fact that man cannot stand the thought (or reality) of losing his loved ones, and man's uncontrollable need to be right. You may notice that most of these stem from either a now obsolete system of survival instincts or from man's not inconsiderable ego; the feeling each of us has that we are the only reality. Are we justified in feeling this, perhaps, in the sense that we cannot help it, it is all we know (and all we will know without proper education and a conscious effort toward not believing this nonsense). Are we actually the center of the reality, not a chance. Each of us is one tiny, insignificant speck in the immensity of the universe. And, again, this is as it should, and must, be.
Again, I fear I must abandon even this pitiful attempt at hedging my bets for one very simple reason…no proof. Not a single shred. Nope, notta. Despite much literature to the contrary, despite numerous proponents of the "one true way" (whichever one true way that happens to be for that particular individual or individuals), despite a great many things offered as proof, the simple fact remains that no one, not a single, solitary soul on this globe has the slightest idea as to whether or not there is a god/dess, and entertaining fantasies will not change this. Attempting to maintain a rational conversation with someone convinced of the existence of things which cannot be proved has been a continuing source of irritation throughout most of my life, and is possibly the reason I am slowly going bald (actually this is genetics- though people who refuse to accept the logical conclusion of genetics- i.e. evolution, cause it to fall out at a much faster rate).
Faith and other vague feelings will not save us from this situation of no proof, for, no matter what we may "feel" or what we wish were so, we still cannot prove it, and so it should be abandoned. Faith is ridiculous, especially in the face of facts. Not that asking metaphysical questions is unhealthy. On the contrary, it is necessary and often leads to wonderful truths (all provable through science). Unfortunately, one of these is not proof of the existence of god It is when we begin answering these questions without proof that we stumble (or more often charge full force) into dangerous ground. Once we have convinced ourselves of the existence of something which cannot be proved, we are free to assign to it any traits we wish, and thus are free to create our own reality, however ridiculous it may be. I think that, if there is a indeed a god, he/she/it is fully knowable through the scientific process, and can be fully quantified and explained. Otherwise it is mere theory, and probably would not be sufficient even for an entertaining science fiction yarn.
I do firmly believe in evolution. I can say, with full conviction, that we (humans) began as some form of single-celled organism, and gradually evolved to our current state at the top of the food chain (not as grand a place to be as one might at first believe). I believe the purpose of the universe is for matter to create more of itself. It has been proved that the universe is composed of energy, though I by no means believe that this is a sentient energy, not in the new age sense. I think that when we die, we as individuals cease to exist and all that is left is energy. This energy is changed into something else, and so on. So herein lies this eternal life, though not one we shall ever know, for, as I said before, in the end we die, end of story. And, I think that this is entirely sufficient; not only is there no life after death, there is no need for it.
One could conclude from the above that I believe in nature and the Gaia theory. To an extent this is true, but only on the level that nature is not in any way a sentient being, but rather the pure mechanics of the universe. There is no connectedness, no great pool of energy we all return to and cohabitate in unending joy.
I think much, if not all, of man's need for faith, religion, etc, springs from one or more of the following: man's fear of death (or rather his fear of not existing any longer- I am guilty of this on occasion), the fact that man cannot stand the thought (or reality) of losing his loved ones, and man's uncontrollable need to be right. You may notice that most of these stem from either a now obsolete system of survival instincts or from man's not inconsiderable ego; the feeling each of us has that we are the only reality. Are we justified in feeling this, perhaps, in the sense that we cannot help it, it is all we know (and all we will know without proper education and a conscious effort toward not believing this nonsense). Are we actually the center of the reality, not a chance. Each of us is one tiny, insignificant speck in the immensity of the universe. And, again, this is as it should, and must, be.
posted by Joel Hardin | 12:02 PM
1 Comments:
I believe there is something, not a god or goddess. I don't believe in heaven or hell or devils or gods. But there is something that created whatever began life. Everything has to begin from some point. However whatever that Gaia/ Spark of Life/ Nameless Thing is I don't think it spends a lot of time bothering with us, mere bugs on the face of one mere planet. I really think we are left on our own to deal with the mess we have created. I know the planet itself won't miss us should we pollute ourselves out of existence. But, unless we find a way to completely demolish the planet itself, the planet and life on it will go on. Somehow life finds a way to survive. That is why I do believe in something, cause there is life. How did life get here unless it began some how, somewhere.
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