The Many Faces of God (or not)

A couple of weeks ago one of my blog neighbors referred to me as “my atheist friend.” While I’m not offended by the adjective, I feel it one that needs clarification. To a lot of people, atheist equals devil worshiper. I personally submit that it’s probable that neither of them exist so rest easy that I’m not a devil worshiper any more than I’m a God worshiper.

This does not however mean that I discount the possibility of some all-encompassing and all-powerful force in the universe. It is perfectly possible that God with a capital G exists. Each of the religions of the world which profess to describe the creation and governance of the universe are for the most part legitimate theories and most of the time cannot, because of their careful construction, be proven to be either true or untrue. Over the centuries, any logical gaps in the construction of a religion get patched up with more doctrine until they become utterly unassailable.

While I admit that God is a possibility, I also admit to a large number of other possibilities. It is entirely possible that life on this planet was brought here from somewhere else. When religious people complain that it’s impossible for life to have simply evolved on this planet from chemicals, I point out two simple facts. Firstly, 5 billion years is a LONG time. Longer, in fact, than anyone reading this post can possibly conceive of. A lot can happen in 5 billion years including many things that are seemingly impossible. Secondly, life didn’t have to evolve here. Life is pretty smart and gets around pretty easily. We could all be the result of an alien sightseer’s sneeze. Most confusingly, it’s also possible that we’re not actually here at all. I know, that’s old hat but a man is only the sum of his experiences and thus of his sensory inputs. Just as there’s no way to prove God exists (or doesn’t) you also can’t prove anything else around you does either. All you have is sensory input and that could be the product of a deranged or damaged mind. Perhaps all of you are simply products of my own raved imaginings. Or, more likely since you’re reading this, the entire universe (including me) is a product of your raved imaginings. Who can say?

Despite the wide range of unprovable possibilities, the fact remains that nobody really KNOWS anything. You can collect data all you like but there are too few solid facts available to make any meaningful decision about something as sweeping and important as ‘where did the universe come from?’ From what I’ve seen so far, everyone seems to be wrong in their own special way. The Buddhists have some good ideas about the way people think and act but they fall short of making any really useful predictions about anything. Christians are generally really nice about treating each other properly but are so fragmented (and in a few cases blatantly corrupt) that they spend more time disagreeing with each other and pointing fingers than anything else. Scientists are good at processing facts but only up to the point when ‘truth’ starts to impact their egos and their funding and Atheists tend to be a lot of snobby pricks that go around talking about how stupid everyone else is (while occasionally worshipping the devil.)

I personally still hold out for the celestial clockwork version of the universe. Everything we see around us obeys simple physical laws if only we actually know enough to understand them. There is eternal and immutable law in the cosmos but I don’t imagine it sitting in judgment over us or, in fact, knowing anything about us at all. My version of the universe is rigid, deterministic and completely dispassionate towards you and everyone you know. The whole universe would just as soon exterminate you as let you live another day. That’ll keep you up nights…

In addition to the atheist comment, I’ve also had a few other comments lately which I’ll paraphrase and respond to in varying amounts of detail. In general, I find even the most obnoxious feedback to be instructive as it helps me to know in which direction my diatribe is pushing the minds that read it.

Comment from a reader: “If there's one theme I've noticed in your writing, it's cynicism toward the church. You seem bemused by, but respectful of, the personal practice of religion. What's the real reason for Rob's beef with the church?”

I see both good and bad in the church but I think that my coverage is not entirely negative. My post ‘On Religion’ applauds religion must heartily as the most elegant social construct of humankind. We’ve spent massive amounts of energy on these processes and they’ve done a lot of people a lot of good. People who had no other guidance in their lives have found a home in the church and become useful members of society. The Church as an organ of society deserves a lot of credit.

Unfortunately, like everything else, there’s a dark side. I can’t tell you how MAD I get every time I flip past some of this religious crap they peddle on television. My blood boils when I watch those amoral as!holes on the 700 Club. Almost the entire content of the show is testimonials from people who gave money to The 700 Club and were blessed with even more money in return. These people actually say that they “gave more than they could afford” and that God blessed them and they got out of debt. They’re encouraging people to send money to The 700 Club rather than pay the rent or buy food for their children. As if that’s not bad enough, they promulgate all these stories about medical miracles. I guess if people are refusing medical treatment and waiting for a miracle instead then they can send more money to the show.

I realize, of course, that shows like The 700 Club are merely the ass-end of the religious spectrum but even the main stream Western Religions boil down to one simple fact: selling the answers to all life’s mysteries in exchange for 10% of your income. As I said, churches do a lot of good and help a lot of people, don’t get me wrong. But the crux of the matter is still one of doctrine. The mission trips to feed people and build houses in Africa are not selfless acts. They’re not just going over there to feed starving people, they’re going to proselytize. In some cases, this destroys cultures and beliefs that predate Christianity itself. I’ve even heard it said that the free meals are distributed only AFTER the sermon to make sure people get the message that the missionaries want to distribute.

It’s this indoctrination by carrot and stick that most offends me and that comprises my moral ‘beef’ with Western Religion. The stick is eternal damnation: accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior or you’ll burn in hell. The carrots are diverse: accept Jesus and we’ll build you a house, give you a hot meal, invite you to our social event, be friends with you, etc. The carrots are very nice. You get to hang out with a bunch of really friendly, like-minded people who care about you and are concerned about your welfare. Thumbs up for the carrots. I will not, however, have my fundamental beliefs dictated to me at the end of a pointy stick.

Will I burn in hell for this post? As indicated at the beginning, that’s really unknowable with the current data. I personally don’t think it’s likely as I don’t think there is any burning in hell going on. From a purely rational point of view, it seems a good threat but an impractical long-term solution. Redemptionless and unending hell just seems cruel, not just. If you ask my wife (who is a Christian) she’ll merely say that the rules don’t make a lot of sense. If a killer, she argues, can get into heaven with a deathbed conversion then surely someone who lives a moral life but doesn’t accept Jesus can get into heaven. For some reason, she seems to think I’m the most moral person she knows. I personally think she just needs to keep better company but the fact remains that nobody knows and nobody can know; only time will tell. See you on the other side… or not…