“I won't say that I'm an agnostic, since agnosticism
maintains that one cannot know... but I'm not averse to the idea of some
intelligence or some organizing force that set up the initial conditions of the
universe in such a way that ultimately generated stars, planets and life.” --
B. F. Skinner
“I am an agnostic; I do not pretend to know what many
ignorant men are sure of.” -- Clarence Darrow
“The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by
us; and I for one must be content to remain an agnostic.” -- Charles Darwin
Fully exploring the existence and nature of God lies far
beyond the scope of this blog. It would,
nevertheless, be inappropriate to consider reality without addressing the
matter in some fashion. What I offer
here are merely my own thoughts about God.
Whether you agree, adamantly disagree or are completely
indifferent, I assure you that I have
not arrived at my current views lightly.
They represent the conclusions derived from many years of literary
research and extensive contemplation.
A minor difficulty in speaking about God is the lack of an
appropriate gender-neutral pronoun. Surely
a being of this magnitude would have no need of gender. In many polytheistic cultures we find a
mixture of male and female gods.
However, within male dominated monotheistic societies He has
traditionally been attributed with masculine characteristics and addressed as
such. Yet there are some ancient teachings
that view Her as having both female and male attributes.
Addressing God as “It” seems rather impersonal and somewhat
irreverent. I recognize that there is no
way to make everyone happy no matter what I choose to do. So, I will alternate my pronouns as I refer
to Her/Him.
Although specific doctrines may differ widely, the general
concept of God in our western culture has been heavily influenced by the
ancient polytheism of northern Africa, the middle east and Europe, as well as
the three major Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is a belief in a divine, anthropomorphic,
transcendent being that is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. He has created everything, is intimately
aware of the minutest details of our lives and is capable of intervening in the
affairs of mankind.
Traditionally every phenomenon for which there is no known explanation
has been attributed to God. In the
ancient world this included electrical storms, plagues, drought, infestations,
earthquakes, eclipses and much more. As scientific
discoveries have identified the natural source of these events, the list of items
requiring His direct involvement has diminished significantly. Nevertheless, She is still blamed for causing
horrible disasters that we refer to as “Acts of God.” Simultaneously, in the midst of those
tragedies, He is praised for protecting the survivor’s. Apparently, God’s actions are capricious and
completely arbitrary.
With this view of God, it is little wonder that people
become angry with Her when hardship befalls them. The universal cry is “Why?” Implicit in that single word is a plethora of
questions. Why me? Why my loved ones? What did we do to deserve
this? Why did You allow this to happen?
If we are to be completely honest, the ultimate question is
simply this, “Why would an all-knowing, all-powerful, supremely wise and loving
deity allow suffering?” Even we, as mere
mortals, respond to hardship with compassion and make every effort to alleviate
it. Why wouldn’t a superior being
surpass our efforts to do so? How is it
possible to ignore the agonies experienced by innocents in war-torn regions or
allow the physical and sexual abuse and exploitation of children?
Of course, many biblical passages deny the legitimacy of ANY
questioning OF God’s actions. The entire
book of Job is devoted to addressing this very issue and concludes that, as creator,
God is entitled to do whatever She chooses without reproach. For Job this meant that crushing his children
beneath a collapsed building, having many of his servants slaughtered by
marauders, the theft and destruction of his possessions and afflicting Job with
“painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head “were a
justifiable test of Job’s faithfulness.
In Isaiah 55:8-9 we read “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts.” Are we to accept that this
and similar passages are the only explanations we are to receive from a
supernatural creator? Are we supposed to
passively affirm that all of the turmoil and destruction in the world are part
of some divine master plan? Or, do these scriptures represent human efforts to mitigate
the glaring discrepancies that exist between a particular theological
conceptualization and events occurring in our observable reality?
Embracing any faith-based religion requires more than belief
in a higher power. It is necessary to
have confidence in the validity of the source of the theology being
presented. In the case of the Bible and
the Koran, the credibility of the respective religions is completely dependent
on an acceptance of these writings as direct communications from God and not
merely of human origin.
Rejection of a particular religious perspective is not
automatically a denial of the existence of divinity. The majority of the world’ s population do
not share the view of God set forth in the Abrahamic religions. When Judaism was in its infancy in the middle
east, Vedic yogis were pondering the universe and laying the perceptual
foundations of Hinduism. While the
Greeks were expounding on the antics of the gods in their mythological
pantheon, Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism were spreading throughout the far
east. Those in this latter group were
being established as major world religions centuries before Christianity and a
full thousand years before Islam.
Though there are notable differences between the various
forms of eastern religion, none of them envision an observant god who
intervenes in the affairs of mankind and will eventually administer a final
judgement. The primary focus is awakening to the unity that exists among
everything in the universe. The measure
of one’s life is based on the degree to which we harmonize with other beings
and the natural rhythm of the cosmos. Reincarnation
offers an endless cycle of lifetimes through which We progressively learn and
grow until we achieve a state of enlightenment and are freeded from the need
for rebirth.
So, who is right? Inasmuch
as the prevailing religious views were conceived in pre-scientific cultures, I
think it is safe to say that none of them completely grasp the full magnitude
of ultimate reality. In our age of
scientific discovery, some might question whether considering the existence of
God is a relevant concern at all. No
matter what our present belief might be, the most significant question is whether
or not we are open to a new perception of reality even if it challenges our
current understanding.
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