Life / Religion / Philosophy / Science / Polictics

Tag: God

  • In Search of God

    The other day in Whose Science Is It?  I stated:

    “Once one has determined in his or her own mind as to the existence of God, then the debate as to who or what that God may (or may not) be can take place.”

    Meaning to separate two linked, but unique, practices:  Theology and Religion.  But I kind of left Theology hanging.  Today I’d like to take the time to fill that in a little bit, and I am sure I am being somewhat academic to most, but I feel it important because I believe that a vast majority of people that miss God in their lives, do so because they reason themselves out of it.  By this I mean they find themselves to have studied the evidence and determined to their own satisfaction that there is indeed no God.  Likewise, a number of Theists also believe they have reasoned themselves to their position without actually realizing the steps they needed to take, or accept, to get there.

    The reason I find this important, is because of people like Dr. Richard Carrier.  Dr. Carrier, apparently following Dr. Richard Dawkins advice to mock Christians (and in doing so demonstrated his physic abilities, since I believe Dr. Dawkins advice came after this event), asks the rather mocking question: Are Christians Delusional? at Skepticon 3.

    Of course one might ask why someone with a BA in History, an MA in Ancient History, an MPhil in Ancient History (Honestly, I did not even know you could get a Masters of Philosophy in Ancient History), and a PhD in Ancient History from prestigious institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University is doing speaking at a convention named Skepticon?  Shouldn’t Dr. Carrier be off doing some important History research or teaching some University course somewhere rather than speaking at some convention full of self proclaimed skeptics?

    See?  I can be mocking and condescending as well.  I should point out that I never have actually attended Skepticon (although I have watched the videos and read the literature) and do not personally know anyone who has.  They may actually be a great bunch of fun loving people.  But their choice of invited speakers certainly leaves a lot to be desired.

    But back to my point:  I would most certainly guess that Dr. Carrier believes Theists to be duped somehow.  Incapable of understanding or interpreting Scientific Data.  Or else needy, emotionally, psychologically, mentally, or otherwise.  And they need a God to fill that void.

    And of course Dr. Carrier would be partially right.  There is a void in a persons life that needs to be filled (even Dr. Carrier’s life).  But it is not a needy void, it is an empty void.  And it does not lie quite where one might suspect.  Rather it is a Spiritual void.  And Spiritual voids just happen to be God shaped voids.  And oddly enough, only God can fill that void.

    Atheists do not understand that.  How could they?  They deny there is a God to begin with and  shut out any possibility of a Spiritual realm or Spiritual understanding.  And they may not even know why it is seemingly important for them to proselytize as Dr. Carrier and others most assuredly do.  This is a thought for a future post however.

    So back on track here.  Just how delusional are Theists?  We let’s consider the choices (either consciously, or sub-consciously) that the Theist has to make in order to arrive at their particular world view.

    Obviously, to begin with, one must determine whether the evidence supports a Theistic model or an Atheistic model.

    At this point the Atheist is done.  There is no God (or gods).  The Universe is not a created thing.  And there certainly is no need to go looking for one.

    Now some Atheist out there is going to interject Science and Discovery at this point.  They are going to claim that learning how it all started, what makes it all work, or what holds it all together is the important next step.

    I do not understand how in the world these people came to think they are they only ones capable of Science.  It is just not logical.  I would argue that Discovery is a logical next step for ANY world view, Theistic or Atheistic.  We all want to do that.  I believe the next step of Discovery, Science, Philosophy, Politics, is just a part of Life.  It is what we are all made up of and what we all delve into.

    So no, at the point of there is no God, the Atheist’s work is done.  They are simply going to engage in the same set of practices as the rest of us at this point.

    But not so with the Theist.  The Theist still has a lot of work left to do.  Once the Theist says there is a God, suddenly they are faced with another choice:

    Monotheistic or Polytheistic?  I suppose you could punt and go with Pantheistic if you wanted to, but the point is this is not something you want to get wrong.  You need to know, is there an entire race of God’s?  Are there multiple Gods, and if so, who is the head God?  Is there a single God?  And if so, who or what is it?

    In either case, the Monotheist and the Polytheist cannot stop there.  They must then determine who or what God (God’s in the case of Polytheism) is.  Once again, this is not something you want to get wrong.  It could possibly have dire consequences to identify the wrong God.

    Once both the Monotheist and the Polytheist believe they have identified God (or God’s), they still are not done.  Because then they must ask the most important question one will ever ask.  So what? And this is not a rhetorical or flippant question.  They must both seriously ask the question, So what does this mean to me?  Am I beholden to God?  Do I owe God anything?  How do I seek after God?  Learn about God?  Get in touch with God?  Does God even want to get in touch with me?

    Once the theist begins to ask the questions about God and start to seek answers both physically, spiritually, philosophically, and emotionally, they begin a journey much more complicated than the Atheist will ever walk.  The Atheist simply skips all of these challenges (God?  What God?  There is no God so I need not search for one or decide on which one is real.)  The Atheist gets to punt here and move on.  But not so with the Theist.  The Theist must walk this path whether they realize they do so or not.

    The Theist’s path is fraught with many more questions, puzzles, growing pains, challenges, debates, and I would conjecture joys and pains, than any other path out there.

    And Dr. Carrier asks the question (in jest or not) Are Christians Delusional?  Sure they are Dr. Carrier.  Because that is what delusional people do.  They undertake the really hard choices.  They walk the difficult path, to the point of all exclusion.  They constantly go through the fire and yet still walk out the other side.  Just like all the other delusional people in the world.  How about yourself?

  • Where Is My Faith?

    Faith is a difficult thing.  It shouldn’t be, but it is.  Faith permeates our lives in every way imaginable and yet we struggle with it where it matters most.

    Simply put, Faith is a belief that is held that is not based on a proof.  We utilize faith in our lives each and every day in all realms of our existence.

    We are basically beings of three parts.  In the simplest description we are physical beings.  We have a body that has needs and interacts with the physical world.  We are also emotional, intellectual, and social beings.  We have a soul.  We experience joy, and sorrow.  And we are spiritual beings.  We are individuals, unique unto ourselves.  We are all one-of-a-kind instantiations of the human kind and we know who we are inside of our own being.

    Within the physical world we exercise faith on an almost daily basis.  When we sit in a chair, when we get into a vehicle and start the engine, when we browse the Internet.  We do not prove these things to be working and reliable.  We simply accept them on faith.  We trust that the chair will hold up our weight when we sit in it.  Before we examine it, test it, or certify it as OK to sit in.  We trust that our vehicles will start.  That they will work without a mechanic testing the parts of the vehicle and confirming for us that it is OK.  We trust that the Internet is up, and working.  We do not call our Internet Service Provider and verify that everything is working before we attempt to bring up our FaceBook page, we simply believe that it will work.

    Within our souls, our emotions, our intellect, we have faith in our relationships, our favorite pastimes, our challenges.  We trust that our spouses are faithful to us, and we trust ourselves to be faithful to them.  We trust our families, our neighbors, and our friends.  We believe in the humanity around us.  How many times I’ve been told by someone that they have a lot of faith (lower case) but not much Faith (upper case).

    And we continue to have faith even when it is shattered within our lives.  When our car doesn’t start, or a chair breaks when we sit in it (causing us to fall), or when we find that our Internet connection really is down and we cannot get to our FaceBook page.  We do not lose hope in the physical world around us, rather we accept things and move on, still exercising our faith.

    Within our souls we are constantly failed.  Spouses cheat on one another.  We are lied to.  We experience ridicule and scorn.  And yet we continue to go on, and we continue to have faith in humanity.

    And yes, I know that anyone can be beaten down to the point of giving up or losing all hope.  Individuals may experience so many problems with a particular vehicle that they lose faith in it ever doing its job again.  We may be hurt by loved ones or friends so much that we give up on life and begin to believe it is us against the world.

    But these are not the norm.  We label these cases as phobias or disorders.  We say that people become depressed or despondent and that their ability to function is impaired.  I am focusing on the general case here, the norm, what the average person experiences within their lives.  And that norm is one of exercising faith.

    Why is it then, that when it comes to the faith that really matters, the one our world view is built on top of, the one that affects our Spirit (that which defines us individually), that we suddenly become dysfunctional?

    Dr. Richard Dawkins has stated unequivocally that evolution is a fact.  A fact as sure as the sunrise or the sunset.  It is established and true.  When he knows perfectly well that it is not.  Evolution is a theory.  He may think it a good theory, he may even find parts of it to be reasonable and practicable.  But he knows it is not a fact.  He knows he cannot prove it, either scientifically, through a repeatable process, or otherwise.  No, he accepts it as fact based upon his faith in the improvable.

    My world view accepts the existence of a Deity.  A supernatural being.  A God.  A world view I am perfectly willing to accept on Faith.  I believe there is just as much evidence for my world view as Dr. Dawkins seems to find for his.  Both world views are accepted upon faith, and yet their is a difference.

    In Dr. Dawkins world view, my Faith is to be mocked, ridiculed, belittled.  He has stated as much.  My Faith cannot be taught in Public Schools, cannot be exercised within some Government spaces, and in many parts of the world is persecuted.  And yet the opposite world view, for many that hold it, is to be accepted as the only faith one may have.

    Atheists that hold their particular world views are oblivious to the fact that they are actually strengthening my world view by their very attempts to discredit my Faith.

    In my world view the testing of my Spiritual Faith works for good in my life.  It is the trials of my Faith that actually builds the foundation that my world view is built on and brings me through stronger and more resolved than ever before.

    One might ask the question though, if your world view does not hold a Faith in God, what does the testing of your Faith gain you?  I would contend nothing.  How can it?  What could it possibly matter in the vastness of all eternity?

    Another question that might be asked is why is it so important that the evolutionary faith triumph over a Faith in God?  Are they not both Spiritual Faith?  So why then is one taught as a foundational truth within our Public Schools while the other is deviously cast aside under the guise of Separation of Church and State?

    Faith is hard.  I would contend that Faith in God is harder.  And given such, whose world view would you say has the better developed Faith?

  • Stacking The Data

    When you analyze things in life you have to be very careful not to allow your world view to stack the data in your favor.  This is extremely difficult to do.  People (humans) have a natural tendency to want things to go their way.  I know I struggle with this constantly.  People just want to be right within their own world.

    Global Climate Change Scientists were discovered to be doing this very thing in 2009.  A fudge factor in code, is a way of stacking the data in order to help influence results to turn out the way you think they should.

    One needs to be extremely careful as well to not believe they’ve seen all the data.  I believe most of us (at least those of any years of maturity) have heard someone say:

    “At my age I’ve seen it all.”

    I always want to say “Really?  Because God is INFINITE.  In ALL directions.  Which means he is infinitely big and infinitely small.  Infinitely loud and infinitely quite.  Infinitely colorful and infinitely monochrome.  God is more than we can possibly imagine, more than we can fathom, more than we can ever possibly know.  And you have seen it all?  I think not.”  We can spend an infinite amount of lifetimes and never fathom the depths of an infinite God.

    King Solomon put it this way in Ecclesiastes 8:16 – 17 pointing out that a wise man may think he knows the works of God, only to find out that he does not.

    Jesus Christ himself said that we must be humble like children in Matthew 18:2-4.  I believe he made this particular comparison because children are mostly full of wonderment.  They are growing, exploring, learning, discovering, depending, needing, wanting, and trusting.  As we get older we become wise and our wisdom leads us to be less dependent, less needy, wanting more than we need, less trusting, and growing less, exploring less, learning less, and discovering less.  We are no longer dependent upon God, but rather upon ourselves and we give God a call whenever we think we need him (which is never because we are certainly wise enough to figure our own way out of situations).

    Do not ever think you have seen it all, because God has more than your lifetime can fill that he wants to show you.

    And thus, having not seen it all, be careful as to how you try and stack the data from what you have seen and do know.

    We all have to make choices in life.  And we are all responsible for those decisions and there are consequences to what we do.  But we do have a choice in how we analyze the data.

    When you leave God out of the picture, you stack the data to influence your particular world view.  When you become humble, like a child, you begin to realize and understand the incredible gifts of knowledge that God has blessed you with.  You want to know him more, you want to explore, you realize how little you have and you want more.

    Funny thing about data analysis, I may generally interpret the data to support any particular view I have.  I believe Weather Scientists the world over are doing just that today.  They couldn’t possibly interpret the data in an unbiased way at this point because they have stacked the data so heavily in their favor, they have tainted the data pool beyond the point of recovery.

    There is one area though where the data will always be sound and firm.  There is one area where you cannot stack the data, where the data cannot be falsely interpreted, and where conclusions will always be validated.

    And that area of study is with God.  There is a catch though, God may only be accepted on Faith and not by Sight.  Yes, that is disconcerting to some.  Some are screaming right now that Faith is not Science.  And yet Science exercises faith each and every day.

    When we seek after God, with all our heart, and with all our strength, and with all our mind, and with all our soul, he will reveal himself to us.  Because he is God.  God actually wants us to discover him, to explore him, to know him.  And thus he will ensure that any who truly seek after him as a child in wonderment, they will find him.

    Those that say there is no God and that they have never found God or evidence of God, have simply stacked the data.  They have never truly sought after God to begin with.  They have been loading up all their data and applying their fudge factors to the data to get it to say what they want it to say.

    I’d like to encourage us all (myself included) to start exploring the riches of God today as if we know absolutely nothing about him.  It would be great if we all became little children and all gazed at the world in wonderment once again.  It would be great if we all stopped believing in how wise we are, and how experienced we are, and how much data we’ve amassed over our lifetimes.

    If we simply stopped stacking the data in our lives, let go of our biases driven by our world views, and began exploring things without an agenda, who knows the types of changes we could really see effected in the world around us?

  • WINNERS AND LOSERS

    Even as the Seattle Seahawks celebrated their big win the Stock Market took a dive.  There are winners and there are losers in life, but it is not always a zero sum game.

    In Matthew 5:3 Jesus Christ said that the poor in spirit have the Kingdom of Heaven.

    The word poor used here means destitute, totally without means, and without ability to gain anything on ones own.  It literally means the poorest of the poor.

    The word Spirit used here is breath or wind.  It is the very breath of life.  It means the very essence of life and refers to the innermost person.  It is what make you, you.

    Jesus Christ says that those destitute in their very being have the Kingdom of Heaven.  They possess the Kingdom of Heaven.  Theirs IS, the Kingdom of Heaven.

    The world does not usually equate being poor with being rich.  But in God’s plan it is totally necessary.  It all hinges upon how you approach God.

    If you approach God rich in Spirit, wealthy, and self-sufficient, there is nothing God can do for you.  You stand on your own and you do not truly need what God has to offer.

    But when you approach God poor, and destitute, and truly in need, in your innermost being, God has the riches of Heaven itself ready to make you rich.  When you are poor, God is ready and able to make you rich.  When you are rich, before God you think you do not need God and do not seek him out.

    And it is your Spirit, your very breath of life that you are poor in.  Try going a week, a month, several months, or a year without taking a breath.  You constantly need to breath.  You must replenish the oxygen in your body through breathing.  And that is exactly how God wants you to approach him, constantly in need, and always desiring replenishment.

    God’s infinite riches are available, but only those who are in the greatest need, only those gasping for Spiritual Breath, those who are truly poor in Spirit, will be the ones to seek him out.  And they will find that theirs IS the Kingdom of Heaven.  Presently, and with great resources to supply all your needs.

    Whether a winner or a loser in sports, or a winner or a loser in the Stock Market, or a winner or a loser in anything else in life, you cannot possess the Kingdom of Heaven unless you are poor in Spirit.

    Win or lose in this life, in this world, in the present game, there is a greater gift to be gained, the gift of the Kingdom of Heaven.

    So the question becomes, How is your spiritual wealth?  Because the wealth of your Spirit will determine your Kingdom health.  And that truly is the greatest riches of all.

  • Is There A God?

    One of the harder hitting and more intriguing questions asked in Life, Religion, Science, and Philosophy is: “Is there truly a God?”   I might suggest here that the question ought to be asked within Politics as well, but alas, it would seem that most of our Governments today have either convinced themselves that it makes no difference whether or not they explore this question, or that the answer to it has no bearing on their functions or actions (as if they are outside of the impacts of the question).

    To some, it might seem as if this is an unanswerable question, although the vast majority of the world has already answered it for themselves.  Some have let others make the determination for them, essentially giving them the answer.  Some pursue this question relentlessly day-in and day-out.  And a few don’t have the time or effort to pursue it.

    Others may ask why it even matters.  For a segment of the population there will be those that will understand why I would start with such a question, the rest may be confused or otherwise surprised that I would jump out of the box with this question.

    But for me (and many others) this is a foundational question.  It is one that shapes your world view.  It directly effects how you view Life, Religion, Politics, Science, and Philosophy.  It is a life-changing question and its impacts are far reaching.  And it is a question that is current and relevant today (Reference this news story for a list of Celebrities whom you might think believe in a God since they claim to be religious).

    It also is a question that bares ones biases.  And since I am desiring an honest and sincere pursuit of the interesting things in Life, Religion, Politics, Science, and Philosophy, it is a question that I must start off with.  It is a question that is seminal to any really interesting discussion of Life, Religion, Politics, Science, or Philosophy.  It is not a question to which everyone will agree upon an answer on, but it is a question that we should all agree has far reaching effects on our day-to-day lives.  And so, as for myself, I begin with: “Is there a God?”

    Obviously there are three distinct answers to this question.  There are those that would say “No.  Absolutely not.”  Those that would say “Yes. Absolutely there is.” and then there is everyone else.  I put ‘everyone else’ in the category of “I don’t know”, “I don’t care”, “Maybe there is or maybe there isn’t”, or “It doesn’t really matter one way or the other.”  But however you answer this one question will shape the way you approach everything else in life.

    Consider Dr. Stephen Hawking or Dr. Richard Dawkins for example.  They have absolutely stated that there is no God.  Their answer to the question is “No.”  And that answer shapes their world view and their pursuits in life.  In the case of Dr. Hawking it has been an almost continual life time goal to establish the fact, once and for all, that there is no God.  They state rather emphatically that there is no God (and seemingly, have done little to persuade the list of Celebrities referenced in the news article above).

    Secondly consider Dr. Billy Graham, or Dr. Rick Warren.  They would assuredly answer the question “Yes.”  And that answer in turn shapes their world view and pursuits in life.  And they have very different foundation they build upon than those which Dr. Hawking or Dr. Dawkins build upon.

    The third category I will not discuss at this time other than to say that anyone who believes the question has no bearing on their life or that the answer to the question does not affect their lives one way or the other, are people who are blinded to the effect that one simple choice has already had upon their lives.  In other words, their choice of apathy has just as much a profound impact on their foundational life beliefs, and does the choice of those who say “Yes.” and those who say “No.”  I suppose I could throw Dr. Richard Carrier in here as an example skeptic, except he really is not.  He is as much of a “No.” person as any of the other “No.” persons out there.  Unfortunately I tend to believe that by the time one has risen to enough prominence level to be used as an example, they are no longer in the third category but are rather firmly ensconced in either the “Yes.” or “No.” categories.

    So this is a good place to start, it is interesting to me, and it broadly sweeps all aspects of Life / Religion / Politics / Science / Philosophy.  It is a question to end all questions.  Is there really and truly a God?

    My answer is YES.  Absolutely there is.  For me, it is the only model that makes sense.  For me, it is the only model the evidence supports.  For me, it is the only model that answers all the other questions that life throws at you from any category.  Of course there is a God and he is the foundation for understanding all other pursuits in Life / Religion / Politics / Science / and Philosophy.