Discussions of God never appear in Canadian Political rhetoric, but are common in US politics. The word God is something like other words that everyone uses such as health, love, and freedom, but no one seems to understand. Here is part of the discussion I developed in my book
Religion for the 21st Century.
“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.” Albert Einstein
Gods are invisible and secretive agents, projections of the human mind. Gods assume many forms and there is little agreement about what they look like, where they live, their likes and dislikes.
Gods are polymorphic, numerous and noumenal. Humans include Gods in their stories that attempt to explain how things got started and who controls events that happen.
Some create a God who is interested in petty gossip and enjoys punishing people who have erotic fantasies. Many Gods are angry and punitive but some Gods act like benevolent parents and friendly counselors. In the past, some Gods were friendly only if you killed innocent children or fair maidens as sacrifices.
Somehow, the Gods who enjoyed killing humans are no longer as popular as they once were; however, there remains a close connection between God and blood in the human mind. Humans kill to eat and indulge in a curious fascination with spilling blood. Religious rituals all over the planet, presumably for thousands of years have involved killing animals and fellow humans, eating their flesh, collecting and offering their blood to satisfy the bloodlust of their God. Christian communion still involves eating the blood and flesh of Christ.
Pollsters ask: do you believe in God? They report a percentage of people who answer yes. The question and its answer are meaningless.
There is neither a single God nor any consistent belief. Each religious group claims a special relationship with God, a unique history, moral superiority and special privileges. Christianity, Islam and Judaism are religious organizations that claim that their God is the one and only God. They discriminate against each other and distain people and organizations who have a different version of God or who have many Gods or no God.
No one can agree on God’s location and characteristics. God turns out to have multiple forms and contradictory characteristics. In the best case, the notion of one God is based on a distant parent grown large. In the worst case, God is another despot, supported by an intelligence agency in the sky with filing cabinets full of records on everyone who has ever lived.
While there is no real evidence for a resident, man-like God who is interested in what humans do, many religious organizations invent God as the source of their moral authority. They promote local franchises, complete with beliefs and rituals to suit their political and economic purposes. The bloody battles of the past among religious organizations recur to this day and promise to continue as long as these groups hold to their exclusive and anachronistic beliefs.
Smart and nice people thrive without believing in a Santa-Claus version of God who is keeping his list and checking it twice. Some people have denied the existence of God and placed themselves at a disadvantage when confronted by self-righteous individuals who have God on their side.
As visiting anthropologists, we recognize that belief in one or more Gods and membership in a religious organization are social commitments with social benefits. Beliefs have little or nothing to do with truth or understanding how humans and the universe work.
Everyone is free to invent his or her own God and create group inclusion and exclusion rules. When everyone has adopted a personal God, then everyone is free to claim the moral authority that God offers true believers. Without this egalitarian distribution of God’s authority, people with a sense of moral superiority remain a serious problem for rational citizens who champion a civil society. Everyone should be free to engage God in their own way.
Like Moses, I have made special preparations and often climbed heights of land with some difficulty-- mountains in BC, for example--- to have a conversation with God. This has occurred eight momentous times in my life so far.
One exceptional encounter occurred when I was meditating on a beach. I had begun one warm summer evening early when the water was calm and the sky clear. I entered Samadhi with a wonderful sense of relaxation. I became one with the rocks I was sitting on and with the water that lapped over my legs. The air seemed to thicken with world lines that channeled micro events in curved paths.
Suddenly, I heard my name called out in a giant whisper, just once. The whisper was very loud and low-pitched, but not disturbing.
The conversation that followed was all in mind with no audible component. I could ask questions and wait for answers that were delayed as long as 2 minutes. The answers were brief and concise. I stated that many groups believed they were chosen by God to have special status and privileges. I asked if she preferred one group of humans over another. God stated: ”I have no preferences.“
I stated that humans were in trouble. They fought with each and were relentlessly destructive. She informed me that she has a non-interference policy toward planet earth. None of her people are allowed near our planet.
I asked if there were any destinations or rewards away from planet earth when humans or other animals died. God relied: “No.” She stated: “Earth is a self-contained experiment in life and spontaneity. I like to watch occasionally, but never intervene.”
I asked if human astronomers and astrophysicists were on the right track with their amazing discoveries of galaxies, exploding stars, dark matter and black holes. God replied: “These exceptional humans display the kind of intelligence that interests me. I have scheduled more frequent visits to monitor your progress in understanding the dynamics of the universe. “
I asked the next obvious question about space travel. Will humans be able to locate and travel to other planets? God replied: “Humans are creatures of location, specialized to the conditions of your home planet. You will not be able travel to and adapt to another planet. You fate lies with your success or failure on planet earth.”
Needless to state, I was disappointed with the non-intervention policy. I appealed, saying that the human mind was a work in progress but there were many problems, even beyond the delusions of moral superiority that dominated human interactions. I suggested that intelligent intervention in the genome could fix the more obvious mind problems and give humans a better opportunity to thrive on earth. I appealed on behalf of all animals whose existence was in peril because of human activities.
I learned that Gods in charge of the great universe are too busy to pay much attention to planet earth. The head God is not moralistic and the non-intervention policy is strict – no interference with life on Earth or other planets. The divine being explained that Gods do not interfere with planetary life; there have only been rare exceptions.
I asked; “Can you offer some advice or guidance for humans?” But, she declined, explaining that humans are the authors of their own destiny and will rise or fall on their own merits or weaknesses. God said that that is the interesting part – to see what happens as life forms evolve.
My impression is that God gets interested in planets that host unusually advanced intelligence. God suggested the time allotment for earth was increased recently to something like 4 human minutes every 50 human years. Before, it was 4 minutes per 1,000 earth years. Of course, She works at ultra high speed and learns a lot in 4 minutes, earth-time. Unlike Job’s Yahweh, my God was feminine and, despite her policy of non interference with earth’s affairs, I felt only her benevolence. There was not a hint of criticism or blame.
From Religion for the 21st Century by Stephen J. Gislason
Religion for the 21st Century.
“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.” Albert Einstein
Gods are invisible and secretive agents, projections of the human mind. Gods assume many forms and there is little agreement about what they look like, where they live, their likes and dislikes.
Gods are polymorphic, numerous and noumenal. Humans include Gods in their stories that attempt to explain how things got started and who controls events that happen.
Some create a God who is interested in petty gossip and enjoys punishing people who have erotic fantasies. Many Gods are angry and punitive but some Gods act like benevolent parents and friendly counselors. In the past, some Gods were friendly only if you killed innocent children or fair maidens as sacrifices.
Somehow, the Gods who enjoyed killing humans are no longer as popular as they once were; however, there remains a close connection between God and blood in the human mind. Humans kill to eat and indulge in a curious fascination with spilling blood. Religious rituals all over the planet, presumably for thousands of years have involved killing animals and fellow humans, eating their flesh, collecting and offering their blood to satisfy the bloodlust of their God. Christian communion still involves eating the blood and flesh of Christ.
Pollsters ask: do you believe in God? They report a percentage of people who answer yes. The question and its answer are meaningless.
There is neither a single God nor any consistent belief. Each religious group claims a special relationship with God, a unique history, moral superiority and special privileges. Christianity, Islam and Judaism are religious organizations that claim that their God is the one and only God. They discriminate against each other and distain people and organizations who have a different version of God or who have many Gods or no God.
No one can agree on God’s location and characteristics. God turns out to have multiple forms and contradictory characteristics. In the best case, the notion of one God is based on a distant parent grown large. In the worst case, God is another despot, supported by an intelligence agency in the sky with filing cabinets full of records on everyone who has ever lived.
While there is no real evidence for a resident, man-like God who is interested in what humans do, many religious organizations invent God as the source of their moral authority. They promote local franchises, complete with beliefs and rituals to suit their political and economic purposes. The bloody battles of the past among religious organizations recur to this day and promise to continue as long as these groups hold to their exclusive and anachronistic beliefs.
Smart and nice people thrive without believing in a Santa-Claus version of God who is keeping his list and checking it twice. Some people have denied the existence of God and placed themselves at a disadvantage when confronted by self-righteous individuals who have God on their side.
As visiting anthropologists, we recognize that belief in one or more Gods and membership in a religious organization are social commitments with social benefits. Beliefs have little or nothing to do with truth or understanding how humans and the universe work.
Everyone is free to invent his or her own God and create group inclusion and exclusion rules. When everyone has adopted a personal God, then everyone is free to claim the moral authority that God offers true believers. Without this egalitarian distribution of God’s authority, people with a sense of moral superiority remain a serious problem for rational citizens who champion a civil society. Everyone should be free to engage God in their own way.
Like Moses, I have made special preparations and often climbed heights of land with some difficulty-- mountains in BC, for example--- to have a conversation with God. This has occurred eight momentous times in my life so far.
One exceptional encounter occurred when I was meditating on a beach. I had begun one warm summer evening early when the water was calm and the sky clear. I entered Samadhi with a wonderful sense of relaxation. I became one with the rocks I was sitting on and with the water that lapped over my legs. The air seemed to thicken with world lines that channeled micro events in curved paths.
Suddenly, I heard my name called out in a giant whisper, just once. The whisper was very loud and low-pitched, but not disturbing.
The conversation that followed was all in mind with no audible component. I could ask questions and wait for answers that were delayed as long as 2 minutes. The answers were brief and concise. I stated that many groups believed they were chosen by God to have special status and privileges. I asked if she preferred one group of humans over another. God stated: ”I have no preferences.“
I stated that humans were in trouble. They fought with each and were relentlessly destructive. She informed me that she has a non-interference policy toward planet earth. None of her people are allowed near our planet.
I asked if there were any destinations or rewards away from planet earth when humans or other animals died. God relied: “No.” She stated: “Earth is a self-contained experiment in life and spontaneity. I like to watch occasionally, but never intervene.”
I asked if human astronomers and astrophysicists were on the right track with their amazing discoveries of galaxies, exploding stars, dark matter and black holes. God replied: “These exceptional humans display the kind of intelligence that interests me. I have scheduled more frequent visits to monitor your progress in understanding the dynamics of the universe. “
I asked the next obvious question about space travel. Will humans be able to locate and travel to other planets? God replied: “Humans are creatures of location, specialized to the conditions of your home planet. You will not be able travel to and adapt to another planet. You fate lies with your success or failure on planet earth.”
Needless to state, I was disappointed with the non-intervention policy. I appealed, saying that the human mind was a work in progress but there were many problems, even beyond the delusions of moral superiority that dominated human interactions. I suggested that intelligent intervention in the genome could fix the more obvious mind problems and give humans a better opportunity to thrive on earth. I appealed on behalf of all animals whose existence was in peril because of human activities.
I learned that Gods in charge of the great universe are too busy to pay much attention to planet earth. The head God is not moralistic and the non-intervention policy is strict – no interference with life on Earth or other planets. The divine being explained that Gods do not interfere with planetary life; there have only been rare exceptions.
I asked; “Can you offer some advice or guidance for humans?” But, she declined, explaining that humans are the authors of their own destiny and will rise or fall on their own merits or weaknesses. God said that that is the interesting part – to see what happens as life forms evolve.
My impression is that God gets interested in planets that host unusually advanced intelligence. God suggested the time allotment for earth was increased recently to something like 4 human minutes every 50 human years. Before, it was 4 minutes per 1,000 earth years. Of course, She works at ultra high speed and learns a lot in 4 minutes, earth-time. Unlike Job’s Yahweh, my God was feminine and, despite her policy of non interference with earth’s affairs, I felt only her benevolence. There was not a hint of criticism or blame.
From Religion for the 21st Century by Stephen J. Gislason