The flat earth discussion reminded me of the impact that revelation of reality can have on established belief, and the difficulty that those who cling to established belief may have in adjusting. I was thinking specifically of Galileo's discovery that the earth is not only round, but is in fact not the center of the universe. Established religious authority, of course, found this utterly unpalatable: if our world is just one tiny corner of an unimaginably vast cosmos, how could we have been the raison d'etre of creation? How could we be the chosen of God? How could we be special? The hierarchy felt obliged to stamp out the very idea, so shattering did it appear.
Of course our egos survived the blow rather well, in the end.
It strikes me that the long process of accepting, collectively, that there may very well be no God, and that there is almost certainly not a God that created the universe just for us and watches over us every moment, is not unlike the process of adjusting to the notion that we are not the center of the universe. Those who want to be horrified at the notion that we may not be an instrument of some divine purpose, or the apple of some divine eye, will be horrified, and will quiver with angst at the prospect of the abyss. Of course people who like that sort of thing would find an excuse to do it in any event. The rest of us will simply get on with the business of refining and achieving our own purposes, and will suffer no lack of fulfillment. |
