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Politics : Should God be replaced? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cosmicforce who wrote (543)	8/26/2000 11:30:11 AM
From: Solon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 28931

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted a telescope. Even now, when I look through a Christmas flyer and see a telescope, I get a funny feeling. What am I waiting for?! I must see all of that through a telescope before I die! Let me tell you what we've looked at here: Evolution was important, particularly due to some entertaining the idea that it might be part of the LAW through which God expresses itself. My personal view was that its predictive ability was significant in only the vaguest of generalizations, and therefore it seemed little more than a picture puzzle exercise...excepting and unless it related to an ultimate goal, that would indicate a God purpose behind it. It does appear to be favoring increased complexity and consciousness (I guess just the consciousness would cover the complexity!). We've looked at the remarkable improbability that anylife should exist anywhere, considering that it is only the most precise Universal Constants that permit us to be here. Some say, it is not improbable at all, because we are here. Others have asked whether we ought not to be surprised (at least), and to surmise that perhaps we are here because it was proposed so... I believe that, if God exists, God is the totality of all that exists--everybody, everything. In that line I asked: should we call the Universe the Universe, or should we call it God? I think the Universe is sufficient for Reverence: it is old, mysterious, magical, powerful, Lawful...and it is our home. However, does evidence of structure, order, design, and LAW, make it appropriate to call the Universe God. The key for me in that regard was if sentience was added to the omnipresent energy combinations that underly and inform matter. Not only don't I have a problem conceiving that that is the case (much more incredulous ideas are being hypothesized by the scientific community...much more), but it has an intuitive rightness for me--when I look out and let my consciouness soar (without the darn telescope!)--that I can't justify with reason... The idea of an (ultimate) God, with any limitations such as form, gender, or other such attributes seems silly to me. The idea of eternity under one ego/identity or physical form seems viciously cruel to me. It is clear that if any part of us lives again, it will be in a new form and new identity. That will happen...it always has. The question is whether or not this Universe of life that goes on is the Universe, with laws created at random, or is the eternal totality God...with sentience imbuing all. I don't know that the answer would change anything other than perhaps giving one a more profound sense of belonging and rightness. (I believe Heinlein in "Stranger in a Strange Land" called it grokking!) We also looked at relationships, and that everything is in relationship (which from the perspective of sentience, can either have a positive, negative, or neutral focus). This is just a brief summary of some of where we have been. We asked much else: Is man preserving beauty as an evolutionary impetus? Is he fighting to preserve other species because his concept of self has expanded, and does this invalidate evolutionary thought, or does it simply make a plea for re-examining it? Right now, we are looking at infinity and other such minor concepts. Cosmicforce, I am putting this very incomplete summary together because you brought wonder to this thread (what I mean is greater wonder!). I don't mean to put pressure on you...but I believe your intuition, and your knowlege combined, can add a great deal to our journey here. In the end, if we learn a bit, and have a bit of fun...well that parallels life!