Am I my own? If I belong to myself, what part of me is the owner, and what part the property? Can property own itself? It seems that such words start to lose their meaning once you hit this level of abstraction.
I think there are those who would have me believe that I am "my own person." My life, body, consciousness, abilities... these all belong to me. But when my makeup and circumstances define what I want to do with this "property" of mine, these things are my rulers, not my slaves. It all seems contrived, but then, so is the general concept of ownership.
More interesting still are the folks who would have me believe that I am not my own person, but that my whole being is on loan from god. I guess it's not inconceivable that I'm god's little pet.
My question is, does god own himself? Or is it equally blurry for him as it is for us? If god can't change his nature because of his nature, then he's as much a slave as any of us.
God's ownership of us is at least in keeping with the general idea of property rights. God has supposedly claimed us as "his," and has the power to whack anyone who tries to ignore his claim. We are his to destroy or give away or bake into a hot-dish. If you owned a sack of flour, the same would be true about you. Ultimately, some people respect your property in order not to get whacked by someone (some are respectful out of moral principle, but we know for sure that this is not true of all). You can do what you like with it.
However, I don't see why I have any reason to respect god's ownership of me. Okay, he could pound me to bits like any defective toy and toss me out with Monday's trash, so if I want to avoid that I should behave. But when a piece of property malfunctions, we usually find it quite juvenile to get all mad and blame the object in question. There are a couple of terms that I like that refer to the cause of computer error: GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage out), and PEBCAK (Problem exists between chair and keyboard). How about human error? God made us, so it's all his fault, right? Design flaws?
If, however, we have free will or some germ of existence that is independent of god (as is stated in LDS theology), what we do is no longer god's fault. However, in this case I would call into question the justice of god's claim of ownership. Sure, god can still cause us pain and suffering and maybe even nonexistence of some sort, but "might makes right" is not a just moral precept, only an effective one. If I was an intelligence before I was a spirit, what right did god have to pick me up, stick me into a spirit somehow, and then claim ownership over me as my "creator?" As I understand it, he, too, is nothing more than a little chunk of intelligence that got stuck into a spirit and then a body, and then eventually got pretty powerful.
Come to think of it, this is starting to sound like abusive behavior toward children propagating down through multiple generations. Perhaps god is as much a victim as we are, and is dealing with us the way he learned, the way he was dealt with.
I don't really think there's a god, but I sure like to try to figure out what the existence of a god would mean for ethics and reality, not to mention our bizarre relationship with him.
Showing posts with label Figuring God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Figuring God. Show all posts
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Nature of God
Who is this "god" fella? Why are so many people so concerned with him... or her... or it?
I don't care which euphemism you use. Supreme being. Creator. First cause. Prime mover. Higher power. Greater intelligence. Spirit of nature, life force, big cheese in the sky, invisible pink unicorn... None of these actually describe much about the thing they refer to, so I think most of them can be used interchangeably, and are by religious persons.
I guess, if we aggregate the qualities of all of these names for god (at least the serious ones), we find we are talking about something that is smarter and more powerful than human beings, existed before anything else (and is responsible for the existence of everything else), and is not subject to the laws of nature as we understand them.
This leaves a lot of fudge room. Consider the following gods:
Jehova -- God of the Bible, with an affinity for certain Semitic peoples. His main purpose seems to be to make sure all of his creations do what he tells them to do. Is extremely nervous about sex, can be contacted via some sort of telepathy. Sent/is Jesus, who had to die horribly so that he could forgive us of all of the bad things that we do because of how he made us. Generally human...ish.
Mork the Incinerator -- God I just made up, lives on the moon. Did not always live on the moon, because she had to create it first. Her main purpose is to get her creations to do her work for her. The human race was created so that we could perfect maple syrup. Visited earth in the form of Agatha Christie for unknown reasons. Can be contacted via invisible laser phone to the moon, which is built into the cells of all living creatures.
Both of these fit the basic criteria, as far as I can tell. As a side comment, I'd like to say that I prefer Mork.
So when someone asks me if I believe in god, what am I supposed to say? I mean, I say no, but then sometimes people will go off on this whole thing about where did the universe come from and science can't explain the beginning of all things! Sure. I agree. Then they say "So you believe in god!"
Okay... so I guess before I answer their question, I should ask them to clarify what they mean by "god." For all I know, god is a toaster in a bed-and-breakfast in South Dakota. And sure, if by "god" you mean "the abstract concept that human science is inherently deficient and can't account of the existence of something rather than nothing," sure, I believe in god! But that does not mean that I believe in a bearded busybody who gets really upset when people eat pigs or talk smack about him.
I won't even grant that it must be intelligent!
But Dave! The universe must be designed, because if certain physical constants were only slightly different, matter could not exist as atoms!
Yeah, big whoop. I bet there are quark-gluon plasma people out in some universe saying the same thing, except they believe in their strange charm god because they are so lucky that things aren't just different enough for quarks to combine into hadrons. (Among which are protons and neutrons, essential for our existence.)
Okay, I know I'm getting a little snarky. But frankly, if the universe were incapable of supporting life, who would notice?
And regardless, why be grateful that you exist? It's not like you'd care if you didn't.
The thing is, individual religions each have a reasonably well-defined description of god, but there are a lot of religions, and they all differ in their views.
If there is an intelligent god, is he really messing around with us? Homo sapiens has existed for less than a million years, out of the 13.75 or so billion years the universe has probably existed. That's less than 0.007%.
Assuming that humanity regularly travels anywhere from any point on the earth's surface to the orbit of geosynchronous satellites (which are quite far out), there are approximately 18 billion cubic kilometers of area that has anything to do with us. The observable universe is about 134 followed by 117 zeroes cubic kilometers in volume. The part that mankind get around in is is about the same percentage as the percent chance of you getting struck by lightning... twenty time... in one given year.
How much could we possibly matter? We have existed as a species for 0.007% of the universe's existence, and even then we've (at maximum!) only occupied such a small percentage that I gave it to you in lightning strikes. It's somewhere around 4*10^-107, if you want the numbers.
If we are the apex of creation, god sure took his sweet time getting around to making us! I think the creationists aren't scared of what science will do to god's image... I think they are afraid of just how insignificant we are as a species.
I don't care which euphemism you use. Supreme being. Creator. First cause. Prime mover. Higher power. Greater intelligence. Spirit of nature, life force, big cheese in the sky, invisible pink unicorn... None of these actually describe much about the thing they refer to, so I think most of them can be used interchangeably, and are by religious persons.
I guess, if we aggregate the qualities of all of these names for god (at least the serious ones), we find we are talking about something that is smarter and more powerful than human beings, existed before anything else (and is responsible for the existence of everything else), and is not subject to the laws of nature as we understand them.
This leaves a lot of fudge room. Consider the following gods:
Jehova -- God of the Bible, with an affinity for certain Semitic peoples. His main purpose seems to be to make sure all of his creations do what he tells them to do. Is extremely nervous about sex, can be contacted via some sort of telepathy. Sent/is Jesus, who had to die horribly so that he could forgive us of all of the bad things that we do because of how he made us. Generally human...ish.
Mork the Incinerator -- God I just made up, lives on the moon. Did not always live on the moon, because she had to create it first. Her main purpose is to get her creations to do her work for her. The human race was created so that we could perfect maple syrup. Visited earth in the form of Agatha Christie for unknown reasons. Can be contacted via invisible laser phone to the moon, which is built into the cells of all living creatures.
Both of these fit the basic criteria, as far as I can tell. As a side comment, I'd like to say that I prefer Mork.
So when someone asks me if I believe in god, what am I supposed to say? I mean, I say no, but then sometimes people will go off on this whole thing about where did the universe come from and science can't explain the beginning of all things! Sure. I agree. Then they say "So you believe in god!"
Okay... so I guess before I answer their question, I should ask them to clarify what they mean by "god." For all I know, god is a toaster in a bed-and-breakfast in South Dakota. And sure, if by "god" you mean "the abstract concept that human science is inherently deficient and can't account of the existence of something rather than nothing," sure, I believe in god! But that does not mean that I believe in a bearded busybody who gets really upset when people eat pigs or talk smack about him.
I won't even grant that it must be intelligent!
But Dave! The universe must be designed, because if certain physical constants were only slightly different, matter could not exist as atoms!
Yeah, big whoop. I bet there are quark-gluon plasma people out in some universe saying the same thing, except they believe in their strange charm god because they are so lucky that things aren't just different enough for quarks to combine into hadrons. (Among which are protons and neutrons, essential for our existence.)
Okay, I know I'm getting a little snarky. But frankly, if the universe were incapable of supporting life, who would notice?
And regardless, why be grateful that you exist? It's not like you'd care if you didn't.
The thing is, individual religions each have a reasonably well-defined description of god, but there are a lot of religions, and they all differ in their views.
If there is an intelligent god, is he really messing around with us? Homo sapiens has existed for less than a million years, out of the 13.75 or so billion years the universe has probably existed. That's less than 0.007%.
Assuming that humanity regularly travels anywhere from any point on the earth's surface to the orbit of geosynchronous satellites (which are quite far out), there are approximately 18 billion cubic kilometers of area that has anything to do with us. The observable universe is about 134 followed by 117 zeroes cubic kilometers in volume. The part that mankind get around in is is about the same percentage as the percent chance of you getting struck by lightning... twenty time... in one given year.
How much could we possibly matter? We have existed as a species for 0.007% of the universe's existence, and even then we've (at maximum!) only occupied such a small percentage that I gave it to you in lightning strikes. It's somewhere around 4*10^-107, if you want the numbers.
If we are the apex of creation, god sure took his sweet time getting around to making us! I think the creationists aren't scared of what science will do to god's image... I think they are afraid of just how insignificant we are as a species.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Where the Hell is Hell?
Mostly I liked that title. I actually want to write about: where is god?
So... it doesn't seem that god has done anything in a while.
Sure, there are anecdotal stories about god's intervention. But I've written before about how god's interventions does not happen to come along in the majority of cases.
And, of course, we're told that bad things are all god's wrath. Seriously, Japan, god has tolerated your low crime rates and refusal to engage in warfare long enough!
I think god's greatest show of power must be his amazing ability to influence events without ever leaving a statistical fingerprint. Run an analysis on earthquakes, and they seem to occur randomly along stressed fault-lines. God sure is clever to kill a lot of nice people, and occasionally hit barren wilderness. We'll never be able to tell that the earthquakes were related to him at all!
In addition, god sure is sneaky when he miraculously saves as many heathens as Chrisitians, while allowing most Christians who have contracted terrible diseases to die, just like everyone else. The fact that he conceals his hand in all of this is incredible... you'd think there would be some kind of pattern if these things were deliberate.
You know what one of the most fun passages of the Bible is? 1 Kings 18:26-27
The priests of Baal and Elijah have a mountain-top showdown to settle once and for all who's god is the real one. The Baal guys dance and sing and cut themselves, and nothing at all happens. Elijah makes fun of them while they do this:
"Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked."
After this, Elijah douses the sacrifices and prays, and the fire of god comes down and burns up not only the animals, but all of the water and the stone altar. Pretty persuasive, no?
But wait! Where the heck is that god now? Hunting? Sleeping?
Or maybe we need to get with the times: he spends all his time on World of Warcraft!
Or Minecraft (if that's the case, I'm very Christ-like).
Seriously, where is the guy? Remember how the Mormon church started on the principle of "God is not silent?" The whole continuing-revelation thing?
And yet, nothing significant has been said for decades by modern-day "prophets." It's all basically the same as it was, doctrinally, as the way Brigham Young left it. Sure, we get a couple more tiny bits of D&C after this, but it's really nothing new.
Pretty much, god is dead. He does nothing. He can't even get the "faithful" to all be on the same page!
I think it's time to stop waiting for god to fix things for us. Maybe we should give up on the jerk until he decides he'll start being consistent (or even just apparent).
Damn, I get sick of the self-righteous we-know-everything attitude of some of the religious folks around.
So... it doesn't seem that god has done anything in a while.
Sure, there are anecdotal stories about god's intervention. But I've written before about how god's interventions does not happen to come along in the majority of cases.
And, of course, we're told that bad things are all god's wrath. Seriously, Japan, god has tolerated your low crime rates and refusal to engage in warfare long enough!
I think god's greatest show of power must be his amazing ability to influence events without ever leaving a statistical fingerprint. Run an analysis on earthquakes, and they seem to occur randomly along stressed fault-lines. God sure is clever to kill a lot of nice people, and occasionally hit barren wilderness. We'll never be able to tell that the earthquakes were related to him at all!
In addition, god sure is sneaky when he miraculously saves as many heathens as Chrisitians, while allowing most Christians who have contracted terrible diseases to die, just like everyone else. The fact that he conceals his hand in all of this is incredible... you'd think there would be some kind of pattern if these things were deliberate.
You know what one of the most fun passages of the Bible is? 1 Kings 18:26-27
The priests of Baal and Elijah have a mountain-top showdown to settle once and for all who's god is the real one. The Baal guys dance and sing and cut themselves, and nothing at all happens. Elijah makes fun of them while they do this:
"Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked."
After this, Elijah douses the sacrifices and prays, and the fire of god comes down and burns up not only the animals, but all of the water and the stone altar. Pretty persuasive, no?
But wait! Where the heck is that god now? Hunting? Sleeping?
Or maybe we need to get with the times: he spends all his time on World of Warcraft!
Or Minecraft (if that's the case, I'm very Christ-like).
Seriously, where is the guy? Remember how the Mormon church started on the principle of "God is not silent?" The whole continuing-revelation thing?
And yet, nothing significant has been said for decades by modern-day "prophets." It's all basically the same as it was, doctrinally, as the way Brigham Young left it. Sure, we get a couple more tiny bits of D&C after this, but it's really nothing new.
Pretty much, god is dead. He does nothing. He can't even get the "faithful" to all be on the same page!
I think it's time to stop waiting for god to fix things for us. Maybe we should give up on the jerk until he decides he'll start being consistent (or even just apparent).
Damn, I get sick of the self-righteous we-know-everything attitude of some of the religious folks around.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Waitin' fer Jeezus
How long have we been waiting for Christ to come back? I mean, it has been a while. What's he doing?
Well, let's see how long the Mormons have been waiting:
Dec. 25, 1835 - D&C 87:8 "..until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord."
Time elapsed: 175 years, 1 month, 14 days.
Feb. 4, 1831 - D&C 41:4 "And I will be your ruler when I come; and behold, I come quickly..."
Time elapsed: 180 years, 4 days.
So, our latest update was 180-ish years ago? What, exactly, is the lord's definition of "quickly?" 180 years is easily 6-7 generations. So... "I'll show up quickly, as in about when your great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren read this." Someone needs to let god know that his use of 'quickly' is really confusing us.
Okay, so let's go back to the later New Testament books:
Traditionally 95 C.E. - Revelation 22:20 "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
Time elapsed: ~1916 years.
So... now I'm really concerned about this whole 'quickly' thing. Okay, so maybe 200 years is nothing to god, but 2000?! Isn't that, like, 1/3 of the age of everything or something? And he makes very clear that it's Jesus we're talking about in this passage. And, if we want to put this in generations, we can probably say that here, the lord meant "quickly as in when your great^74 grandchildren read this."
Okay, let's see if Jesus himself was a little more clear and accurate:
Around 30 C.E. - Luke 21:27-32 "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory ... Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled."
Time elapsed: ~1981 years.
And no, this is not taken out of context, go read it. Well, Jesus was way more specific, right? Same generation, so anywhere from 20-50 years, depending on how you define generation. Oops! That's somewhere around 5500% error. Remind me again why we listen to this guy?
So... Jesus seems to be taking his sweet time. Everyone is so sure that the second coming is right around the corner because of the state of the world... just like people were during WWII... and WWI... AND the Civil War!
And that's just a few examples from the U.S. All over the world, people have been feverishly declaring the coming of the lord since... well, just after 0 C.E.
I mean, jeez guys, how long do we have to wait? Ten thousand years? A millions years? A billion freaking years?
Seriously, once the sun goes out, I think we can be pretty sure he completely blew off the whole party.
'Of course, if I were Jesus, I probably wouldn't be too excited to come back either:
Well, let's see how long the Mormons have been waiting:
Dec. 25, 1835 - D&C 87:8 "..until the day of the Lord come; for behold, it cometh quickly, saith the Lord."
Time elapsed: 175 years, 1 month, 14 days.
Feb. 4, 1831 - D&C 41:4 "And I will be your ruler when I come; and behold, I come quickly..."
Time elapsed: 180 years, 4 days.
So, our latest update was 180-ish years ago? What, exactly, is the lord's definition of "quickly?" 180 years is easily 6-7 generations. So... "I'll show up quickly, as in about when your great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren read this." Someone needs to let god know that his use of 'quickly' is really confusing us.
Okay, so let's go back to the later New Testament books:
Traditionally 95 C.E. - Revelation 22:20 "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."
Time elapsed: ~1916 years.
So... now I'm really concerned about this whole 'quickly' thing. Okay, so maybe 200 years is nothing to god, but 2000?! Isn't that, like, 1/3 of the age of everything or something? And he makes very clear that it's Jesus we're talking about in this passage. And, if we want to put this in generations, we can probably say that here, the lord meant "quickly as in when your great^74 grandchildren read this."
Okay, let's see if Jesus himself was a little more clear and accurate:
Around 30 C.E. - Luke 21:27-32 "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory ... Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled."
Time elapsed: ~1981 years.
And no, this is not taken out of context, go read it. Well, Jesus was way more specific, right? Same generation, so anywhere from 20-50 years, depending on how you define generation. Oops! That's somewhere around 5500% error. Remind me again why we listen to this guy?
So... Jesus seems to be taking his sweet time. Everyone is so sure that the second coming is right around the corner because of the state of the world... just like people were during WWII... and WWI... AND the Civil War!
And that's just a few examples from the U.S. All over the world, people have been feverishly declaring the coming of the lord since... well, just after 0 C.E.
I mean, jeez guys, how long do we have to wait? Ten thousand years? A millions years? A billion freaking years?
Seriously, once the sun goes out, I think we can be pretty sure he completely blew off the whole party.
'Of course, if I were Jesus, I probably wouldn't be too excited to come back either:
"So I went to my people and told them I was god, and then asked to be nice to each other for a change and to stop being such big jerks. They nailed me to a freaking tree!
So I went back for a bit to tie up some loose ends and figured I'd show up in a generation or so, but it turns out.. my followers suck! They don't love each other, for one thing, and anyone who isn't one of them, they kill!
I mean, the idiots fought for centuries over the hometown of all the jerk-offs who killed me in the first place! And they burned anyone who even had a clue at the stake for thousands of years!
Anyway, no matter how enlightened they get, they are total jerks everybody, including each other. I'm not going back until my 'followers' are at least mildly pleasant to be around."
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