The one suspicious thing about the God debate is that everyone’s so damned sure about what they believe – except for the agnostics, whose point of view can roughly be summed up as 'I don't know what the fuck is going on at that level, and frankly don't want to'. Personally, I’m of the school of thought that says 'Ignorance is not a point of view, especially if you choose it', but to get back to the initial point – both believers and disbelievers are entirely convinced of their points of view.
This is an odd situation. One would expect that to be entirely convinced either way, there’s got to be some bit of objective data, some experience that cannot be denied; for example, actually seeing a club-wielding man with a tail flying through the air. Or on the other hand, finding a mathematical equation that can predict exactly what happens next ten times out of ten. Neither has happened, and this is an ancient debate.
Or perhaps it’s a lot simpler than all of that; maybe people form their beliefs about God based on how their prayers are dealt with – and everybody prays, regardless of what the actual words are. It could be a devout and spiritual “Oh Lord, grant me the knowledge I require to cast off my chains,” or on the other hand, could be a much more short term and materialistic, “Dude, I really hope I get away with lying to my boss.” The point is, everybody acknowledges that for something to happen, the world needs to co-operate with what you’re doing.
That's the crux of it, really, at least for me. There's this enormous, complex, thing outside of me that I happen to be a part of, and I don't understand it sometimes, and I wish someone would just tell me what the hell is going on. Enter Doctor Frankenstein with manager Goldman Sacks-Wallstreet, a Wild Haired Chap in a Sheet and his Congregation, and somewhere off to the side, a Chap Sitting on a Picket Fence with an Uncomfortable Look on his Face. Possibly reading an economic or financial newspaper.
Science has had a really good go at finding God. They really did put in a hell of a lot of effort, and thanks to all that mental sweat, we can now travel into space, be effectively connected to millions of people at the same time, and also effectively wipe out any race of living creatures on the planet, including ourselves. Thanks to the development of money - which, curiously, was more dependent on religion – the scientific society now finds itself focused on the advancement of knowledge, practical applications of science in technology, making human lives easier, and making money, in that reverse order.
Religion claims to come from God, so no problem there; and thanks to the effort they've put into proving their position, we now have some of the most heartwrenchingly astute observations on the nature of reality, and also a set of cast iron excuses to hate other people. Thanks to religion's ability to bring people together and inspire creativity, society went from a collection of savage and scattered people looking for answers, to a unified and cohesive people, looking for answers savagely.
And somewhere in the whole thing, the question somehow changed from "What the hell is this experience I find myself in?" to "Is there a puppetmaster, or a set of rules?" The stereotypical atheist has his head so far up his ass that he doesn't even understand the question “Is there a God?” The stereotypical mystic will dodge and evade that question, or else answer it with a thunderous “Yes!” and try to lose you in a thicket of references, and the stereotypical agnostic, a hitherto unremarkable creature who has emerged mostly because of this deadlock, is so jaded that he doesn't believe anything, and is most likely to question your beliefs, in a dastardly attempt to bring you to his level of apathy.
Which brings the whole question back to where it belongs. What do you believe? Is this truly a non-alive universe, and it just so happens that on this planet, the right combination of everything happened, and life was a natural result? Or on the other hand, were we scooped out of raw firmament and created for the express purpose being made in God's image? Or is there perhaps some other explanation, more subtle yet?
Whatever the answer, one thing is for certain. It's interesting being alive.
Trifeck
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