I've come to this board as an atheist & skeptic, and after reading the various threads on environmental issues, find that I've found God again.
hallelujah.
(Let me explain by first choosing a definition for God:
Let God= that which is beyond human understanding and exhibits a self-evident perfection, (ie is infalible) and therefore shall be held as sacred. Man is humbled before God.
I'm sure folks can offer a better define of God, but this'll do for my purposes.)
*Theist on God:
> The Universe and all that is in it is beyond human understanding and exhibits a self-evident perfection, and therefore shall be held as sacred. Man is humbled before The Universe.
> Therefore, the Universe expresses godlike qualities using our definition above
> Universe exists and therefore was created
> Assumption - Universe cannot create itself.
> Therefore ¡V God created the Universe
*Scientific-discovery-seeking-but-highly-skeptical-I-think (<that's me) on God:
>The Universe and all that is in it is beyond human understanding and exhibits a self-evident perfection, and therefore shall be held as sacred. Man is humbled before Universe.
> Therefore, the Universe expresses godlike qualities using our definition above
> Universe exists and therefore was possibly created (or at least shows evidence of perpetual change)
> Assumption - Universe can create itself.
> However, there is no use of, or evidence for theist God
> Therefore the Universe created God (ie the Universe "is that it is", and therefore at any point in space or time is perfection and worthy of our awe and humility).
Theist God - God created the Universe and all that's in it.
Scientist God - The Universe and all that's in it created God.
That is to say, that nature at any point in history is perfect because it's there. There's no such thing as a 'balance of life', as evolution and natural selection are forever pushing and twisting the (never-existing) status quo. If man influences the balances of life on Earth to the point that we are no longer able to survive as a species, then we only have managed to write ourselves out of existence, (which then becomes part of God's big plan). The universe & life go on as if nothing happened - we were selected for extinction.
Why is it important to revere anything as sacred? (ie: be humble before 'God') Because without the reverence, we are guilty through the powers of assumption that we can to thrust radical change on our environment without expecting shock-waves of change to the detriment of our life support system. (Ie: we should be humbled by that which we don't understand, not arrogant about the little we have learned).
I've met a lot of believers in the 'theist' God, if they're humble before God, I find nothing wrong with them. When they stop being humble and 'assume' they understand God, then they ironically stop believing in God and unwittingly have taken on the roll themselves. The 'theist' then become dangerous when they act on their assumptions.
Replace "theist" with "scientist" and I still believe the above statement.
hallelujah.
(Let me explain by first choosing a definition for God:
Let God= that which is beyond human understanding and exhibits a self-evident perfection, (ie is infalible) and therefore shall be held as sacred. Man is humbled before God.
I'm sure folks can offer a better define of God, but this'll do for my purposes.)
*Theist on God:
> The Universe and all that is in it is beyond human understanding and exhibits a self-evident perfection, and therefore shall be held as sacred. Man is humbled before The Universe.
> Therefore, the Universe expresses godlike qualities using our definition above
> Universe exists and therefore was created
> Assumption - Universe cannot create itself.
> Therefore ¡V God created the Universe
*Scientific-discovery-seeking-but-highly-skeptical-I-think (<that's me) on God:
>The Universe and all that is in it is beyond human understanding and exhibits a self-evident perfection, and therefore shall be held as sacred. Man is humbled before Universe.
> Therefore, the Universe expresses godlike qualities using our definition above
> Universe exists and therefore was possibly created (or at least shows evidence of perpetual change)
> Assumption - Universe can create itself.
> However, there is no use of, or evidence for theist God
> Therefore the Universe created God (ie the Universe "is that it is", and therefore at any point in space or time is perfection and worthy of our awe and humility).
Theist God - God created the Universe and all that's in it.
Scientist God - The Universe and all that's in it created God.
That is to say, that nature at any point in history is perfect because it's there. There's no such thing as a 'balance of life', as evolution and natural selection are forever pushing and twisting the (never-existing) status quo. If man influences the balances of life on Earth to the point that we are no longer able to survive as a species, then we only have managed to write ourselves out of existence, (which then becomes part of God's big plan). The universe & life go on as if nothing happened - we were selected for extinction.
Why is it important to revere anything as sacred? (ie: be humble before 'God') Because without the reverence, we are guilty through the powers of assumption that we can to thrust radical change on our environment without expecting shock-waves of change to the detriment of our life support system. (Ie: we should be humbled by that which we don't understand, not arrogant about the little we have learned).
I've met a lot of believers in the 'theist' God, if they're humble before God, I find nothing wrong with them. When they stop being humble and 'assume' they understand God, then they ironically stop believing in God and unwittingly have taken on the roll themselves. The 'theist' then become dangerous when they act on their assumptions.
Replace "theist" with "scientist" and I still believe the above statement.
