"Life is learning that the adventure lies in endless travels with no destinations. To be so naive as to assume one has reached his or her destination is to deny the beauty of the journey and to accept, however erroneously, that one has reached his or her limits."
"Love is learning to walk barefoot without anything beside someone with whom you'd give everything."
"All the money in the world couldn't purchase just one second of true love."
"Even the richest man in the world couldn't buy a priceless moment, yet so many deny themselves those moments at a cost greater than they could ever imagine."
"Death is something that brings contrast to life. Without it, the most precious of moments would melt away into infinity. Death teaches us the value of a day spent in love. Every man and woman will spend that moment on their death bed left with but a fraction of a minute to think back and recall so many countless memories, so many precious moments, so many invaluable experiences. And when that last breath comes, the sum of all our experiences will create a focal point that leads directly to god."
"Dying does not scare me because every day I meet people who are too afraid to live, and that is far worse."
"The only thing one will take with them into death is the love received throughout their life and the love given from their own light -- everything else is but an expensive toy."
"I've always wondered why marathons are 26 miles and 385 yards. Just once I'd like to see a runner speed through the finish line and go for 27. Then I wonder just how often we approach similar goals in our life."
"Sometimes I wonder which is worse -- to love all the wrong things for the right reason, or to love all the right things for the wrong reason."
"Everyone comes into the world naked. We all have that in common. Nobody ever came out in a pressed tux or a ballroom gown -- but too many people think so."
"Fear is the first step in feeling more alive than alive."
"If you're going to love with your all, don't think you'll ever meet your goal unless you never really loved at all."
Tuesday, April 15
Sunday, April 13
Faith, Love and God
As a man who has a deep love for science, I see so much beauty within the world based on a subtle balance of order and chaos. Some of the very things that could wipe away all life on Earth are the very same things that have made life possible on Earth. If our sun were to go nova right now, everything on Earth would perish. Yet, it is the process of a star going supernova that creates the heavier elements necessary for a planet such as Earth to exist in the first place.
I constantly read articles written by both atheists and theists debating evolution and intelligent design. Most of the articles seem to suggest that it is a black and white debate -- either the Earth was designed by an intelligent creator or the Earth, and every living thing on it, is just a natural progression of a series of physical events within the universe. Many atheists will use the theory of evolution to strengthen their argument against an intelligent designer while an equal number of theists will point to flaws in the theory to suggest that evolution does not exist and thus there must be an intelligent creator.
Perhaps it is more prudent to see things in shades of gray. Evolution is a very sound theory that has a lot of evidence to support it. If we agree that evolution is a very real process, does that necessarily discount the belief in a god? Is it not just a tad bit naive to assume that any creator capable of putting the universe into motion would do so in a way that we could ever fully understand? Instead of god creating the "Heavens and the Earth," could god not just create the physical processes necessary to create the universe itself. If god does exist, perhaps he engaged in subtle subterfuge while creating the universe.
This brings us to an important topic -- that of faith. When Sir Francis Bacon developed the school of thought known as empiricism, he set the groundwork for what is now known as the scientific process. The pursuit of knowledge throughout the centuries has not always been similar to what scientists use today. At the core of the scientific process, there is a belief that a theory must be testable, verifiable and able to be repeated. It is a natural assumption and a core belief of empiricism that if something can be repeatedly tested and verified, it becomes a scientific fact. The word "fact" is a curious word, though, when you examine it more closely. What precisely is a "fact?"
We learn and discover our world based upon our senses. Our senses, through evolution, have been developed and fine-tuned by nature to allow us to survive in the wild and compete successfully for resources. Without the ability to "sense" the world, we would have no knowledge of it. We would be unable to locate food to survive or find a mate in which to procreate. Our species (or any for that matter) would quickly die off.
At some point in the midst of constantly chasing after food, finding shelter and mating, man looked up at the stars and began to question existence. Something happened along the way that forced man, even if for a few seconds, to question his purpose in the universe. Man eventually learned to use tools that would aid him in hunting for food. Man eventually learned to build huts to protect himself from the elements. Man eventually learned to irrigate and channel water to grow crops to supplement his diet.
This is all man had to do in order to survive, since the animals he was competing against were not getting any smarter. As time went on, man began to ask questions about his role in the universe and thus was born the subject of philosophy.
"Why AM I here?" -- to reproduce?
"Why MUST I reproduce?" -- because it feels good?
"Why DOES it feel god?" -- because evolution made it feel good so you would do it.
The questions became more complex. The ideas became more numerous. Man quickly went from just another animal hunting for food to an animal that questioned his role in the nature of all things.
Along this quickly accelerating path, man began to worship gods. Polytheism was en vogue at the time. There was a god for rain, a god for crops, a god for love, a god for wine, etc. If there was no rain for a season, man assumed that the god of rain was upset for some reason. Rituals were put in place to appease these gods. These rituals often involved sacrifices. Since the god of rain never showed up on earth, man did his best to give something to this invisible deity in the hopes that next season's crops would be a bumper one.
As time went on, it became more efficient to just pray to one god. This is a gross oversimplification, but suffice it to say that monotheism eventually replaced polytheism in many cultures. It was a novel concept at the time -- instead of keeping a hundred gods happy, let's just focus on one god and keep him happy. It was the ontological economic thing to do.
Sadly, wars broke out between believers over who's god was the right god. Was it the Christian god, was it Allah, was it Elohim, etc. Groups of people were chased out of one nation, persecuted in the next and then disbanded into dozens of other nations. Jews were notorious for getting the shit end of the stick.
Along the way, people in power began to notice that this whole "god" question could be used to their advantage. Suddenly the use of religion and god could be used to bring nations together, to scare people into conforming, to persecute those who did not believe through execution by the state or excommunication by the church. Rulers caught on very quickly that a scared populace was an easily controlled one. The concept of burning in an eternal hell has a way of making an impressionable person do whatever you want them to do.
As time went on, people started to see through this and got angry. They got angry at god -- suddenly atheism became a stronger movement. During this entire time, god sat somewhere just shaking his head while man, who used to make a noble living just chasing animals in the forest while procreating at night, suddenly got really intelligent overnight, created technology and computers and then chat rooms and blogs where people could sling personal insults back and forth over why god does or does not exist.
Individuals like Richard Dawkins came on board, noticed how intense the debates for and against god were becoming and started to write book after book slamming faith as delusional and, in the process, gave atheists their own little anti-god.
So between all the wars, persecutions, executions, excommunications -- between all the movements of Jews going from one land to the next while getting chased by people who hated them because they worshiped a different god, the shit hit the fan and all hell broke loose and Muslim extremists began crashing planes into the infidel's towers while atheists shook their head and blamed everyone who was not an atheist for making the world a cruel evil place by using god as a tool to insight fear in others.
Through all this bullshit, the question still remains -- is there a god? Yes, even after countless technological advances, even after man went from throwing spears a hundred yards to slinging satellites out of the solar system, we are still faced with the same questions that our ancestors asked hundreds of thousands of years ago. Is there a god and what is he doing today?
This was meant to be somewhat funny but unfortunately also remaining somewhat true. We really have collectively gone off the deep end with these questions and have, unfortunately, gotten no closer to some universal truth.
Actually, I will tell you the truth. Your search is now over, I am about to answer the biggest question you will ever ask in your life. Are you ready for the answer? Are you absolutely SURE you really want to know? Alright, you asked -- so I'll tell you.
Is there a god? Yes, there is a god. What? You want proof? Woah, wait a minute. I can't give you proof because science can't be used to prove god. What do you mean that's a cop out? Alright, fine -- I'll explain my reasoning.
When you wake up each morning, how do you know you exist? It sounds like a really obvious question. You "just know," right? Well, you could look in the mirror and see yourself, but how do you know you're not someone else? Because you remember who you were the day before? And how do you know those memories are reliable? Oh, you're going to show me pictures of yourself from a week ago and then tell me you're that person? I'm asking you how you know *YOU* exist. The honest answer is a semantical one -- first we need to define what *you* is. Are *you* the same person you were a year ago? How about an hour ago? Probably not, because you're constantly changing. So when we use the term *you*, we use it loosely because the *you* you are right now won't be the *you* you are tomorrow. You'll be close to you, but not exactly you. You'll be a little bit older. Some cells in your body will be dead while others will be new. You'll have a bit more knowledge about something and know something you didn't know the day before.
This same semantical problem applies to god. What do we mean when we ask, "does god exist?" What if I asked, "does x exist?" What is x? The letter x? We know the letter x exists because we use it occasionally -- especially during sex. But if I ask, "does god exist," we have to agree on a definition of god before we can start a debate.
To be continued ...
I constantly read articles written by both atheists and theists debating evolution and intelligent design. Most of the articles seem to suggest that it is a black and white debate -- either the Earth was designed by an intelligent creator or the Earth, and every living thing on it, is just a natural progression of a series of physical events within the universe. Many atheists will use the theory of evolution to strengthen their argument against an intelligent designer while an equal number of theists will point to flaws in the theory to suggest that evolution does not exist and thus there must be an intelligent creator.
Perhaps it is more prudent to see things in shades of gray. Evolution is a very sound theory that has a lot of evidence to support it. If we agree that evolution is a very real process, does that necessarily discount the belief in a god? Is it not just a tad bit naive to assume that any creator capable of putting the universe into motion would do so in a way that we could ever fully understand? Instead of god creating the "Heavens and the Earth," could god not just create the physical processes necessary to create the universe itself. If god does exist, perhaps he engaged in subtle subterfuge while creating the universe.
This brings us to an important topic -- that of faith. When Sir Francis Bacon developed the school of thought known as empiricism, he set the groundwork for what is now known as the scientific process. The pursuit of knowledge throughout the centuries has not always been similar to what scientists use today. At the core of the scientific process, there is a belief that a theory must be testable, verifiable and able to be repeated. It is a natural assumption and a core belief of empiricism that if something can be repeatedly tested and verified, it becomes a scientific fact. The word "fact" is a curious word, though, when you examine it more closely. What precisely is a "fact?"
We learn and discover our world based upon our senses. Our senses, through evolution, have been developed and fine-tuned by nature to allow us to survive in the wild and compete successfully for resources. Without the ability to "sense" the world, we would have no knowledge of it. We would be unable to locate food to survive or find a mate in which to procreate. Our species (or any for that matter) would quickly die off.
At some point in the midst of constantly chasing after food, finding shelter and mating, man looked up at the stars and began to question existence. Something happened along the way that forced man, even if for a few seconds, to question his purpose in the universe. Man eventually learned to use tools that would aid him in hunting for food. Man eventually learned to build huts to protect himself from the elements. Man eventually learned to irrigate and channel water to grow crops to supplement his diet.
This is all man had to do in order to survive, since the animals he was competing against were not getting any smarter. As time went on, man began to ask questions about his role in the universe and thus was born the subject of philosophy.
"Why AM I here?" -- to reproduce?
"Why MUST I reproduce?" -- because it feels good?
"Why DOES it feel god?" -- because evolution made it feel good so you would do it.
The questions became more complex. The ideas became more numerous. Man quickly went from just another animal hunting for food to an animal that questioned his role in the nature of all things.
Along this quickly accelerating path, man began to worship gods. Polytheism was en vogue at the time. There was a god for rain, a god for crops, a god for love, a god for wine, etc. If there was no rain for a season, man assumed that the god of rain was upset for some reason. Rituals were put in place to appease these gods. These rituals often involved sacrifices. Since the god of rain never showed up on earth, man did his best to give something to this invisible deity in the hopes that next season's crops would be a bumper one.
As time went on, it became more efficient to just pray to one god. This is a gross oversimplification, but suffice it to say that monotheism eventually replaced polytheism in many cultures. It was a novel concept at the time -- instead of keeping a hundred gods happy, let's just focus on one god and keep him happy. It was the ontological economic thing to do.
Sadly, wars broke out between believers over who's god was the right god. Was it the Christian god, was it Allah, was it Elohim, etc. Groups of people were chased out of one nation, persecuted in the next and then disbanded into dozens of other nations. Jews were notorious for getting the shit end of the stick.
Along the way, people in power began to notice that this whole "god" question could be used to their advantage. Suddenly the use of religion and god could be used to bring nations together, to scare people into conforming, to persecute those who did not believe through execution by the state or excommunication by the church. Rulers caught on very quickly that a scared populace was an easily controlled one. The concept of burning in an eternal hell has a way of making an impressionable person do whatever you want them to do.
As time went on, people started to see through this and got angry. They got angry at god -- suddenly atheism became a stronger movement. During this entire time, god sat somewhere just shaking his head while man, who used to make a noble living just chasing animals in the forest while procreating at night, suddenly got really intelligent overnight, created technology and computers and then chat rooms and blogs where people could sling personal insults back and forth over why god does or does not exist.
Individuals like Richard Dawkins came on board, noticed how intense the debates for and against god were becoming and started to write book after book slamming faith as delusional and, in the process, gave atheists their own little anti-god.
So between all the wars, persecutions, executions, excommunications -- between all the movements of Jews going from one land to the next while getting chased by people who hated them because they worshiped a different god, the shit hit the fan and all hell broke loose and Muslim extremists began crashing planes into the infidel's towers while atheists shook their head and blamed everyone who was not an atheist for making the world a cruel evil place by using god as a tool to insight fear in others.
Through all this bullshit, the question still remains -- is there a god? Yes, even after countless technological advances, even after man went from throwing spears a hundred yards to slinging satellites out of the solar system, we are still faced with the same questions that our ancestors asked hundreds of thousands of years ago. Is there a god and what is he doing today?
This was meant to be somewhat funny but unfortunately also remaining somewhat true. We really have collectively gone off the deep end with these questions and have, unfortunately, gotten no closer to some universal truth.
Actually, I will tell you the truth. Your search is now over, I am about to answer the biggest question you will ever ask in your life. Are you ready for the answer? Are you absolutely SURE you really want to know? Alright, you asked -- so I'll tell you.
Is there a god? Yes, there is a god. What? You want proof? Woah, wait a minute. I can't give you proof because science can't be used to prove god. What do you mean that's a cop out? Alright, fine -- I'll explain my reasoning.
When you wake up each morning, how do you know you exist? It sounds like a really obvious question. You "just know," right? Well, you could look in the mirror and see yourself, but how do you know you're not someone else? Because you remember who you were the day before? And how do you know those memories are reliable? Oh, you're going to show me pictures of yourself from a week ago and then tell me you're that person? I'm asking you how you know *YOU* exist. The honest answer is a semantical one -- first we need to define what *you* is. Are *you* the same person you were a year ago? How about an hour ago? Probably not, because you're constantly changing. So when we use the term *you*, we use it loosely because the *you* you are right now won't be the *you* you are tomorrow. You'll be close to you, but not exactly you. You'll be a little bit older. Some cells in your body will be dead while others will be new. You'll have a bit more knowledge about something and know something you didn't know the day before.
This same semantical problem applies to god. What do we mean when we ask, "does god exist?" What if I asked, "does x exist?" What is x? The letter x? We know the letter x exists because we use it occasionally -- especially during sex. But if I ask, "does god exist," we have to agree on a definition of god before we can start a debate.
To be continued ...
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