Well, it's been about a year since I last posted and I'm happy to say that I feel very validated and strong in my perspective. The following was written to present my position to someone who recently challenged me. I like it becasue it distills and presents, quie susinctly how i feel. Enjoy, and feel free to comment.
Regarding gods, spirits, devils or anything else which smacks of the supernatural – I am confident that they do not exist. It is true, as even Richard Dawkins said in “The God Delusion”, we must always leave room for the ever so slight statistical chance that this may be wrong. After all, we can't conclusively PROVE that Shiva, Zeus or Diana DON'T exist.
But, in my humble opinion, because we are not burdened by the associated cultural trappings of their believers WE do not give these possibilities any serous weight. In the same way, when one is free from the cultural trappings (because that is all they are) of western religion, one will be clear eyed enough to see that these spectors are just that and deserve no more credence than we give to any of the dead myths of past societies.
What we can be sure of is that the qualities of deity of every known religion are fabrications of the founders and early proponents of those religions and that their sources of "revelation" are woefully (in my view-happily) inadiquate and easily proven to be inaccurate and humanly flawed. We can also be confident that the supposed mysterious and miraculous aspects of life do have plausible natural explanations and that no one can validly demonstrate a channel of communication or living revelation from a supernatural source which can show this to be otherwise.
Quite simply, there is no credible reason to look beyond what is in front of us and certainly, no reason to suspect or believe that, if there is a power which stands apart from nature, that it should play a role in guiding or shaping our lives or that it even wants to or that it gives a damn about whether or not we acknowledge it.
As I said in another context, it is wonderful to look at the world for what it is and not see ghosts or hobgoblins or other shady things, benign or otherwise, pulling the strings behind the scenes.
The universe, for the most part, is just random clusters of hydrogen compacted to various degrees with a little bit of nuclear waste thrown in for good measure ... born of random quantum flux. It feels nothing, hears nothing, sees nothing. It has no plan or guiding principle. It has no investment in you. Because it has no consciousness, it isn’t even aware that you exist.
This being the case, I would caution you to hold yourself to the standards you set for yourself, while always being willing to reevaluate them, and to never bypass an opportunity to make your dreams come true. You are the author of your own meaning and the only one with the right and responsibility to make meaning investments in your own life. You, and you alone, are the hero of your life adventure. Never let anyone take that from you. And never, never assign that right to another.
Regarding gods, spirits, devils or anything else which smacks of the supernatural – I am confident that they do not exist. It is true, as even Richard Dawkins said in “The God Delusion”, we must always leave room for the ever so slight statistical chance that this may be wrong. After all, we can't conclusively PROVE that Shiva, Zeus or Diana DON'T exist.
But, in my humble opinion, because we are not burdened by the associated cultural trappings of their believers WE do not give these possibilities any serous weight. In the same way, when one is free from the cultural trappings (because that is all they are) of western religion, one will be clear eyed enough to see that these spectors are just that and deserve no more credence than we give to any of the dead myths of past societies.
What we can be sure of is that the qualities of deity of every known religion are fabrications of the founders and early proponents of those religions and that their sources of "revelation" are woefully (in my view-happily) inadiquate and easily proven to be inaccurate and humanly flawed. We can also be confident that the supposed mysterious and miraculous aspects of life do have plausible natural explanations and that no one can validly demonstrate a channel of communication or living revelation from a supernatural source which can show this to be otherwise.
Quite simply, there is no credible reason to look beyond what is in front of us and certainly, no reason to suspect or believe that, if there is a power which stands apart from nature, that it should play a role in guiding or shaping our lives or that it even wants to or that it gives a damn about whether or not we acknowledge it.
As I said in another context, it is wonderful to look at the world for what it is and not see ghosts or hobgoblins or other shady things, benign or otherwise, pulling the strings behind the scenes.
The universe, for the most part, is just random clusters of hydrogen compacted to various degrees with a little bit of nuclear waste thrown in for good measure ... born of random quantum flux. It feels nothing, hears nothing, sees nothing. It has no plan or guiding principle. It has no investment in you. Because it has no consciousness, it isn’t even aware that you exist.
This being the case, I would caution you to hold yourself to the standards you set for yourself, while always being willing to reevaluate them, and to never bypass an opportunity to make your dreams come true. You are the author of your own meaning and the only one with the right and responsibility to make meaning investments in your own life. You, and you alone, are the hero of your life adventure. Never let anyone take that from you. And never, never assign that right to another.
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