MORE ABOUT THE BEGINNING

I hadn’t intended to write a follow-up — much less a serious one — to ABOUT THE BEGINNING (my last post), but after thought-provoking comments by Don Frankel and Michaeline, I had to face the soul-searching question, “Am I a muse or a mouse?” The answer is a squeaker, but I decided to face the muse-ic and go where mice-men fear to tread. So let’s go back to, oh, About The Beginning.

That title, of course, referred to the coming into existence of the universe. In that post, the words after WHAT ATHEISTS BELIEVE proclaimed the nonexistence of a creator, i.e. the “Nothing” that “makes sense”….as opposed to the revealed creator, the biblical God of believers. For me, neither scenario passes the smell test. Here’s why:

It is said that man cannot live without his illusions. Perhaps that is not entirely a bad thing….if the alternative is unbearable. If you don’t know what you don’t know, perhaps illusion is the saving compensation. That, to me, largely explains  the “revealed” God of religion. But if that need for “faith in a power stronger than ourselves” (to quote Michaeline) is as subject to perversion as any other human want, is it not also a force for good? In any case, that’s a proposition that is beside the question here; a fairy tale is still a fairy tale no matter how benevolent. The greatest saint in history has either gone on to eternal life or not, irrespective of his or her faith. We cannot believe our way into what may not exist.

The atheist’s position is a different kind of challenge….not in an adversarial sense, because this isn’t a debating contest, but a reality search, no matter where the search leads….even if the reality turns out to be beyond human reach. Certitude, in such a case, is for dogmatists….which atheists are not above, in my view. Barring absolute proof, how is certainty that there is no god any less dogmatic than certainty that there is?

Don refers to “idea[s] in Physics” (such as the search for a theoretical “God particle,” which is beyond my pay grade and perhaps beyond finding). A less pie-in-the-sky idea in Physics is the Big Bang Theory, which (to my unscientific mind) is entirely plausible, but which addresses only the means (how the universe was created), not what was behind the means….or behind the scenes, for the more theatrical-minded among you.

As a creative writer, I can’t get my head around creation without a creator. This post didn’t write itself, and I can’t see a universe creating itself, no matter how miniscule the brain behind these words or the particle that exploded into a universe. But then there’s always the question, who created the creator? Whence cometh God? Ah. That calls for another theory. Here’s mine (it’s probably not original, but what do you want for nothing, as an atheist might say):

There is no such thing as time outside of creation. The creator has always existed. But that doesn’t necessarily mean human beings have souls which will pass into that timeless realm after death. Then why did the creator bother? What’s the point? As the late vocalist Peggy Lee asked, Is that all there is? We may never know.

Presumably, a creator who created and sanctions such misery and suffering as is our lot on earth would be the same “person” our souls would be at the whim of in an afterlife. Of course, many of us are fortunate enough in this life to experience more than enough love and empathy to offset the madness. Based on this mixed bag of a creation, can it’s creator be other than a mixed bag?

I guess we’ll find out soon enough….or not.

 

 

THE BIBLE MADE ME DO IT

Hair we go again.  Remember the story which made news back in 2011 of a beard-and-hair-cutting attack by one Amish faction against members of another Amish faction? For shear cut-zpah, this topped everything….at least, by way of religious headlines:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM6FDzTXdkU

Because the Amish believe the Bible is the holy, inerrant word of God and teaches, among other things, that hair is sacred, their men grow a beard. Cutting it is regarded as shameful; to do so forcibly is nothing less than a bald-faced assault, as a pun-loving jury found Sam Mullet and his faction guilty of in 2012:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYHzFn_LSXU

Since then, Mullet and seven of his disciples have been serving multi-year prison terms while their attorney appealed. Now comes word that, in a split-decision on August 27, a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the convictions. While the government considers its appeal options, the defense attorney will seek to have Mullet and his fellow cut-ups released. If this happens, their victims may well find themselves running for their beards, if not their lives. Of course, horse-drawn buggies are also an option, especially for the slow-afoot.

Now you may think that if the Bible is the holy, inerrant word of God, it wouldn’t be the Scriptural equivalent of the Elephant and the Blind Men parable at best, and at worst, the Hydra it has become at the hands of every self-delusional head case in history, bearded or other-wise. To say nothing of the Koran. Is there anything man can’t or won’t screw up?

 

 

 

DARE I SAY HEARSAY?

We are all erring creatures, and mainly idiots, but God made us so
and it is dangerous to criticize.  –Mark Twain

RE-PHRASING REVELATION

Some say the Good Book has all the answers….
I’d say life reveals that most of those answers
should be re-imagined in the form of questions.

 

GOD’S QUESTIONNAIRE REVISITED

I have a folder of old magazine and newspaper clippings which I’d filed away years ago because of their interesting and/or oddball subject matter. One such clipping (undated, but in a batch of others from the early 1990s) is titled God’s Total Quality Management Questionnaire (As presented on National Public Radio’s “Car Talk”) — which may sound like an odd venue for such a questionnaire if you’re not familiar with the show’s hosts, the auto mechanic-comics Magliozzi Brothers. Tom and Ray Magliozzi’s CLICK AND CLACK car advice appears in newspapers weekly and at http://www.cartalk.com.

If you’re like me, you find most questionnaires too simplistic (answer yes or no, or agree or disagree, to questions which beg for more nuanced response). Not so here — most of the questions offer many choices, such as these in response to question #1: How did you find out about your Deity?

__Newspaper
__Bible
__Torah
__Book of Mormon
__Koran
__Divine inspiration
__Dead Sea Scrolls
__My mama done tol’ me
__Near-death experience
__Near-life experience
__National Public Radio
__Tabloid
__Burning shrubbery
__Other (specify):__________

Now, for those of you who have had different Deities at various stages of your life, even the above choices may be insufficient, which is never a good thing unless you’re absolutely sure that you’ve finally found the divine equivalent of Mr./Ms. Right. One can only be disillusioned so many times before one says to hell with it.

How did I find out about my (current) Deity? Basically, by a process of elimination — I’m a deist, which is probably the last stage before “to hell with it”….though I must admit I haven’t tried all possible Deities. This leads me to question #2 of the questionnaire, but that will have to wait until next time.