Reply #48: "God can"

[Ron Green]

I believe this idea of a god who does things misses the mark somewhat. All the concepts of God, or non-concepts of god or gods, are of course part of human understanding in its variety. I'm suggesting that God, if "he" exists, is all of this, and more. The apparent contradictions about whether it's a one-way trip, or eternal flames, or harps and clouds, or whatever - these are all human-created ideas, as I'm sure we agree - don't exist in the highest infinite and eternal reality, to which we have the smallest of clues. What we do know is that humans connect with each other in a way that's different in kind from how the other creatures do it, and that we make choices to spread love or to respond fearfully to our world. We also know that over many centuries humans have gained lots of scientific knowledge, and it's brought us somewhat closer to understanding the world, but not much closer to the "big questions" of existence. However, the wisdom of the classic Greeks and the Renaissance thinkers has borne study and scrutiny all these years as well, and "god" continues to be an idea that won't go away. As I've shared with you before, my view is that not only individual humans but society as a group is "hard-wired" for God, being the Freudian superego or parent-nature that gives us ethics and morals.

My main concern is that this essential part of our human existence not be corrupted into fear-based actions (as it most certainly has throughout history), but that an enlightened view be put forward. It's difficult for people to grasp the idea of transcendence - they want a firm father figure to tell them what to do - but I believe learning to live with the contradictions in various theologies is absolutely essential to a peaceful planet.