Introduction
Whether you believe that global warming is happening or not; whether you are of a religious conviction or not; or whether you think the quality of life is improving or not, there are some stark facts that are difficult to refute.
The human population is continuing to grow and will need to be fed and catered for with consequentially ever increasing pressures on the environment. In spite of the ingenuity to create ever more efficient means of food production, in the end the numbers will not stack up and something will have to give. Either the world population growth has to be halted or reversed to preserve what stocks and resources that exist or nature collapses which will then lead to a massive epidemic of problems that will essentially reduce the human population in a catastrophic way. It is not much of a choice. Whilst world leaders may acknowledge the fundamentals of the dilemma, the success of human endeavours will only delay the inevitable.
I do not wish to sound overly fatalistic but, as individuals, we need to prepare for what is likely to come, whenever it does.
In dealing with and coping with crisis, survival and moral self discipline will be essential to avoid individuals adopting selfishness as a means of survival in a dog-eat-dog code of conduct. As things degenerate, the state (in whatever form) can expect to exact increasingly intrusive and brutal measures to try to maintain control of a crumbling civilisation. In the end, what will exist will be a contrast between selfish anarchy and dictatorial repression.
What is important before this comes about is for individuals and families to embrace a different way forward and a moral code that cuts across both religion and non-religious mores. The traditional religious institutions have been embattled for many decades and have tried rather vainly to draw people under the guidance of moral doctrines through a combination of reiteration and reinvention of traditional beliefs. Whilst they have succeeded for some, most have missed out as people have lost faith as the credibility of the basis of religiosity has been challenged. As a kind of surrogate moral guidance, the state has increasingly moved in to the vacuum to serve as a moral guardian through its making and enforcement of law and raising of taxes.
What I want to do is to offer an alternative. What I wish is for people, whether they be religious or not, whether they believe in God or not to be able to adopt a philosophy of life that will help them towards fulfilment, achievement and happiness. It does not mean giving up traditional faiths, but it does mean adopting a way of life that embraces the underlying ethos of the set of moral codes that follow.
I do not want to become a cult leader. I am not a perfect human being myself and am as prone to the frailties and failings as any other human, but what I want is a recognition and acceptance of the brotherhood of man.
If you want what I want, then read further and I hope that we can start a movement that will spread across the world based on a desire to love, respect and celebrate all life in all of its forms.
Wednesday 4 November 2009
GOD, RELIGION & ATHEISM
GOD, RELIGION & ATHEISM
God
To many in traditional religions, the God concept is that of a separate entity of special and superior power.
Atheism exists through a refutation of God and religion. If a person claims to be agnostic or atheistic, then they are basically declaring themselves not to believe in a particular concept of God.
However, if God, in its traditional sense, is an all powerful and all knowing being, in a word, ‘omnipotent’, how could this be achieved? How could anything manage to know everything and have complete and ultimate power? Surely, the only sensible way this could be achieved would be if God was everything. To reiterate, it would not be enough to be in everything, God would actually have to be everything. From this, does God exist? Yes. God is a factual existence and does not need faith. God is all around in everything you can see and touch. It may be blasphemous to say this, but we are all part of God’s material existence.
God therefore is a simple three letter word to describe entirety. If God is existence itself, it does not depend on faith because it is factual. The only form of atheism that can come from that would be to refute the declaration that God and the universe are one and the same.
Fraternalism
God is not made up just of dead matter. The life force that exists in all living things – animal, vegetable, bacteriological or any other type is in actual fact the ‘the spirit of God’. Fraternalism starts with recognizing that all and everything is related to everything else. We co-exist as part of the same being and share in the life force of the universe. Being a Fraternalist is simply acknowledging that God is everything and the spirit of God is life itself. From this acceptance follows the understanding that everything is related at the material and non-material level. If we are of the same spirit as all other life forms then we are fraternally related to all other living entities.
God is not mythical. Every living part of you is possessed by this spirit of God - every cell and every micro-organism.
Whilst there may be a case for decrying traditional religion, under the Fraternalist philosophy, God cannot be refuted since God is everything physical or non physical.
To deny God’s existence under the Fraternalist description is to deny that the world exists and thus a denial of one’s own existence.
In Fraternalism, God’s power works in and through nature. It moves as an element of nature and within the laws of physics. God is not separate to us, but we are part of God. Individuals are part of God and God is only superior through being made up of the collectivity of everything.
God does not have a gender or a race. God is all of everything. Appreciating and accepting this concept means that everything about us, animate or inanimate is intimately related to us. It means that just as we may have a particular respect for a blood relative, so we should have for all things.
Within this brotherhood of man, can be deduced a number of moral guidelines which follow below. As an imperfect human being using imperfect language, I may not express these in the way that I intend. However, I would invite others who have an affiliation with what I am trying to convey to form groups that would be willing to meet with me. I believe it is important that someone does something whilst there is still time to do so.
God
To many in traditional religions, the God concept is that of a separate entity of special and superior power.
Atheism exists through a refutation of God and religion. If a person claims to be agnostic or atheistic, then they are basically declaring themselves not to believe in a particular concept of God.
However, if God, in its traditional sense, is an all powerful and all knowing being, in a word, ‘omnipotent’, how could this be achieved? How could anything manage to know everything and have complete and ultimate power? Surely, the only sensible way this could be achieved would be if God was everything. To reiterate, it would not be enough to be in everything, God would actually have to be everything. From this, does God exist? Yes. God is a factual existence and does not need faith. God is all around in everything you can see and touch. It may be blasphemous to say this, but we are all part of God’s material existence.
God therefore is a simple three letter word to describe entirety. If God is existence itself, it does not depend on faith because it is factual. The only form of atheism that can come from that would be to refute the declaration that God and the universe are one and the same.
Fraternalism
God is not made up just of dead matter. The life force that exists in all living things – animal, vegetable, bacteriological or any other type is in actual fact the ‘the spirit of God’. Fraternalism starts with recognizing that all and everything is related to everything else. We co-exist as part of the same being and share in the life force of the universe. Being a Fraternalist is simply acknowledging that God is everything and the spirit of God is life itself. From this acceptance follows the understanding that everything is related at the material and non-material level. If we are of the same spirit as all other life forms then we are fraternally related to all other living entities.
God is not mythical. Every living part of you is possessed by this spirit of God - every cell and every micro-organism.
Whilst there may be a case for decrying traditional religion, under the Fraternalist philosophy, God cannot be refuted since God is everything physical or non physical.
To deny God’s existence under the Fraternalist description is to deny that the world exists and thus a denial of one’s own existence.
In Fraternalism, God’s power works in and through nature. It moves as an element of nature and within the laws of physics. God is not separate to us, but we are part of God. Individuals are part of God and God is only superior through being made up of the collectivity of everything.
God does not have a gender or a race. God is all of everything. Appreciating and accepting this concept means that everything about us, animate or inanimate is intimately related to us. It means that just as we may have a particular respect for a blood relative, so we should have for all things.
Within this brotherhood of man, can be deduced a number of moral guidelines which follow below. As an imperfect human being using imperfect language, I may not express these in the way that I intend. However, I would invite others who have an affiliation with what I am trying to convey to form groups that would be willing to meet with me. I believe it is important that someone does something whilst there is still time to do so.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
