What is Creation?

     For hundreds of centuries religions have attempted to describe and placate one or more gods. In earlier times many gods vied for the superstitions of man, a devotion that was more the result of edicts for allegiance by spiritual leaders, witch doctors or shaman. In recent times religions have refined rituals and methods for interpreting the desires and wishes of deities and have used various ancient theologies to collect an obedient assembly of followers.

     Today there are approximately 38,000 Christian denominations, sects, and cults throughout the world, each declaring their description of God as "the" truth. There are an equal number of non-Christian religions practicing as many variations and interpretations of truth as there are Christian denominations. Anyone seeking the real truth will not find it in the tangled web of theologies presented by the smorgasbord of today's religions.

     We are not alone in this journey of seeking knowledge of the nature of creation. Millions throughout history have sought answers beyond the parameters of local dogmas only to be abused, discouraged and branded as heretics by the ruling powers of religious communities. "Don't ask questions, just have faith, all you must do is believe,” have been STOP signs raised for anyone seeking answers beyond ancient texts in light of the current and growing knowledge of the universe. BELIEF is a multifaceted concept which does not require a basis in fact or truth.

     "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Faith is a hope that the stories of ancient superstitions and supernatural events are true. But which texts, if any, are true, and which gods, if any, are real?

     It isn’t faith that allows us to cross a suspension bridge, travel in an airliner, or take an express elevator to the top of the Empire State building. It is the rational confidence we have in the knowledge and experience of the designers and craftsmen who build, and the skill of the operators and pilots who drive. We have a knowledge of the strength of materials used to build, we also have a knowledge and experience that building materials decay with age; the skills and decisions of men are fallible; and natural disasters challenge whatever we do. If we are to have faith in anything, it must be the truth of creation, and it isn’t found in ancient texts.

     Deities did not write or dictate words contained in the ancient collection of written texts of men selected and assembled by a succession of Nicaean Councils to meet their political agendas. A creator of the universe would have been perfectly capable of communicating with mankind in a much clearer understanding than that which has been provided by the legends of men. Ancient texts used to describe supernatural experiences were written some 50 to 2000 years after the alleged events by creatively inspired men with a spiritual fervor producing a collection of stories and legends from many oral traditions, some beautiful, some historical, some inspiring, expressed by a very limited understanding of the nature of the universe.

     Creation has equally inspired mankind to write words of beauty, dignity, truth, both uplifting and damning, as the nature of man continues to be revealed through written expressions. Examples can be found in art, music, poetry, science, the Gettysburg Address, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, libraries filled with books, all of which are products of inspired and creative minds.

     Creation has given mankind a questioning and exploring curiosity to search, understand and know the truth of his environment and history. The more we understand and know about our past, present and future, the more we understand the character and nature of creation.

     Time does not intend that mankind should live with a mind bound by superstitions of 4,000 year old descriptions of creation, and deny the reality and existence of the magnificent universe we know today. 

Creation would not institute dissension between people by singling out one tribe to designate them as a special or "chosen" people. Creation embraces all people equally with an inspiration to treat each other in the same manner we want to be treated.

     Creation would not issue instructions or laws of deity obedience for all mankind, to a single tribe of people in only one location on a planet which was inhabited at the time by approximately 35 million people of various cultures, clans, tribes, and villages located all around the globe; nor would Creation provide a single act of salvation 200,000 years after mankind appeared on this planet.

     Creation is infinite; our time is infinitesimal. Individually we are no more than a single speck in a dynamic wave of life swelling through time. On the celestial clock we exist for only a fraction of a "tick"; life, on the other hand, continues to evolve indefinitely.

     Creation is a universe of infinite proportions so large that man cannot begin to imagine the whole of it. We see with our eyes the immensity of the heavens; we see with our Hubble and Kepler telescopes the continuing birth and death of distant stars which are reflections of our past, present and future; we learn from exploring space expeditions the nature of neighboring planets and moons. In all of this we are only able to see a fractional dimension of creation.

     Creation did not institute an eternal reward or punishment system in an afterlife. This is the product of a biological will to survive, and mankind’s desire for immorality. The gift of life is the same for all biological life forms on this planet, and we are no exception. Birth and death is the order of the universe. Everything in the universe is under the same edict, galaxies, solar systems, stars, planets, moons, all were born at some point in time and all will end (die) at another point in time. The death of these bodies will provide building material for the birth of new moons, planets, stars, solar systems and galaxies which will eventually take their place. Likewise, we will meet death one day and the material of our bodies (atoms) will be dispersed and recycled again into some other biological form to perform a new service. Everything is recycled to something new, stars, people, plants, etc.

     Deities are not genies whose eternal presence is waiting to hear man's requests and appeals for everything from health to wealth. Creation is not manipulated or bargained with; neither does it manage our individual fates. Every living thing of this planet is designed to succeed or fail on its own merit and abilities to cope with in the environment of its habitat.

     Creation does not reside in a box, statue, Temple, Cathedral, Church, or Synagogue, on special days of the week. Creation exists throughout the universe and available to all who seek truth and knowledge. Creation has provided the conditions for many forms of life to evolve on this and billions of planets much like our own throughout the universe. The third planet from our sun is not the only unique creation of multiple life forms.

     All biological organisms (flora and fauna) have an indefinable connection to each other much like all matter possess a property defined as gravity – an energy possessed by all matter throughout the universe. All biological life forms of this planet are composed of the same types of atoms (oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorous, & trace amounts of other atoms) all of which are eternal, with a genome controlled structure by an amazingly similar DNA/RNA ribbon of molecules.

     Creation began some 13.8 billion years ago in an instant birth of order and physical laws that continue to exist unchanged forever. All that is on, and in, this planet was created from the death of ancient stars and has developed over 4.5 billion years of evolution.

     Mankind will never know the full nature of creation; as the created can never know the full nature and mind of the Creator.

Creation is forever --------- and we are only briefly, now.

The Malleable Mind

   
The human brain is a mysterious organ which serves its host in a myriad of ways. Besides being a complicated data processing system, it can enhance healing; regulate body temperature, blood flow, translate sounds into data bits, convert optical patterns in recognizable features, as well as many other basic functions. During sleep when most of the body is at rest, the mind continues to function by regulating breathing, heart rate, and produces mental images we commonly refer to as dreams or visions. We don’t actually see anything, but our mind envisions places, people, stories, situations, dialogues, problem solving, etc., that we may never have consciously experienced before. There is much yet to learn about the human brain including the possible sensory perceptions between all forms of flora and fauna, as we continue to explore and discover.

Hypnosis is defined as a “key” that can unlock the deep recesses of the mind.  It is a noninvasive method of peering beyond the conscious mind to tap into the subconscious where hidden files are stored. The subconscious contains information that we didn’t know we had retained and through the use of hypnosis can be accessed and recalled. Hypnosis is a commonly used tool for a number of medical purposes, assisting law enforcement, addictive cessation, pain reduction, behavior modification, etc.  Under clinical conditions hypnosis is usually administered by a qualified person, although it can, with training, also be self-induced.

Through hypnosis, a delayed instruction can be given so that the person being treated will perform a task at some future time without a conscious awareness whenever a specific trigger or circumstance occurs.  These “post hypnotic suggestions” are useful tools for use in behavior modification and is commonly applied in situations where a person desires to stop smoking but lacks the conscious will, to do so.  Under hypnosis, the subject is given information that is stored in the subconscious describing the taste or smell of tobacco as being repugnant to the subject, so whenever the subject is in a tobacco environment, or experiences a desire to “light up,” the subliminally planted suggestion will counter their desire to participate and strengthen their resolve to quit smoking.

Hypnosis can condition the mind to accept what is not real. A hypnotic suggestion can cause a person to believe they are an animal and act accordingly; or it can cause a person to not see or recognize family or friends who are present in the same room (selective blindness); it can cause a person to hallucinate or imagine something that isn’t there. These hypnotic instructions are usually short term in duration, but with repeated imprinting, they can become permanent and realistic. Other related conditions that can influence perceptions of the mind are: the Stockholm Syndrome, Brain Washing, Mob Hysteria, Extreme or Religious Fervor, Torture, etc. The power to override the mind’s normal behavior and instructions is not completely understood but has been well documented.

Many species of animals have sufficient intelligence to be trained in a relative short time period to perform domestic service or tricks for entertainment, from fleas to whales. If at the end of their training and usefulness and there is a period of non-contact with their trainer or their trained environment, the animals will continue to retain some measure of their training. When, after a period of time, they are reunited with their trainer and/or prior use, they will still be able to perform a measure of their trained skills. Although this is the result of only a single generation of animal training, it is held in some point of memory until the animal dies.

Recently, a business engaged in training animals to detect and locate drugs, explosive material, or people buried by earthquake or avalanche debris, discovered a short-cut in the time usually required for animal training.  The usual training time required was significantly reduced when using pups from a mother who had been trained to these skills.  Each generation of pups required less time to learn the skills necessary to perform the task they were being trained for.

During the most recent hundred years, man has been able to increase his knowledge exponentially in the fields of human behavior, science, and the universe. We have expanded the knowledge base of our world more in the last 50 years than during the previous 100,000 years. Today we can read farther into our past and future than ever before. These wide screen visions have enabled us to answer more questions than our ancestors could ever dream of asking. We know more about our neighborhood in the universe, what everything is made of, and where the material came from. We know about the stages of development and growth of biology on this planet. We have excavated in every part of the globe to discover what our ancestors did, and why and when they did it. We don’t pretend to have all the answers, but we have far more answers and knowledge than any of our ancestors could have imagined.

For 100,000 years superstitious, yet seemingly intelligent humans have been conditioned to believe the only answers to unknown phenomena, whether good or bad, is the result of an invisible supernatural power who manipulates the universe as well as their daily lives. Orthodoxies have been developed by witchdoctors, shaman, prophets, priests, preachers, etc. in stories, myths and legends to appease these unknown powers to avoid future individual or cultural calamities. This training has not been instilled in only one generation, as in the case of the trained animal, but engrained over thousands of generations to the point that no one dares question the existence or influence of supernatural powers.

Every culture that has ever existed has met unknown natural phenomena with the same fears and superstitions. Stories were generated to answer the questions of creation; rules of behavior were established to minimize the risk of displeasing the supernatural powers who are able to do bad things to us. If you are not obedient to these rules and laws, you risk not only being ostracized and banished from the herd, and threatened with a curse to suffer everlasting and violent punishment in an afterlife. The instinctive will to survive has produced a fantasy afterlife to accommodate an innate desire for immortality. No matter where you live on the globe or how primitive or sophisticated the culture may be, all have produced questionable answers to perceived supernatural conditions. Many gods, many traditions, and many rules are the results of encounters with natural events that they did not understand and had no means of developing true or accurate answers.

Religions have constructed an artificial bridge between reality and superstitions which is reinforced from pulpits and lecterns in tabernacles, temples, and churches on a weekly, if not daily, basis.  Using unverifiable ancient texts written by unknown authors, handed down from oral traditions of mythology and legends as their sources of truth. Attendant minds subjected to this constant barrage continue to be conditioned to believe these stories to be truth.  The method to convert a myth into an acceptable sounding truth is by retelling it over, and over, and over, until there is no one to question or refute it.

The human mind is very malleable and has been shaped to traditions and customs of the cultures in which we live. A growing conflict exists between the traditions of stories based upon supernatural events, and the ever-increasing evidence of the history of our universe.  Religions that have been wholly based on ancient truths are increasingly challenged by the growing library of contemporary knowledge and experiencing a decay in membership which is torn between a loyalty to its ancient myths and a new reality of evidence that is emerging at an accelerating rate.  The “NONEs” are growing.

Dancing Bears
Bears in National Parks, do not dance, they live.
Bears in Zoos, do not dance, they exist.
Bears in traveling shows dance, because they are
incentivized by a false discipline - daily.

People, when free, thrive.

People under Oligarchy regimes, only exist.
People attend Glass Cathedrals, Shuls, & Temples
because they are incentivized by
3,000-year-old myths & legends - daily.

Minds are malleable and can be shaped by

treats, fear, threats, or Alternative Facts.

Epilogue:  No person, present or past, has ever produced any substantive evidence of supernatural forces defined as deities.  Religions that depend upon a philosophy of, “Just believing and having faith will make their stories a reality,” have crossed the threshold of the mind manipulation.

FAITH is the psychological state in which an individual holds a supernatural myth to be true.

FAITH is a multifaceted concept which does not require a basis in fact.

Does asking questions and considering the current wealth of accumulated knowledge make anyone an Atheist, Agnostic, or Possibilian (https://possibilian.com)?   OR, Just an Aboriginal Seeker of the 3^rd planet from a sun in only one solar system of the Milky Way Galaxy, among the billions of galaxies throughout the universe?

So, for now, we stand in the middle. We know too little to say a god does or does not exist; and we know too much about our past and future to continue to allow ancient superstitions to limit or control our pursuit of knowledge and truth.  None of the ancient texts remotely depicts or describes a power which has created a universe that has evolved over the past 13.8 billion years.

o

An Improbable Heritage

     100,000 years ago humans as well as the mighty herds of animals grazing on the endless savannas of this planet were familiar with lightning. They grew up with it occurring around them all of their lives. Neither the humans nor the animals understood the cause or purpose of lightning. Today, the animals of the savannahs still do not understand lightning; they just tolerate and bear it. Ancient humans, on the other hand, with no more knowledge of the cause or purpose of lightning than the animals around them developed a theory that lightning was a mysterious force caused by the will of the Gods.^[1] Any destructive natural phenomena was probably regarded as the result of a God’s anger in retaliation for someone or something that has been displeasing, as they had witnessed the result of lightning strikes upon people, animals and trees.

     Today, we know what lightning is and how it is produced and how to avoid it. We have even seen it on some of our sister planets. We know how rain, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornados, earthquakes, etc., are produced. We know how to read and understand trends of weather patterns and how droughts or floods occur. Yet we still cling to ancient explanations for these natural phenomena as if it were the results of a manipulating Deity.

     An ancient text was read from the pulpit recently exhorting natural events as retribution by the hand of God for the iniquities of man (Psalm 107: 33-43), “He (God) turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground, and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there. He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs; there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle. They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest; he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.“

     We have a very mixed heritage that has been passed down to us by our ancestors. We have inherited minds capable of discerning, and an inquisitiveness to search for information and truth in the world around us. Yet we remain chained to ancient fears and superstitions that have no basis in fact or reason.

     The religions listed below by no means represent unified groups; Christianity alone has over 3500 different divisions and sects. Each of the other major religions today is also comprised of multiple divisions, sects, groups and beliefs, influenced primarily by their geographical location. Almost all religions are able to trace their origins to a single person, including Christianity. Exceptions are the Primal-Indigenous and the African Traditional & Diasporic religions which are practices and rituals of oral traditions without much if any written sources. Religions did not begin spontaneously. They were begun by someone with an idea, yet each religion claims to possess the truth of God and our universe.

     Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have many common denominators, primarily stories on which their origins are based, as the Old Testament (with some variations) is held, in part, as a common origin by all three cultures. Two events is all it took to initiate the Jewish culture and Christianity. Stories that read more like fairy tales or legends than reality when measured against the yardstick of probability or fact. When compared to other major religions of the world, they possess no more integrity or validity than does any other religion.

     The malleable mind of man^[2]  is capable of being shaped to believe and accept anything, especially when applied in weekly doses from church pulpits over a lifetime. Information based on ancient knowledge gained through fears and superstitions has been the only message repeated by almost all religions, whose success is often measured by the size and income of the church. By these standards, the more members and money you can collect, the truer the tenets of your religion.

1800 BCE^[3]   (Estimated world population at the time was 30 million.)

According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was born under the name Abram in the city of Ur in Babylonia in the year 1948 from Creation. He was the son of Terach, an idol merchant, but from his early childhood, he questioned the faith of his father and sought the truth. He came to believe that the entire universe was the work of a single Creator, and he began to teach this belief to others. Eventually, the one true Creator that Abram had worshipped called to him, and made him an offer: if Abram would leave his home and his family, then God would make him a great nation and bless him. Abram accepted this offer, and the b'rit (covenant) between God and the Jewish people was established. 

     At a time when there were 30 million people living around the world, a middle eastern merchant’s son announces that he has had a meeting with God to receive a gift. God did not appear to anyone else to verify or make this announcement; only Abram makes the announcement public. No other people in the entire world were made aware of this special covenant. The common belief at this time in history was that only Shaman, Witch Doctors, Medicine Men, Priests, Kings, Rulers, etc., the pinnacle of elite, were capable of personal communication with Deities of the day. The question is, “how credible can this story possibly be?”

1391--1271 BCE^[4]  (Estimated world population at the time was 38 million.)

According to Jewish tradition, Moses is born during the Jewish enslavement in Egypt, during a terrible period when Pharaoh decrees that all male Hebrew infants are to be drowned at birth. His mother, Yocheved, desperate to prolong his life, floats him in a basket in the Nile. Hearing the crying child as she walks by, Pharaoh's daughter pities the crying infant and adopts. It surely is no coincidence that the Jews' future liberator is raised as an Egyptian prince. Had Moses grown up in slavery with his fellow Hebrews, he probably would not have developed the pride, vision, and courage to lead a revolt.

     The story of a Jewish boy born into slavery, is saved by a princess, raised as an Egyptian prince and lives in royalty, is banished from the kingdom after committing a crime against a royal guard, eventually returns to liberate the slaves and lead them to a land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants. Not only did Moses liberate the Jews from Egyptian slavery, he wrote the law and commandments describing how they must live. The story describes how Moses led the slaves for 40 years through the desert of the Arabian Peninsula, while the distance from Cairo to Jerusalem can be completed by a very slow donkey in 3 weeks. When they finally reach the “promised” land, an army of slave warriors is sent to slaughter the men, women, children and all their animals, currently inhabiting the land “promised” to people who claimed to be descendants of Abraham. Again, the question is, “how credible can this story possibly be?”

1000–900 BCE^[5]  (Estimated world population at the time was 50 million.)

Solomon succeeds King David, builds Jerusalem temple. After Solomon's death, kingdom divided into Israel and Judah. Hebrew elders begin to write Old Testament books of Bible. Phoenicians colonize Spain with settlement at Cadiz.

     While in captivity in Babylon, Hebrew elders begin a written record of oral stories and traditions, 800 years after the Abraham event, and approximately 300 years after Moses and the Exodus legend. They included stories which describe the creation of the earth, an ark and a destructive flood, etc. The source of many of these stories came from much earlier periods and cultures during the Sumerian and Gilgamesh Epic. The intention of these writings was to establish credible roots of Jewish heritage by including stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses the Prince of the Egyptian Slaves and editor of Jewish law, and feats of their most beloved king, David, all legends and heroes of the culture. Ancient 800 year old oral traditions have a way of embellishing themselves with each telling and retelling. After 300 to 800 years of aging, there is very little left of the original tale.

400–300 BCE^[5]  (Estimated world population at the time was 100 million.)

Pentateuch—first five books of the Old Testament evolve in final form. Philip of Macedon, who believed himself to be a descendant of the Greek people, assassinated (336 BCE) after subduing the Greek city-states; succeeded by son, Alexander the Great (356–323 BCE), who destroys Thebes (335 BCE), conquers Tyre and Jerusalem (332 BCE), occupies Babylon (330 BCE), invades India, and dies in Babylon. His empire is divided among his generals; one of them, Seleucis I, establishes Middle East empire with capitals at Antioch (Syria) and Seleucia (in Iraq). Trial and execution of Greek philosopher Socrates (399 BCE). Dialogues recorded by his student, Plato (c. 427–348 or 347 BCE). Euclid's work on geometry (323 BCE). Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384–322 BCE). Demosthenes, Greek orator (384–322 BCE).Praxiteles, Greek sculptor (400–330 BCE).

     The final form of the Pentateuch has now aged 1,400 years since the Abrahamic story, and 600 years since Moses and the Exodus event. With a world population of approximately 100 million, and perhaps a hundred different religions with their own stories and legends, it is difficult to accept these stories with any more validity or integrity than any of the religions of the rest of the world.

1–49 CE^[5]  (Estimated world population at the time was 200 million.)

Birth of Jesus Christ (variously given from 4 B.C. to A.D. 7). After Augustus, Tiberius becomes emperor (dies, A.D. 37), succeeded by Caligula (assassinated, A.D. 41), who is followed by Claudius. Crucifixion of Jesus (probably A.D. 30). Han dynasty in China founded by Emperor Kuang Wu Ti. Buddhism introduced to China.

     It has now been approximately 4.5 billion years since the formation of the world, and after 200,000 years of human existence, which now numbers a worldwide population of approximately 200 million people. Why would there suddenly be a need to provide a human sacrifice for the atonement of “sins,” to a small group of Jewish peasants in a place as obscure as Nazareth? The Old Testament was a script to establish an exclusive race of people who claim to be the “chosen people of God.” Now begins a legend to form a new religion from the roots of Judaism; a new branch of the tree.

300–349 CE^[5]  (Estimated world population at the time was 250 million.)

Constantine the Great (rules A.D. 312–337) reunites eastern and western Roman empires, with new capital (Constantinople) on site of Byzantium (A.D. 330); issues Edict of Milan legalizing Christianity (A.D. 313); becomes a Christian on his deathbed (A.D. 337). Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) defines orthodox Christian doctrine. First Gupta dynasty in India (c. A.D. 320).

     During the past 300 years, independent Christian sects of various kinds have proliferated throughout the Roman Empire. Each possesses its own written literature from dubious sources which they use to enlist and educate new converts into their sect. The friction between the various sects has grown and results in violent disputes over who possesses the true writings for Christianity. As these sects are independent from each other, there is no central agency to control or discipline their growing numbers. Most other sects of any kind tolerated in the Roman Empire, whether religious or secular, had a central agency to which they must answer; such as the Sanhedrin which rules over all Jewish activity in the Roman Empire.

      Constantine decides to convene a Council to organize all of the troublesome Christian sects under one central authority, which, to no one’s surprise, is located in Rome instead of Jerusalem. This new agency will become responsible for maintaining the peace among the various Christian sects, and is answerable to the Emperor of Rome, Constantine. This new Council collects copies of all of the written material used by the various churches and decides which ones will be retained for canonization to be used in all Christian churches, and which written materials will be destroyed.

     Since there is no way only one meeting of any Council can settle all disputes, a series of Council meetings is held over the next 400 years^[6] to hone the tenets for all Christianity, as well as the undisputable authority of the Roman Church. [First Council of Nicaea (325); First Council of Constantinople (381); Council of Ephesus (431); Council of Chalcedon (451); Second Council of Constantinople (553); Third Council of Constantinople (680–681); Second Council of Nicaea (787)]

     A quasi religious empire within a political empire was created and is politically supported, sanctioned and enforced by the Emperor of the Roman Empire. The rest of the 250 million people in the world are left clueless and are not included in this alleged new Salvation.

     Meanwhile the world in search of a Deity, a religion, a unity with nature, etc. marches on, led by Shaman, Witchdoctors, Medicine Men, Priests, Preachers, Bishops, and Charlatans selling holy relics and indulgences while hawking the carrot of immortality in an afterlife. The religious tenets of obedience, chastity, charity, compassion, allegiance, etc., have not only been repeatedly broken by members of the various flocks, but by many of the Spiritual Leaders in gross dimensions.

     The common theme among all religions is, “Don’t ask questions, just believe what we tell you. We are your spiritual leaders. If you begin asking questions, you risk the loss of your soul on a slippery slope.” A fictitious descent from the side of an artificial hill religions have created.

     I believe in man’s creativity, curiosity and search for knowledge and truth. We have evolved into a unique species more by accident than design. And in this state, have gained a knowledge never before attained. During the last 50 years, we have learned more of our planet and universe than at any time during the past 200,000 years. We know what we are made of and how we will end. All life forms, not only of this planet, but on any planet in the universe, both flora and fauna, share not only a common ancestry, but a common assortment of elemental building blocks.

     Animals live from day to day and do not anticipate or fret over death. On the other hand, humans have been groomed to fear death as if it were a horrible sentence pronounced on us by a vengeful God. Yet, at the same time, also believe that if we are obedient to this God, we will pass through death into immortality with rewards of mansions, streets of gold, jeweled crowns,72 dark eyed virgins, to join our ancestors and continue to live in eternal bliss. This is better known as the ancient practice of fear mongering to sell snake oil.

     Death is a natural event and comes to everything in the universe including suns, stars, planets, galaxies, vegetation, insects and humans. When death comes, the material of which we are all made is released to be used in the reconstruction of new suns, stars, planets, galaxies, vegetation, insects and humans. The only afterlife experience is the use of our elemental building blocks (atoms) in the growth and formation of new life forms. The ancient fears and superstitions of death by our ancestors was fed by spiritual leaders (Shaman, Witchdoctors, Medicine men, Priests, etc.) to justify tales of immortality. Unfortunately for mankind, current spiritual leaders continue to promote the same ancient fears and superstitions of death over the mounting knowledge discovered everyday by our continued search for the nature of our universe.

     The conflict we have in this new age is whether to continue to live under the fears and superstitions of our ancient ancestors, or accept these myths and legends of our past as stepping stones into our future. I see churches (not the religions) of today as social organizations of “like minds.” Where personal interaction exists to facilitate a desire to support each other and corporately provide outreach charities that are not easily accomplished on an individual basis. I see the stories of ancient texts as models of inspiration for a noble lifestyle and charitable behavior as opposed to superstitions of salvation into an immortal afterlife in order to avoid the damnation of a netherworld.

^[1] http://keithcrowecorpus.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-genesis-of-gods.html

^[2] http://keithcrowecorpus.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-mallible-mind.html

^[3] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/abraham.html

^[4] http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/moses.html

^[5] Ancient History | Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001198.html#ixzz2bU6g36JQ

^[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecumenical_council

-- o  --

An Accident of Birth

    I was born and raised in a Christian culture.  I was indoctrinated in a protestant denomination.  The community in which we lived included various representations of the Christian world, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Lutherans, Catholics, Baptists, etc.  My religious education included the “what and why” we believed as we did, as well as a brief summary of how our beliefs differed from other denominations, and why we felt confident in our interpretation of truth. 

    My being a “Christian” was not a decision of choice made by me.  It was “expected” of me to follow the precepts and rituals in which I was raised.  For many years of my early life I never questioned this allegiance.  It was, for the most part, comfortably easy to accept.  All of my early questions had been met with appropriate answers all neatly tied up in packages that coincided with the theology of “my” denomination.

    As I grew older, my interests and quests began to expand beyond my denominational world which fed my curiosity about other cultures and people.  My primary sources of research became the scientific disciplines of Archeology, Anthropology, History, Astrophysics, Geophysics, Chemistry, Flora & Fauna research, many allied sciences, and the forever educational, National Geographic magazine.  Soon questions began to arise concerning my cultural and religious instruction and its answers.

    How can so many denominational branches of the same tree (bible), claim to possess an exclusive knowledge of truth? If I had been born into another culture such as, Chinese, Indian, Islam, Mayan, Aztec, Viking, or Cheyenne, I would have more than likely embraced the dominant religion of that particular culture.  Each of these cultures, and all others, has their own stories of god(s), creation, history, and the rituals they practice.  So, the truths we claim and live by are nothing more than an accident of birth, not a result of a personal search for truth.

    The Bible upon which both Judaism and Christianity base their foundation and religious authority is an enigma of myth, legend, and fiction, and suggests its truth is only contained in the act of acceptance and belief by adherents.  There is no method to verify the source or veracity of these stories as facts because almost all of them existed first in oral traditions, 50 to 1000 or more years before they were ever written in words on parchment, then rewritten many times over before they became words now found in today’s texts.  In almost all cases, the original stories were not written by first hand witnesses but by later unidentifiable scribes.  Stories written in the “first person” suffer incompatible aspects, and stories recorded in the “third or fourth” persons were written as if they were a fly on the wall observing and hearing events in real time.

    To compound the inaccuracies of transition from years of oral tradition into many written accounts, councils of the many Christian sects were first convened by Constantine 1, in the 3^rd Century AD, and were commissioned to collect and consider all of the miscellaneous texts being circulated and used by the many disconnected Christian sects scattered throughout the Roman Empire.  (The most recent group to consider material collected for a final canonization of the New Testament was begun by the Council of Trent held in 1545 AD.)

    The commission by Constantine was not only to make a selection of texts to comprise a common written authority (the Bible) for all Christendom, but to gather the various churches under one central authoritative body.  As in any quasi-political assembly, the 300 plus voting Bishops were heavily weighted by delegations favoring the Church of Rome as the seat of authority, instead of Jerusalem, the cradle of Christianity.  The decisions made in Nicea were backed up not only by the authority of the presiding council but by edict of the Emperor of the Roman Empire, and everyone attending these councils knew the pressures to consolidate under one flag; the Flag of one religious authority which was answerable to the Emperor.

    I believe in the creative and imaginative minds of men far more than I believe in the accuracy of stories included in ancient religious texts.  The Judeo/Christian Bible is not the only canonized book of its kind.  Almost every culture has its own written form of religious history and instruction which uses similar myths and legends to guide its adherent’s understanding of truth in their religion.  Each has been enhanced by creative minds through oral traditions before there was any inspiration to set the words in written forms.  Many cultures share some of the same recorded events, such as portions of a much earlier Sumerian Epic which have been included in both Muslim and Hebrew records.

    Almost everyone familiar with these religious books believes them to be interesting and remarkable.  They contain all manner of examples of life morals and ethics filled with great stories, parables, myths, legends, and heros.  They, and many non-religious books, are worthy of consideration when taken in light of Aristotle’s, Doctrine of the Mean, “Moderation in all things.” Unfortunately, most religious texts provoke dissention, violence and separation between people, denominations, and cultures when used as an authority for absolute truth. 

We have discovered more about the nature of creation and the universe in the last 50 years than man could have imagined during the previous 100,000 years.  Yet we continue to cling to ancient texts from a very single point in time as our prevailing knowledge of creation, ignoring current information gained through scientific discoveries in nature and the universe.

    The Old Testament was a script to establish a new culture and tribe.  It was written to answer all of the normal human questions of the time, about the creation and social relations using heroes and legends to model an allegiance to a tribe and their god of choice. 

    The New Testament created a new legendary hero.  Although he was born a Jew who lived by Jewish law, practiced Jewish rituals, and honored the Jewish God, for the most part he was bent on confronting hypocrisies of human nature that had corrupted the rulers and leaders of the Jewish tribe.  He led a social ministry to denounce corruption and hypocrisies of many Jewish practices and restore the primary edict of, “Treat your neighbor as yourself,” from the book of Leviticus.  This was such a bold move at a time when the Jewish nation was not only occupied by the Roman Empire, but the Empire had a strangle hold on the Jewish leadership, holding them responsible for infractions of Roman law by members of the Jewish tribe.  After Jesus’ execution for inciting insurrection, the seeds of his revolutionary thoughts continued to take root and spread.  Again, we are dealing with the human nature of oral traditions long before anything was ever recorded.  When the stories of Jesus were finally written, it was after much telling and retelling before it was finally penned by people who had no firsthand knowledge of events.

    Many people, both before and after Jesus, have made an equal effort to call questionable ethics and corruption into question.  Prophets of the Old Testament, as well as more recent prophets such as, Martin Luther, John Knox, John Calvin, John Wesley, Abraham Lincoln, Dietrich Bonheoffer, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, etc.  Many of their efforts have also taken root in often unintentional movements by ardent followers. 

    So, who was Jesus? He was one of those rare individuals who had an eye for injustice and a heart for getting involved.  He lived his principles and died modeling them.  Jesus was never reported to have baptized anyone, nor did he ever start a Christian church.  He spoke as a Jew to Jewish people in synagogues, on the street, in the hills, from a boat, in a language using simple stories and parables his listeners were familiar with and could understand.  The friends who followed him were so taken with his wisdom and bold manner that they began a movement which has resulted in what we know today as Christianity.  Unfortunately, none of the first hand witnesses of Jesus’ activities ever recorded any of their experiences.  Again, these stories were left to the embellishments of human creativity after many years of oral traditions which have a tendency to make anyone larger than life, before someone decided to start writing these stories into words.  One of the first to do this was a very literate and a prolific writer, the Mission minded Paul, but even he had no first hand witness or knowledge of Jesus or his activities.  All Paul had to rely on were the oral stories that were circulating about Jesus.  Later, written accounts began appearing in the names of people who may have had first had knowledge, but were written by unknown authors who again, heavily relied on stories circulating in the oral tradition. 

    When the Bishop’s Council of Nicea began collecting written accounts of stories about Jesus, 300 years after his death, they too sought to continue the larger than life legend of Jesus by selecting only those ancient texts which they believed contributed to this purpose.  Many texts used by the early churches and not included in the final canonized collection were banned and attempts were made to quickly destroy them in order to discourage their use as an authority for religious teaching.  Another purpose of the Bishop’s Council was to select texts that related to construed and vague predictions recorded in the Old Testament of a future Messiah.  Old Testament references to a Messiah were made after King David’s reign, and were only hopeful expressions for another King, like David, who would rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, end Roman occupation, and restore Israel to its former glory and protection from Israel’s many surrounding enemies.

    Was Jesus the super hero depicted in the Bible, or was he another of those once in a great while extraordinary men in history that have made a positive footprint to emulate? This has been an intimidating question for two thousand years. 

Is God a reasonable deity?

    In the year 1 AD, there was an estimated population of 300 million people living all around the world.  Is it reasonable that God would suddenly decided after 100,000 years of man’s existence on this planet, that the people on planet earth needed a “Get To Heaven Card,” and took the steps outlined in the New Testament to provide a special “Pass Key” to only a small fraction of the world’s population living in Judea? Is it also reasonable to believe that in order to provide this “Pathway to Heaven,” he had a son produced by a Jewish virgin, who would eventually be crucified on a cross as a means to immortality in either a heaven or a hell? In light of the extraordinarily complicated universe he had created, would this even have been a reasonable story about anyone, least of all, a God?

    Stories such as, a universe created in 6 days, man created from dust, woman from the rib of a man, a tempting talking snake, a son of God produced by a Jewish virgin, may have been acceptable answers to questions of ancient superstitions, but they don’t fit in today’s knowledge bank.  The current and growing knowledge man has of the past, present, and future of our place in the universe far and exceeds any attempts to describe a God based on primitive 10,000 year old concepts by any religion or accident of birth.

    The question of religious truths is not bound to the accident of our birth.  Nor does the location of our birth confer the element of truth in our cultural and religious practices.  Truth lies somewhere in the ever expanding knowledge of our planet and universe, and questions are the tools of our search.

o