Here's what I Think !

     One day, several years ago, a man named Gronk said, “Ugh grok wiiny,” and he picked up his club and spear, and set off from the shelter of his cave to slay a beast for dinner.

     Since that day, man’s language, tools, occupation, skills, neuroses, and gods have become increasingly modern.  These, as well as many other accoutrements, have evolved to enable Gronk to exchange his cave, for a 4-bedroom, 3.5-bath, 3-car garage (which will probably never see a car), and a 20 year mortgage, to become the sophisticated, debonair, dandies we are today.  Even though all of mankind has not yet reached a uniform communication, i.e. “the red house,” “la casa roja,” “La maison rouge,” “cave, red,” we can still get the picture in some rudimentary form.

     

     When we examine the trappings man has brought with him through the past 3 million years, we find the level of refinement has evolved with man’s growth from a Gronk to an Einstein.  The language, tools, occupation, skills, neuroses, and gods have become refined in each culture through their confrontation with the environment in which they live.    

    

     Just as the earliest tools were quite crude by today’s standards, so too were their gods.  Deitomical names given unseen forces to explain the mysteries of nature (volcanoes, earthquakes, storms, etc.), in the same way the word, “wiiny” was used to identify the “beast” usual served for dinner.  As natural threatening forces became better understood and predictable, deities became refined and re-associated with other mysterious events that continue to threaten, such as debilitating illnesses, misfortunes, the unknown, etc.    

    

     The sophistication level of gods has continued to grow within cultural limits.  Greek gods were worshiped and legitimized by Grecians;  Roman gods worshiped by Romans; the Buda adorated by Buddhists; Yahweh claimed by Jews; Allah created by Muslims; and the multiple configuration of a Trinity by Christians; and so on, and so on, ad infinitum – and, never the twain shall meet.  Each deity seems to reflect the traits of the culture by which they are embraced.    

    

     Gronk’s gods had a far simpler task in meeting Gronk’s daily survival requests than the gods of the 21^st century.  We have become increasingly neurotic and absorbed with multiple events that threaten our perceived daily survival, and have developed coping habits with ornate buildings, complex and organized social structures, prayer warriors, beads, incense, candles, etc., for things our deities can, or must do, for us.    

    

     In short – we, like the Gronks, continue to struggle against the perceived powers of darkness which we believe have been intentionally placed before us to threaten and interfere with our desires and destiny.  We want our path cleared of any impedance, and straightened for ease, and seek the gods who can do this for us - if we only believe in them.    

    

     The Gronks have succeeded in their created task, either in spite of, or due to, their belief in unknown powers they feared, by the evidence of our existence today.  Our created purpose is to continue to support the wave of life surging through time, and has been so successful that it is now pressing the limits of this planet to sustain us.  Will we resort to beseeching the gods to save us from ourselves and our imagined fears, as demonstrated by the swollen numbers attending church services the Sunday after 9/11?  Or will we, like lemmings, continue our rush into the sea.    

    

     After 80+ years of actively participating in religious life, all of which has been plagued with unsatisfactory answers to a myriad of questions, I can no longer accept the philosophy of a god who manipulates lives or answers prayers.   The ancient texts upon which religions are based were written hundreds or even thousands of years after the subjects of their texts (all of which were located in one teeny tiny corner of the planet), by men who fitted pieces of oral traditions together to answer Gronk’s questions – not the questions of an enlightened scientific generation who has measured, weighed, and defined the universe in which we find ourselves.    

    

     Where was Yahweh when unanswered prayers of millions of people were marched into Holocaust ovens?  Where was the Christian Trinity when thousands of prayers were unanswered when Allah inspired terrorists attacked on 9/11?  Where are the gods of the millions of unanswered prayers offered from hospitals, hospice facilities, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, and 100 other countries of abused humanity around the world?  Apparently, modern deities prefer to dwell in comfortable ornate and gold-laminated temples and enjoy incense, communion wine, candle light, and offerings (cash or sacrifices only).

I think - an unknowable Creator made the universe which began in an instant of unimaginable conflagration, commonly referred to as the “Big Bang,” 13.7 billion years ago. 

I think – there is no possible way a created entity, such as we are, has, or will ever have, the capacity to understand, know, or even imagine the essence of a Creator capable of initiating a universe.

I think – all life forms of this planet are the products of evolutionary development by influences of the physical characteristics of this island in the Milky Way galaxy, its gravity, temperature, atmosphere, daily cycles, annual cycles, and orbit.

I think – the closest thing to eternity, or an eternal existence we can imagine, are the elements (atoms) of which everything is made – organic, inorganic, biologic, flora and fauna, the cosmos.  The essence of atoms is eternal, unchanging, and the building blocks of the universe.

I think – gods were created and characterized by mankind to relieve our fear and anxiety of the unknown.

I think – our minds and bodies are capable of more natural healing than we know, compliments of our evolutionary development, and that dietetic abuse is a detriment not only to a healthy existence, but to the temples in which we dwell.

I think – the sense of taste is a defense mechanism to warn us of nutritional harm, not a habit to be continually satiated.

I think – I shall never see, a verse as lovely as a tree.

Questions

­­­­­Questions to ponder . . .

     Throughout history, every culture has eventually developed a tradition of deities out of fear, superstitions, and ignorance.  Plural deities because ancient traditions bestowed each with special, but differing powers.  The Sumerians, Greeks, Romans, etc. maintained many deities for centuries. Today, there continues to be many deities, although some religious sects would claim, “there is only one God who is known by many names,” but is this true, or just a claim to bolster a position of dominance.

     Aboriginal beliefs of all continents are supported by plural deities.  Shintoism, Buddhism, and even Catholicism include many deities called upon to grant differing attendant services, Mary, St Christopher, St Francis, St Patrick, etc.  Although Christianity is a sect that claims their Trinity is the one and only true god, and all others are only colloquial variations, I doubt you would find much agreement of this claim among other religious groups.  Yahweh, or Allah would not be considered the same deity by their cultural traditions, as the Christian Trinity.  Although all three religions consider their deity to have creative powers sufficient to do, or create, anything, Jews and Muslims do not adhere to a deity that produced a noble son by human sexual concepts with a young Jewish virgin, in the same manner claimed by Kings and Pharaohs of the period.

How do religions respond to the proposition of one god, with many names?

     My personal position, (at this time because positions are influenced by gained knowledge) is that gods were created by superstitious and fearful mankind to answer the unknown and the unknowable.  As man’s knowledge of his environment increased, his early fears of gods of the natural world, i.e.. earthquakes, volcanoes, violent storms, etc., diminished while other gods of agriculture, rain, sun, fertility, war, etc. became more sophisticated in relation with man’s growing knowledge and cultural traditions.  Deities that reflect an evolutionary development to parallel the cultures from which they have emanated.

     Today, our knowledge of the natural world extends beyond the comprehension of our early ancestors.  We now know more about what lies beyond the distant mountains, borders, kingdoms, or oceans.  We have a knowledge of not only our world, but of the planets, galaxies and universe in which we live.  Now, we have an idea about how and when the universe came into being, and, I am inclined to believe the current scientific evidence of a universe created by an unimaginable conflagration of a ‘big bang’ which created the atoms of which the whole universe and everything in it, is constructed.

     My god, if I claimed one, would be the unknown creator that produced this universe and set it into evolutionary motion.  An entity which is beyond any comprehension of man or our gods.  How is man able to imagine, comprehend, communicate, etc., with an entity capable of creating a universe, when we cannot communicate with each other, and has resulted in 60,000+ versions of gods, religious sects and cults around the world?

Does any created entity, which includes mankind, possess an ability to know, comprehend or communicate with its creator?  How great is the span of ignorance between life on this planet and a creator of the universe?

     I have a niece who recently acquired an automatic floor sweeper.  It is a round robotic instrument about the diameter of a large dinner plate, and approximately 3 inches thick.  It came with a recharging station that is mounted against the base-board in a remote area of the room where it will dwell.  When it begins its duties, it will detach from its charging station and begin to scour the floor in straight lines, changing its course whenever it encounters an obstacle.  When its battery is almost depleted, it will make its way back to its Charging Station by consulting an internal map and attach itself for replenishing its battery.

     If the door to an adjacent room is opened, the sweeper will include it in its sweeping duties and proceed to include the new area in its mapping data storage.  If more robotic sweepers are installed in other rooms of the house, they too will sweep the areas open to them before returning to their respective charging stations. If all of the sweepers are given access to the whole house, they will each contain internal maps of the house, but they will be different with respect to the location of their charging station. 

     These diligent cleaning instruments were all made by the same designer and manufacturer, of which they have no concept or knowledge.  And, they will only have information about the rooms they are given access to, from their charging station; only in one house; only on one block; only in one community; only in one city; only in one state, etc., etc., etc.

Does this sound familiar?

An Interfaith Dialogue

Keith Crowe

     One of my nieces acquired a “robot” floor sweeper for her house. It is a disc about the size of a large platter and about 3 inches thick. It’s only purpose is to sweep her hard-surfaced floors. It came with a “charging station” which is mounted on the floor, against the baseboard in some remote part of a room. At a programed schedule the sweeper will detach from the charging station and begin sweeping in straight lines until it encounters stationary objects (furniture), at which time it will randomly change directions and continue until it encounters another stationary object, etc., all the while, recording its movements and location. When its battery becomes almost depleted of energy, it consults its memory data to locate and return to its charging station until such time it is programed to begin its appointed cleaning cycle again.

     When a door is opened to an adjacent room from which the sweeper is located, it will also include the additional room in its duties and add it to its memory, the new room size and location of stationary objects, as well as the route necessary for its return to its charging station.

     If, second and third sweepers are installed in other rooms of the house, they will map out the description of their environments as well.  If all 3 sweepers are given access to the whole house, the 3 sweepers will undertake to clean and map all of the rooms they are permitted to access, before returning to their respective charging stations.  If, and when, the sweepers encounter each other, but do not engage a second time at that location, the meeting will be classified in their memory banks as a “temporary” barrier, such as a pet, someone’s foot, etc.  When the memory data of all 3 sweepers is compared, there will be a different descriptive map of the house by each sweeper. Each will be correct, but from the perspective of different charging station locations, in the same way an elephant is described by several blind persons touching different parts of its body. Each description may be accurate, but does not describe an accurate picture of the whole. As efficient and intelligent as the robotic sweepers are in their given tasks, they can have no knowledge of other sweeper’s perspectives or the essence of their designers or creators.

     For billions of years, life forms, both flora and fauna, have been evolving and expanding to occupy every niche of this planet. Humans, like the organisms, molecules, and atoms which have combined to construct our bodies, have become cultural organisms. We, like all life forms, are herd animals living and thriving in fields, groves, flocks, pods, herds, villages, tribes, and nations, experiencing and learning the ways of the valleys, deserts, forests and jungles, we live in. Our experiences have been recorded in a common knowledge bank that contains a history and tradition of our story. None of these histories tell the whole story, nor are they a full description of the whole house, or an accurate description of an elephant.

     Hominid man has existed on this planet for over 3 million years (i.e.: Lucy – AL 288-1). There were approximately 200 to 400 million people living in tribes and cultures all around the planet during the period when the religious canons of three major cultures were compiled. The sources of these canons occurred in a very small corner of the planet, during a very brief period in the history of mankind, addressing traditions peculiar to Middle-Eastern cultures in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Roman, and Arabic languages. These canons used the deities, Yahweh, God, and Allah as their “authority,” in vague interpretive languages to address rules and laws of social relations and human behavior. The obvious question then is; why would any deity(s) elect to converse with mankind, so late in the history if mankind, and to only a handful of Semitic people, while 200 to 400 million people lived all around the world?

     Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammad (the Big Four), were certainly not the first, nor the only persons throughout the history of man, who have invoked disciplines of tolerance, peace, humane treatment, health or hygiene. The Torah, New Testament, and Koran were not written or compiled by the “Big Four” who have been traditionally credited with their origins. Information contained in these books was collected, edited and compiled by hundreds of likeminded, but fallible humans, primarily from oral traditions. Within the cultures, for which the books were compiled, people have found comfort and support in their creation stories, but beyond their culture of origin these books have become weapons to be used against other cultural legends. The will to live, traditions of survival skills, an impetus to be treated fairly, are all far more ancient than any cultural concept of deital invocation.

     Although our knowledge of forests, jungles and plains from which we originated and where we were preoccupied in a primitive daily survival, has expanded into a sophisticated universe, we still do not have a knowledge or words to describe a Creator of it all. The definitions and words used by religions, suggest their Gods are little more than jealous genies, and disagree on a definitive concept. How is it possible for any created entity to ever know or even define its Creator? That we are aware of a Creator beyond our Mother’s womb is miracle enough. To imagine anything beyond that is speculation based on myths and legends of cultural experiences.  The robotic floor sweeper couldn’t begin to imagine its maker; the animal kingdom cannot imagine a creation of 13.7 billion years; neither can we ever know a definitive creator. Are the deities of different cultures, Yahweh, God, and Allah, the same or equal to, the Creator of the Universe? The words used to describe these Deities by the various canons do not aspire to a Creator of the Universe. They sound more like a distant friend or relative in whom we are to confide, and make our requests for things we have no power to provide for ourselves - or else there may be consequences.

     All life forms exist only briefly in the spectrum of time and space, from the few frenzy minutes of the Mayfly, to the thousand years of Giant Sequoias, all for the sole purpose of supporting the wave of life rolling through a universe of time. All multicellular life is composed of only the same few types of atoms, configured by a common DNA Spiral produced by two parentally donated chromosomes, and exists for only a brief spectrum of time before all the building blocks are returned to the environment, waiting to be used again, and again. Everything in the universe is subject to the same fate, planets, stars, galaxies, all live finite existences. The only thing that even remotely endures to resemble an eternity are the elements of which the universe and all life forms are made, from dust and gas produced in the death of ancient stars.

     The largest man-made tool in history, the Large Hadron Collider (CERN), is buried underground near Geneva Switzerland, and has been created in part as an attempt to a peek behind the curtain that veils the initial cataclysmic event that occurred 13.7 billion years ago when energy was transformed into matter, in the remotest possibility of seeing the Face of our Creator.

     Cultural perspectives can never describe the “whole” picture, or purpose of creation.  For humans to continue to quarrel about the existence of which we know so little, is the epitome of illogical logic. So, let us begin a new culture.