The debate about where we come from, God, the big bang - a super condensed amalgam of matter (that came about somehow) which blew apart in the big bang which formed what we see on earth and in the sky, and religion, has been going on since the time of God's son Jesus... haha, just throwing that in for atheist readers :) Ok, perhaps going back further, not quite to Neanderthal's time, though recent news says that there are DNA traces of Neanderthal in non-Africans today, and you might think, "there's proof everywhere", ha. Sorry, getting back to the debate about where we come from, that debate is not going to come to any abrupt stop soon. In the past three years at least, there has been a noticeable surge of anti-religion and pro atheist talk, articles, forums, through various multimedia. Obviously religion is an easy target for anyone with it's questionable stances on various topics, and a small percent of clergy who are pedophiles, thus, humiliating followers, and damaging the institution that many see as man made anyway. As well, while different world religions have many good core tenets in common, some have extreme, life-threatening belief systems, and we hear that every day too, especially since 2001.
There certainly seems to be a trend to fully dismantle organized religion, at least it is a fuel for comedians like Bill Marr, and is constantly fodder for humour on shows like the Simpsons. A more well known atheist Sam Harris, is also making the rounds, between book signings and debate forums spreading "the word". Actually, this is a very interesting debate between him, a partner, and on the other side, God-proponent Deepak Chopra (it's in six parts). Harris and partner are very articulate, and make good points. Well known spiritual guru Chopra, does not do a great job of proving God, in fact his words and explanations seems to take on a "pseudo-scientific" slant, that is clear as fog. However, it is useful to hear a debate like this, not just hear proof or not about God's existence, but to delve into human commonalities, and what we all need in order to live together peacefully, mutually respectfully, and cooperatively. Towards the end of this debate series, this idea of "principles to live by" was touched upon.
While debates, and shows mocking religion and those who were raised in a religious way, are trendy, they can also be hurtful for many. It would be more helpful for human harmony, if there were forums with panelists from all backgrounds to discuss human cooperation, mutual respect and love, peace, harmony, diversity, empathy, human needs, common needs, similar needs and goals, and how we can promote better inter-human, inter-culture understanding. Really, atheists and believers in God, are not necessarily worlds apart. There are so many good people from all backgrounds, religious or not, and they share good and positive life outlooks, and views to make the world and their local community a better place, and they prove it by their everyday actions.
If someone does no harm to others, that alone is good. From whatever perspective you have, we can all agree that this is fine. Any person who helps others, brings comfort, support, hope, healing, joy, laughter, food, shelter, and love, is so valuable. Debate and education is also valuable, however, insulting people to hurt them is not.
A growing number of people do not label themselves as religious, but "spiritual", and others are neither. Good people are everywhere, and learning how they evolved that way is interesting. There are many ways for people to turn out as decent, and both atheists and believers in God, need to appreciate and respect that.
Peace.
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Friday, May 07, 2010
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Merry Easter
Post Ed. There were 6 Canadian soldiers killed over in Afghanistan today. My thoughts and prayers go out for them and their families.
This is an interesting time of year because it highlights the histories and mysteries of the Christian church, and the messages of Jesus the man. Among his teachings He preached that people should be forgiving, and not self-centered. That actually has many important implications for how nations and diverse groups relate. Imagine if everyone were actually like that, you could expect to see much less fighting, more empathy, less greed and more sharing. For religious people this certainly makes sense, but it can for non-religious people as well. If Jesus were here today He might not care if you were a "religious" person, or a church-goer, but that you lived honestly, were caring, not hurtful, empathetic and forgiving. Those attributes can cover many problems, and prevent many as well. It is based on reason. How one lives is what counts.
On religion in general, there are many kinds of it, lots of variety in rituals, prayers, songs, and beliefs. For the entrepreneurial types, it is merely a vehicle for making profits, for others the whole bible is to be taken outrightly as literal. In any case, there still remains much mystery about Jesus. Most of his life is not documented but the last couple of years that were is what changed the world.
Today people from every walk of life have varying philosophical viewpoints on life. Some conceive individual philosophies to try and understand life, while again others from every walk of life choose churches of different faiths to guide their spirituality. There you will find highly educated, deep thinking, traditional believers, sporadic church goers, people who believe in some teachings of the church but not all, people who believe in it all but don't live by it, and people who are the most decent, kind, caring and loving people.
Since science broke out of the religious grip centuries ago and was no longer seen as heretical, there became a divide between science based on reason and evidence, and religion. Today the view is that there is hardly an estrangement between the two. For example, the Director of the Human Genome Project, Dr. Francis Collins, is a scientist and a believer in God. He sees no discrepancy between believing in evolution and God. He was an atheist for many years while working as a surgeon. There he was faced with life and death all the time and began wondering more philosophically of how the world began and what happened after we die.
Creation is indeed the ultimate mystery. Let's go back 13.5 billion years to when our universe first began. In reference to the big bang theory a small unimaginably dense amount of matter exploded, and at millions of miles per second, with material, gases, particles, going in every direction, expanded into what we now know as the universe. If that's how the universe started, then the ultimate question is, well how did the matter get there in the first place. This is the point in which Dr. Collins thought, there had to be a creator, "God", who did this. But even more mysterious, is if God created the matter which made the universe, of which the planets, life and eventually we as humans eventually evolved, then where did God come from? It's an impossible question to answer because how can you conceive of nothing creating something? How can someone have always existed? So while we try to figure that one out, Jesus, whether you believe He was the son of God or not, did leave important teachings to live by. Then again, other religions did too, like the Buddhist Eightfold Path, similiar to the Ten Commandments. You will likely find many good lines to live by in many world religions, and also from many non-religious people and groups.
While there are people who predictably but subtly like to equate religion with non-intellectualism or not being open-minded, perhaps some of their treasured lines to live by are very similiar to teachings from Jesus and other religious doctrines. It is valuable to find more of what people have in common, i.e., their beliefs, to build bridges to communication instead of walls of prejudice and understanding.
I personally am not a big church goer, and have lots of questions about events 2000 years ago, but I see much goodness in people I know who do believe in God and Jesus very much. I can't help but admire and respect them. It is sad when others try to belittle that which is so meaningful to people like this. Then again, nobody's perfect. Happy Easter to you.
This is an interesting time of year because it highlights the histories and mysteries of the Christian church, and the messages of Jesus the man. Among his teachings He preached that people should be forgiving, and not self-centered. That actually has many important implications for how nations and diverse groups relate. Imagine if everyone were actually like that, you could expect to see much less fighting, more empathy, less greed and more sharing. For religious people this certainly makes sense, but it can for non-religious people as well. If Jesus were here today He might not care if you were a "religious" person, or a church-goer, but that you lived honestly, were caring, not hurtful, empathetic and forgiving. Those attributes can cover many problems, and prevent many as well. It is based on reason. How one lives is what counts.
On religion in general, there are many kinds of it, lots of variety in rituals, prayers, songs, and beliefs. For the entrepreneurial types, it is merely a vehicle for making profits, for others the whole bible is to be taken outrightly as literal. In any case, there still remains much mystery about Jesus. Most of his life is not documented but the last couple of years that were is what changed the world.
Today people from every walk of life have varying philosophical viewpoints on life. Some conceive individual philosophies to try and understand life, while again others from every walk of life choose churches of different faiths to guide their spirituality. There you will find highly educated, deep thinking, traditional believers, sporadic church goers, people who believe in some teachings of the church but not all, people who believe in it all but don't live by it, and people who are the most decent, kind, caring and loving people.
Since science broke out of the religious grip centuries ago and was no longer seen as heretical, there became a divide between science based on reason and evidence, and religion. Today the view is that there is hardly an estrangement between the two. For example, the Director of the Human Genome Project, Dr. Francis Collins, is a scientist and a believer in God. He sees no discrepancy between believing in evolution and God. He was an atheist for many years while working as a surgeon. There he was faced with life and death all the time and began wondering more philosophically of how the world began and what happened after we die.
Creation is indeed the ultimate mystery. Let's go back 13.5 billion years to when our universe first began. In reference to the big bang theory a small unimaginably dense amount of matter exploded, and at millions of miles per second, with material, gases, particles, going in every direction, expanded into what we now know as the universe. If that's how the universe started, then the ultimate question is, well how did the matter get there in the first place. This is the point in which Dr. Collins thought, there had to be a creator, "God", who did this. But even more mysterious, is if God created the matter which made the universe, of which the planets, life and eventually we as humans eventually evolved, then where did God come from? It's an impossible question to answer because how can you conceive of nothing creating something? How can someone have always existed? So while we try to figure that one out, Jesus, whether you believe He was the son of God or not, did leave important teachings to live by. Then again, other religions did too, like the Buddhist Eightfold Path, similiar to the Ten Commandments. You will likely find many good lines to live by in many world religions, and also from many non-religious people and groups.
While there are people who predictably but subtly like to equate religion with non-intellectualism or not being open-minded, perhaps some of their treasured lines to live by are very similiar to teachings from Jesus and other religious doctrines. It is valuable to find more of what people have in common, i.e., their beliefs, to build bridges to communication instead of walls of prejudice and understanding.
I personally am not a big church goer, and have lots of questions about events 2000 years ago, but I see much goodness in people I know who do believe in God and Jesus very much. I can't help but admire and respect them. It is sad when others try to belittle that which is so meaningful to people like this. Then again, nobody's perfect. Happy Easter to you.
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