Re: virus: God

Sodom (sodom@ma.ultranet.com)
Wed, 10 Dec 1997 11:44:53 -0500


Marie Foster wrote:

> I see miracles everywhere. The mostbasic is my heart beat and my
> respiration. Thus the 65 and 14. (I am

> in pretty good shape in that department for 51...)
>
> So we do agree that a baby is a miracle of sorts. Perhaps this is the
>
> disapointment of the *true* atheist. Their expectation is too high.
> I
> recently suggested to Bill (Sodom) that he might find the "Grand
> Inquisitor" an interesting read. He did read it and told me he found
> it
> most interesting.
>
> One of the major questions it raises is how would mankind be affected
> if
> there was no possibility of doubt about the existance of god. If you
> did have that cup of god to put under a microscope and in your study
> you
> did find out that the stuff you had was proof positive... How would
> this knowledge change us as a species?
>
> Interesting question I think...
>
> Marie

I don't see miracles as they pertain the "god" in the things you
mention. I do see a sense of "wonder" in the things you mention though.I
see wonder in any complex happening whether it is the furnace of our
Sun, the motion of our galaxy, the flapping of a butterfly's wings. It
is not hard for me to see wonder in something even if I understand it
well. The two do not conflict.

I thought your last statement was intriguing. For me, I am afraid that
even if "god" filled the sky with a bright light, spoke to me in my
mind, then split the pacific ocean in half for the whole world to see, I
would still think it was a hoax, or that aliens did it, or that I was
totally bonkers. I think proof positive for me could only come after my
death, to find an afterlife, or rebirth, would be most convincing. But
for the sake of argument, if we could find a proof that we could accept,
I would convert to what Ii assumed was the wishes of this entity, or go
utterly insane. If there was a very specific, sentient God, than the
concepts taught by such a God would be of the highest import. This is
why I "fear" religion. I feel that any real believer should follow God's
orders - even if the orders support genocide and oppression as the Bible
does - if they are to be true to themselves and true to their "god". My
problem is that people are accepting the concept of "god" for all the
wrong reasons - brainwashing from childhood, fear of death, lust for
power, inability to comprehend happenings around them, or because their
emotions demand it.

Sodom