Ambassador From Hell's Blog

Your Answer:

A Christian theology professor on an educational TV program said that knowledge of God is what it is all about. And he said that Christianity does not promise happiness in this life. Rather, it promises a better world to come. Among Islamic tradition is the belief that God created humans for the purpose of worshiping God (Allah). But I would want to examine what that means a tad more before discarding it as saying God is just a conceited Supreme Being. First of all, for argument's sake, let us assume that there is indeed a God. What could be more worthwhile than to learn about God and its properties? If the Supreme Being might be a supreme ally? What if worshiping God is defined according to such things as serving others, unselfishness, love and compassion?

I think God's language may be mathematics. My favorite philosopher and a hero of mine is Benedict Spinoza. He, and Rene Descartes, I believe, based much of their philosophical concepts on mathematical principles. I think Albert Einstein is rightly included in their "club," though Einstein might not have thought of himself as a philosopher at all. What can we know with greater certainty than mathematical principles? Benedict Spinoza was thought of by many to not have been a believer in a personal God. That is an assessment by both his critics and admirers. I personally take exception to that view. I think his writings can be interpreted in different ways. It is certainly a fact that Benedict Spinoza has been referred to as "The God-intoxicated man." Why? He was obsessed with God and "its" properties. And he tied his definitions of God directly to mathematics. Worth looking into. And all good stuff, Maynard.

I think God wants us to seek the truth, have doubts and to exercise faith. I believe that even without faith a diligent person can make an objective evaluation based on scientific evidence that there is a God, or intelligent design. I do not personally subscribe to the fundie creationist view, but I do think that, for instance, God may have created the mechanism of evolution. Also, I think if absolutely everyone had perfect proof of God's existence before their eyes and no one had any doubt whatsoever about God's existence -- that would take away some of our freedom. We would feel more compelled to think and act in a certain way. We would be more like robots. As it is we have the freedom to choose to do a good or a greater good, to do something evil or rather choose a lesser among evils. The ability to choose doing good or the choice of choosing the lesser of two evils is good. The act of choosing the right way of thinking and of action is why we are here. Those among us who make right choices advance to higher states of being. Eventually these souls return to their source, God. The ones who continuously choose to go down the wrong path just keep incarnating indefinitely until they get it right.

There may be explanations for evil and even the suffering of innocents that we mere humans can not fathom. It doesn't mean no reasonable explanations or answers are there. Joseph Campbell, late author of "The Power of Myth," once asked an allegedly wise old sage, a guru, why there must be brutality in the world. The guru replied to the effect that we must accept that such things exist, because it comes with living, with being alive in the world. Joseph Campbell remarked later that life is, “Eating and being eaten.” I think there is more to it than that and I'm sure Joseph Campbell thought so, too. But from a purely physical standpoint it is true. What we need to understand is that we are spiritual beings having a temporary, earthly experience. We need not surrender to evil, but we needn't despise life because evil exists. Explanations for evil will come to us in time. Meantime, evil gives us something to strive against. We have challenges, goals, and hurdles before us because evil exists. People have satisfying, enduring careers because they want to do things. Like become doctors, for instance. But what use would we have for doctors if there was no illness or disease? Someday we may conquer all diseases, we will do away with poverty, war, prejudice, and even religious intolerance. The upward movement of humanity may be inevitable. That is my belief, and it is worth struggling to achieve. But the journey is certainly a part of the destination. No one ever read a story in which there were no challenges, problems or anything to strive for or against. I think we are all in classroom Earth 101. Life is the class we are being educated in. We are becoming more perfect, and in the end we all return to our source, God. When the perfect comes then it will be as the Bible says. Every tear will be wiped away. I believe the world is the way it is because we want life to give us the freedom to make choices. The freedom to choose a greater good over a lesser good. The freedom to choose a lesser evil over a greater evil. And that is what it is all about. Having the choice is a good thing. As we make choices which reflect our advancement spiritually, we become more advanced beings. We are beings of light, eternal and destined for better and better things to come.

My favorite analogy is how the brain may be like a TV set. It would be worthless to have a TV with no image projected onto the screen. Even if the TV worked properly in every sense of the word it would be useless to us if it did not produce a picture. The picture is made up of increments of flashes. Many times a second a reproduction of an image is created. Now suppose that consciousness was a projection. It might have no material reality. It might only be composed of a type of energy,and it would not be the actual activity of the brain but the result of that activity that was being projected. Then consciousness, as a non-material entity, may be "spirit." Perhaps a projection continues in another dimension even if the brain were to be “shut off,” as in the death of the physical body.