Revelations

I’ve been away for awhile.  Not for a lack of material, but rather for its abundance, and try to figure out what to write.  I’ve got several essays in the works, but, I find it so much more enjoyable to write on other interests. Those who know me… know that passion as well.  However, some recent conversations and reading have led me down some interest thought paths, and as I have learned from a recent read (you can watch my other blog for a review on that book), I have been in preparation mode.
First, I will state for the record, once more…  I am not an atheist.  Traditionally, atheists profess a belief that there are no deities. Though I have had very interesting discussions where it is professed that atheism is not a belief system, because the atheist is not required to proof of his or her belief because it is not a believe but rather a denial of someone else’s belief, so there is nothing to prove.  It is an interesting concept, but, I don’t find it to be much help in advancing a very difficult discussion.  Theists, according to their particular theology believe in one or more deities representing their belief system.  I neither believe in, nor disbelieve, accept as true, nor deny as false, the existence of any deity.  I believe it is the arrogance of the human ego to profess definitively the existence or non-extensive of one “God” or more.  In a recent conversation, it was pointed out that I would probably be considered an agnostic, and I admitted that would be the best description available, but, that I had avoided such classification because of the still religious connotations of the term.  Until I found this:

Thomas Henry Huxley defined the term:

Agnosticism is not a creed but a method, the essence of which lies in the vigorous application of a single principle... Positively the principle may be expressed as in matters of intellect, do not pretend conclusions are certain that are not demonstrated or demonstrable

So…  I’ll accept the label as an Agnostic, and state that, as yet to me, the existence or non-existence on any deity is indemonstrable.  If you wish to believe otherwise, that is the great thing about America, you are free to do so.  However, no one free to force their beliefs on others, while many still try.

Throughout the recorded history of the human race, mankind has used myth, legend, and theology to explain that which yet still defies explanation.  Lightning, for centuries, was a phenomenon defying explanation for primitive man.  You can go to just about any modern mythology literature and find godly rationalization for the event.  Even early Christianity held the view that lightning and thunder was evidence of the evils among.  In Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas stated, "Rain and winds, and whatsoever occurs by local impulse alone, can be caused by demons. It is a dogma of faith that the demons can produce winds, storms, and rain of fire from heaven."  These beliefs existed well into the 18^th century where the Catholic and Protestant churches opposed Benjamin Franklin’s lightning rod.  Today, we know scientifically that lightning is, in reality, the atmospheric discharge of static-electricity.

In the 1600’s Galileo Galilei postulated a theory that contrary to accept theological beliefs, the Sun, and not the Earth, was the center our solar system, and that the Sun was the center of the universe.  According to accepted Biblical interpretations, it was our Earth which existed at the center of the universe.

Biblical references Psalm 93:1, 96:10, and 1 Chronicles 16:30 include text stating that "the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved." In the same manner, Psalm 104:5 says, "the Lord set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved." Further, Ecclesiastes 1:5 states that "And the sun rises and sets and returns to its place" etc.^[51]

Galileo was tried by the Church for heresy, including threats of torture by the “Inquisition” if he did not recant, and while formally sentence to imprisonment, did spent the remainder of his life under house arrest.  We have now known for decades, again scientifically, that the Earth is not the center of the universe, or even the center of our little piece of the universe – our solar system.  Yet, the Catholic Church did not officially acknowledge its mistakes until late into the 20^th century.

Even more recently, conspiracy theorists (which I include in the realm of legend) have made claims of a magic bullet in the JFK assassination.  By their accounts, it would be first impossible for Lee Harvey Oswald to fired 3 round at the motorcade in the time it was in range, and that the bullet that killed Kennedy could not have been the same one that hit Governor Connally.  Their claim is that there had to be more than one shooter.  However, in 2004, Discovery Channel ran the “Unsolved History: JFK – Beyond the Magic Bullet” special.  In this special it was clearly demonstrated that indeed Oswald could have fired three shots at the motorcade in the time allotted, and that the magic bullet needed no magic.  Now, I know this special is not proof of what actually happened, but, it sure puts the conspiracy theorist in a bind, since absolutely no one has produced anything in the way or real evidence that there was anyone but Oswald involve in this horrific event.  These are only a few examples, of myth, religion, or legend inaccuracies being used to explain – what at the time – seemed unexplainable.  I am sure an encyclopedia could easily be filled with example, but that not the point of this essay.  The main point is to follow

First a few numbers, of the approximately 7 billion people current inhabiting this planet, about 2.1 billion whom are Christians, and with that, at about half, 1.1 billion Catholics (the original Christian faith, at least after about 325 A.D.)  There are about 1.5 billion Muslims in that world population and I include the Islamic faith because it spawned from or at least acknowledge Jesus (as a prophet) and the Virgin Mary.  So it is my opinion that Islam is a branch of the Judaic/Christian traditions.  The reason I have done this will hopefully become more evident as we move on.  Now, what do you think the next largest group of planetary inhabits might be?  Nope, it’s not Hinduism (900 million), or the Oriental theologies (800 million +/-), even though India and China account for over 2.5 billion of the planet inhabitants.  It isn’t even Judaism is only 12^th on the list, with 14 million adherents, and even if the atrocities of last century had not occurred, it would have only moved up to number 10.  No, the third largest group on that list is the Secular/Nonreligious planetary citizens, at about 1.1 billion.

Now, we come to the controversy over Creation vs. Evolution, and my revelations

I think it should be acknowledged, by any reasonable person, that the modern Judaic/Christian/Islam religions have succumbed to the same theory they wish to combat – evolution.  Any serious examination of human history will show that theologies have evolved over time.  A fairly simple analysis will demonstrate a multitude of very violent events committed in the name of these religions over time, yet we are told today, they are and always have been peaceful, tolerant theologies.  While they try to excise these violent events from the public psyche, there remains dialogue in their sacred texts encourage these activities.  Many wars have been fought and millions of lives ended in an attempt to gain control of human psyche to accept a single theologies.  We have even seen in recent news, an item acknowledging an Islamic country’s pronouncement that it has issued a death sentence on a former Islamic adherent – turned Christian cleric, simply because he turned away from Islam.  Even the Catholic Church has finally, some 400 years after the fact, evolved its position on Galileo.  We see or hear examples of everything from viruses to human beings mutating, or adapting (evolving) to changes in the environment.  Even our planet has evolved over its 4 billion +/- year existence.  So, even though I am not a subject expert on evolution, I think there is overwhelming (and growing) evidence that the process of evolution undoubtedly exists.

So now we move on to the Creation theory.  The entire foundation of three world religions is built on The Book of Genesis, and this book has discrepancies so severe as to cause me to seriously doubt EVERYTHING that comes after it.  I discovered these issues, for myself, as a result of challenges to my doubts about God and religion.  I grew up in an era where missionaries had no problem banging on any door to proselytize their religion, and they were very steadfast in not leaving until they had said their peace, especially if you were to admit that you didn’t agree with them.  I found myself often resorting to being rude to dislodge them from my presence.  But, it got me to thinking, and I found myself reading the Bible looking for material to shut these provocateurs up or chase them off.  About 15 years ago I discovered the ultimate shut down.  I am of the mind that geological and archeological research has sufficiently demonstrated that age of this planet is around 4 billion years, and that presence of Homo-sapiens is dated to around 250 thousand years.  This research has undergone sufficient peer review that I accept it and will continue until someone produce the same peer reviewed contra-research.  So what is the problem with Genesis?  It starts with the very beginning.  The Earth and the entire universe were created in 7 days.  Okay, I am willing to accept that thru centuries of translation, that this could have been miss interpreted, but the text we have today is pretty clear that God divided time into day and night, and then goes on describe the creation activity by day.  I’ve had people (some who I have great respect for) tell their view or acceptance is that this description is an allegory.  Okay, I’ll give in to that until for the moment…  But, upon further reading of Genesis (possible translation issues aside), I discovered that I can actually date Adam’s appearance, which I believe was on the 6^th day.  Genesis, while a bit convoluted, fairly clearly dates back from Abram, or Abraham, all the way back to Adam through the begats.  While I once, years ago, had a spreadsheet detailing these begats, it has since been lost and I’m not of a mind to recreate it now, but this process reveals that Adam’s appearance on Earth can be dated to approximately 7,500 years ago.  Couple this with all the geological and archeological data missing from Genesis that has been discovered over the last few centuries, and I can easily support the theory that Genesis is nothing more than one man’s story about the beginning of his people, not some great truth about the beginnings of the universe.  I am of the opinion that man created god in his image, not the reverse, into to explain what was unexplainable that the time.  It is the ultimate urban legend.

Knowledge is a dangerous thing to religious dogma.  With today’s internet, you can find a plethora of data, and I have discovered information giving me the understanding that there is a great effort among creation theorist to establish geological and archeological research in support of creation.  They desperately search for anything on which to hang their claims of creation because even they know that anything built on such a weak foundation cannot and will not stand for long.  To date and to my knowledge nothing has been produces which could be considered conclusive.  The Ark of the Covenant goes missing, the Noah’s Ark or its landing place… unfound.  For that matter, evidence of a great world flood less than 7,500 years ago remains elusive, most because, in my opinion, it doesn’t exist.  So until such time as the foundation of the Judeo/Christian/Islamic faiths can be proven to be anything but straw, I will choose to belief that which is built upon it to be just as unreliable.  And, I believe today it is nothing more than a business which gets some really favorable tax treatment, and which I refuse to support.

So, during this election cycle I think we should remember…  I, and a billion others like me, don’t want to force any believer to practice our principles by passing laws.  You should see it as right, in my opinion, to do the same.  Think about it.

Now, finally for the revelation…

We are all immortal!!!  Don’t believe me, study a little bit of physics.

It is a wonderful and amazing universe out there, if you’ll just open your eyes and experience it.  J

Your comments or questions are always welcome.