Monday 21 December 2015

Who is God?

There are two approaches: the true believers who accept ancient, mythical descriptions as somehow “real” despite considerable counter-evidence to many of their traditional details; and the non believers for whom the question is undefined, like division by zero.  


New Whig, being broadly centrist on all issues has a new understanding based on observation and logical deduction. 

The traditional descriptions, Theology, are mostly a priori.  They have been thought up, not deduced from observation.  While God is real, our understanding and descriptions are our own invention.  The Humanists' critique that "God" is obviously mythical is valid, but the conclusion that there is no actual God, or that our mental constructs are "dead" is wrong.

Scientific theories begin with theory, but they are rigorously tested against “reality”.  Since the development of "modern" Science, the Myths that traditionally explained "Mystery" have been claimed to belong to another aspect of Reality that can be experienced, but only indirectly.  It is time they were united.
God Exists

The Scientific investigation of God must start with the simplest, value-free premise: God exists. It is not a matter up for proof.  All the Proofs amount to "If it exists, then it exists" which is perhaps similar to the Biblical version of, "I am what I am". 
Apolstles

Let us also assume that those people who thought themselves somehow divinely inspired with a message to tell people were on to something, but their self-perception and their understanding of what was happening to them might have little to do with the reality.

The writer of this Blog has amusingly considered himself in this category.  He has never experienced any sort of "religious experience" and is both curious and envious of those who claim to have had this subjective sensation.  Attempts included stilling the mind and repetition, but produced nothing more than the gradual recovery from chronic, childhood ailment.  All the ideas expressed here and in other places have been deduced logically.  They are in accord with observation by a "Flaneur", who bypassed school's brainwashing by being home sick a lot, and whom most people did not notice as he moved through crowds and groups in a lifetime observing the Human Condition, and in particular the Micro-Social systems that exist as living entities in their own right, just as do Ecosystems..
Consciousness
 
The greatest mystery to Science is no longer beyond Outer Space, nor at the smallest scale where anything can be detected to exist, but within the Human Mind.  Consciousness is something we all now acknowledge that all people have, and possibly all “living creatures”, but its nature remains a mystery.  Most amazing of all is that some creatures would wonder about it and write this and read it.  
Possibly, Consciousness exists at a cellular level, and we are essentially a vast population of cloned individuals, with a collective consciousness that is invisible to the individual cells, which each think they are doing their own whatever.  This is similar to some insects, where the entire hive or hill behaves as if it had a mind of its own, doing things that no bee or ant could possible understand or even participate in knowingly.  It is finally starting to be accepted that Ecosystems are also living entities in their own right, perhaps even sentient in some way.  Indeed, the Nature Spirits that were perceived by our ancestors might well be these Ecosystems, a perception we have lost with our concentration on the detail and the species instead of the whole system.
Social Consciousness

There may be a hierarchy of conscious levels, starting with our cells.  We as individuals all perceive ourselves as each having a single human consciousness (in a supposedly healthy state).  Like Social Insects, our Human Societies may claim to exist as living organisms.  These include Cities and States, as well as Corporations, Departments, Clubs and Parties.   This explains, for example, the power of what Weber attributed to Bureaucracy.  It is not the organisational structure that is to blame, but the organisation as a whole, itself being a living organism with a mind of its own.  There are many implications of this for Society that are beyond the scope of this particular missive.

Mother Earth
For some time people have toyed with the idea of our planet as a whole being a single, living organism, called Gaia, the mythical Mother Earth.  Science, in adopting this, has been careful to avoid any hint of mysticism.  

Theology into Science Fiction

Perhaps the hierarchy goes on.  If we do assume that our Planet is itself a living organism, then perhaps it is just one of billions of similar “living planets” that populate our Galaxy, and which communicate in ways that we have not yet detected or may be undetectable

Global Mind
 
Certainly, it is possible to accept as reasonable that there is a Global Mind and that it is made up of the collective “minds” of all the Ecosystems and Social Systems, which are in turn comprised of the individual bees, ants, Ecosystem components and people.  
Proof that "There is no god, but God".

If the World as a whole has a mind of its own, clearly there is only one, single such Global Mind.  All the different perceptions are just altered perspectives or limited vision, compounded by languages that do not exactly map onto each other.  The Hindus teach, “All gods are the same God”.  This expresses the Shahada in a different form, which reflects the Jewish "Call".

The Mind of God.

The collective mind is the emergent property of the vast collection of individual minds.  This is not apparent to us as individuals, but is something that can be achieved through mental techniques.  Certain individuals have believed they had a particular connection to the Global Mind.  It is interesting how many claimed the revelation happened while out in the wilderness, on top of a mountain in a storm, or alone in the desert. These are all places where a mature Ecology would exist, with its own "mind" that could directly connect with the Global Mind.  

Mys-thical being.
  
We are here suggesting a valid, scientific explanation for what was previously thought to be mythical. Indeed, we are claiming that the Mystical is not un-scientific fantasy, but has a valid description of a form of Biology, recognising that Ecology is the study of collective organisms with their own sentience.  We suggest the word “mysthical”.  

The Physics of Soul.

Elsewhere, New Whig has written on the Physics of Soul, which is totally explicable within existing Physics, making Theology a branch of Physics.  How do I find the hyperlink?

The Nature of God in the different Religions

All this so far before I have even got to the question.  Because once the idea of “God” as the Earth’s Global Mind, being a hierarchy of Collective Minds, is accepted, it is possible to look at the descriptions of encounters with it, understanding now why and how they are distorted, and also gain some “a priori” insights into the true Nature of God.
Disclaimer

This attempt to "test" God in a scientific sense is an extremely pretentious thing to do.  It is nearly as bad as wilfully desecrating the Sabbath.   So, in case anyone reading this misunderstands this present missive, or “post” (really a stream of interrupted electro-magnetic vibrations) let it be clear: This Blog nor its writer it make any claim to Divine Inspiration; This Blog is entirely the result of logical reasoning.  

The Message 

If this Blog “preaches” anything, it is the message at the end of the Biblical book, The Preacher: “Love God and keep the commandments.”  Note, it is to “love”, not “fear”.
Old Errors to be Rejected 

The first mistake that must be abandoned is the distinction between “good” and “evil”, for this is the “Law of the Jungle”.  The idea of us as individuals with egotistical merit is ridiculous, when you consider that we as individuals are to Mother Nature as the cells in our bodies are to us, or an individual insect or plant to its Ecosystem.

Justice

There are no bad people, just people who do bad things.  Our Criminal Justice Systems are at fault because the "punish" people instead of re-educating them.  Like naughty children, the "wicked" must be loved unconditionally and never feel they are being rejected.  Punishment ensures recidivism  The Law, like Biblical Commandments are intended to lead to good behaviour and a stable society.  They are not to be slavishly followed without comprehension as an act of meaningless faith.  Different Religious Legal Systems must co-exist in pluralist societies.

God created the Night as well as the Day

The most contentious change in our perception of God is the (mainly Xian) idea that God is purely composed of "goodness", just as Swans were once thought only to be white.  All consciousness emanates from this single Universal Mind, so it must encompass the "bad" with the "good". 

Holocaust Theology

We were told in the days of animal sacrifices that God liked the smell of the sacrifices.  One suspects that the same God might have enjoyed the smell from the ovens during the Holocaust, though it is probably Jewish Blasphemy to suggest it.   Similarly, God presumably delights in the slaughter in his various names that results from the Wars of Religion.  Holocaust Theology has asked how?  This is too often, wrongly attributed to an aberration of Human Free Will for which a “good God” could not be responsible.  The idea of testing Jewish faith after two thousand years of exile frightens most theologians.
  
Evil

Religions that teach there is a principle of “Evil” in the world are utterly mistaken and contrary to the true Monotheism that derives from any scientific understanding of the world as a living organism.  People and other organisms do “bad” things for various reasons, but they are not “bad people”.   No one is inherently “bad”.  Goodness is its own reward.  The reason for the Commandments is to achieve Harmony with Nature.  Because we are not aware of our existence as elements in a greater consciousness, like an Ecosystem or a Social Collective, we all follow our own personal agendas and some social rules are necessary.  It is not unreasonable to think that the whole has slapped its parts into line, from time to time, or attempted to do so. 
Apostles

If we look at the succession of “Prophets”, who all essentially teach the same message, and how badly their message became distorted each time, it is reasonable to assume we are now being left to our own devices.   We at New Whig are no doubt amongst a growing number of people who are coming to similar conclusions without the need for Enlightened Awareness.  
Mys-thical

Sometimes, the Myths are wrong and may need to be abandoned.  The greatest problem that results from some Myths is that they present themselves as the total picture and explanation of the Universe.  They are couched in terminology and use words and expressions with specific meanings in their languages.  The Myth has become the Truth.  It needs to be universally accepted that an individual Truth need not invalidate alternatives that appear incompatible.  The complex, multi-dimensional Universe contains conflicting realities.
Universal Unity

All gods are the One God and there is no god but God, but that God is not exactly like any of the Mythical description of our traditional religions.  Because the Myths are clearly not accurate and total, scientific descriptions there is a tendency to totally reject them.  Perhaps there is something to be gained at a social and personal level by retaining myths and ceremonies as long as they contain a true awareness that the words and concepts are signposts, not that to which the signs point.
  
The Apostles keep telling us this, 
  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .but we never listen.
What is required from all people is to live in harmony with Nature, which is a return to Eden.  We must learn to abandon personal ego and “go with the flow”.  The aim is not to comply with complex commandments out of fear, but to comply with rules leading to collective cohesion.

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