I don’t think that anybody can be truly gnostic in their belief or disbelief. Now, “I think”, and its counterpart, are very dangerous things to open up with. But to be so sure of theism must be a bold, proud statement even for faith, and boasts of knowing the unknowable God, whilst the atheist contradicts his own reason and logic to unwaveringly claim that “there is, and nothing else”. (Before we start, let’s not near the argument of what is and is not knowable in perception and metaphysics. Let us just assume that tables are tables, for now.) Throughout history, there have been countless arguments for the existence and non-existence of God. They have been simultaneously dismantled and strengthened by either side, without ever approaching a knowable answer without the reinforcement of one’s own emotional, environmental, cultural or historical bias that makes one so sure, and closed to the other. Otherwise, one would not have decided, and decided so adamantly. In each camp, the arguments proposed are absolute truth, and immune to contest. For example, most of you are probably theists or atheists, and will never entertain the other either out of ignorance or fear. There is also the intrinsic undertone that the other must be wrong, and that makes any search for an answer already warped if it is not sought truly for the sake of answer. To take just one example simply, the First Cause Argument – everything in this world has a cause. That particular cause itself had a causation, and that cause, another causation. If we retract back far enough, we have a single, initiating cause. That cause is given the name God. There is immediately an obvious objection by opponents, who cannot understand why the first cause in itself seems to be causeless, and an infinite regression does not go on forever (i.e., God must have a cause. Then what caused God? Then what caused that…?). If everything must have a cause, then so too God. If there can be any one thing without a cause, then why not just the Universe? Why cause at all? To then argue vacantly about the idea of a causeless cause defeats itself. Having said that, the atheist is in no stronger a position to answer the question satisfactorily, either. For him, there still exists poor understanding about the first things - it is historical, unrepeatable science, and we simply cannot begin to concretely speculate about events 13.8 billion years ago (a figure which itself is doubtful, and constantly changing). Even in the grey midst of naturalism, the horrifyingly complicating, eluding thought of “there must be more than this” raises its infernal head every now and again. Emotion clouds. There are so many topics and motions on God that could be touched on, but I won’t embarrass myself or the informed by attempting to do them justice. However, one aspect of religion does intrigue and bother me enormously, and that is the idea of personal, emotional experience. (I am now going to trespass on a lot of hearts initially, and I apologise in advance. I do not necessarily believe the following.) The idea that religion can arouse feelings of enormous peace, tranquillity and otherworldliness seem to suffice for those who do not entertain anything more than the concept of faith (n. strong belief in the doctrine of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof). But for a moment, consider any other religion asides your own. What gives your denomination of Christianity, Islam etc. any more credibility than the others which exist, asides man-made interpretations of doctrine, scripture, sacraments, rituals or history? If that isn’t wide enough, then consider any other religion – those which are older, those which are larger, those which are more modern, liberal, conservative or other. To leave the notion of God altogether, consider the dowsers – people who practice the divination of locating the likes of water, metals, ores or lost objects, through the feeling and twiddling of overlapping rods or other objects (or sometimes without any apparatus at all). Consider the astrologists - employed horoscope authors, who live their lives by their interpretation of the stars, believing that heavenly bodies (so named and collected by man, anyway) have a supernatural effect on our own personal lives. What about those who commit their lives to mood rings, dream catchers, spirit stones or superstitions? Could their peace, tranquillity and otherworldliness be just as ridiculous as your own? What is so special about your club? If you were born into any other household, any other practice, you would be just as devout, determined, and deluded. To narrow this notion further with another example, the idea of worship music is something I cannot pretend to understand in any sense. Music is a psychological, neurological phenomenon that scientists cannot make sense of – it seems to stir enormous emotion that serves no biological or evolutionary purpose. It is another mystery of the brain. Depending on the music you enjoy and the meaning behind it, we can be brought to tears and risen to higher emotional states by Mahler, Mika, Metallica or Murder Squad. It can give us tremendous inspiration, physical goose-bumps, and in some cases, even mental ecstasy. To award that to God seems wrong, when expanded upon. We feel no more special singing in a group of similarly-minded, singing friends as we would if we were preparing for the Battle of Thermopylae – roaring chants in togetherness, the adrenaline rush of lifelong purpose, killing ruthlessly with brothers since birth in the name of a King, a cause, and the rule of chaos. In fact, it would pale colossally in feeling and belief to Sunday service. Those tingles probably aren’t the Holy Spirit, and those tears are no more release than if you had the same cry in the toilet with a particularly supportive friend. At the hearty, emotional climax of your favourite film, is it the presence of God that decides to visit when Mufasa fall off the cliff? Hmm, and didn’t that feel similar during yesterday’s last verse of ‘Amazing Grace’? Yet, just as the atheist has made sense of everything, humanity creeps in: “There must be more than this”. The massive questions storm in ruthlessly. Beyond everything we can understand, how can we know that which we don’t know? How can we even comprehend the incomprehensible? Is prayer, rather than a fickle practice of what we want and seldom are rewarded, a true, quiet and unknowable movement in events surrounding us that grant us not what we want, but need, to experience and receive? Is emotion itself the elusory presence (or lack thereof) of spirits, good and bad, which at its most mechanical, direct and orchestrate the hormones and instincts of our biological chemistry? What is consciousness? How much is there to discern as to what truth is, and what isn’t? Is naturalism just the physical, observable explanation of that which cannot be explained? Is everything just as it is to test us in our being, our creation, and our worthiness for something else, something greater? Why am I here? Is there a point? Is there a meaning? Is there a God? We’ll just have to find out.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 14:53:30 +0000
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