Imagine....

Dostoevsky writes, in The Brothers Karamazov, "If God doesn't exist, then everything is permitted."

In Imagine, John Lennon says "Imagine no religion..."

Both these thoughts deal with how man might behave if we suddenly, somehow were given absolutely incontrovertible proof that God has been nothing more than the projection of the human superego ( with a huge dollop of Id thrown in ), and our own fears surrounding the seeming meaninglessness of a life that ends in extinction. There is the fidest view ( those who believe, as Aquinas did that faith must always trump reason and experience ) that since we are all in the grip of the pseudo-scriptural idea of 'Original Sin', without God to act as a brake, humans would just run wild and have wars, crime, untrammelled sex, out of control greed and oppression of the poor, the have-nots by the haves, exploitation of our resources to enrich the very few at the cost of the welfare of the many...hey! Wait a minute.....hmmmm.

Moving right along, then there is the materialist/realist view that, while humans do have inclinations to prosper themselves at the expense of others, there is also a natural instinct to care for other members of the social order, because when everyone has a share in the 'goodies' the reason to exploit and oppress drops accordingly. Good is not done to suck up to the Big Imaginary Friend, but because it is there to be done. If you fall, I help you up, not because BIF is 'watching', but simply because you have fallen. I help others, not because they are the 'image and likeness' of BIF, but because they need it. I don't hit upon a 'hot' lady because I am afraid that BIF will make my testicles bloat to the size of beach balls as I drag them around some hell in the next life. I don't do it, because I am still crazy about my vegetarian conscience/best friend/wife, Mary. There are a lot more things like this I could say, but I think my point is clear.

I am a theist. I believe there is a God. As such, this God cannot be limited by our concepts which are always colored by our desires. I need no reward for the good things I do, and I am humane enough to be ashamed when I act like an asshole.

I also feel that it is not moral to try and give the force of law to religious belief simply to deal with insecurities and doubts, as if by forcing others to believe, one can somehow be less doubtful about their belief system, not that I am talking about the right wing factions of any religion out there....like the followers of one such group that sent me a hysterical warning about the evils of the health care reform, which must be defeated, according to their view, because we are not real (insert denomination of choice here) if we don't act against the reform. Hmm, am I then to assume that the health of the multi-billion dollar insurance corporate giants is more important than relieving the suffering and cares of millions of uninsured or under-insured families. Maybe that is a new dogma that I am not aware of at this point.

That is enough for one day.
Tim