Originally posted by JesusIsAlive
God is a "He."
The concept of God did not descend from religions. Both religion and god are the inventions of man. They both evolved as human intellect kept growing.
I believe in reason. I would not accept anything that is irrational and contradicts logic. The existence of human (even animal) spirit may not be verifiable in labs and by our scientific methods yet, but the important thing is that it is not against reason. There are many realities that are beyond human reason, i.e. you cannot reach them by reason alone. Yet the point is that they should not be unreasonable either.
Existence of God as a Reality or a Principle cannot be determined by scientific methods and it is beyond reason. It is not unreasonable, in fact it is very reasonable to assume that there is a principle underlying the creation. But the existence of a deity, as described by Semitic religions, is utterly unreasonable. Although the characteristics of this deity has changed gradually and the god of Moses who was a smoke-like anthromorphic god and the god of Rumi who is an unknowable essence are not the same, the general concept of this god has not changes. God in all these religions is a “being”. It is no more a physical being, and it may not be even a spiritual being, but it is still a being. It is a god that resembles humans. We don’t envision him any more as an old patriarch but we attribute to him our own human characteristics. He is no more imagined in our physical semblance, and some even hesitate to call him with a gender-biased pronoun. Yet in our subconscious mind God is our father, best friend, someone to pray to, someone to worship, someone to rely upon, and someone who loves us. We assume that God is intelligent, loving, caring, mighty, wise, help in peril and someone who would eventually come to succor us if we knocked on his door supplicating with utmost humility and meekness. He is a god that worries about us, who sends messengers to guide us, who rewards us either by giving us access to his paradise or by allowing us to associate with him more intimately when we die.
But this god is also a jealous god and is very paranoid. He does not like us worshiping another god and feels restless when we busy ourselves, making a living or enjoying life and forget to bow in front of him, (who is apparently everywhere) constantly. His messengers tell us that we should worship him for our own sake. But you don’t have to be Freud to realize that he actually enjoys being known and worshiped. In fact, if you fail to do so, he is offended so much that would take you to his cosmic rotisserie and barbeque you forever. That is a long time, I say. Don’t you think so?
His messengers tell us that he has sent them to teach us to be righteous. Apart from the fact that for this mighty task he often chooses men who do not walk their own talk and themselves live less than honorable lives, which in the case of his favorite Prophet was scandalous, he has made it clear that living righteously is not enough. We have to recognize him also through his messengers. Without that recognition, none of our good deeds would count. But the problem does not end there. Despite the fact that each time he sends a messenger he makes it clear, in one way or another, that this messenger is the only and exclusive way to him or that he is the last one, he surprises us by sending new massagers at the least expected moments and in the most unlikely places, often choosing the less educated and the most ignorant among the men. Then he expects us to find these new messengers with the purity of our own heart but without the use of our brain. If we fail to do so, even if we already praise him, all of our worships become null and when we die we are given a one-way ticket to hell.
To know god is a very serious business. If you make a mistake you know where you end up. So you are left on your own to find your way through this maze.
Life is merely one of the expressions of existence. There is intelligence, love, justice and many other qualities that more evolved animals, especially we humans posses. These qualities if not entirely absent in the inanimate world of matter their existence is negligible. Wherefrom these faculties come? A religious minded person might exclaim “God”. But a purposeful God as i demonstrated above, as described in the Semitic sacred books, has no role in the evolution. All these attributes are part of the Single Principle. The universe therefore is not chaotic but an orderly one. It has not been created by an intelligent being, but there is a Principle underlying its creation. Law and order govern all things. A Single Principle permeates all the existence. The Principle defines how things happen and the evolution is the process of that eternal happening. If you feel comfortable and do not confuse that Principle with Allah or Jehovah, you may call it God. But the Principle is not a being. This God is neither a he nor a she. It is IT. You cannot talk to God nor God talks back to you. God does not send messengers nor he cares bout you. God is not intelligent but it is Intelligence. God is not loving but It is Love. God is not wise, compassionate, merciful or just but It is wisdom, compassion, mercy and justice. God dose not have attributes because God is not a thing. It is not a being. God is a non-being. The non-being is the mother of all beings. God is the Principle and the evolution is the process. God is HOW and the rest is WHAT! That is all there is, HOW and WHAT.
God cannot be defined, but it can be understood. There are two ways to understand God. One is through the reflection of the world within, the inner world, and the other is by observing the world without, the outer world. The first method is through meditation and the second is by scientific observation. We can know God and we can experience God but no one can lead us to It.
I agree that there is a superior intelligence and a principle that make this world go round. There is a Single Principle underlying the creation. The Universe is governed by natural laws that are eternal.
You may ask WHAT caused these laws to appear. The answer is nothing! If these laws are eternal then they cannot have any cause. Now you may say that any law needs a legislator. Then I ask you who created that legislator? You see? It is much easier to accept that laws are self-subsisting than accept that there is a self-subsisting legislator. If we are going to accept the existence of God as a dogma, something for which we have no evidence but accept it anyway, then why not accept the dogma that natural laws have been there always? This is far easier to digest. For example, 2+2=4. This is a principle. It will not change and it is eternal. Now isn't it more logical to believe that this law exists on its own and no one created it than assume that a deity made 2+2=4? If God did not exist and the universe did not exist could it be possible that 2+2 be something different than 4?