The Existence, and Absence, of God

I debated writing this post for a long time. My faith (Neo-Paganism as influenced by Wicca traditions) forbids doing harm. Interfering with the spiritual paths of others is, indeed, harm. Therefore it's vital that I add this warning:

IF YOU ARE CLOSE-MINDED IN YOUR FAITH - DO NOT READ!

I mean it. This post is an addendum, of sorts, to The Simple Truth, which I wrote before finding the belief system that best fits my world view which placed that caveat on me to "harm none". In The Simple Truth, I said why we have religions and my opinion of that is not much different. But while The Simple Truth invests much in mankind's inherent nature, there still exists in most people a desire to address spiritual concerns. Leaving behind, for the moment, the whole question of the existence of the soul and fully acknowledging the fact these are generally rationalizations based on certain scientific theories, I believe I can explain a simple, moral way of expressing one's spirituality without having to resort to science-bashing, denial or any other of the dogmatic traits infesting most mainstream religions.

Before we get started, I want to go over some scientific understandings. Basically, these are findings and theories which explain creation. Not so much why as how. The why could be simple random chance. Mankind is NOT all he thinks he is. But in the interest of fairness, let's argue the why is religious, the how is physical and this is where we are today.

So, on to the science:

There is something called the Grand Unified Theory, or the Theory of Everything. There is also something called Quantum Mechanics. There is finally the conservation theories. All of these actually play into the belief system I follow. Note I call it a belief system. I consider a religion to be a predefined set of dogmatic rules to which all must abide. I also note again that they have nothing to do with faith or beliefs. One can believe anything, but if they follow the predefined, dogmatic behaviors, to all outside appearances, they are a follower and practitioner of whatever faith the dogma applies. I believe in certain things and have faith that they are true. I follow no pre-set rules or dogmatic behaviors. Therefore I have no religion, but I do have a faith.

I hope that clears things up a bit.

Back to science.

First of all, the Grand Unified Theory or the Theory of Everything is a way of explaining existence. It shows how the four primary forces in the universe are related and are actually different physical manifestations of the same thing. Without going into too much scientific mumbo-jumbo (because this is supposed to enlighten, not necessarily educate), we'll focus on one aspect of it. The GUT or ToE (whichever you understand better) requires, among a great many things, an infinite number of dimensions in order to work.

People say "infinite" without really grasping what that means. For the sake of clarity (explanation-wise if not scientific-wise), let us assume that every dimension is exactly like ours, with only one difference. That difference can be as small as whether we sneezed at a particular time, woke up a fraction of a second later or earlier. That small difference had an impact on that dimension. Now, multiply that single difference by the number of possible events that happen which can cause a difference in one life alone, and you begin to get the idea of what "infinite" means. Toss in that number multiplied by the number of people (or event-causing things) in the universe, and we're talking a number beyond the scope of human understanding.

So the long and short of it is everything we do splits off a new dimension. We don't notice because our minds are part of the quantum flux and don't know about the other dimensions. We don't see or sense the dimensional splitting.

Which brings us to the next part of science - quantum mechanics. This is pretty highbrow stuff, but the essence of it is that everything effects everything else ON SOME LEVEL. This is proven, scientific fact based on small scale testing with large-scale ramifications. (As an aside, this is how faster-than-light communications may be possible by something called "quantum entanglement" - look it up if you want to go "wow..."). Further studies have proven that thought has an effect on objects outside of the brain. Not exactly telekinesis, but an effect.

Adding quantum mechanics to the notion of infinite dimensions and you have thought actually creating new dimensions. The changes are so minute, we can't even notice them, but even if we did, we'd probably not realize we were the ones creating it.

So, taking the infinite to a logical conclusion, it's logical to assume that if all things are possible, and have happened (somewhere in the dimensions) we have learned a great deal, created a great deal and can access this information/wisdom/stuff just by thinking about it. This leads to the last part of our scientific trinity: Conservation laws.

It's been proven that energy can not be created or destroyed. It simply takes on a different state. Energy can be turned to matter and, sadly, vice versa (the whole idea behind a nuclear bomb is mass to energy conversion). So we are a bundle of potential energy walking around ready to effect our world, our universe and every dimension in it. We each are "god".

Sort of...

More on that and how it relates to conservation laws in a bit.

What we lack in the dimension we're currently inhabiting is the wisdom of the ages. What we have to help us with that wisdom are all of the gods we've created over the years.

Have any of you ever wondered about our deities? I mean, all of them are very "human-like", be it "good" or "bad". There's a simple reason we did this: We created deities to which we could relate. All of them have their own unique "personalities" and few of those personalities are really much different from people we probably already know. Don't tell me that the God of the Bible, Torah or Koran are that different in behavior, or attitude - all of which have easy-to-spot counterparts in human behavior. Our gods ARE us. At the same time, they aren't. We created ways and means of relating to the infinite universe; to all of those dimensions, all of those possibilities, all of that knowledge, wisdom and insight that is out there. We call them "gods". They're really personifications of perspective who, by the quirks of quantum mechanics by which thoughts can effect things, are real - at least to those who 'believe' in them. It is how we can touch the infinite in a way that doesn't make our heads ache trying to keep it all in perspective.

Now, the explanation for gods is covered by the first two of the trinities of scientific theory. Our gods are a reflection of our own selves because we created them, and find ways to relate to them to grasp the infinite that is the universe. This is how we see spirituality. But WHY do we seek the spiritual at all if it's all made-up-stuff?

The answer Conservation laws.

Energy can not be destroyed. That is a fundamental law of science. We are all "potential energy" just by existing. Our thoughts are electro-chemical reactions which produce energy. None of that can be destroyed. It can, however, change into something else. Call it a soul if you will, call it decomposing into the earth to become something new. I don't necessarily believe that consciousness continues since that is energy and that can change, but it changes. It isn't destroyed.

Whether by the inability to conceive of our own non-existence or the firm belief that we go on after death, the fact is we do go on after death. The question, is in what form? The answer is "energy".

The details are a bit skimpy and left up to the imagination or desires of the individual. But here's the really interesting part. In an infinite universe, with all things being possible, then heaven, hell, limbo, reincarnation, nonexistence and all other guesses as to what happens to life after death are equally possible. With quantum mechanics forming our realities as we go, it's possible (though I'd hate to do the math to figure the odds) that whatever we believe will happen to us after death WILL ACTUALLY HAPPEN to us.

But the ultimate question is: To what end?

Based on the above-mentioned rationalizations, that entirely depends on the individual's belief system. In my belief system (which is why I put up the warning, your belief system may vary), mankind's individual energy has increased as our ability to think has increased. This energy is what I think of as the "soul" and it evolves as we do. (I believe in reincarnation, but not always or necessarily as distinct individuals) . The more we live and learn, the more we evolve. That's the good news. The better news is because the universe is infinite, there is no game end point. We keep learning. We keep growing. We keep evolving. There is always something exciting and new ahead to peer into, to explore, to understand.

Now whether we retain consciousness as individuals after death or not isn't really the point. The point here is that, and with physics backing this up, we are all connected to each other and to everything around us. The fact is while mankind is egocentric by nature, nature isn't. But if we recognize that connectedness to everything, then we have a reason to improve ourselves. Energy that is positive, improving all of us, increases our potential. Energy that harms, diminishes us all, decreasing our potential. In short, if we do good for everyone else, we do good for ourselves as much as them. If we do harm to others, we harm ourselves as well.

All we need to do is to live by the simple rule: Harming none, do as you will.

There are energy penalties for doing things that are counter to the evolution of the soul. Call it a loss of lessons, or failing a test for lack of a better term. These push the individual (or mankind's overall energy) back. I call this Karma. Bolstering the energy by promoting a lack of harm pushes the energy forward, to a higher level thus benefiting either the individual or the whole (depending on one's point of view). This is also Karma. It doesn't require doing anything more than not doing harm.

It's a pretty simple philosophy that encourages thought, education, science and discovery. The difference is, my belief system has far more science behind it than most. I believe it best - at least for me and in my mind for everyone else. But as I said, it's not a good thing to interfere with the spiritual path of another. Thoughts can create reality, though. And I do think about this a lot...

These are just the basics of my belief system. The scientific framework upon which I hang the rest of it: the rituals, the ideology, the rationale for doing what I do. I'm not perfect, I make mistakes. I get rewarded for doing good. I get "punished" for doing bad. It's a rather esoteric reward and punishment system, but this is taking the very long view of things.

Mankind has a very large amount of potential energy. How that energy is used is up to us. I'd like to think we will go far and do great things. So far, I don't see a lot of good coming out of our existence. With any luck, should we prove to be more than the universe can handle, we won't take the rest of existence with us when we go.

But it's possible...