Friday, February 04, 2005

Case Against God - Part II

In modern times we often live an existence that has paradoxical elements. Elements of different paradigms that are mutually exclusive exist in our daily lives.

Examples of two elements that are from different paradigms are the possibility of alien intelligences and the idea of god.

There are two questions in part II of my Case Against God.

The first one is: Can the idea of god exist in a universe where we believe there might be alien intelligences?

The question comes from the fact that aliens and god come from different paradigms or world views. When the idea of god came in to existence there was no idea that there was anything outside of Earth. God is a transcendent being that exists beyond what is humanly understandable. The idea of aliens comes from the modern technological era. That somewhere out in the universe there are or at least that it is possible that there are alien intelligences.

So, imagine with me for a moment that some of these alien intelligences might be much older than humanity. That indeed their technology might be far advanced of ours that they have abilities that we would consider omnipotent and omniscient.

These Alien intelligences are still subject to ethics. It would be wrong if an alien intelligence of that order came to Earth and wiped out all of humanity. It would be wrong if that alien intelligence forced us in to servitude and made us commit atrocities against one another because of differences in belief.

Something vital happened to our alien intelligence as these hypothetical beings became very powerful. It appears that humans would have difficulty distinguishing between god-like aliens and ‘God’. This is why the two ideas are incompatible.

If ‘God’ exists is it not anything more than an alien being with abilities far in excess of our own?

And would this ‘God’ being be required to be just as ethical and moral as any other being in existence?

And according to all the religious texts and our histories – if ‘God’ exists it is clear that this being is responsible for the inhumane treatment of, well humans?

The second question is: If ‘God’ exists is it responsible for the inhumane treatment of humanity documented in the religious documents as well as the inhumane activities of its followers over the centuries and in to the present?

Right from Adam and Eve you would say that telling someone not to do something is not enough. You would say that the results of making the wrong decision should be clear – just as we do in any action in the present world where a poor decision could result in very bad repercussions. Buy a house – there is a laundry list of paperwork to go through – many which document the penalties and requirements you have as a home owner.

Is it fair to punish people who have done no wrong except be the children of their parents? It is clear that is something that we as a society do not believe is moral. As the cultural beneficiaries of the United States of America should we all be charged with the destruction of the Native American Culture? Should we all be charged with crimes against humanity for jailing thousands of people in California simply because they were Japanese? I certainly did not participate in either of those activities and I think it would be wrong to punish me for actions that in some cases occurred before anyone related to me entered this continent.

Enough.

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