Secular Means. Spiritual Ends.

I agree with Dawkins on “secular moral philosophy”. Well put. Where i diverge from him (and hence consider myself a reluctant atheist) is that he overlooks the need that religion fills for many people. And further more rather than arguing about it just being a delusion cultures create to cope with suffering death and loss, it should be seen as a clarion call for humanity to in fact overcome the harshness of reality at its extremes. Some suffering may lead to growth but others clearly are just madness. But instead of daydreaming a delusion to escape the madness, perhaps we should endevour to bring about a better world, perhaps even in many ways a heaven that is secular in its means but spiritual in its ends. The Omega Point. The Turing Church. Boddhisatvabot. It could happen. things could get better.

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11 9

First guess is that 11 9 would be the opposite of 9 11  but its more of a mutated freaky version of it.  Sure no one died directly from the event that I know, but it was a day of darkness that turned into a week of darkness with no sign of an easy resolution.

At first it seemed like my own despair, grief etc.  But soon I found out other people in my family and that I knew were feeling it as well.  What happened as you probably know is that there was an election and unexpectedly Donald Trump had won.  But worse he had won on a campaign of not just your garden variety of lies and mudsling and instead a more toxic and concentrated version.  He verbally attacked vets, the disabled, women (numerous times) and definitely minorities and immigrants.  And he said he would have his opponent put in jail, laws protecting the press removed, immigrants deported and so on.  Occasionally he would talk about the issues but in very vague terms (“I will do something and its going to be great….”).

No one thought he would win. Or thought his chances were unlikely.  But he did win. Not the popular vote but the electoral which is the one that counts. And no he is the president elect.  Its not funny any more.  When your beloved home team loses the superbowl or pennant or whatever it stings for a while….but it is just a game after all.   This is on a different level.  It has the sting and gloom of defeat but it has another layer behind it of cold chunky thick reality  of what it means now that he has won: he will be the leader for four years.  He has the house and senate in the same party as him.  He will get to appoint most like ly one or two supreme court justices.

 

Not Yet Born.

As the band Can wrote in one of their songs “The Father, he hasn’t been born yet”. I believe that in some far distant future (or perhaps soon) sentient beings will reach a point , the Omega Point, where knowledge and awareness merges them into an infinite being. God really. God then will encompass all things and have compassion and love for all things. And God will awaken beings from across all time and space within God (essentially heaven). But the main thing is its not a given . Sentient beings must make it happen. Without our acts of intelligence and good will God may never come into being.  To me this may explain why their is horror and suffering in the world (because God does not yet exist…we must become god to over come the horror and suffering).  It also explains why killing oneself or others or doing harm to others is not just intrinsically bad, but also will delay the manifestation of God.   Also it explains that both atheists and theists are actually right.   At this moment here in the year 2016 it may appear to many that God does not exist or is not manifested.  But God may exist, could exist  in the future.  It all depends on if we want God to exist.  So a believer in God may also be right.