Updated:
08/05/10
CHAPTER
22
CLEAR THINKING ABOUT GOD
Different
religions and denominations all give different descriptions of their Gods. Be
sure to know and state if your God is the Baptist God, or Catholic God, or
Muslim God, or Hindu God, or Mormon God, or Shinto God, or Animist God, or
Protestant God, or a Mystic God, or Generic God, or Universal God, or some
other God. Is your God Knowable or Unknowable? How do you know? Do you need to
know? If God is knowable, exactly How and What can we
know about him/her/it?
Now, please stop and define the word
"God" for your own enlightenment.
Did
you find the task impossible for you? If you found it easy then you did not
think through the problems of trying to define a God. Remember, there is no God
named “God.” To define any God you must first agree on the name, attributes and
character of your God. You must decide what are the limits of your God. All
parts of your definition must be consistent with all the other parts.
Almost
any claimed attribute of a God is quickly made absurd by claiming any
additional attributes. All definitions and claimed activity of a God (that I
have read) are irrational, impossible, un-provable, immoral, inconsistent
and borders on the insane (on one side or the other).
The
greatest minds in the world have sought to define God - and all have failed.
Common sense tells you that you must know something about your subject
before you can define it or discuss it. No one Knows a single thing about their
God, or if there is one. We cannot even make intelligent Guesses. We can call
many things "God." But anything that we can imagine and call it
"God,” we can also easily disprove. Why? Because all the claimed
attributes for a God dispute each other and we have no measuring stick, no
rules, no standard, no comparison by which to call anything, real or imaginary,
as "God.” And that includes the Big Bang and Egalflotz.
In
correspondence with a minister friend, he asked me to enter into a dialogue
with him on the topic of "God.” My reply was something like this. "If
you wish to discuss fog, space, time, motion, gravity, vacuum or such, I can do
a reasonably good job. If you wish to discuss Egalflotz,
you will have to define Egalflotz for me. God is Egalflotz. Or, I may have that backward. Egalflotz is God. That's it. Since there is only “Egalflotz” to discuss and since we know nothing about Egalflotz, how can we debate “nothing?” He never raised the
question again. My friend has a very high IQ. He has also ceased discussions
with me. Maybe he will read this book.
I have said often, "Honest Clear
Thinkers have a more moral opinion
of what God should be than do those who
claim to believe in her."
If
there were a God, he would have had to come out of the Mother of all. Matter
and/or energy in all of its varied forms has always
existed, does exist and will always exist in some form. Matter and/or energy is the Mother of all. Matter and/or energy can be neither
created nor destroyed. The stuff can change into each other, or into other
unknown essences. There is no evidence it can be created from nothing. It
cannot be destroyed into nothing. It is the only eternal stuff in the universe,
so say our scientists. (To complete this study on “God” you must later read
Chapter 27 on Creation.) For now, think on Thom’s Law.
Thom’s Law
If there were ever a time when there was nothing,
There would still be nothing.
Nothing cannot produce something.
Matter
and/or energy shows a great proclivity to cluster, to develop, to change, to survive
and to conform to set patterns. These patterns of natural forces, one of which
is gravity mixed with magnetism, plasma and electrical attraction, cause
galaxies to form. In fact, electrical energy influences may be the defining
character of our universe. These patterns that some call laws, but which are
simply our scientific observations, cause suns and planets to form. When
certain types of suns combine with certain types of planets at certain
distances from each other, they produce chemicals and temperatures that in turn
favor the production of self replicating Material crystal chains that soon, by
some process, becomes what can be termed, Fluid crystal forms. These chains
become self-feeding, self-reproducing, and self-seeking, or "Life.” Given
these things, life evolves and develops. These observations are attested to by
our sciences.
It
is impossible to determine how tall life can grow. That is, it is impossible to
know just how developed life or intelligence can become. It is impossible to
imagine the extent to which life or any form of intelligence can develop the
physical powers, the psychic powers, the electrical powers, the mental and the
mechanical powers of intelligence. Human life as we know it may presently just
be the pupa stage for that which we might call gods, or superhuman. We may also
just be the sperm waiting to find the egg, or for it to find us. Of course, we
may be the top of our branch, or the end of our line. We just do not know.
But
there are a few things that we Do know. We know that
intelligence continues to develop and evolve, ever pushing itself toward the
highest possible form of intelligence and Power Over Its Own Destiny.
Intelligence is constantly seeking to understand Nature in order to escape, or
overcome the forces of Nature that are constantly trying to stop this rebellion
that we call life and intelligence. Even viruses and microbes seek ways to
motivate themselves toward food and procreation against the pull of Nature's
gravity and inertia.
INTELLIGENCE
IS A REBELLION AGAINST NATURE
Man's
earnest religious desire and scientific concern is to learn how to escape the
limits and boundaries placed upon us by Nature. We claim harmony with Nature,
but in reality, we wish to live and exist independently from the laws and rules
of Nature. We seek to escape gravity, time, space, death, disease and the
multitude of other original limitations placed upon us (and all the rest
of matter) by Nature. After all, isn't that our idea of man's ultimate
perfection - and our ideal concept of our Gods?
Do
our very attempts to define God not confirm this exact concept of our own deep
desires, goals and hopes of life – to escape the limitations of Nature? Do we
not individually and collectively have this great desire to escape Nature and
be gods, or be like our concept of the gods? Do not our religions try to give
us a Shortcut and extend hope that we will have Outside Help in accomplishing
this very goal? Do we not seek Eternal Life? Do our scientists not work day and
night to alter the destiny placed upon us by Nature? Have our scientists not
recently expressed hope that man can live longer, healthier, smarter lives and
ultimately escape much of the hold Nature has on us? Yes Indeed!
Intelligence is a rebellion against Nature and her rules and
laws.
Intelligence
is the form and force, which that rebellion we call life is now taking. We know
if the brain or mind of man continues to develop, he will be able to think more
clearly, faster, more logically and free himself a little more from the laws of
Nature. Are we not trying through science and religion to escape the
limitations of Nature? You can bet on it.
We
also know if man thinks more clearly and more logically, he will become more
Just, more understanding of himself, of others and of those things around him.
Even a God cannot create a perfect and just man. A perfect and just man must be
cultivated and developed. He must be grown in the garden of life. A perfect and
just man must have free will. Free will means one must and should make
decisions based upon experience and knowledge. Making decisions means making
mistakes, and thereby, learning how to do it right – and more importantly, Why it is right. It is Never enough to know intellectually,
what is the just and right thing to do or think. Many know what is right but
they constantly find themselves unable to Do the right
thing. I will tell you what the problem is. They do not understand “Why”
it is right! They lack the ability to rightly divide Wisdom (understanding).
Wisdom is hidden in the knowledge that they already know.
One
must Know “Why” something is just and right. One must
understand why a thing is right or wrong. This is called Wisdom. When one knows
Why something is right or wrong, he has additional
purpose and strength to do that, which IS right. One must learn that Right is Best for him and those around him. The only way to
know Why something is right is to have Experienced and
observed that "Why" in our own lives. Character (learning why) must
be Developed. Failures (mistakes) are often better
teachers than successes. The only way to develop a good and just character is
to have lived it in the company of others, many of whom display the opposite of
the good and just character. (That fits most believers in the many religions.)
Maybe God created religions to train some of us. Maybe he created religions to
show us the wrong way to live and think so we could find the right way
to live, think and act (the way of Wisdom).
The
greatest teachers of how Not to live the good and just
life is demonstrated daily for us. These teachers of the Wrong Way are called Believers,
or religious.
BELIEVERS TEACH US TO BE:
Narrow
minded,
Closed
minded,
Not
responsible for our own actions,
Uncompromising,
Bigoted,
Acceptors
of authority (slave minded),
Rejecters
of science and knowledge,
Attackers
of those who disagree with us,
Liars
about supernatural encounters,
Untruthful
about our own religious experiences,
Deceivers
of ourselves,
Beggars,
expecting to get something for nothing,
Child
like and
Superior to those who do not believe like we do - and on and on.
It
takes great determination and blindness to the faults of religion in order to
develop a good character in one of the Christian religions. The
more honest and just the character of a person, the fewer of the Christian
doctrines and teachings that person can believe or observe. That honest
person will seek to open his mind to other philosophies, assume his
responsibilities of life, be willing to compromise to get some good things
accomplished and lose his hostility and bigotry toward those unlike him. He
will learn to seek knowledge and truth in science and life. He will no longer
lie about his encounters with God, or make up things. He will no longer
classify himself as above all mankind. And finally, he will not ask or expect
the Almighty to run his chores for him. He will not seek to instruct God on how
to carry out God's daily activities. He will trust God to run the world in
God's own wisdom. He will not seek “something for nothing.”
To
never have experienced the success of the "good,” or the repercussions and
evils of the "bad" is to be an open target for the bad, the unjust
and the wrong. Experience and observation are
Necessary in order to know Why something is right.
Character takes time living life. Maturity and right doing is a Product of
time, experience, failures, successes and Honest Clear Thinking.
DOES GOD HAVE A GOOD AND JUST CHARACTER?
Where
did he get it? Where did God get his experience? How did God arrive at Why something is good and something is bad? You cannot
develop character and wisdom in a vacuum!
Some
people try to describe God as though he were the greatest baseball pitcher in
the universe, but they do not allow him either a catcher or a batter, much less
do they allow him a team. Now be sensible. No God and no intelligence could
develop in a vacuum. We must grant intellectual and knowledgeable development
to any God. Such a grant demands that there be other beings with whom to
interact. So, we are forced to accept that there is not just one super being,
but there must be at least a family of them. (This is developed in Chapter 34
on Free Will.)
If
there were a God, not only would he have had to evolve out of matter and/or
energy, he would have had to develop (and is still developing) his character,
even as man is now developing his. He would have had to develop his reasoning
power and his Honest Clear Thinking through the stages in which man finds
himself and beyond, far beyond. If there is a God, he had to develop the
mentality and character to know “Why” good is good and “Why” bad is bad. Only
that could make a Perfectly Just God.
Now,
“Just” does not mean loving. It does not mean forgiving, which is not justice
at all. Just does not mean vengeful, jealous or manipulative. Just does not
mean to interfere, intervene or meddle. Just does not mean forcing a particular
outcome or ending on a situation.
Just means letting things find their own natural level and
balance.
Justice means letting cause and effect bring their own
results.
Just
means being Honest, Impartial, Equitable and Impersonal. Just means the highest
morality to which any life form could possibly attain. Just implies
infinite wisdom and knowledge. Just implies perfect order in thinking and
action. Only a God could be truly and fully, Just. To be perfectly Just, one would have to be close to the highest intelligent
life form that matter and/or energy could develop.
The
Clear Thinkers say, if there were a God, God Would Be
Just. No other words are actually necessary to describe God. Just is all
inclusive of morality, knowledge, power and goodness. No other descriptions of
his attributes are necessary. No more theological discussions, arguments or
apologies need to be presented. Just says it all. If there is a God, then God
Is Just. (Or would you rather think of God as unjust – as the religions portray
him?)
But
Believers do Not believe God is Just. They
believe instead, God is partial, whimsical and shows favoritism to them (that
is, to the gullible and the credulous). The believers believe God will punish
in hell fire forever, those who honestly use their brain to seriously question
and think about what people claim about God. Believers say those who believe
and do not think will be in heaven forever and they will share all of the good
things of the universe with God (the Just). The believers believe God hates
honest thinking, knowledge, wisdom and the experimentation of Honest Clear
Thinking. They believe one must simply accept all of their so-called
denominational revelations that have been foisted on man. Man, as a result of
his Gullibility, will then have poured into his head all the knowledge and
attributes necessary for happiness, for success, for health and for heaven.
Believers
believe God gets confused from time to time in his planning and Just ordering of the world. They believe they must use an
editing system called "Prayer" to correct God's unjust mistakes,
either before he makes them, or after he makes them.
These
believers do not believe God acts Justly in his dealing with man and the world
and therefore, they must remind God what “is” The Just thing to do, according
to their super wisdom. Believers believe God somehow needs this guidance,
wisdom and consensus from those who have not yet learned to even think for
themselves. People, who have not yet learned to honestly think for themselves, are able to think for God (the Just). Ponder
that for a moment!
Clear
Thinkers conclude they cannot accept the unbelievable superstitions that the
believers say are God's revelations to man. Honest Clear Thinkers conclude that
no God could set aside his Just thinking and Wise planning and do the bidding
of an unjust and selfish prayer. Does God need advice from even the wisest of
mankind? Does God need the consensus and vote of men before he is willing to
put his Just plan into action on earth? Does God lack wisdom and knowledge so
he must have the Christians inform him of the latest conditions on earth and of
their blueprint for correcting that condition? Does God lack courage to carry
out His Own Just Plans unless he gets confirmation from earth that the
Christians are supporting his efforts? Is God that wishy-washy and unjust? Does
he sit and wait until he hears from the believers, like a
Genii in a bottle, granting three wishes? Is God really as unjust,
impotent and indecisive as the Christian believers would have Us believe?
Honest
Thinkers conclude no Just God could be the author or editor of such an unjust
book as the Bible. They conclude no Just God ever asked men to steal from the
Egyptians, or stone their sons to death. No Just God ever said to bring all of
the captive virgins to the priests and holy men so the virgins could become
concubines (prostitutes) for the priests and holy men. (A concubine was a slave
and sexual servant to the master.) No Just God would institute slavery and then
maintain it when he saw the cruel and unjust treatment given to the slave by
the masters. Honest Thinkers conclude no Just God would establish a system
where by the guilty went “scot-free” while the innocent were punished in the
place of the guilty. No Just God was ever blood thirsty enough to let his own
son be killed in order to make people stop thinking and start believing.
No Just
God ever had a thirst for sheep's blood,
man's blood, or the blood of his own kin.
There
are several passages where the Bible claims God himself proudly states he lies
to certain of the people (II Thes.2;11-12, Jn. 12:40).
He does this in order that those who hear his lies may believe those lies, and
in so believing and acting on them be condemned by God to banishment into the
outer darkness. Now that is a hellish charge against God. No Just God ever said
that! Yet, holy men wrote a book called the Holy Bible that says God did say
it. Clear Thinkers rightly conclude such a statement is a lie. A Just God never
lied to accomplish anything. If there is a God, God is Just.
Clear Thinkers think more highly, of what God should be
than do those who say they believe in him.
Believers
believe God can be influenced by much begging, which
they call "prayer.” A Just God could never be influenced by all of the
begging in the universe. A Just God does what is Right and Just according to
his own infinite wisdom and justice, not according to man's infinite Begging.
Believers even believe this Just God Ordered men to
pray (beg from him). This same Just God promised to act according to their
pleas. Not So! Somebody lied. Somebody told a fib and wrote that God said these
things, when in fact; a Just God could never have even thought of it, much less
mentioned a word of it!
Believers
believe they will one day rule over the Universe With
God, or even For God. What Is This? Is God planning to go into early
retirement? Are Christians trying to replace God? Is God getting old? Does he
feel he needs to share the load of running the universe with these sheep? If I
were God and planned to retire, I would be teaching my new replacements to Think and to make wise decisions. I would be selecting my
trainees from people who have started learning how to think. I would want
people who were learning to rightly divide fact from fiction, right from wrong
and the moral from the immoral. I would be selecting some Honest Clear
Thinkers.
Wouldn't
it be something to die and get up to the gate? Saint Peter is not there.
Instead, there is that old honest doubter, Spinoza.
“Where
is Saint Peter?"
"Oh!
He is over toward the back of the universe."
"Why?
The Christians told me he would be here at the gate."
"They
are trying to teach Saint Peter to think."
"Well,
how is he doing?"
"Not
so good. He is still in the first grade."
"What's
his problem?"
"He
can't think! He keeps believing everything the teachers tell him."
"Well,
I am here so who's in charge now?"
"God,
of course."
"What
is he doing?"
"Same as
usual, sending out revelations trying to get men to see how ridiculous
revelations are so they will learn to think."
"Well,
no doubt I am done for. I don't believe any of those revelations."
"Well,
HAL-LE-LU-JAH! God will want to see you right away. We need an Honest Clear
Thinker to take charge of this new batch of Christians coming in from Ireland.
We try to keep peace here so we have to keep the Protestants and Catholics
separated. They think they are up here all by themselves."
Wouldn't
that be something? Maybe I just had a revelation! Well, if it can happen then I
Might have had one. I certainly couldn't think this stuff up all by
myself.
It
has been said man creates his gods in his own image. I conclude such a
statement demonstrates more fact than it does fiction. When the Clear Thinker,
or anyone else free to think, reads the Bible, he discovers a God who has all
of the attributes of a cruel, juvenile, unjust and ignorant barbarian.
This
God of the Bible is cranky, wishy-washy, jealous, devoid of justice and wisdom,
unfamiliar with science and mechanics, bent on punishing his enemies and living
it up with his faithful slaves and servants. He treats women like commodities
and chattel and he doesn't trust Clear Thinkers and wise men. He counts them as
his enemies. He thinks he knows it all when the evidence shows he knows little,
about people, or the world. Somebody lied about God. In the Bible God is
pictured as being arbitrary, contrary and unnecessary. Not So! God is Just, or
else a religious God does not exist.
If
the church were creating God today, God would embody the attributes of the
twentieth or twenty first century. He would be wiser, more knowledgeable about science, geography, astronomy and above all he would know
more about psychology. He would never condone slavery. He would treat women as
equals to men. He would never prescribe stoning of children. He would likely
place hell some place else instead of in the earth. Angels would not have wings
but would fly around in IFOs (identified flying
objects). God would be much more personable, more photogenic, more of an
executive than a grumpy old tyrant. God would use science in his description of
the forming of the universe and he would file the corners off the earth. And
Jesus would most likely be an alien scientist or philosopher sent to help us
get our world in better shape.
In
fact, there are a couple of religions operating right now that have described
Jesus as an astronaut from a very advanced civilization. They have described
the Bible as a garbled account of this advanced civilization's contact with the
earth in the past. This advanced civilization is going to save us from
ourselves and from our science. They are coming again to set up their kingdom
on this earth. Ah yes! There will be a brighter day tomorrow! Jesus is coming!
And wouldn't you like to know? The believers in those new religions will be the
new rulers over the earth when Jesus, the astronaut, comes again. He will show
mankind through these believers how to live in peace. Some of the preachers of
these new religions say it has been Revealed to them
by mental telepathy from the UFO occupants themselves. Jesus has promised these
new religions something for nothing, according to these new preachers. And some
people Believe It!
In
a way, it is hard for me, or any Clear Thinker, to be serious in a discussion
about the Biblical God. The concept is so preposterous it becomes funny. Yet,
it isn't funny. It is sad. It is sad to see otherwise normal human beings,
shaking in fear and being whipped into religious and political servitude
because of a Revelation myth that has absolutely no basis in fact. There is not
a single civil source that even mentions the claimed happenings in the New
Testament Bible. There is not a grain of logic or truth to back it up. There is
not one single scientific hint such a thing is remotely possible. There is not
one gram of truth in the whole affair. A Just God had nothing to do with the
Bible, nor its plans of salvation.
Of
course, we must also ask the question, "If a Just God had nothing to do
with the Bible claims, how about an unjust God? Or, a Devil
God? Or even some powerful super beings in their UFOs?"
The
Bible God is a barbaric concept begun thousands and thousands of years ago when
man thought everything had a spirit and a will of its own. The river had a
spirit. Sometimes the river rose up and drowned some of the people and some of
the grain. Maybe the river wanted grain. So the people marched down to the
river, made a lot of noise they called music. They woke up the river spirit and
poured grain into the river. Sometimes when the grain failed to stop the floods
someone decided the river wanted people. So, they
threw people in. Babies or criminals were probably the first, but finally, they
settled for a pretty unmarried girl. Gods do love virgins (or hates them, I
don't know which).
The
same thing happened with volcanoes and animals, lightning, storms and
earthquakes. Gradually with all the spirits or gods around, a pecking order
arose. The highest gods were in the highest heavens. The concept of the father
of all gods came. The priests of this Father God worked hard to put down the
priests of the other gods. The strongest and most ruthless priests won this
debate. Their god became the Father God over all. Their God became the God of
the Bible.
These
priests used the Revelations of sin, guilt, fear and prayer to awe the ignorant
people. What is amazing to the Clear Thinker is, these same claimed revelations
that awed and placed fear in the minds of the barbarians thousands of years
ago, also awe and place fear in the minds of modern men. Does modern man still
sport a barbaric mentality and morality? (You better answer that one. I don't
believe I should.) Such deceptions could never continue to happen if people
would begin to Think instead of believing in
authorities. It happens in politics too.
To
think means you become your own authority. To think means you Stop Believing
and Start Checking both sides of the matter for the facts. If there were a Just
God and he was the least bit concerned about you, God would insist that you
learn to Honestly Think for yourself.
Maybe
Honest Clear Thinkers (Atheists) will be the ones God selects to inhabit the
future.
YOU HAVE A BRAIN! USE IT!
To
those of you who want a God to worship, make up your own. There is no way you
could do worse than did the barbarian priests thousands of years ago. Make your
God to suit yourself. Make him worthy of your worship. Make him informed of the
sciences of the twentieth and twenty first century. Make him wise instead of
foolish. Make him Just instead of whimsical. Make him
treat women, children and minorities justly. Make heaven full of interesting
things to do. And put some entertainment in heaven like the Muslims have
beautiful women. (You better check with the Muslims though and see how these
beautiful women are to be selected. Maybe they come from the many virgins who
have been thrown into the rivers, volcanoes and such, or burned at the stake by
the Christian church.) At least make hell into a reform school where the
misguided can learn and graduate to heaven.
For
the Clear Thinker, it is hard to think about a religious Egalflotz
because there is no starting point, no plausibility and no possibility. But the
Clear Thinkers do know one thing, for sure, about any God, if there is one.
GOD IS JUST!
Thomas E. Blaylock
Copyright: 1989
Updated” 04/04/08
Updated: 08/05/10
