Beliefs and insomnia
So, it's about 2AM and I can't sleep for shit. Stupid bio-clock. Stay up a couple nights a week feeling creative and you pay for it.
For feck's sake, I KNOW a few people read this, so freakin' comment on this already. I know you're thinking individuals that have opinions when work and the media aren't bludgeoning you with horse shit. Speak! The raptor commands it, and he has pointy teeth and curved claws, or something like that.
That aside, often when (how stereotypical...) laying awake at night just before racking out, I at least tend to contemplate life, the universe, and everything.
So for those of you who don't know, I'm effectively a lapsed Catholic with what I think is a deist POV on spirituality.
The core of my journey from catholicism can be related to the fact that I was there in the first place because dear mum was kicking my ass out of bed Sunday mornings and insisting I go. Come college, I opted out of church, and realized I was only going to appease her. Admittedly, I liked Father Phil's preaching; he actually made you want to think.
I also fully admit that religion (and so many other things) are factors of where you're born. I suppose if I was born into a Muslim family in the middle east, my view on religion, women, and the US would be much, much different.
So, here's my litany of complaints against the Catholic church, and most of christianity in general
-Decidedly anti-female
-Does not at all acknowledge how derivative it is (If you're not sure, ask me. I can provide some examples)
-Often turned into a vehicle for us/them while preaching supposedly for all
-Reads and interprets a selection of the bible for you, generally; it's rarer to find someone who has fully studied and contextualized the bible who is NOT a layperson
-Often has preachers that don't really bother altering the message htat's been passed down for generations
-Never really felt like I belonged; the people were too...something. I can't really put my finger on it, but there was always something intangible
That aside, I can say I'm not overly into killing God, the idea of God, or gods, or what have you. I admit it's a powerful motivator, and people need a little reminding (both individually and as a whole) that we are merely part of something else, both in terms of groups and in terms of species, the planet, the cosmos, and so on and so forth.
Science
Science doesn't answer everything. At its core, science is the scientific method. This is a fancy way of saying that we know for certain what we've methodically studied and tested, and we are ALWAYS willing to admit, in light of better data, that we're wrong or need to revise something.
That being said, science doesn't have the answer to everything. Science is pretty good at defining 'how' things work, and has a lot of theory (in the scientific sense. Gravity is a scientific theory, thank you very much.) on how things work.
On the other hand, science isn't so good at explaining why. The best science tends to do is come up with laws. Gravity is pretty much a law. (Laws being theories that have so much evidence behind them that, well, chances are they WON'T be revised, but there's always the 'if'). There's a eat little physics equation, and so on. I drop something on this planet, and it tends to fall. You get the basic idea.
Science does not explain WHY gravity is alaw. Science simply says that that's the way things work. Science doesn't explain where Everything came from. It simply has some suggestions. (Big Bang theory, et al). I can't say for sure how solid or likely these suggestions are.
Science does not explain WHY there was a big bang. This is unknown. We've pushed the boundaries of the unknown back since we as a species could do things like figure out that, hey, lightning? Not so much a pissed-off god, but electricity and such. The sun? Not so much a big guy in a chariot or something, but a big reactor in space.
But science does not tell us why. This is why I'm willing to accept that there IS a lot of unexplained phenomena. This is why I wouldn't be surprised if there was some agency out there, somewhere, that set this all into motion.
And beyond that, I'm not really certain. I'd rather hope there's some kind of afterlife, and while I wouldn't be surprised if said agency were watching over us, I highly doubt they do things directly. I doubt they draw power or something from our worship, and I think it's a high expression of egotism that we imagine most, if not all, of our deities in human form.
And hey, look at that. I've tired myself out. Thankfully. Time to go the hell to sleep.
For feck's sake, I KNOW a few people read this, so freakin' comment on this already. I know you're thinking individuals that have opinions when work and the media aren't bludgeoning you with horse shit. Speak! The raptor commands it, and he has pointy teeth and curved claws, or something like that.
That aside, often when (how stereotypical...) laying awake at night just before racking out, I at least tend to contemplate life, the universe, and everything.
So for those of you who don't know, I'm effectively a lapsed Catholic with what I think is a deist POV on spirituality.
The core of my journey from catholicism can be related to the fact that I was there in the first place because dear mum was kicking my ass out of bed Sunday mornings and insisting I go. Come college, I opted out of church, and realized I was only going to appease her. Admittedly, I liked Father Phil's preaching; he actually made you want to think.
I also fully admit that religion (and so many other things) are factors of where you're born. I suppose if I was born into a Muslim family in the middle east, my view on religion, women, and the US would be much, much different.
So, here's my litany of complaints against the Catholic church, and most of christianity in general
-Decidedly anti-female
-Does not at all acknowledge how derivative it is (If you're not sure, ask me. I can provide some examples)
-Often turned into a vehicle for us/them while preaching supposedly for all
-Reads and interprets a selection of the bible for you, generally; it's rarer to find someone who has fully studied and contextualized the bible who is NOT a layperson
-Often has preachers that don't really bother altering the message htat's been passed down for generations
-Never really felt like I belonged; the people were too...something. I can't really put my finger on it, but there was always something intangible
That aside, I can say I'm not overly into killing God, the idea of God, or gods, or what have you. I admit it's a powerful motivator, and people need a little reminding (both individually and as a whole) that we are merely part of something else, both in terms of groups and in terms of species, the planet, the cosmos, and so on and so forth.
Science
Science doesn't answer everything. At its core, science is the scientific method. This is a fancy way of saying that we know for certain what we've methodically studied and tested, and we are ALWAYS willing to admit, in light of better data, that we're wrong or need to revise something.
That being said, science doesn't have the answer to everything. Science is pretty good at defining 'how' things work, and has a lot of theory (in the scientific sense. Gravity is a scientific theory, thank you very much.) on how things work.
On the other hand, science isn't so good at explaining why. The best science tends to do is come up with laws. Gravity is pretty much a law. (Laws being theories that have so much evidence behind them that, well, chances are they WON'T be revised, but there's always the 'if'). There's a eat little physics equation, and so on. I drop something on this planet, and it tends to fall. You get the basic idea.
Science does not explain WHY gravity is alaw. Science simply says that that's the way things work. Science doesn't explain where Everything came from. It simply has some suggestions. (Big Bang theory, et al). I can't say for sure how solid or likely these suggestions are.
Science does not explain WHY there was a big bang. This is unknown. We've pushed the boundaries of the unknown back since we as a species could do things like figure out that, hey, lightning? Not so much a pissed-off god, but electricity and such. The sun? Not so much a big guy in a chariot or something, but a big reactor in space.
But science does not tell us why. This is why I'm willing to accept that there IS a lot of unexplained phenomena. This is why I wouldn't be surprised if there was some agency out there, somewhere, that set this all into motion.
And beyond that, I'm not really certain. I'd rather hope there's some kind of afterlife, and while I wouldn't be surprised if said agency were watching over us, I highly doubt they do things directly. I doubt they draw power or something from our worship, and I think it's a high expression of egotism that we imagine most, if not all, of our deities in human form.
And hey, look at that. I've tired myself out. Thankfully. Time to go the hell to sleep.