More Atheistic Banter
In my short stint as a human being living in the Western hemisphere of Planet Earth, in a country called the United States of America, I feel I've noticed a couple things regarding the idea of religion, but more on a higher power, often called God, or a god.
When we as humans look around us, we see a vivid world, teeming with life. We know we didn't create it all, so we often wonder "who did?". We humans evolved an ability to consciously manipulate the world around us to better suit our needs. We can mash up wheat and corn and oats and all sorts of cereal grains and make flour to which we can add water and yeast and heat and create bread. Therefore taking basic elements and creating a more complex structure, at least in our minds. Not many other animals or plants have this ability.
Given our ability to "create" it tricks our mind. We know that when we look around that the world has been going on long before we ever stepped foot on it. So that, in a sense, puts us in our place and therefore we must ponder "what came before us, and how did it get here? If not I, then, who created it?". Our relatively simple minds must have the answers in order for us to continue going about our day.
In our new super technologically advanced society, we are confronted more and more with the idea of "playing god." This concept is very interesting because we have sort of figured ourselves and our ideologies out and we don't even know it yet. What is one doing when one says he or she is "playing god?" Genetically engineering plants? Creating skin out of stem cells to help a burn victim? By "playing god" we are merely taking further control of our given environment and manipulating it on a level not previously conceived.
I feel, at least in my mind, this makes a simple connection that puts people of faith in check(mate). If by 'playing god' we are merely manipulating a very complex set of events and engineering the outcome to benefit humans. Which is sort of what "God" did for us all, right? He created the Earth and the entire cosmos out of nothingness. But now we can do that, is there no more room for god?
The idea of God is simply that of a super-human. One who has all the powers a normal human has, but given extra powers to benefit others. Think of anything god does that we humans can't do on a simpler level. God creates. God protects. God judges. God Loves. God provides. We all can do that for ourselves and others. We can't create an entire universe, but we can create a tasty green bean casserole if given the right ingredients. We shouldn't, but we do have the ability to judge. And I know many a man and many a woman who provide for their families. It's nothing unattainable.
It is not right to give thanks and praise to a God who does nothing more than a human does. And it is even more wrong to give him credit for things that humans can do without the aid of any supernatural entity. We are essentially our own Gods. Everything God does, we can pretty much understand and conjure up in our own minds. If there was something that God could do that we could not understand or even get a vague idea of in our heads, then I might be swayed to listen, but in the end, we are always the ones with the power and the control of our own destinies and we should not be bestowing that upon anyone else. We should take full credit and full responsibility for our actions. In conclusion, god does not exist, thank you.
When we as humans look around us, we see a vivid world, teeming with life. We know we didn't create it all, so we often wonder "who did?". We humans evolved an ability to consciously manipulate the world around us to better suit our needs. We can mash up wheat and corn and oats and all sorts of cereal grains and make flour to which we can add water and yeast and heat and create bread. Therefore taking basic elements and creating a more complex structure, at least in our minds. Not many other animals or plants have this ability.
Given our ability to "create" it tricks our mind. We know that when we look around that the world has been going on long before we ever stepped foot on it. So that, in a sense, puts us in our place and therefore we must ponder "what came before us, and how did it get here? If not I, then, who created it?". Our relatively simple minds must have the answers in order for us to continue going about our day.
In our new super technologically advanced society, we are confronted more and more with the idea of "playing god." This concept is very interesting because we have sort of figured ourselves and our ideologies out and we don't even know it yet. What is one doing when one says he or she is "playing god?" Genetically engineering plants? Creating skin out of stem cells to help a burn victim? By "playing god" we are merely taking further control of our given environment and manipulating it on a level not previously conceived.
I feel, at least in my mind, this makes a simple connection that puts people of faith in check(mate). If by 'playing god' we are merely manipulating a very complex set of events and engineering the outcome to benefit humans. Which is sort of what "God" did for us all, right? He created the Earth and the entire cosmos out of nothingness. But now we can do that, is there no more room for god?
The idea of God is simply that of a super-human. One who has all the powers a normal human has, but given extra powers to benefit others. Think of anything god does that we humans can't do on a simpler level. God creates. God protects. God judges. God Loves. God provides. We all can do that for ourselves and others. We can't create an entire universe, but we can create a tasty green bean casserole if given the right ingredients. We shouldn't, but we do have the ability to judge. And I know many a man and many a woman who provide for their families. It's nothing unattainable.
It is not right to give thanks and praise to a God who does nothing more than a human does. And it is even more wrong to give him credit for things that humans can do without the aid of any supernatural entity. We are essentially our own Gods. Everything God does, we can pretty much understand and conjure up in our own minds. If there was something that God could do that we could not understand or even get a vague idea of in our heads, then I might be swayed to listen, but in the end, we are always the ones with the power and the control of our own destinies and we should not be bestowing that upon anyone else. We should take full credit and full responsibility for our actions. In conclusion, god does not exist, thank you.