The Illusion of the Morning Sky

We look up at the morning sky and it is like a ceiling. It contains us. It feels like Mother Earth is holding us close to her breast. We feel comfortable and safe. Our ancestors were uncertain as to what was on the other side of the sky. At night they saw all kinds of things and struggled to explain it such that it fit with what they saw. Could they ever imagine the truth?

It was easier to imagine some kind of heaven above that “majestical roof”, as Shakespeare called it. “That brave o’re hanging firmament.” “Laden with Golden Fire”. I couldn’t have said it better myself. What is above that ceiling? The Attic? That was the stage upon which the less enlightened ancestors saw it all unfold before them on. I don’t blame them for getting it wrong. They didn’t have the tools, or perhaps the imagination, to find the truth back then. Add to that the politics of religion. To control the unruly masses something very much bigger than themselves had to be held over them. We were one church service away from being barbarians, from the religious leaders point of view. I’m not sure we weren’t. Wouldn’t it be convenient if there was an all powerful mysterious being that controlled our existence after we left this plain of existence? Heaven was his domain. We can’t know his plan. He is the Creator. How did he do it all? Well, let’s make him all powerful. That explains away just about all the loose ends, of which, at the time, there were many.

Not all the loose ends have been more reasonably filled in since then. However, most of the important ones have. I am amazed that I get to live right at this time of profound discovery and enlightenment. Now we are down to just a few big questions. The very very beginning is still a little sketchy, to say the least. What IS at the bottom of a black hole? Is there a bottom, or “the other side”? If we knew that, what else would we then know? What does this new perspective mean to beliefs that are up to 6000 years old? We better figure it out!

Before anybody is allowed to have inviolate beliefs some reality had better be included. Certainly the church has learned its lesson by now! Can we, in good conscience, allow ourselves to be in denial over simple facts? You can have Faith, but wouldn’t your faith be that much stronger if it were actually based in truth? It is hard for me to imagine an argument against this. Is denial some kind of badge of honor to prove your faith? God is not the Wizard of Oz. We are allowed to look behind the curtain, when whoever is back there is not a charlatan. There are many reasons to hide behind a curtain, but very few of them are good reasons. Eventually we grow up enough to be able to handle taking a peek. We develop the means to look. We understand what the curtain is and what it is for. Our sky protects us from the harsh radiation of space, but we have managed to go to the other side of it. There is at least one more curtain we have to get to the other side of.

Is Religion Good or Bad?

Very early in human history humans were extraordinarily ignorant. We have been gaining knowledge, exponentially as of late, and yet religion, as it has been practiced for the last 2000 to 6000 years, has stagnated horribly into a political tool. (not that it mostly was ever anything else) IF ANY religion showed the slightest hint at taking new knowledge into the belief system it would not only get my attention, but might blow me away. The unwritten law of TRADITION that seems to pervade most religions is employed as an inherent system of control and the stifling of reality. Very very sad indeed. Old knowledge is one thing. Old myth is another thing entirely. All religions that are of the Sons of Abraham, at this point in human history, are deeply and inherently flawed. Just as a human needs to grow, I would expect that the belief in God should be the VERY FIRST THING to grow, to evolve, to expand and to develop as our intelligence, knowledge and understanding of Creation grows. That has, simply put, NOT BEEN THE CASE!! So far, there is enough we don't know, that does not preclude the possible existence of God. Maybe he does, Maybe he doesn't. We don't know. However, 13.7 billion years later, and a million million miracles later, here we are; humans, who think, and can conceive and wonder. Whatever you believe you have to acknowledge the spirituality and wonderment of such a thing. I can believe that a God might exist, in that context. As there is no "proof" that he does exist, it leaves a lot of room for doubt, however, there is no proof he doesn't exist either. The existence of the universe, and US in it, gives one pause though. Humans seem to need Religion. Humans seem to need politics. I wish we could keep them completely separate. That does not seem to happen in actual practice. Too bad. So to answer the original question: Religion, as it is currently practiced as a whole IS BAD!!! Do we need it? Collectively, yes. I just wish there was a religion in existence worth our following. If you don't believe in God, that does not get you off the hook, by the way. Look around. The Universe is BIG and demands attention. It is real. Believe in THAT!!!! Worship our very existence in it. Worship the fact you are alive and part of a sociological phenomenon. There is NOTHING to question in that. There is no other proof needed for that. THAT is reality. THAT is worthy. Maybe religion will step up.