Archive for Pantheism

Divine Delusions

Posted in agnoticism, Atheist, belief, culture, faith, freethought, history, humanity, religion, Social, thoughts with tags , , , , , , on September 1, 2011 by chouck017894

Since the 1800s humankind has steadily gained considerably more knowledge regarding universal truths than man’s limited known history had previously recorded.  Natural phenomena that once terrorized our ancestors have been studied, their interrelationship observed and calculated, and working models based on those examinations have granted mankind a degree of forecast and control that our ancestors would have regarded as godlike.

For example, we know how hurricanes develop, how an eclipse takes place, why earthquakes occur, what the Moon and the planets are made of, how health can be threatened by bacteria and viruses, and a great wealth of similar secrets once regarded as holy mystery.  Inquisitive minds have stubbornly chosen to know, and in pursuit of knowing mankind has questioned and observed events around himself that were once attributed to a capricious god.  And those probing minds also discovered that the fear of God does not adequately serve as the beginning of creative wisdom, nor is that priest-stoked fear of the unknown a sound foundation upon which to build faith.  No longer must mankind endure the bogus authority of holy pretenders who profess explanation of natural energy interactions as being consequences of divine miracles or godly wrath which only they have been blessed with the power to interpret.

Imagining that some supernatural being is responsible for conjuring up all the actions that pummel human life has never provided the means to work with or around those natural energy actions in which we experience our relationship with the universe.  Listening to the superstitions of shamans, priests and the like has resulted only in inestimable years in which billions of persons have wept over trillions of unanswered prayers.  For all the scriptures of man’s invention, not one has ever provided mankind with a definite and clear-cut grasp of how to achieve the attributes necessary for ascension into that quality of being that is alluded to as holy wisdom—that rapture of enlightenment.  All that those hallowed texts have offered have been moral teachings, which most certainly are vital to human societies but which are actually woven upon common sense guides for sane social conduct.  There is no need for a supernatural being to tell us—through some self-appointed interpreter—not to kill, steal, rape, lie, defraud and such: that is obviously detrimental conduct if one truly aspires to achieve peaceful and creative life experiences.  Acting contrary to those common sense guidelines is demonstratively self-destructive.

The indoctrination programming of the world’s regimented faith systems have generated the bulk of blind evil that has dogged man’s history.  Belief that some supernatural being favors some particular group of people above all others, which is nothing more than mutual masturbation of ego, has fueled unending wars and inhumane conduct within a species that has more in common with each other than the imagined great abyss of differences elaborated upon by pulpit hucksters.  That these faiths all boil down to nothing more than manipulation of ego is provable in how social issues are perceived, manipulated and altered in the constant religious contests for material power.  Issues such as slavery, torture, abortion, contraceptives, sexual orientation, derogation of women, etc., etc. are not heavenly matters; they are taught human disparages used to manipulate human passions.  Only a spirit that is truly at peace with the natural diversity and plurality—which is clearly active throughout the universe—can step away from these self-serving discriminatory teachings and practices to truly approach divine wisdom.

Isn’t it time for humankind to face the fact that man’s invented faith systems are inherently dysfunctional?  When rationality is impaired by clerics who constantly belittle each other”faiths,” and their persistent indulgence in a proposition that our true identity is to be attained in a future state somewhere beyond this life span, that self-serving propaganda is not legitimate worship of Creation’s wisdom.  That is simply a means of inducing ego gratification through resorting to obsolete mythology of prejudicial and judgmental sky gods.

The creative power which is assessed as “divine” has never and will never strip itself away from the here-and-now; that power is not detached and resides somewhere “out there.”  Cause can never be removed from effect.  Take a cue from Pantheist understanding; that power continues to reside in us and in everything around us.

7 Comments »

Religious Delusions of Exclusivity

Posted in Atheist, belief, culture, faith, freethought, logic, Pantheism, random, religion, Social with tags , , , , , on February 11, 2011 by chouck017894

Since the early 1800s CE, humankind has gained considerably more knowledge regarding universal truths than man’s limited known history had previously recorded.  Natural  phenomena that once terrorized our ancestors have been studied, their interrelationship observed and calculated, and working  models based on those examinations have granted modern man a degree of forecast and control that our ancestors would have regarded as godlike.

For example, we know how hurricanes develop; how an eclipse takes place; why earthquakes occur; what the Moon and the planets are made of; how health can be threatened by bacteria and viruses; and a great wealth of similar secrets that were once regarded as holy mystery.  Inquisitive minds have stubbornly chosen to know rather than just vegetate in belief, and in pursuit of knowing mankind has questioned and observed events around himself.  And those probing minds have found that the fear of God does not adequately serve as the beginning of creative wisdom as claimed, nor is that priest-stoked fear a sound foundation upon which to build faith.  No longer must mankind endure the bogus authority of shamans, priests and theologians who pretend explanation of natural energy interactions as consequences of divine miracles which only they have been blessed with the power to interpret.

Imagining some supernatural being who conjures up all the actions that pummel human life has never provided the means to work with or around those natural energy actions in which we experience our relationship with the universe.  Listening to the superstitions of shamans, priests and theologians has resulted only in inestimable years in which billions of persons have wept over trillions of unanswered prayers.  For all the scriptures of man’s invention, not one has ever provided mankind with a definite and clear-cut grasp of how to personally achieve the attributes necessary for ascension into that quality of being that is holy wisdom.  All that those hallowed texts have offered have been moral teachings, which most certainly are vital to human societies but which are actually woven upon common sense guides for sane social conduct.  There is no need for a supernatural being to tell us—through some self-appointed interpreter—not to kill, steal, lie, defraud and such: that is obviously detrimental conduct if one aspires to achieve peaceful and creative life experiences.  Acting contrary to those common sense guides is demonstratively self-destructive.

In claiming exclusiveness to common sense guidelines, the practice of the world’s bureaucratic faith systems’ programming has generated the bulk of thoughtless evil  that has dogged man’s history.  Belief that some supernatural being favors some  group of people above others, which is nothing more than mutual masturbation of ego, has fueled unending wars and inhumane conduct within a species that has more in common with each other than the imagined unbridgeable differences.  That these faiths all boil down to nothing more than manipulation of ego is provable in how social issues are perceived, manipulated and altered over time in the constant religious contests for material power: issues such as slavery, torture, abortion, contraceptives, sexual orientation, derogation of women, etc., etc. are not heavenly matters; they are taught human indulgences used to manipulate human passion.  Only a spirit that is truly at peace with the natural diversity within the universe can step away from these discrimination practices and truly approach Creation’s wisdom. 

Isn’t it time for mankind to face the fact that man’s invented faith systems are inherently dysfunctional?  When rationality is impaired by clerics belittling each other’s “faiths” and their indulgence in a proposition that our true identity is somewhere else beyond this awareness of self, that is not legitimate worship of Creation’s wisdom.  That is simply indulgence in obsolete mythology of prejudicial and judgmental sky gods.

The creative power which is assessed as “divine” can never be stripped from the here-and-now; that power is not detached and exists somewhere “out there.”  Take a cue from Pantheist understanding; that power continues to reside in everything.

1 Comment »

Natural Equality

Posted in Atheism, Atheist, belief, Christianity, culture, faith, history, humanity, life, Pantheism, random, religion with tags , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2009 by chouck017894

Religious pretentiousness has the self-delusional habit of refusing to recognize that humankind is but one species of mammal.  The eagerness to disassociate themselves from our distant relatives has inspired apprehensive men to invent convoluted notions of superiority and then practice that misconception as a religious truth. 

In the practice of organized religions the natural equality of all life is categorically denied—even though it is an equality that is easily proved by the chromosomal elements that all life forms share in common.  And herein is exposed a vital clue in solving the reason for the conflicts and bloody failures of organized religions—especially the western versions of “holy” truth.

Mammals vie for territory: it is the means of self-survival and species continuation.  And that territorial drive is reflected in the human clustering habit practiced as religion which, by extension, accounts for their attempts to impose themselves upon other through proselytizing.  Notions of spiritual exclusiveness are in direct opposition to experiencing life in concert with reason; that is to say, mutual respect.  Instead, all of man’s organized religions choose to concentrate on differences and magnifying them into gross distortions that continually attack and weaken the quality of man’s higher potential.

There have been great minds in the past, however, that have championed a deeper, more bonding understanding of man’s potential.  Unfortunately, wisdom is seen as a threat to a large segment of our species and so they are easily distracted and stampeded by the braying of fools that tell them they have elite status elsewhere.

The insolence and contempt for others that is often practiced today as religious “truth” has much in common with a school of philosophers known as Cynics founded by a  pupil of  Socrates named Antisthenes (144-375?  BCE).  The general attitude of the Cynics was to view everything in the external material world about them with contempt.  The nobler Stoic philosphy developed out of this in Athens around 300 BCE, and was introduced into Rome around 100 BCE by the Stoic philosopher Panaetius of Rhodes.  Panaetius had considerable influence on a literary group in Rome, and through them influenced Roman thought, especially regarding moral duties which served as basis for Cicero’s De Officiis.

Stoicism’s most distinctive aspect was in the attribute that we may evaluate as cosmopolitanism—the  sophisticated understanding that all men are manifestations of one universal spirit.  In that understanding the Stoics stressed living in brotherly love and readily helping one another.  Wealth and rank were recognized by the Stoics as purely external and transient, and therefore such things were regarded as virtually meaningless in social relationships.  Thus stressed was the recognition of the natural equality of all human beings—a wisdom that is sorely lacking in the three militantly organized religions that developed to distort the consciousness of the western world.

Stoicism prevailed widely in the classic Roman world, with metaphysics and pantheistic materialism being part of its ethics.  Material matter was regarded as passive (subject to man’s management) and was distinguished from the cosmic, animating principle that is active as life.  That sustaining energy-link out of that life principle was understood as constituting what religions refer to as ones soul.  The ideal followed by the Stoics was that man’s superiority does not lie in external objects, but exists in the state of ones soul.  Thus living in accordance with reason was expressed in the Stoic’s four cardinal virtues of–wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance.  This  reasonable approach honored in Stoic philosophy played a major role in Roman jurisprudence.

It is a historical fact, therefore, that well before the advent of Christianity, Stoicism accepted life’s unity (or natural equality) and believed in the brotherhood of man—a tenet often praised in Christian adherence but haphazardly practiced. 

 That means that unlike Judaism, Christianity or Islam, the Stoics never pretended to be the especial darlings of the creative power.  Untroubled with rationality, Judaism, Christianity and Islam nonchalantly trampled underfoot any genuine thought to Natural Equality.

1 Comment »

The Stringy Coil of Life

Posted in culture, life, Middle Ages,, nature, prehistory, random, religion, science with tags , , , , , , , , , , on July 1, 2009 by chouck017894

In the distant past, around 300 million years ago, the determinants of life consisted of identical chromosomes carried within an ancestral mammal-like creature.  Then some energy infusion caused the identical chromosomes to mutate and diverge as the X and Y chromosomes.  These were to set the destiny for life-form variations.  In other words, the sex method of creature reproduction evolved.  In biblical myth this is Eve being carved out of the side of Adam.  There is nothing sacred initiated with this mutation of the long, stringy masses of genes that convey heredity information.

In the conception of physical life there is, in a sense, a reenactment in miniature of the continuous action of Creation.  In human development, when the male spermatozoon comes into contact with the female pro-nucleus, they fuse and form a new nucleus that contains both male and female elements.  This nucleus is known as the blastosphere.  The first result of fertilization is the division of the ovum.  These two parts then continue dividing and initiate protoplasm development—the energy-substance from which potential life may collect as form.  A fascinating aspect of this division is that two separate masses of protoplasm are established, each containing a nucleus and with the same energy composition but slightly unequal in size.  The segmentation of each mass of protoplasm then develops differently!

The slightly larger cellular mass is more pallid than the other, and after the two cells have subdivided three or four times the rate of cleavage in the cells of the paler mass becomes more rapid than the cells of the other protoplasm mass.  These paler cells have a tendency to spread over and enclose the cells of the other protoplasm mass, and by the ninth or tenth division an external layer of pale cells enclose the mass of slightly smaller, less numerous, more opaque cells.

This is an extremely simplified version of earliest life-form inception, but it shows that the process of fetal development follows the same principles that account for development of everything in Creation.  This energy is the likeness spoken of in Genesis 1:26, “…Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…”

That “likeness” is conveyed through 92 different chemical elements and it is through chemical evolution that the multitude of compounds necessary for biological life are generated.  The ineffectual religious interpretation of this is to characterize the defining action that takes place through an amoral chemical process as the “will of God.”  (Amoral does not mean immoral: it is something more akin to indifferent.)

The “soul” and its link to matter-life has been a constant and nagging problem for theologians for over a millennium.  The Roman Catholic Church, for example, reached a theological conclusion that the soul of a human “…is created and united by God to the infant body yet unborn, which union is called passive conception.”  This theological circumvention of elucidation brought the Church “fathers” considerable anguish and perplexity since its medieval time of  institution, for if God unites the soul “to an infant body yet unborn,” then how are they to account for all the infants that the church considers to be “illegitimate”?

The catch-22 to this self-mortifying quandary is that if, as the church insists, God is morally loath to fornication then how is it that he indulges himself in “passive conception” of infants shunned by the church?  This sticky theological puzzle has never been blessed with a sane answer because the religiously disoriented refuse to accept amoral biological facts.  Instead the religious business machines choose to portray this chemical action as the result of some moral being who “passively conceives” in a manner that can only be politely termed as unrestrained.

And because this theologically inspired superstition does not provide any information of just when or at what stage God supposedly unites the soul (self-awareness) to the infant body yet unborn, the church is obliged to condemn abortion of non-conscious energy-substance at any stage of its evolutionary transformation in a chemical base.  So unrealistic is this view of the biological process of life that even preventing conception is condemned!  Of course all this “revealed wisdom” was postulated in the Dark Ages by male-only think-tank members known as the clergy.

The more ancient nature-based faiths were more scientifically astute and positively pro-life than have been the hierarchical, militaristic, and tyrannical religions of the western world through the last two/three millennia.  The degraded and maligned Pagan wisdom understood properly that the microcosm reflects the macrocosm, and all creation principles apply at every level—even in the situations in which individual life forms begin to manifest.   As in the manifestation of other matter-forms throughout the universe, until a definable prototypal form is energized it is simply substance which holds only the potential for matter development.  Human gestation was recognized to mimic these creation principles, so if they pondered over the when or at what stage self-awareness begins to evolve they would be instructed that it is not until the fourth month that a very imprecise awareness as self  is initiated.  It is at this stage of energy involvement, as an example, that sexual polarity is tentatively determined.  Once the developing energy-mass begins to take on unquestionable sexual identity, the will of life can be said to have been taken up.  Even so, the brain, where self-awareness guides the consciousness of life, is not even fully assembled until months after the infant body takes it first breath of life.  Indeed, the brain then grows to half its adult size by the age of six months, and this accelerated brain growth happens only once in life.

See also earlier postings, God Forgot to Say, March 28,2009; The Code of Life, April 1, 2009: RNA/DNA’s Covenant with Life, April 18; What’s in a Name?, April 26.                    The bulk of the above information is taken from The Celestial Scriptures, page 396, regarding lessons of life taught using constellation figures as a subject’s focus.

 

3 Comments »

Religion, Nature and Sex

Posted in Atheist, Bible, biological traits, Christianity, culture, freethought, humanity, life, meaning of life, naturalism, random, religion, sex taboos with tags , , , , , , , on June 4, 2009 by chouck017894

The three organized religions of the western world—Judaism, Christianity, Islam—have been cultivated upon a strong sense of man’s superiority to nature, provoking in that ego-centered illusion the attitude that in nature’s diversity dwells the contamination of evil.  Western organized religions are not exactly philosphies of life: they are philosphies of otherworldly speculations.  To pass judgment upon nature from such an arid obsession is to assure failure across all human relationships, for such judgment is an assault upon the pulse of nature within each of us which reflects the spontaneity that is creation.

This negative approach to understanding the energy-activity in which we have our existence has resulted in millennia of needless emotional turmoil to strongly and negatively color the most intense and dramatic way that human relationships can be expressed: sex.   Thus, in our western cultures where humans are taught to feel isolated from nature, the diabolical result is that individuals will react in squeamishness at sexual attraction or even to devoted relationships.  Christianity with its anti-sex “saints” such as Augustine and Jerome fanning unnatural guilt about passion and attraction have not served as the shepherds of inner peace and contentment.  The natural result of pretending to be above or apart from nature is that the organic spontaneity of sexual attraction gets enthroned as forbidden treasure.

When the interacting energies that manifest as nature are assessed as inferior or contaminated with evil, our biological selves react by hoarding attraction and passion in a corner of consciousness to churn there with mental turmoil spoken of as sex on the brain.  This negative religious approach to nature and sexual attraction has never allowed a philosphy of life to be integrated with the belief in creative intelligence.  Instead of recognizing sexual attraction as a means of spiritual exchange between persons, western religions have installed a formula of prohibitions that reject such attraction as “animal.”  Nonetheless, the human physical being is a mammal, a manimal if you will, that has been taught by negative religious interpretations to think that personal ego reflects universal favor.

An example of grudging toleration that western religions extend to sexual attraction is shown in 1 Corinthians 7, where the implication is that marriage is solely for the purpose of avoiding the greater “sin” of being sexually attracted to more than one.  The  preferred conduct for  man, according to verse 1, says, “…It is good for a man not to touch a woman.”  The unlikelihood of that gets summed up in verse 9 as “…if they cannot contain, let them marry; for it is better to marry than to burn.”  By that statement it would seem that marriage is not exactly a holy sacrament but a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card.

There is, conversely, in verse 7 of chapter 7 of Corinthians, also a sly nod to nature’s diverse expressons that are present and active within man.  There it is ackknoledged, “But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.”

Strangely, the gay community has neglected to utilize this statement of one’s “proper gift” as defense when the homophobes spout select biblical verses to justify their bigotry.

 

Leave a comment »

RNA/DNA’s Covenant with Life

Posted in Bible, biological traits, culture, naturalism, random, religion, science with tags , , , , on April 18, 2009 by chouck017894

The claim of “covenant” with God is one of the fundamental theological motifs of Hebrew and Christian scriptures. The political spirituality that is suggested in too many scriptural situations very often have a hollow echo of priestly fabrication. On the other hand, the principle emphasis that is placed upon God’s alleged covenant with the Israelite people—i.e. the promised descendants of Abraham and Sarah—may be allusion to the properties through which life arises. In a very real sense, Abraham and Sarah can be said to serve as personifications of the characteristics of DNA and RNA.

As primal energies involve in accordance to the covenant held with the Life Principle—which may be said to be active as RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) with DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) in the blue print of life—all manifestations of life follow the identical creative process into physical manifestation. All vertebrates (animals with backbones) evolved from a common ancestor: the genetic information that determines their development is virtually the same. Even human fetal development confirms the unity that exists between all life forms, for the primary stage of the human embryo development reveals visible indications of gills to be present in the potential life form. These are rapidly modified, however, as energies involve according to the covenant with the Life Principle—the covenant made manifest as the RNA with the DNA blueprint of life. These are the “laws” of life which determine the name of the thing.

The brief and rapidly changing embryonic resemblance to other life forms is, typically, shrugged off by science as only superficial in appearance. Nonetheless, it affirms that all life issues from one source, but embryos diverge in their gestation early-on to involve along separate genetic paths. This really is not something to shrug off as superficial!

As energy-substances involve with purpose it is, figuratively speaking, baptized in the waters of creation and is given its name (physical identity). This accounts for the biblical assertion that to know the name of a thing or person is to possess special power, for it identifies the form by its limitations.

There are only preliminary specifications set down in the DNA, and in the creative process there is always an avoidance of unnecessary extravagance. The physical organ of the brain, one of the marvel-constructions of genetic power, is an excellent example in avoidance of creative excess for it is assembled from a narrow spectrum of genetic material. Brain activity (and heartbeat) begins about the sixth week. The entire physical body of every living person is composed of only about one hundred-thousand genes, and yet out of this relatively small amount of genes the brain is forged which has in excess of one hundred trillion-trillion nerve cells! And each nerve cell may, in turn, form as many as ten thousand connections with its neighbor cells! In face of these figures there seems to be a vast discerpancy between the low number of genes and the astronomical number of nerve cell connections.

That we each issue out of quantum reality is testified by the energy out of which we are made manifest. The active principle that we speak of as “life” has no weight and no limited dimension, and yet that principle holds within it the presence and potential of every living and inanimate thing. That awesome power exists from the greatest manifest matter-forms even into the most microscopic limits where transparent, almost invisible protoplasm twists and wiggles with proto-life. That quantum-like power is incomprehensible, for if all genes responsible for all the people living in the world could be collected in one container there would be less than a thimbleful!

Leave a comment »

Diversity = Salvation

Posted in Atheist, freethought, religion with tags , , , on April 2, 2009 by chouck017894

The world today is troubled by societies and cultures that are influenced not by a passion for Truth but by man-conceived religious practices that attempt to herd everyone into servitude through indoctrinization, strict rites and rituals, and rigid regimentation. The hallmarks of such religious posturing are seen in the heavy indulgence in fault-finding, finger-pointing, name-calling, and passing judgment upon anyone unlike themselves. Thus everyone lives with a sense of intimidation and all are discouraged from celebrating their personal unique perspective of life.

Along with this contrived approach to spirit, these regimented and theatrical faith systems exhibit a shocking ignorance of our place and purpose in the universe, which has in turn encouraged a shameful disregard for nature, and by extension disregard for the welfare of our little planet.  Instead what is claimed is that man has “dominion” over nature.

There has been displayed, in fact, a deep contempt for nature in highly organized religions, and they continue to insist that there can be no deviation from their narrow man-conceived ideologies. These faith systems fail to acknowledge the respect that the universe holds for diversity. Earth, the very planet that these institutionalized religions seek to constrain with their prejudices is itself the glowing example that disproves the hard-line notions used to manipulate people.

Consider: In the solar system family lineup, Earth is the unique one, the deviant one, the self-expressed rebel, and the sole refuge of intelligent life.

The real salvation of life–as we know it at least–is the one planet that is quite unlike all the rest of the planets in the solar system. This fact is glaringly at odds with the doctrines, dogmas, discriminations and principles of organized hard-line religions that attempt to bludgeon everyone into cookie cutter sameness. What this attests to is that the intention and the necessity within creation is for diverse ways and life expressions so that life may develop with higher potential. In short, diversity and variation of life expression should be recognized as the second law of Creation (the first being unlimited abundance)— for any “salvation” of genuine spiritual value rests solely in the freedom to express personal uniqueness without shame.

4 Comments »

Code of Life

Posted in biological traits, freethought with tags , , , , , , , , on April 1, 2009 by chouck017894

The social definition of “race,” from a scientific standpoint, is little more than a reference to an optical illusion. The habit of assigning groups of persons bearing various physical features such as skin color, facial features, texture of hair, and even skeletal build into categories came into scientific use in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Unfortunately, this method of classification to the average person brought with it the erroneous implication that such physical differences indicated that there could be no unifying factor.

 
Not surprisingly, categorizing the human species in this manner became a standard by which self-absorbed people could indulge themselves with concepts of purity that allowed them to exclude those who did not mirror their imagined superiority.   This, of course, further stoked the fires of hatred, prejudice, discrimination, intolerance–i.e. all the ignoble practices that diminish the innate dignity of man.

 
Although categorization has been convenient in various forms of study–forensic anthropology for example–the category method of study of the human species does not alter the fact that there is absolutely no genetic basis for racial classification. Indeed, public interest in tracing their personal ancestry has revealed through DNA research that race as a scientific classification does not compute!  Through DNA analysis scores of persons who had believed themselves to be of one unblemished “race” were startled to discover that they embodied considerably more than appearances seemed to present.

 
DNA research has shown from samples obtained from indigenous groups worldwide that all peoples are, regardless of appearances, actually interrelated. In other words, ancestry is much more than perceptible biological indicators, for biological traits are amendable and adaptive. Everyone’s background includes ancestors who at one time or another had to adapt to their environment and extreme climatic changes, all of which would have influenced gene modification.

 
There is much left to learn about DNA and how genetics of a biological attribute may have evolved. There is such a miniscule portion of DNA that has produced all the morphological differences that account for our species’ diversity that we speak of as the “races,” and yet we all have within us a common active denominator.


Is that denominator what people fight over as the personality that they imagine to be “God”? If so, isn’t science the method used by that creative force for dispensing genuine revealed wisdom?

4 Comments »