Questions
If God exists, why is there so much suffering in the world?
Before I start there are a couple of foundations I need to begin with and which I will try to explain but I think will help with my argument.
Firstly I believe that the Aristotlelian premise ‘Society precedes the Individual’ is true. I think it is evident on the basis of our psychological makeup and can be gleaned from experience. We do naturally care about other people and society works more healthily when there is a sense of community but problems can arise when individuals act selfishly….and I believe man has the capacity to act without regard to society and can cause suffering for the following reason.
- Suffering caused by man. Man is capable of sin due to the fact he is alienated from his true nature. Marx argued that we are alienated from the essence of our species being and I would argue that we are alienated from God. We have an ego and a shadow as part of our psychological makeup, the shadow as defined by Jung I refer to as our death instinct. Our ego causes us to act out of selfishness rather than thinking rationally. It could be said that to truly think rationally is to think with integrity. To think with integrity is to be aware of one’s humanity. Humanity is the context which every individual begins their lives from but because of the ego we develop we have the freedom to do the wrong thing. We have been blessed with freedom and do not always make the right choices and this has an impact on everyone’s lives and allows for suffering.
Another important point I think I should make at this point is that ‘reason is the imprint of God within us’. Reason is what differentiates us from the other animals. This quote was made by the Christian writer Aquinas but can be understood both from a Christian and a Daoist viewpoint. Many people are aware of the idea of the Trinity in Christian theology and may have heard of the Dao, but I would argue that both these concepts can be thought of as being imprinted as human reason. Our reason is the imprint of Eternal Dao or the Trinity which can be understood as essentially the same Ultimate Force. As Gandhi wrote,
‘all religions are different paths leading to the same goal’
and this holds true with other faiths as well. What distinguishes us from other animals is our reason which is the divine within us and and our connection with our immortal souls and our true existence which needs to be developed. Asking questions such as ‘how ought I to live’? and reflecting on our existence help us develop our reason. Many choose the structure of organized religion to help them.
- Suffering not caused by man. Natural disasters etc are an example of the unknown being incorporated into the sphere of human experience and knowledge. This relates to the fact that there is material beyond the realm of human reason which it is important to be aware we may need to incorporate.
How does one account for injustice?
It is evident that based on appearances that there is gross injustice in the world but I would argue that if one thinks hard one can make sense of this injustice by trying to think of a bigger picture and building a picture of a UNIVERSAL JUSTICE which makes sense of the problem why bad things happen to good people etc and that from this perspective things can make sense. For example if a mother loses her child in infancy while her murderer next door neighbour wins the lottery, this could be seen as unjust in earthly terms but perhaps in the bigger picture of reality there will be happiness for the mother in being united with her daughter where their souls reside and the murderer will be justly rewarded for his actions. Some people criticise religion on the basis that organized religion is overtly unjust and unfair with their views on abortion/homosexuality etc but I would argue that you don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater and one does not have to associate wholesale the concepts ‘God’ or ‘religion’ with the views some religions may hold but one can find one’s own path and one does this by pursuing reason. One should attempt to be a Truth-Seeker. Organized religion does not own God.
Evolution VS Creationism
In order to have a religious viewpoint one does not need to hold onto a creationist or non-scientific belief system. One does not have to believe that the world was created in six days or that evolution is a myth. Evolution is a fact, however the mechanism of evolution is still debated. Humans evolved from ape-like ancestors whether purely by Darwin’s theory of natural selection or by another yet to be discovered. The much vilified intelligent design theory is not credible as it stands, however I think it is reasonable to consider that there is design behind evolution and that human existence is not a chance occurrence and such a stance can be perfectly compatible with scientific theory.
Humanity is the context, as I have stated so we share divine spark of reason, it is a common objective element we have as a race. The Jungian shadow is what I think Nietszche refers to as the ‘WHY which finds no answer’ in his nihilism but I would contend that the question assumes there is an answer and that is what we have to find, that is purpose. Existential nihilism is the notion that life has no intrinsic meaning or value, and I think the more realistic challenge is held by the existentialists rather than the hardcore nihilists, in believing that this is the case but we create meaning or value ourselves. I think it is safe to say it is false to believe that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated which is what hardcore nihilists believe.
Atheistic Existentialists argue we create meaning and that formally existence precedes essence. However I would argue that although Man is free, we are the product of design. Man is free to recognise meaning in reality because through the healthy use of reason, one can perceive reality as it truly is and it is the purpose of existence to recognise the sublime through understanding ourselves. Much of eastern religion can be understood through this type of thinking. Ideas such as nirvana in Buddhism and moksha in Hinduism although fundamentally different are related to recognising the sublime and a sense of understanding identity. Nihilists argue that there are no truths and nothing is of value but I think that through using our mind we can see that there are facts that we observe such as the Law of Cause and Effect or empirically things matter to us as individuals and I would argue that to disregard these facts would require an almost blind faith in the potency of nihilism which it doesn’t deserve. I believe Cause & Effect is a crucial fact and cannot be denied as it epitomises reason and this logic is the basis of human design.
There are variations on the argument from design for the existence of God on the basis there is perceived order and purpose in the Universe which I think present a strong case.
The Watchmaker argument is a famous argument. I would argue that Paley puts forward a good starting point in building an argument for the existence of God from design and possibly one can debate whether one thinks of the universe and existence as a ‘watch’ (designed) or a ‘stone’ (undersigned). I would argue that careful observation can show us that the universe is clearly a ‘watch’ through many avenues. The universal laws of motion show the ordering of the universe and the harmony of the cosmic bodies. Pantheists may argue that God is demonstrated solely through the harmony of the universe but I think that my other arguments show that there is more to God than that. The beauty and glory of nature, harmony of numbers, art, our human ability to appreciate all this demonstrate purpose and design.
Some may argue that there is no design to the universe and that our perceived ability to appreciate all this can be explained through some biological imperative which makes us no different to animals and that it is all a product of evolution but I do not think this is strictly true.
We are a product of evolution but of guided evolution and the biological imperative is complex and with our understanding is transformed into something more meaningful and significant than simply a desire to reproduce. Although the current argument for intelligent design in terms of irreducible complexity is flawed I think that evolution is guided and current evolutionary theory still has holes in it which could be explained by a more rounded intelligent design theory that accounts for our significant distinction from all other species on the planet. Humans are searching for a bigger meaning and understanding which is why we have disciplines such as philosophy and why religion can offer the possibility of solutions.
Science is an important part of human life and enters many spheres but it does not hold all the answers to the deeper questions of human existence and will not be able to solve all our problems which a sense of spirituality can help.
If God created the universe who created God?
One could counter this question by asking, if God didn’t create the universe what caused The Big Bang? I would argue that there is meaning evident in existence which suggest that the primary cause is meaningful rather than random
Why is God not actively present in creation?
In religious texts there is plenty of records of so-called miracles etc but in our so-called enlightened times there is no verifiable hard evidence of a so called miracle, so why does God not perform miracles anymore one could ask? I believe that God does still perform miracles in people’s lives but of a different nature and possibly they may be more subtle but I think it is precisely because of the times that we are living in. The parting of the red sea would have a different impact on the people in Moses’ day than it would to the people of our day as their explanations of natural phenomena would have integrated the supernatural anyway whereas it would cause a bit more of a shock to us. However God is still active in people’s lives and there is evidence of psychic phenomena, near death experiences, miraculous recoveries, ghosts etc There are many ways in which God and the transcendental realm makes itself known to us. However I belief that life is a challenge and a test and because we have free will God does not make his presence felt overtly. One has to find the answers and look for God’s presence in the world.
CONCLUSION
I believe that there is plenty of evidence for the existence of a transcendental reality or TRUTH if one searches for it and although many see this as a question of faith which to an extent it is, I think one can also come to this conclusion through an effortful extension of reason. I believe religion can be reasonable and does not simply have to reside within the scope of faith but can be pursued through a philosophical outlook rather than necessarily following the teachings of any organised religion although personally I have found wisdom in pretty much all of them. Although the world religions teach different things I have found elements in all of them which hold true. I do not believe any of them can claim right of ownership to the concept of ‘God’ but they are just different ways of understanding and getting to the truth and possibly the best way to understand it is by getting a flavour of all of them.