God as a Figment of the Human Imagination

Author of the Evolution of God, Robert Wright, was a guest on Bill Moyer's Journal last night. Shortly into the discussion, Moyers asked, "So, did god begin as a figment of the human imagination?" Wright answered, " I would say so."

Well, that's no great revelation. Most of us figured that out long ago, after we took a second look at all of the nonsense in the Bible. Wright goes on to explain to Moyers that he feels that the human brain is not capable of understanding the principle of god other than some being like us only bigger and more powerful- on the order of Superman. He says, "In my earlier writings about evolutionary psychology, one thing that became clear to me is that the human mind is not designed to perceive ultimate truth or even truth in a very broad sense. I mean, the human mind was designed by natural selection to get genes into the next generation. To do some things that help you do that like eat and reproduce. And as quantum physics has shown us you know, in highlighting our inability to think clearly, even about things like electrons. The human mind is not designed to perceive truth that go beyond this narrow part of the material world."

It's all about our dinky brains.

Regarding the title of the book, The Evolution of God, Wright says, "the god that is believed in now, first of all, assumes many different forms, even among believers. I mean, the difference between the god I was brought up with in Southern Baptist church and the way god would be conceived by an Anglican priest or something, you know, are very different. And similarly, there's been change over time. And the fact that god can adapt does account for his longevity. And also, at crucial points during that evolution, he acquired features that have proved very attractive."

An adaptable god, able to alter features to become more attractive seems to suggest what rock stars [read Michael Jackson] are able to do. Wright identifies the church doctrine of individual salvation of an eternal afterlife as a tremendous sales-pitch which snagged millions of people in its net. Reminds me of the pitch-man, Billy Mays: 'But wait!"

"The god that I show evolving is undergoing a process very analogous to natural selection. You know? New traits arise, and if they succeed in enhancing the power of the god, by, for example attracting new believers then they remain. And if they don't work for one reason or another, they fall by the wayside. So, god has evolved very much the way, you know, human organism evolved through natural selection, yes." Wright notes that god 'acquired' the traits from different religions; from the Egyptians, god promised an 'after-life' to which Christians are so enamored.

[As an aside, while typing this, I can envision a few of the christian fundamentalists who regularly scour my blog, gasping and reaching for their well-worn Bible, falling on their knees to deny that their eyes ever read such blasphemous words! A double dose of fluvoxamine, stat!]

Wright tells of his 'conversion' to Jesus at age 9 and the 'trouble' that ensued. "I went up to the front of the church and accepted Jesus and was baptized some weeks later. And, you know, and then I encountered the theory of evolution and I had come from a Creationist environment, so that was a kind of irreconcilable threat to my faith. And the theory of natural selection seemed very compelling to me. And my parents even brought a Southern Baptist minister over to the house at one point when I was high school to try to convince me that evolution had not happened. And it didn't work."

He was saved! Praise Isis!

The associated 'guilt' however is long-lasting. He says, "I'll tell you one thing I have not lost is I've never lost the sense that I'm being judged by a being. I mean you know, it's a powerful-- if you're brought up believing that a god is watching you, it's a powerfully ingrained thing."

Guilt. Nothing like a dose of that to keep the 'faithful' in line. Fundamentalists carry it round in a spray bottle in their purses and frequently use it on themselves and on those whom they know 'need it.' I must have evolved a super guilt shield because guilt rolls off of me like water off of a duck in a lake.

Praise Mithra!

Wright closes with a phrase that ought to resonate with a large number of people; he refers to 'a moral axis to the universe.'

[end of Part 1]

GOP Math Deficiency

One trillion, 4.5 billion or 6 thousand? Does it make any difference? Good old arithmetic. How many zeroes? Where do I put the commas?

The GOP these days is a queer lot both figuratively and factually. An odd conglomeration of divergent groups of white people who come together every two and four years to vote. The conglomerate sedimentary rock above, shaped like a turtle shell, might be a great graphic representation of today's Republican Party. I'm quite sure that there is some 'Luddite' mixed in with this assemblage of odd sludge.

I spent the day yesterday at a post-glacial lake formed 12,000 years ago during the last glacial ravage in what is now known as The Irish Hills of southeastern Michigan. The Wisconsinan Glacier, named for the state, slowly retreated northward leaving much debris in its melt. Some were mounded conglomerate deposits known as recessional moraines, others beach ridges of mostly sand. Still others were deposit-covered glaciers which slowly melted forming bowls which subsequently filled with water- the lakes of the Irish Hills.

While slowly putting around the lake on a pontoon boat, conversation turned to those funny fundamentalists- always good for a belly laugh at any occasion, and even more-so after a glass of wine or two. "How old is this lake?" I asked? Without hesitation, someone quipped, "Six thousand years!" "Exactly!" I replied, and we all chuckled, knowing that there were millions of Americans who date all earth events from that date, as implied in the Bible.

I was wondering, as the laughter subsided, whether there were any fundamentalist bodies wallowing in these same waters, ignorant of the mass of scientific data on the origins not only of these glacial formations and the earth itself. Enough geology; back to math.

Many Republican members of Congress have stood at the House and Senate microphones denigrating the so-called Obama Health Care proposal, putting special emphasis on the cost of such a bill. They enjoy mouthing the word, 'trillions,' as if it gives their tongue a special tickle upon leaving their mouth. It is oft-repeated during the harangue for emphasis.

They know their 'trillions', but have trouble with 'billions.' To be more precise, 4.5 billion, the estimated age of the earth. Those conservative christian and fiscally anal Republicans like the fluff of 6,000 rather than the hard fact of 4.5 billion. What's up with that?

Well, not much is up with them except the same old obfuscation, spin and other deviant practices that they have exhibited for the past two decades. At least, if nothing else, they can lighten the spirit with a good belly laugh.

Equalizing Black and White Justice

"We're gonna do this crack cocaine thing." Alabama Senator Jeffery Sessions, yesterday. Then he clarified, "We're gonna reduce the burden of crack cocaine cases and make them fair."

'This crack cocaine thing' refers to the long-standing unequal conviction and sentencing laws for powdered vs. crack cocaine- an obvious racial imbalance. Whites prefer powdered cocaine which carries more lenient sentencing guidelines than the black-preferred crack.

We're gonna get it done. Seems it takes a while for GOP congressmen to 'get it' as they prefer to roll around in the muck quite a while before moving towards equality under the law. I suppose it 'teaches' them coloreds that freedom really isn't free unless your skin is lacks melanin. Keeps them from getting too uppity, you know. If you let them have an inch, you know that pretty soon, they'll want to move into your neighborhood!

Best not act too fast. You all know what I'm gett'n at, don't ya?

Those Weeny Southern Senators

Ain't it a hoot watching the confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor? There she sits with all of her feminine, brown-skinned essence with those weeny white southern senators haranguing her with their pompous righteousness dripping from their good ole boy mouths.

It must be frightening, not for Judge Sotomayor, but for the white boys to realize that one more 'colored' person will soon be at the highest levels of our government. Where did 'their' America go! Why can't we go back to the good old days when this nation was run by white men?

Change is tough, especially for weeny men, stuck in permanent adolescence, who are unsure of their own place in this world. I'll bet that right-wing radio has been an unusually malevolent fart-hole these past two days, with the usual group-think dittoheads getting their daily 'fix' of hate.

Weeny men, ne’er-do-wells with low self-esteem, who denigrate others so that they feel better about their own crappy lives, must these days be more and more angry and fearful about their future. A black president, a black attorney general, a Latino Supreme Court Justice, a black Surgeon General must curdle their inners. Is spouse-abuse on the rise? Physical and verbal abuse of children? Road rage?

Too bad that so many American men get stuck in adolescence and never advance to fully-functioning and caring adult men. I wonder if they even know how that they are stuck there? It wouldn't matter anyhow, because they wouldn't have the chutzpah to honestly look into the mirror of truth. No, they would rather wear their mask and angrily plod through the rest of life, blaming everybody else for their perceived miserable life.

Meanwhile, the rest of us go about our adult lives making the best of the challenges and joys of life.

Creation Museum Science Fair

Yes, you read that correctly, although your laughter may have obscured the seriousness of this event. The photo at right is from the First Baptist Church of Wheeling when their church had 'fun' riding the dinosaurs, just like Adam and Noah did 6000 years ago. Adam saddled up Ole Dino to do the plowing after The Fall. Noah was lucky enough to have a breeding pair aboard the ark and used these beasts of burden to build his God-fearing new world atop the mountain.

The children of scientists need not apply, however, because there are strict, religious rules. Mother Jones details some of the most stringent:

Next February, Cincinnati's Creation Museum will hold a science fair for budding creationists. All students in grades 7-12 are encouraged to apply, provided they agree with Answers in Genesis' Statement of Faith, which includes the following items:

• The account of origins presented in Genesis is a simple but factual presentation of actual events and therefore provides a reliable framework for scientific research into the question of the origin and history of life, mankind, the Earth and the universe.

• The various original life-forms (kinds), including mankind, were made by direct creative acts of God. The living descendants of any of the original kinds (apart from man) may represent more than one species today, reflecting the genetic potential within the original kind. Only limited biological changes (including mutational deterioration) have occurred naturally within each kind since Creation.

• The great Flood of Genesis was an actual historic event, worldwide (global) in its extent and effect.

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The paradox of a fantasy-land such as The Creation Museum and such strict 'rules' for participation is bizarre. But then, the word bizarre is a perfect description for the folks who see this museum as reality-land.

Dick in Orange

Although the picture at right is a fake, It will be just a matter of time, now, when Dick 'Dick' Cheney's arrest warrant is served. Yesterday we learned that Cheney ordered a subversive spy program after 9/11, so secret that Congress did not even know that it existed. CIA director Panetta ended the program last month. At the direction of the then-vice president, Congress was not notified of a highly classified counter-terrorism program for eight years. By law, the CIA is required to make sure that congressional committees are "kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity."

By law...

Obviously, Mr. Cheney figured that he was above the law of this nation, much as in the pattern of a dictator of some two-bit banana republic. In Cheney's world, 'The law' only applies to those below the Executive Branch. The law is for the peons, the grunts because, after all, what do THEY know about how to run a government?

With his bad heart, I'm sure that he'd die before any trial or before his public hanging. Either way, this nation will have learned an important lesson on governance and the Constitution- at least until the next deviant comes to power.

Religiousless Christianity

Two books bring a raw Jesus, devoid of myth and legend to the Christian who has been wondering where Jesus is in his or her church. This Jesus is a fully-functioning and caring human who did not zoom down from the sky and who did not zip back 'home' after his 33-year visit. He was not from God, but of God. No miracles, no voodoo, no rising from the dead. Rather, a most perfect example of how a person ought to 'do' life.

The Future of Christianity: Can It Survive? by biblical scholar Arthur J. Bellinzoni is an assessment of the state of Christianity in which he advocates a radical rethinking of the

Christian message.

In the Amazon review of the book, it says: "Addressing four issues of central concern, Bellinzoni advocates a radical rethinking of the Christian message. First, he suggests that the God concept must move beyond obsolete notions of a personal God and take its inspiration from such diverse sources as science, Taoism, Moses, Thomas Jefferson, and Martin Buber. Second, Bellinzoni urges a more sophisticated approach to the Bible, one that values its timeless elements but is not afraid to discard its many antiquated features. Third, he recommends a new emphasis on Jesus’ social ethic, arguing that this could lead to a dramatic redistribution of the world’s wealth and greater respect for the planet. Fourth, Bellinzoni criticizes the persistence of obsolete myth in Christianity, demonstrating that, without its mythical embellishments, Christianity still offers a relevant understanding of the meaning of human existence."

Surely the fundamentalist christian's underpants became knotted at those 4 statements, but then, who really cares about those believer-heads? Trimming the 'obsolete myth' ought to reveal a more genuine human being capable of much greater credulity. His ex-hocus-pocus image will no doubt be much more appealing and believable.

"Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus" by Robin Meyers is another book that wishes to strip the divinity myth from Jesus and look at Jesus as Teacher, not Savior. The Library Review says of the book and author, "in strong contrast to much of Far Right Protestantism, pastor/NPR commentator Meyers (philosophy, Oklahoma City Univ.) suggests with typical elegance that a recovery of true Christianity emphasizes compassion over condemnation, blessing over sin, and equity over individual prosperity. Highly recommended."

How will Christian churches survive this purge? Will they hold fast and blast these new authors with their canons of excommunication? Will they, like the Grand and Glorious Wizard of Oz try to scare literal Hell out of [or into] reformers such as these? Like Toto, the curtain on the shysters of the church has been pulled open for all to see. The scheme has been exposed and a new and refreshing light now is exposing those dark and stuffy dungeons where 'the truth' has been hidden for thousands of years. Jesus, the man, is being freed from his tomb deep in the vaults of the church.

Will we recognize him without all of the cinematographic effects? Without the razzle-dazzle? Void of tricks and miracles? Will we be able to embrace him as a man, hug him as a human just like us?

Comfortable in the Mergingue

I presented the idea that the Christian churches ought to delete much of the dogma, statements of creed, and other fluff that they have foisted on the faithful all of these centuries, but the assembled group balked. They were not ready to pull off their churchy masks and admit that they have been hoodwinked by 'their' church for two thousand years. Apparently, it is too comfortable staying with the present program.

As my wife and I are the youngest couple in the group, I wonder if these older folks are not willing to risk gambling with their beliefs at this time in their life. Better not to question too much or one's ticket to Heaven might be invalidated.

Rather, we will discuss the book, The Tents of Abraham, a look at the three Abrahamic religions through the lens of a Jew, a Muslim and and Christian. I suspect that it will be a boring and fairly useless exercise because the premise of it all is based on a tribal deity who is the subject of a midrash. It has as much credibility as Rumpelstiltskin. Susa, the Elamite god of the 2nd millenneum BCE, pictured above, may have more 'substance' than Abraham.

And so, the rest of the summer will find me yawning and dozing while purportedly enjoying the fairy tale adventures of that wandering nomad and epic hero of Judaism. Ulysses, either by Virgil or Joyce, would clearly be a more interesting read.

Pulling the Meringue Out From Under Their Feet

I love a good meringue, especially on a tart lemon pie. Fluffy whipped egg whites, air and sugar. Like cotton candy, lots of fluff, no substance. Just a tongue treat leading to a sugar crash.

Such is the stuff of religion.

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about the topic of religiosity. On Friday, I must present a topic for discussion in our book club. As a neophyte in the group, I am cautious about stomping on feet, especially of those who I do not know too well.

It is a 'church' group but not all attend the same one. From the first two meetings I've gleaned that the people are on the liberal side of Christianity yet that is not an invitation to pull the meringue out from under their feet. Not yet, at least. They are good people and are generally 5 years my superior. I was taught to respect my elders. I also know when not to pull a mask off of one's face lest they be left mortally exposed.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran pastor, executed by the Nazis during the Resistance, suggested that perhaps it was time for a 'religionless Christianity.' Swell idea. I conjure up the idea of a simple painting by an artistic master to which layers of 'additions' have been added by pseudo-artisans, rendering the original unrecognizable. Two thousand years of 'stuff' and 'fluff' has been heaped upon The Christ as manifested in Jesus of Nazareth such that his image, his words and ideas are nearly obliterated.

How a religionless Christianity would be manifested is a difficult concept to muse upon as one immediately conjures 'churchy' thoughts. Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong ran with Bonhoeffer's idea when, in 2007, he wrote "Jesus for the Non-Religious." Spong laments [mild word indeed] the doctrines of conservative Christianity which have given rise to the religious anger that fuels the hatred of women, homosexuals, and non-believers in the inerrancy of the Bible. "I submit," he writes, "that this constant onslaught of ecclesiastical negativity comes directly from our theistic portrait of God, who has been traditionally understood as a punishing parent figure." The themes of guilt and degradation have been hammered home to believers in millions of sermons and Bible tracts and is instilled [brainwashed] early in life as children of evangelicals are sent off to summer Bible camp each year.

Spong sees Jesus as the breaker of tribal boundaries. He presented to his disciples and others "a new and inclusive kind of life" outside of tradition and in solidarity with all people. Spong also sees Jesus as the breaker of prejudices and stereotypes, and this makes him really relevant to our times when race, gender, and sexual orientation are the major areas where hatred divides people from each other. And, finally, there is Jesus as the breaker of religious boundaries, which was, of course, the thing that got Jesus into so much trouble.

Today's world is so interconnected and intertwined that the old version of Christianity, with its boundaries, creeds, and hierarchical structure, fraught with cultural bias, and tied in knots by countless religious wars, Inquisitions, excommunications, and bigotry cannot serve this modern world. That religion ought to die an unnatural death.

Rather, says Spong, "Jesus was not divine because he was a human life into whom the external God had entered, as traditional Christology has claimed; he was and is divine because his humanity and his consciousness were so whole and so complete that the meaning of God could flow through him. He was thus able to open people to that transcendent dimension of life, love and being that we call God."

Solid stuff. And a difficult concept to accept if one has been mired in the meringue of religiosity all of their lives. I'm in a conundrum as to wheter to unload this topic on the gathering this Friday evening. Wouldn't it be a hoot if the hosts seve lemon meringue pie for dessert!

In Search of Dignity- David Brooks

A friend recommended that I read David Brooks Op Ed today in the NYT. It was grand! He titled it, In Search of Dignity, and don't we all. Brooks quotes the historian Gordon Wood who wrote, “Washington became a great man and was acclaimed as a classical hero because of the way he conducted himself during times of temptation. It was his moral character that set him off from other men.”

Brooks writes, "Washington absorbed, and later came to personify what you might call the dignity code. The code was based on the same premise as the nation’s Constitution — that human beings are flawed creatures who live in constant peril of falling into disasters caused by their own passions. Artificial systems have to be created to balance and restrain their desires.The dignity code commanded its followers to be disinterested — to endeavor to put national interests above personal interests. It commanded its followers to be reticent — to never degrade intimate emotions by parading them in public. It also commanded its followers to be dispassionate — to distrust rashness, zealotry, fury and political enthusiasm."

He says, "But the dignity code itself has been completely obliterated. The rules that guided Washington and generations of people after him are simply gone."

Sadly, true.

Of course, the stories of politicians who trampled that dignity code in the past few years are endless. 'Dignity' and 'politician' seem quite oxymoronical. Right here in Toledo, our 70-year-old mayor was caught on camera calling youngsters in a park, 'fatso' 'tubby' and 'fat ass!'

Perhaps the dignified men and women who seek political office are too, well, dignified to get elected. Maybe Americans want their politicians to be hard-asses who knock heads around and commit a little adultery on the side.

Is that why this nation is on a slippery slope downward?