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God, or the Lack There Of

Date Posted: 09.30.07
Last Revision: 02.16.08

I just spent about 10 minutes looking for this entry to post a link to it. Then I realized I had written but never posted it. That is why the date posted is different from the month the entry is so different from the archive date.

I have edited this entry 3 times now. I want to have a clear record of my thoughts on the subject.

Writing about God is inevitable. I have decided it is best to write about my personal belief or lack there of in one entry rather than explain it every time the subject comes up.

"I do not believe in god."

I do not believe in god in any form that I currently understand. I do not believe in any supreme being who hands down a moral or ethical code. I do not believe in a supreme being who sits back and watches but does not interfere. I do not believe in a supreme being who interferes arbitrarily. I do not believe in multiple beings on any higher plane who are capable of interfering with human life in any way.

Why not?

That is the question isn't it. If somewhere between 75% and 90% of the population (I've found varying statistics) do believe, why do I see it differently? Why am I so arrogant that I think up to 90% of the population could be wrong while I am right?

It is a very difficult question. The few people I discuss my beliefs with, inevitably ask it. I think many of them assume that I think I am too smart for god. I think that they expect me to cite science as the destroyer of my godliness. That, or they think I am "mad at god."

The "mad at god" thing is easy to deal with. I am not mad. You can not be mad at something you don't believe exists. I will further add that I have not had bad experiences with religion. I had very positive dealings with religion and spirituality fort the first part of my life. Anger had nothing to do with my decision.

The fact that I do not believe in god has nothing to do with science. Scientists and theologians are kissing cousins as far as I am concerned. Both necessarily rely on things that they can not prove in order to structure their systems of thought. One is not incompatible with the other. Conflict between them is unnecessary.

It isn't Science. It is History. As I studied human history, anthropology and sociology I have became more and more aware that religious development followed predictable patterns based on the selective pressures of a given society. The patterns are not simple, but they are distinctive.

These patterns in human behavior point out two possibilities in my mind. The first possibility is that God existed and man has been shaped into what god needs us to be. The second possibility is that god does not exist. Men made him and shaped him to meet the needs of given societies.

I do not see any evidence that men are evolving to meet the needs of god. If that were true, there would have to be some commonalities between religions. A few deviants would be acceptable, but there would have to be some sort of pattern. The religious beliefs of man do not form any common cohesive system or even a similar direction or potential. The basic premises of varying religions differ dramatically. This does not point to a common moral, supreme being.

I suppose the argument would not hold if you take the idea that there is a god but he is amoral. Of course, if such a god exists he is irrelevant anyway, so why bother considering him?

If men make god one would necessarily expect to see diverse religions that meet the needs of particular societies during particular time periods. As the needs of societies change the conceptions of god should change with them. There is considerable evidence that this is in fact what happens.

I believe that god does not exist except in so much as man has created him. I believe that human beings need an explanation for the unknowable and an external ethical compass. They may also need a certain amount of explanation and justification for their own existence. Creating god is a simple, easy way to provide these things.

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