What are you talking about?

I have made these two opposing characters, God and truth. What do they actually stand for? I’m becoming aware that people from all over the world read this blog, so I need to be careful and clear because several of my friends and allies profess a belief in God or Gods.

By God, I mean the person. Many people are pantheists and see God in all things as a unifying force, many people see God as something to be experienced. But the God I am setting up as my enemy is a conscious being, seen by His adherents as someone so powerful, deep and important that He deserves capitalizations beyond the rules of English grammar! Or Gods that rule the forces of nature, or whatever. These kinds of Gods are people who intrinsically deserve ultimate power.

By truth, I mean the process of finding out about the world, and the goal of understanding it.

If you see heaven as a hierarchy, with God at the top and people as his children (especially if you feel that priests and prophets must act as mediators), then I am on your side, but I might end up disagreeing with you on a few important things.

If you see humans as an equal part of the greater tapestry of the universe, or as orphan sparks of sentience in a world that does not know or care that we exist, or as the products of mindless laws of physics no more wondrous than (say) a pair of merging black holes producing a gamma ray burst that stretches halfway across the cosmos, then I am also on your side. I think we will have something in common in our view of the world, too.

I am an egalitarian, and thus oppose authoritarianism. And I am not alone.

Some good questions!

My good old Toshiba read some of my other posts (possibly this one) and smiled as he asked:

1: what is truth?

2: does it require universal approval to call it a truth?

3: if it is not, than it can be another term of emotional outburst that will lost in the ocean of relativism?

Excellent questions. Let me explain.

Truth is the thing that allows us to know (or suspect) anything about the world or ourselves. ‘The process of using/seeking truth’ is the process of learning about the world. Truth about the nature of the universe is universal, but your personal truths are (of course) personal – though if you explain your truths carefully enough other people might start see it your way. To paraphrase Harrison, many things can wait, but the search for truth cannot wait.

It might be unusual to see truth being spoken of in this way as if it were a actual being, but I have a purpose in calling it this. I want to verbally set it up for a fight against someone else.

Many people worship The God. This God is power incarnate, and he rewards his followers by allowing them to live forever, and sit on a throne in heaven while He destroys all the people who did not worship Him in the right way.

This God is not like Toshi’s, I suspect. This God tries to clothe himself in the splendid mantle of nature and pretends to be its creator, but in the end He is nothingness. He runs like a simulation in people’s minds, controlling their view of the world, and turning it into his: Us, Them. Brother, Infidel. Love, Hate. There is no desire for unity. Always there is an Enemy without or within. Always there is the lust for power and triumph over that enemy, ever growing stronger and more subtle.

This God is schizoid, and bipolar, but more than that He is Evil. I rejected him morally at age sixteen and was eighteen before I was sure He could not hurt me. Because I am from Britain and we have a long tradition of secularism, I call myself an Atheist. I love the universe and humanity though, so when you talk of loving God or serving him I will know what you mean. But the evil God who poisons the souls of so much of humanity? This, I want to rid the world of, whatever name He has and whatever form He takes. I hope my intrinsic kindness will prevent me from being consumed in this mission, because at all times I will reach out with a cybernetic hand for discussion.

It may be another emotional outburst, but that’s the way I am. Thanks for reading.

God and Truth

Truth is greater than God.

It might be possible to be apart from God, but it is not possible to be apart from truth. Without truth, the universe cannot function, but truth does not need a God to function. Truth is the master of God. Every time you say ‘Let me tell you the truth about God’ you are acknowledging this. Every time you dismiss the claims of a religion different to your own, whatever your reasoning, you are declaring that their feelings and descriptions of God are untrue, and in return they do the same to you. You are all using truth to slice attributes and characteristics from Him, because God is not the same as truth. Truth is not a part of God. Truth is greater than God.

Incidentally I am a great supporter of this blog, especially after this debate.