Category Archives: Christianity

The Presence of God

Posted by on December 5, 2011 No comments

I had a conversation in the car tonight, it got me to thinking and and I have had this at the back of my mind for a while.  It actually ties in, in a way to my punch / counterpunch posts back in April and I’d like to extend the theme of those posts as I write tonight.  I said in April that we are too quick to assume a little knowledge, and then let that knowledge think itself the entire world, when this isn’t often the case.  To push this point a little more I want to directly consider the existence of God, which I’ve always tried to avoid commenting on before.

The existence of God is something that has been debated for thousands of years.  They were debating it when the Buddha walked the Earth, and frankly it’s not been solved since then.  This tells me that we’re talking about something that, let’s face it is likely unanswerable by mankind.  Now, this is going to be something that a lot of people on both sides of the religious fence are going to shout loudly about.  But the point stands, we just don’t know.

It’s said that you can’t prove a negative, this is true.  If I state that there is no God, then I am saying that I have examined every inch of the universe and found no God.  This is impossible; so, the thinking goes, we must look at probabilities.  But this in itself exposes a flaw, all of our judgements about the existence of a creator are based on our arrogant assumption that we understand the nature of that creator!  How exactly are we so sure of this?  I’ve criticised holy books at length before and will refer the reader to my articles and archive for that, but this also extends to Science; what makes you think that a divine presence in the universe would even be something we could comprehend?  Whether we choose to admit it or not, we are limited, flawed creatures.  Who is to say we would even recognise God if we saw it?

This is where I think Taoism has it right, the Dao is beyond our understanding and has no plan, design or preference.  We cannot grasp it with our intellect as we are limited and it, by it’s nature, encompasses the things that are both within our grasp and outside our grasp.  Whenever we try for a God or Gods, we just wind up with ourselves, writ large.  But if there is something out there, then my money is on it being something like the Dao, and not just being out there, but in here as well.

Applauding Canterbury

Posted by on June 11, 2011 No comments

You know, I didn’t think I’d ever write this but I really must applaud the Archbishop of Canterbury.  Yes, I know what you’re thinking, “Who are you and what have you done with the real Richard?”

I may not agree with some of the content of the religion he espouses, but I must applaud his recent article in the New Statesman.  But not for the reason you think.  I am neither pro nor anti cuts, but rather I take a middle ground that regards the cuts as a tragic nessecity.  From my point of view, to be pro or anti cuts, well, you may as well be pro or anti gravity.  The state machinery has enlarged beyond the means of the country to support it, it really is that simple.  The government blames everything on the New Labour years, but the responsibility for what happens from now is theirs and I’m hearing buck passing.  As for the left themselves, I hear a lot of reactionary shouting but what could (or would) they do that was any different?

My concerns are similar those of Rowan Williams, things feel stuck.  There is nobody who seems to be able to articulate a clear vision, those in charge just seem to be bumbling through.  There seems to be nothing orchestrated to protect the most vulnerable, but also where cuts fall they are likely to fall in the wrong places as middle managers seek (perhaps, understandably) to protect their own positions.  It seems that the axe is falling, but in the wrong places.  Further to this, I humbly suggest that what’s needed is a pair of Bonsai shears not a woodcutter’s axe.

Finally, it seems that the Archbishop himself has come under attack for involving himself in politics.  Those who attack him should really take a clearer look at things.  Our politics has been shaped, from it’s earliest days by religion.  The values espoused by a faith, its morality and its ethics have a very direct and fundamental bearing on the local politicians and some of our greatest political figures were influcenced by their faith.  The political opposition seems tongue tied and an awful lot that needs to be said was not being said; our politicians don’t want to face a few very unpleasant home truths.  I suspect, neither do the rest of us, but that’s a post for another time.  At a time like this it does need somebody who isn’t enmeshed in party politics and special interests to speak up, somebody exactly like Rowan Williams.

A Moment of Pause

Posted by on April 27, 2011 No comments

I was in Second Life the other evening when I came across an entry in the destination guide;  a small memorial to those who died, falsely accused of withcraft, in the town of Salem.   I must admit to having found the time to pause there and reflect as I read the names on the stone plaques around the central square.  This small area is part of a much larger pagan themed sim, click on any of the thumbnails here to get a screenshot of the memorial area itself.  If you have a Second Life client installed, you can click the following link to teleport directly there: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Primrose/170/218/88

salem-01For those who don’t know, Salem is a town in the US state of Massachusetts, whose name was given to an infamous series of Witchcraft trials in 1692 and 1693.  The trials didn’t just take place in Salem, but the two best known trials did.

26 people were tried for witchcraft and executed in these two trials alone and considering some of the “proofs” of being a witch, they really didn’t stand a chance.  Consider that simply expressing doubts about the trials was enough to put you in danger!

Salem is infamous, but it’s by no means the only place that witch trial happened.  Europe had it’s own infamy and here in the UK,salem-02 we didn’t escape.  Many people died at the hands of Witch Hunters and the Pendle Witch Trials[1] in 1612 are part of English history.  In truth nobody knows the exact death toll, but it is certainly horrific.

As I intimated above, the witch craze was international and in Europe the Catholic Church produced the “Malleus Maleficarum” or “The Hammer of Witches”, which basically said that if you were accused then you were a witch and detailed many torture methods. There was no right of the defendant, no opportunity to confront accusers and torture was considered an “infallible method” of determining guilt. [2]  The whole thing was a scam and innocent people were framed left right and centre, often people would name others just to get the torturers to stop.  When being hanged, one English witch hunter salem-03confessed to having sent over 220 women to their deaths![3]  In one small town in Germany there were 24 public burnings with an average of 4-6 victims each in one year. [4]

For me, seeing a place such as this was a stark reminder of why we must rally to fight superstition and ignorance, it was these things that were the breeding grounds that this horror arose from.   This is why scientific education and the promotion of critical thought and the teaching of the scientific method itself are so important.

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References

1 – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendle_witches

Source – “The Demon Haunted World” – Carl Sagan – ISBN 0-7472-5156-8

2 – page 113.

3 – page 114.

4 – page 116.