What Would You Do For God? (VIDEO)

I've been hooked on Netflix streaming for the past few weeks. It's served me as a useful post-book revision wind down, but not so useful in granting a good night's sleep. I've plowed through loads of my queue and started exploring indie documentaries. My latest obsession is the BBC special, The Atheism Tapes.

"Six renowned intellectuals debate whether God exists in these fascinating interviews with playwright and atheist Jonathan Miller. Highlights include playwright Arthur Miller discussing the anti-Semitism he's faced and his disbelief in God. Other participants are biologist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion; theologian Denys Turner; physicist Steven Weinberg; and philosophers Daniel Dennett and Colin McGinn." - from Netflix

I grew up feeling from a very young age that what was right was right, no matter if God or my teacher said so. The mere acknowledgment that "God is watching" can act as a trap, fueling bad behavior, corruption, and guilt, all remedied by God's forgiveness. No personal responsibility is needed - someone on the outside sees whatever we're doing and makes it all ok. I remember thinking that someone who really wanted to get away with something big came up with this institution. For everyone to be still going along with the whole charade felt ridiculous. In a seemingly contradictory fashion, I also wanted to become a nun. I wanted to help people, but I couldn't commit to a corrupt institution that was based on guilt, power and control.

People argue that religion guarantees good behavior and so it is good to teach our children these rules to live by. The English philosopher Collin McGinn says "What is right is right, not because God, an outside force, says so. If God told us that to steal and to murder was right, we wouldn't think it was right. So what's right is right and we don't need God to say so." McGinn says believing in God adds that extra umph for some people to do the right thing. People hate to feel guilt and God can take that away. This argument shapes up God to be an enabler. He might as well hand you a beer, a Big Mac, and the keys to your neighbor's house so you can steal their bigger TV, and wife if she's, you know, better than yours. He'll forgive it all, so why not just go for it.

Nobel Prize winning physicist Steven Weinberg says we are simply winners in a cosmic lottery. People are religious because they know they are going to die. Everyone you love is going to die. Life will come to an end. Darwin had a wounding impact on religion by finding the causes for why people are the way they are. Weinberg says science is corrosive to religious belief. He sees this as a good thing.

Regrettably, many people do awful things out of sincere religious beliefs. When someone crashes an airplane into a building they must really believe in the paradise with which their God will reward them. When adjusted moral codes are fixed back to God, that's madness. Putting God above humanity is a terrible thing. There's no need for it, and the results can be disastrous.

Is any of this necessary? McGinnin says in his autobiography that when he decided not to believe in God it was like shedding a skin. The new one was fine but he was disappointed. He said he'd like to believe in a God that rewards the virtuous and punishes the non-virtuous, especially the punishment part because the world has no justice. But he doesn't believe. He can't see his way to it.

It seems to all come back to moral code. Do we need God to be somewhere outside of us, so we can look outside to find what we need? It can be confusing, the idea that we might already have whatever we need right here inside us - especially when things are often so difficult. People can be weak. We make a lot of mistakes. But rather than seek absolution from some other authority, maybe we could recognize where we are and keep trying to live better, with more compassion and love for humanity. Maybe we could build faith in our selves. It takes practice so we don't miss the mark.

This video is a meditation I learned and borrowed from Kundalini yoga. Many yoga schools have become religions, so can be just as dangerous as other religions. This is especially the case when moral code is adjusted by leaders and tolerated by its followers. In any religion, yoga or otherwise, the potential for good drops off massively when people give up their own control and discernment, and hand it over to a leader. It can be more comfortable for people to be told what to do. It's hard to keep looking within to find our own answers. But, keep looking. The benefits of yoga - just plain yoga - along with any path that is truly our own, can make us more compassionate, tolerant, healthy. The answers are all there waiting for you.

 

Follow Tara Stiles on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tarastiles

Comments

[vinny]

i'm a jew rastafarian, mighty god is living man, as bob used to say...

[NWBrunette]

Breathe deep. Deeper.

[saami]

I don't believe in a god but I believe in kindness and compassion to all living things and respect for all. You don't need a god to believe in that nor to practice them.

[texicanboy]

Man, himself, is evidence that God exists. His sense of morality is an innate standard originating from the part of him that is the image of God.

[willowranch]

In a way I agree. Nature (evolution) created man and man created god. So nature is really the creator of god. Therefore I think it is correct to say that mankind contains an image of god since man created god. But everything comes from nature.

[CollinJE]

This argument that morality's existence is proof of God is really worn out and has been throughly discredited. I have no doubt that I can prove that morality exists outside of a deity within the confines of a Huff Po comment section, and probably wouldn't even take up my entire word count.

[Hirnlego]

Well which God? The God you were brought to believe since childhood as true?
Morality is a creation of evolution, a necessary "software" to keep the animals (which we are too) and its kin alive. No need to bring religion into this.
And since we haven't for a long time understood much of anything (that is true even today) we humans have at many times created *many* different gods and stories in order to try to explain it all. Some of those old stories are still alive and taught as true, with again, the evidence lacking.

That man exist is no evidence for any deity. Sorry.

[saami]

We made god up. We were afraid and we made up someone to take the place of our parents who protected us. We also made up the boogeyman and satan. If we stopped all of this religious nonsence and treated each other and the rest of the creatures on this planet better there could be peace.

[CollinJE]

I can't believe no other posters have brought this up yet.

But this one really good looking atheist..... :)

[alwaysthere]

he who is open eye'd
is open'd minded
he who is open minded
is open hearted
he who is open hearted
is kingly
he who is kingly
is godly
he who is godly
is useful
he who is useful
infinite
he who is infinite
is immune
and he who is immune
is immortal

Lao Tuz

[willowranch]

Lao Tuz never ceases to be intriguing.

[BlackYowe]

I am amused how many people post with such venom here and deny the existence of our Creator. It is absurd to deny the existence of God. God is in everything and denying the presence of the Creator is not going to solve any of mankind's problems. It can only compound them. Funny thing is the Soviets tried that route and now Russia has gone to letting students choose between taking an ethics class or a class on religion as they have acknowledge the mistake it was to forsake all religion. Life is not worth living without the knowledge of God in my opinion.

[Hirnlego]

No, its absurd to believe without evidence.
Russia's problems were political, not god-denial.

[MoreDimensions]

I have a lifetime of evidence that there is so much more to life than this 3-dimensional, linear time progression world that we live in. There are so many of us who have experienced far too much.

We are smaller than we believe in the overall scheme of life. We are greater than we can imagine with our connections to other realms. Our minds are just to limited and our egos to strong to understand the implications of this.

[malzor]

They were all still Russian Orthodox over there, the praying never stopped. Praying is all in your head, might make you feel better as long it you don't work yourself up with grief. Try some yoga or some elaborate relaxation ritual like acupuncture.

[MoreDimensions]

"Praying is all in your head"
----------­----------­----------­----------­----
It may start there, but extends much further. Many people have their prayers answered when it aligns with the possibility of reality and is made with an open heart and mind. Many times I have prayed on s specific issue and soon found the answer that I was looking for. Not in specific terms, but I was given help to find the best path. Further, when I am really open, I can have two way conversations with a spirit guide / guardian angel. I am far from the only who who has had this experience. The more I talk to people about it the more they tell me they to have similar experiences.

[saami]

Those who do not believe in god are tired of having him thrust down their throats. Life is wonderful and beautiful without any god or any religious belief system at all. In fact it is liberating.

[SneathLane]

To answer the headline question, I would do absolutely anything for God - if he appears in person, as a ten foot high granite yet lifelike penguin, when there are at least five human witnesses present, and asks me to do whatever it is out loud, so they can all hear it. And if he then vanishes instantly while at least three of us are touching him to make sure there's no trickery.

This would be a trivial task for the creator of the universe, of course - he can suspend the laws of physics at will, and create anything he pleases.

I certainly wouldn't want to mistake a personal hallucination for a visitation from God - what a foolish thing that would be!

[ziploked]

I'm sure David Copperfield could pull that off for you, as well as quite a few other top-notch magicians. So would you call them God?

Why do people feel the need to trivialize something they don't believe in? I know you are only making fun of what may seem ridiculous to you, but the way people think of God is varied, and while you may not agree, you can't prove they're wrong.

[SneathLane]

No, no human is able to appear in a room as an animated granite figure, talk to me, and then disappear while witnesses' hands are on him. That would take violating the laws of physics, and humans can't do that. People like David Copperfield are not magicians, they do not do magic, they do tricks. We are all bound by the laws of physics.

God is not bound by the laws of physics, though, according to His believers.

Why do you feel hurt when I expect your God to actually prove his existence before I believe in him? If he proves his existence to me, I will do anything he says. Thats an honest offer.

[bthechangeyouseek]

Great post Tara. One of my favorites. Inspiring as usual.

[StephenJK]

I wonder what the Physicist thinks of infinite values. Does he acknowledge the theory? Does it destroy much of the work they do? Could they continue to find smaller and smaller particles forever? Can they imagine infinite space? Can they explain these theoretical possibilities? Infinite time? They've already acknowledged that Energy is by nature infinite. However, finite a resource we might find ourselves in the employ of, there is always the temporarily, relatively, free resources. The "cannot be destroyed, cannot be created...can only change forms" maxim proves, I think, to be quite a sprite to people like Einstein. If you believe that then you must believe in infinite values. Infinite values require as much faith as the idea of God. Both are unfathomable. Both make the most ridiculous theories possible. And BOTH are God. LOL

Energy is the Eternal Tao. It flows through everything at all times...It creates..It destroys....It abandons....It carresses....It hurts....It sooths....ever present, but, never interfering. It unites us as one, but, for some it divides. But, that is their personal decision. It is all those things plus infinity.....It is everything. You can deny it all you want but, the truth is in the emptiness between our arguments. It is nothing. It does not interfere, it allows. Everything is allowed by the Eternal Tao. It is forever everything. When this is no more, there will be that. Forever. On and on into the infinite.

HAHAH That was fun.

[S Andersen]

Please explain what you mean by "infinite values".

Are you referring to the mathematical concept of infinity or something else, and if something else then what?

And energy (why do you capitalize it?) is not by nature--or by anything else--infinite. Nothing of which I am aware of in physics points toward such a statement.

[StephenJK]

Yes, the "concept" of infinity. And, correct me if I am wrong, but, isn't it a basic law of physics which says "energy cannot be created, it cannot be destroyed, it only changes it's form". If that is truth, then energy is by definition (as far as I'm concerned, by nature, then, as well), then, infinite? Math guys and scientists simply ignore the concept of infinity. Yet, the idea of a finite space and finite time, sound just as ridiculous as the "concept" of "God" and flies in the face of the infinite energy implication.

[ziploked]

If you believe in God, fine. If you don't, so what? Really, what difference does it make what another person's personal beliefs are? Why must we continually debate something that neither side can prove? Can anyone prove themselves to be smarter about something that ultimately can't be proven on either side of the argument? Ridiculous!

The real issue is that humans are prone to impose their beliefs on each other, just as the ongoing debates here prove. The real problem isn't one of God's existence, or not -- the problem is that we don't respect or accept that others think and believe differently than we do. So we ridicule, convert, or kill those who are different from us.

Respect each other, and live in peace. God or no God, that's all that really matters.

[StephenJK]

Nice post. Thanks...fav'ed and fanned.

[S Andersen]

Because beliefs compel actions. And some beliefs compel very evil actions. Some beliefs cause people to hijack airplanes and fly them into tall buildings. Beliefs matter. It is naive to suggest that all beliefs should be respected.

We continue to debate religion precisely because neither side can prove their claim and because it matters--in many cases, for many people, more than anything else. Hence we seek to determine the best truth that we can today discern... and hope that tomorrow we may see even more clearly.

Respect each other as human beings, yes, absolutely. Live in peace, yes, please, may we always do so.

[ziploked]

Human reality is based on belief systems--not just their religious beliefs. Terrorism is more about political beliefs than religious ones. Most Muslims, just like most Christians, hate terrorism, so don't use it to justify your arguments against religion.

I never said all beliefs should be respected. I said to respect each other as human beings--meaning it's OK to know you don't agree with someone's beliefs, but you respect their right to have them. Any beliefs that promote or condone criminal actions are of course the exception, which is why we have laws. But that must be reviewed at an individual level, not a group (religion) level as some of your previous posts seem to infer.

[bthechangeyouseek]

I agree, this is a good post.
Fave!

[Darwin256]

I am glad to see the "believers" here supporting the idea that a belief in God is to be based in faith and not proof.

I hope you will now condemn creationism for insisting that proof of God exists in the fossil record, proof of a world wide flood, etc.

If we are to believe, based on faith alone, why would God leave proof behind?

[CollinJE]

why is it only in the religious arena where faith is a virtue?

[MoreDimensions]

The contradictions within the Bible and to science are unfortunate for all. We should always be looking for truth in the physical sciences and in the non physical world. If we are searching correctly the contradictions will be minor and temporary, eventually working themselves out.

Both sides can do much better.

[iturner6]

It is true that to give away your power to someone outside of yourself is dangerous. Unfortunately, we still live in a time when many people need structure of some sort. Personally the idea that God is within and that I can have a direct experience with this Divine Energy by retreating within works for me. But it doesn't work for everyone. What to do in the meantime? This to will work itself out over time.

[Bob Weisenberg]

This has been a fascinating discussion and debate.

The only thing I'd like to add is that for many religious people God is an elaborate metaphor for their hopes and dreams and all the things in life beyond their ability to understand or control.

Metaphors, by definition, are not subject to analysis for literal truth. They're analogies.

But metaphors can be as powerful as reality in directing our lives. And so to many religious people it really doesn't matter in the end what the literal truth about God is. It's how they want to run their lives, regardless.

Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com

[S Andersen]

Metaphors are fine, sometimes even a very positive handle on an otherwise amorphous concept.

It is when people believe that they, through some connection to some "higher power", are justified--even compelled--to commit acts that transgress against another person's humanity that it becomes immoral to look the other way, shrug our shoulders, and let it happen because "we should respect everyone's beliefs".

[singermuse]

I don't think I could do anything for God/Goddess/Source that She/He/It couldn't do for themselves. But I think my best bet would be to live the gift of life I've been given to the fullest, to the best of my abilities. If I were to treat each person I meet as if they were G/G/S in disguise, would I be on my best behavior? If we all did this what kind of world would this be? Living, Loving, and lots of Laughing is what I think G/G/S would want me to do.