On Beliefs

New debate about atheism, science and religion in the Summit. Half a dozen people asking questions and arguing with Verin aka Stitcher at once, the other summiteers either silent or sighing because "oh, it’s this time of Summit again ?".

Verin is the go-to atheist in this community, and I can easily understand why. He’s smart and able to answer and talk in short, clear and well-rounded sentences. I find myself agreeing with him on many points... Not so much on others. Oh, well, it’s a quiet morning and I just want to lay down my beliefs.

So far, every question I’ve encountered about our condition fell under one of those meta-questions : "What can we know ?", "What should we do ?" and "What can we hope for ?".  And, well, I don't need to presume god's existence to answer any of those questions.

Science doesn’t need to assume god’s existence to produce valid models and paradigms.

In the field of morals and ethics, assuming that we have this one and only life to enjoy and cherish, to love and be kind and trustworthy has proven to me a far better moral ground than, say, a god that seems perfectly okay with reclaiming and slavery.

And hope ? My father’s father died pretty young, he was only sixty. But he died as someone going to sleep after a long and fulfilling day of hard work. His wife was there, and some of his close friends, and my father and mother. This is the end I’m hoping for.

Does god exist ? In fact, I don’t know : I just don’t need it. Come to think of it, the proposition "God exists" has an absurd ring to my ear. God is said to have created the universe, right ? To have created the realm of all that exists and is. So god is outside this realm. God is outside 'existing' and 'being', so far beyond our human grasp that any categorization like "God said it’s ok to enslave", or "god want us to behave like this and that", even "god exists" and "god doesn’t exist" should be pointed and laughed at.

Or that's just me being dumb ? Probably.

Same goes for what happen after death : whether it’s just nothing or eternal life, well, I just can’t wrap my mind around any of those concepts. I can’t think of nothing and I can’t think of eternity.

Here’s something I was taught by my shaman, said in my own words. In our language, and in many other, if you try and reach for the root of the word 'soul', you’ll find the word 'breath'. Our soul, what animates us, is our breath -and the soul going away is just the breath going away -that is, nowhere. When I asked him if he was a believer, he smiled and answered "Oh, thanks the spirits, I’m an atheist."

That was his way of teaching : offering you nuts to crack rather than answers. I particularly like this one, I find it deep and rich of many meanings.

Or maybe I'm reading too much in a joke he said for the sake of joking. He was like that, too.

End of rant. I’ll post something about religion someday. Have a nice day !