pantheism

I've met someone like that.

A lawgiver who controls everything.
The major religions refer to God as a great spirit that fills everything. When God spoke to Moses he specifically commanded Moses not to make graven images. He gave his name - YHWH or "I am" - the self existent one. Christianity defines God as omnipresent. The Islamic faith still forbids images of spiritual things. So we are looking for a great spirit that fills everything and governs everything? God sounds like the laws of nature.

Intensely personal
The personal and the social are opposites, by definition.

If you want to feel personally empty then get a million "friends" on Facebook, and live in the middle of a big city. You'll be on Prozac in no time. But if you want to really know yourself, climb a hill and gaze at the stars. Get a pet dog - preferably two or more. Dig the earth and grow food.

No matter how lucky you are with other people, your deepest, most personal relationship will always be with nature, the universe.

Made in her image
We share the same DNA (with very minor variations) with all other living things. The carbon that makes your body was forged in the heart of a long dead star, using the exact same laws of nature that make you what you are today. If an alien in a different dimension, with different physical laws, were to discover a single human being, they could deduce what our entire universe looks like, more or less, because we are made in her image.

The creator and parent
The universe created everything. What more needs to be said?

She has a purpose for life
If you are alive then you have purpose: to survive. That is how evolution works: we adapt in order to survive. Any other purpose, and we would not be here. And survival leads to happiness. By definition, because happiness is our brain's recognition that things are going right. We survive best if we expand our horizons. So survival means onwards and upwards, and always something new! The purpose of life is exciting!

Moral laws, rewards and punishments
All moral laws are based on survival. Individuals have a better chance of survival if we work in groups. Cooperation is the basis for all moral laws: do not steal, do not kill, do not lie, do unto others as they would do to you, etc. So the laws of nature are the final authority on cooperation, and thus on morality. Break these moral laws and your society is less likely to survive. Keep them and your society will prosper.

A conscious being
Every part of the universe interacts with every other part, through numerous forces and particles that continuously spread out at light speed. So by definition the universe is aware.

The universe is aware of some events more than others. Some things are so far away that light cannot yet reach you. Others are so close that every tiny interaction has almost instant results. So from your point of view, the universe's awareness is concentrated on you. Concentrated awareness is the definition of consciousness.

She wants us to believe
It is easy to argue that the universe is just a thing, a soulless collection of atoms, a machine. But it is just as easy to argue the same about humans. The more we study biology the less room we find for "the ghost in the machine."

The difference between humans and machines is who controls who? Ultimately, the universe controls everything. So whatever it is that makes us "not machines," it counts even more for the universe.

Answering our questions.
The universe will answer our questions through science. We only have to ask, and listen (by recording the results of experiments), and the answers come.

Help in times of crisis
If your needs and questions are urgent, the universe has provided us with brains and with friends. No matter what the problem, if we use these tools we are more likely to survive and prosper.

Miracles
A miracle - or magic - is any event that is too complex for us to understand. The natural world is full of miracles. Technology is full of miracles. If you do understand something, you merely push back the boundaries, until you find something you do not understand.

As for urgent miracles, the universe has given us an infinite store of the unknown, plus brains that are very bad at statistics. So coincidences and unexpected events happen more often than we expect. So if everything seems hopeless, try again and trust in the universe for help. Miracles do happen!

Prayer
Prayer is a way to:
* think about moral laws,
* talk about our problems,
* take time to meditate, blocking out external noise.
* declare our allegiance to others,
* and promise to act.
All of those things makes a positive outcome more likely.
So prayer works.

Feelings
Feelings are summaries of multiple past thoughts and experience. Sometimes they are hard wired through DNA - we feel something is dangerous because over thousands of generations only those who feared it have survived!

However, feeling are an average of many past experiences, so the judgment may not not apply to every experience. And they refer to our own experience, so may not apply to others.

So the universe communicates truth through feelings (if the problem is complex or urgent) as well as through science (if the problem is simple or we can afford the time).

The universe loves us.
The universe has created us and provides all we need, and is open to give us anything else we could possibly want. It's always there for us and will never condemn us. If that isn't a definition of love then what is?

The sum of all truth
What is truth? Logic. It can be expressed mathematically.

Physicists have shown that the particles that make up the universe can only be explained in terms of math. (As Pythagoras pointed out thousands of years ago.) Ultimately the universe could be explained as one vast equation. In other words, the universe is literally the sum of all truth.

Eternal and unchanging
Time does not flow. How could it? Things only flow with respect to something else. How could it begin? Nothing can make it happen, as change implies that time already exists.

What is time? A way to organize connected realities. The universe - the sum of those connected realities - is thus eternal and unchanging. Theoretical physicists know this, and treat time as one more factor in their equations, albeit a very interesting one.

Life after death
Gof gives us life after death - see below.

Conclusion
Believers and nonbelievers should not argue when we all believe basically the same thing.

Frequently Asked Questions: about God

Why say 'God' - why not just say 'universe'?
It is frequently claimed that the universe is uncaring. That is untrue. I want to challenge that view. It is frequently claimed that there is no evidence for God. I want to challenge that view. It is frequently claimed that science and religion are fundamentally opposed. I want to challenge that view.

Do you worship the universe?
Worship comes from the Old English 'worth-ship.' It simply means something is worthy of respect. It is good to respect the laws of the universe - such as gravity, statistics, or the benefits of cooperation.

Where did God / the universe come from?
Since time is an illusion (though an essential one), nothing can "cause" anything else, except in the sense that logically some things cannot exist together.

Since all that exists is math, and there is nothing outside of "everything" to tell "everything what to be," it follows that all logically possible universes exist and this is one of them.

This probably explains a lot about quantum indeterminacy and free will, but that's getting a little deep.

FAQ: religion

Do we need religion?
Dictionary.com defines religion as "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."

The superhuman agency can be the laws of the universe (e.g. in pantheism). Devotion is natural for any useful set of beliefs (for example, a scientist will set aside time and place to devote herself to science). Rituals are formal ceremonies: they are common in states, the miltary, universities, and other life changing organizations. And almost everyone has a moral code.

If we need these things, and we need them to be rationally connected, then we need religion. We may not call it religion, we may just call it a "secular state," but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck then it's a duck.

Religion always oppose progress?
Science deals with small and uncontroversial questions: If a scientific experiement goes wrong, you just clean up the test tubes and try again.. But religion deals with the goals of society. If religion goes wrong, millions could die.

So it is rational for for religions to resist change until the evidence is ovewhelming. It's worth being careful: if religion is done right, it results in a stable and happy society, something that science can only dream of.

Peer review in religion
Churches, like nation states, deal with issues that take centuries to prove, so debate is of limited use. Instead, churches evolve through competitive pressures: E.g. Catholicism had the counter reformation, reform after scandals, the Vatican Councils, etc.

FAQ: Jesus and his followers

"But Jesus taught..."
Churches are necessary, to help people cooperate. But the basis for all morality is cooperation, so churches that divide society defeat their purpose.

Authority
An appeal to authority is a sign of apostasy. Jesus said "by their fruits ye shall know them." And when he sent forth his apostles he promised miracles. Later he promised the Holy Spirit. So the good works, miracles, and the feeling you get when listening to them is your proof. If a person needs to state his authority then he doesn't have any.

Baptism and authority
Baptism is a contract with both God and the local church. Sometimes the church breaks the contract (by not representing God) but the contract with God can still be in place.

FAQ: life after death

Heaven and hell?
If you do something worthwhile with your life, your ideas and ideals will be remembered and built upon. you. Only the good will be copied (nobody wants the bad!) This is heaven.

But if you do nothing good then your ideas and ideals will fade from history, and in extreme cases people will actively seek out your ideas in other people and destroy them. This is the fading away of shadows that describes Sheol, Gehenna, or Hades.

Do young children who die go to heaven?
The younger a person is when they die, the more we care. So the more we pay attention to their ideas and relationships. So the real person - their ideas and relationships - live forever.

The same applies to any tragic or unexpected death - it motivates society to improve so others will not die in the same way. So a young death does more good and has a greater afterlife than an old death, .

Heaven: the perfect world?
Whatever heaven we want, we eventually get it. E.g. the Old Testament spoke of an idealized future of milk and honey. Today the western world has so much milk and honey that the number one threat to life is obesity!

Eternity? (new heavens and new Earths)
Some of the rocks you walk on are also billions of years old. Perhaps that is why people feel so at peace on mountains and rugged landscapes. Your ancestors has been talking to these rocks since the sun was young, and thanks to technology your descendants can even survive after the sun explodes. Your DNA will continue to walk these rocks after they are reborn in new worlds. A few billion years is nothing between friends.

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Jesus Christ

I was raised as a believer in Christ, so this section is about him. Many of the principles probably apply to other religious leaders.

Prophets, messiahs, avatars
How do we learn about the universe and about moral laws? Through people. Therefore those people represent the universe. For some it's Jesus, for some it's Carl Sagan. For some it's Nelson Mandela.

Your local religion is (probably) true
Truth does not contradict truth: all true prophets will agree. But if the universe has chosen to place you in a certain culture and time, then your ideas and relationships will make you best able to understand the world in that particular way.

So nine times out of ten the local religion will be the only correct choice for you. (The other time will be due to random variation - something may have gone wrong with the church or you may have unusual talents.)

"Is Jesus your personal savior"?
Yes. One can have Jesus as a personal savior and also accept other religions, as long as they do not contradict:
* Jesus said "he that is not against us is for us" (Mark 9:40)
* Jesus said "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" (remember that Caesar was considered divine)
* Jesus remained a practicing Jew until his death
* All the first generation of believers, those who knew Jesus personally, saw Christianity as a part of Judaism: you could be both Christian and Jew simultaneously.

The way, the truth and the life
"Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the father except by me." (John 14:6)

To see what John 14:6 means, read the whole chapter, and the one before and after. Peter is worried that Jesus will go away and the people won't know how to get to heaven. So Jesus said, "Getting to heaven, finding truth and life, is simple - just follow my teachings. And it works the other way around too: anyone who finds heaven finds my teachings."

Who is the greatest?
John 14:6 is not about who is greatest. Jesus' followers are always obsessed with "who is greatest" but Jesus condemned that question (Matthew 23:12, Mark 9:31-40, Luke 22:24-27, etc). To emphasize the point, just a few lines after John 14:6, Jesus said that others would do greater things than he did, because he was leaving (John 14:12).

Whenever Jesus says "follow me" it is in the context of him leaving (Mark 9:31 etc.), so it simply means "follow these teachings." Jesus frequently said that following him simply meant following God: Jesus was only the messenger (Mark 9:37 etc.)

The living Christ
As for Jesus leaving, John chapters 14 through 17 explain how one person lives through another person:

"I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you."

Jesus had to leave in body so he could return in spirit, he gave his life so he could be with them always. This leads us neatly to the topic of life after death

Life after death

Time and eternity
To understand life after death, we must understand that time does not move. A thing can only move relative to something else - such as water flowing past a riverbank. But what does time move relative to? (Why time appears to move is a topic for another time.)

So the future you is a different person. A person you strongly influence and care about, but a different person.

Your children are the same: people you striongly influence and care about.

Your children
Your children share your DNA, your ideas, your tastes, your appearance, your relationships... they are you.

For those without children, substitute your art, or whatever will carry your ideas and relationships beyond the death of your body.

The real you is your children
Consider you at your physical and intellectual peak - say, age 20. Compare this "you" to the you a month before your death. You have different ideas, needs, appearance, etc. Now compare this "you" with your children at age 20. Which is more similar to the "you" of now? Answer: the children.

This is not a metaphor
Your children are literally you: more "you" than your elderly self.

to be continued

Immortal DNA ... immortal ideas ... immortal relationships

Nothing else is "you." Everything else is either trivial, (and constantly changes anyway) undesirable (your children discard it), or both.

The body and brain as rivers ... imagine life speeded up, seeing every atom

You will live forever
Being a parent is a process of transferring all that is good into a new body. And it has to be a different body so they can discard your bad habits and false ideas that you carry with you. That way you constantly adapt and improve.

·	God is a lawgiver who controls everything
·	God is personal
·	We are created in God's image
·	God is the creator and parent
·	God has a purpose for us
·	God is the moral authority
·	God is a conscious being
·	God wants us to believe
·	God will answer our questions
·	God will help in times of crisis
·	God intervenes through miracles
·	God answers prayers
·	God can speak through human representatives
·	God loves us
·	God is the sum of all truth
·	God is eternal and unchanging
·	God offers life after death