A Better Understanding of How We Use 'GOD' in Conversation
"GOD"
has three levels of meaning.
Atheists argue there is no such thing as God. But their arguments are muddled because they
cannot build a coherent alternative to moral goodness, Nature and religious beliefs that are associated with the common concept
of "God." Their arguments usually vamp into hate-filled rants against religion; particularly fundamentalist Christian
beliefs.
It's time to clear the air of frustrating religous arguments by defining God on more meanigfull terms.
Find which of the three definitions fits your needs.
1. G.O.D. (abbreviation
for Grand Original Design) Synonyms include: Existence, reality, laws of the physical universe, time and space, organic
life (biology) and the Big Bang Theory (not the TV show). Science is not in conflict with G.O.D. because it is through scientific
discovery that we gain greater knowledge on how reality (G.O.D.) works.
Grand Original Design defines reality
through the laws of physics and biology.
2. God (Abbreviation for "goodness") Synonyms
include: Transcendent love, opposition to evil, well-being and happiness, spiritual optimism for a better future, compassion
and helping others to a better life.The location of Goodness (God) is in one's conscience. The conscience is a fluid mixture
of reason, beliefs and imagination. It forms a moral compass to guiding behavior. The Moral Compass is composed of four points:
Good; Bad; Strong; Weak. We can plot our leadership style by using the Moral Compass. Everyone is biologically endowed with
spiritual energy (the will to live) and that propels our behavior to survive and thrive. Our concepts of Heaven and Hell are
states of mind through which we struggle daily. Our living spirit ends when we die. Heavenly peace, after we die, is the end
of all awareness.
Goodness resides in your conscience.
3. God of the Bible:
The mythic God of the Bible is not a divine revelation of a supernatural power that fundamentalists believe. History shows
us how the stories in the Bible were created by human hand over many centuries of interpretation. The best use of the Bible
is to take its parables as a moral guide to better living and triumphing over evil. Thomas Hobbes' famous saying: "Life
is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short," summarizes well the human condition; yet the stories in the Bible teach
important values that helps the reader to generate a moral compass that guides behavior toward a better life. The consequences
of sin and the rewards of goodness are felt by the living and not a final judgment after death. The Bible's strength is about
belief in personal goodness triumphing over personal evil. The creation myths in the Bible (e.g. The story of Creation and
the Garden of Eden, etc.) have long been dispelled by scientific discovery.
The God of the
Bible resides in your imagination. (That is why there are so many variations and abuses of "Biblical Truth.")
By
separating the meaning of "God" into three distinct levels, one can gain clarity and purpose in life--even in the
most trying of times!
My thinking on this subject is inspired by St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologica: The
Five Proofs of God's Existence--though he would disagree with my conclusions.
