Delusions in a Godless Universe

I can tell.. philosophers are seldom 'religious', in the classical use of the term.

Yes. There is "something' beyond the material. We can feel it in our bones. The Big Question is:
'Real or delusion?'

There seems to be something about 'Life', and 'human consciousness', that transcends chemical reactions. With all our advanced technology, and compiled knowledge, we still cannot synthesize life.. not even an amoeba. And the world could not handle a duplicate of you.. your uniqueness and sense of individuality cannot be cloned.. your 'Soul', if there is one, is one of a kind. A cosmic fingerprint with eternal cognizance.

Absolutely.. good introspective awareness.. a breath of fresh air in a stuffy, denial filled room..

Introspection, or 'know thyself', as the ancient philosophers put it, is deadly to dogmatism. Thoughtful, detached pondering of the Mysteries of the universe feeds the Soul, while materialistic dogmatism numbs it. That is why propaganda and constant reinforcement is needed for dogmatism, of any belief. Time alone, with circumspective thought on possibilities, frees the soul, awakens it, and liberates it to soar to heights unimaginable by materialistic dogmatism.

Reason and thoughtful analysis are enemies to dogmatism, in whatever religious belief it wraps itself in. Unfettered reflection, freed from Indoctrination, lifts the soul, and opens the universe to unimaginable possibilities. Reason can do this. It is a tool to lead us to understanding. It is a spark to Enlightenment.

Thanks for the thoughtful reflection.. real philosophers are very rare, in these parts..

The unexamined life is not worth living. ~Socrates

 

Then it wouldn't be science anymore.

 

Yep, no God, no science. Einstein understood that.

 

Einstein rejected the idea of a god that actively interacts with the universe. Einstein’s god is most definitely not your god.

 

I do agree that the hard problem of consciousness presents the biggest challenge for naturalism, but supernatural "explanations" tend to introduce at least as many new problems as they claim to resolve. And I think there is very good evidence that subjective experiences are not entirely independent to external material reality. If they were entirely independent of the external world, then they'd all be hallucinations. And physical effects can change subjective experiences drastically . . . just split a 12 pack with me and you'll see. Or check out the "split brain experiment," which shows that severing the two hemispheres of the brain from one another splits many of our subjective experiences as well.

 

You haven't substantiated your claim that morality can only exist if it is "embedded." In fact, some of the assumptions you've made when making that argument have been empirically proven false (your claims about animal nature) and the entire argument has been shown to be self-contradictory, requiring an infinite regress of Gods. The same goes for meaning and purpose.

 

How seriously should we take deists, if we have the Burden of the Expense of Government;

when social morals from a God for free should be sufficient.

 

If my all the atoms in my body are turned into plants and trees, does my consciousness persist?

If, after this, my body is reconstituted with the same atoms, does my consciousness return, or is it a seperate consciousness, experienced by "someone else" for lack of a better term?

If my body is replicated identically but with different atoms, does my consciousness persist?

It seems to me that if we create an identical copy of me down to the velocity and position of every quark, that it's absurd to say my consciousness would expand to include that of the clone.

But if not, my subjective experience is not physical or tangible in any way.

I agree supernatural explanations are lacking, but so are physical ones.

So I reserve judgment.

 

Most likely that's what got him wrong-footed WRT Quantum Mechanics; but regardless, he understood that without an intelligent Designer, the universe would not be intelligible.

Einstein aside, in a Godless world, science would be to those in power exactly what it is to dogmatic atheists: a means of defending their sacred cows.

Thanks for the stupid.

 

Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place. ~Frederic Bastiat

The 'need, for human Law is a reflection, imo, of the REALITY of a universal moral code. We recognize, collectively, a moral consciousness, define it as 'conscience', and label those who violate it as criminals or sociopaths.

Because human beings do NOT always observe this inner code, we use the force of a collective action to compel observance, or suffer punishment. We believe they know better, and know their antisocial behavior is a violation of conscience, and thus can enforce law as being 'self evident.'

Most of the core laws are directly related to what the Enlightenment philosophers called 'Natural Law'.. a universal, God given set of rights that no man can morally take.

Life, Liberty, Property.

The 3 basic rights, from the Enlightenment. This covers laws of theft, murder, assault, fraud, extortion, and many others. These are the universal, core Standards, that we see in every era, region and culture of human society.

The Declaration of Independence reflected those Enlightenment values, with this simple declaration:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..

So, the purpose of Government, from the American perspective, is to secure the basic rights of the citizens.. to enact LAWS, that preserve, inviolate, our Natural Rights.

All of this is based on the ASSUMPTION of a God Ordered universe. A God Who created all men equal, and ENDOWED them with unalienable rights. Make the assumption of a godless universe, and there is no equality, nor inalienable rights. All is based on relativity, expediency, and the whims of those in power.

It would be a massive delusion, to believe in Natural Law, and Absolute morality, (and many other things), in a godless universe.

"Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is divine. . . . Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other." ~James Wilson, Signer of the Constitution, Supreme Court Justice

 

Einstein did not believe in an intelligent designer.

 

We should not need Government if we were that moral.

Simply having the Expense of Government means we cannot trust the right wing regarding Any Thing, political.

 

When you study the founders constitution, absent are laws against humans but present are protections from government.

Democrats spend their entire waking moments constructing laws.

 

That does not matter.

 

lol

I want to know how God created this world. I'm not interested in this or that phenomenon, in the spectrum of this or that element. I want to know His thoughts, the rest are details.​

Guess we can look forward to you explaining how, from Einstein's perspective, none of God's thoughts are intelligent.

 

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people”. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” – John Adams

"The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government -- lest it come to dominate our lives and interests." ~Patrick Henry

 

Since nobody wants to answer these questions, from the OP, I'll give it a shot.

The only explanation for the widespread, wholesale delusion of man in a godless universe is this:

We are NOT in a godless universe, but a God ordered one.

IOW, delusion is NOT that widespread, but minimal, in the human animal, and his instincts are correct. There IS morality, purpose, Love, and Beauty in the world. Man HAS a soul, and the longing of eternity dwells in it.

We KNOW, in the depths of our innermost being, that our Creator is reaching to us.. calling us back to the state for which we were created.

1. This is not a godless universe.
2. They instinctively follow their soul's leading.
3. There are none. God, morality, and the Soul are Real.

The only delusion in man, is in trying to deny or ignore the screaming Voice within them, as their innermost being calls them to return to the Source, and follow their conscience.

 

Considering Einstein believed that the universe itself was god and was a Pantheist, yes. He's not be literal in that quote, but you know that, which is why you used that quote out of context.

 

right wing special pleading?

our alleged wars on crime, drugs, and terror are worse.

 

why any need for right wing alleged wars on crime, drugs, and terror?

 

Well, sure if you want more crime, more drugs and more terror. Stopping that is worse in their mind.

 

Can you actually give us such a law? More if you find one.

 

I can see a bit of a merit if he truly thought that. But I think when we say GOD, we mean literally AWESOME POWER. I have confused many atheists with this term but it leaves out the part of GOD planning your life on your behalf. I think if Einstein really said that, it is what he also meant.

What makes you claim the quote was used out of context?

 

Well for one, that quote is from him in 1905 when he was still religious, before he rejected religion in favor of Pantheism.

 

lol. We have a general welfare clause; we should be subsidizing that not the general warfare.