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RE: The BIBLE and the BIG BANG.

in Scholar and Scribelast year (edited)

Hello to you. Thank you for replying.
I answer in parts.

That's right. So, wouldn't you say then that it doesn't really make a difference if belief in God exists or not? And couldn't the exact same be said about any idealism?

Since it could be said about any idealism and it frequently is being said, I need to clarify what I mean by ideals, though I thought I have done that. I am talking about the Ten Commandments.

There is no question in my mind that as soon as people live in a civilisation, they need and want rules to guide what is typically human:

  • Family management (marriage/parenthood, children),
  • work and rest habits (weekends, public holidays),
  • orientation with regard to satisfying needs,
  • regulation of property
    and finally
  • spiritual orientation that forbids the conscience from simply murdering others or vilely destroying their reputation.

I have summarised above in brief the seven of the Ten Commandments.
It seems to me that no pre-Christian religion has handed down these commandments with the same clarity and brevity.

The other three are these:
"You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3.)
My interpretation:
We keep the one ideal in mind in everything we do. Since people are never ideal and are always fallible, the ideal must be pursued outside of our own fallibility. In the absence of naming a (always potentially fallible human being), the designation "God" is the only alternative. Since there is not a single suitable name for "non-human".

"You shall not make for yourself an image of God." (Exodus 20:4.)
My interpretation:
Do not adhere to any superstition or cult (human sacrifice, blood revenge, which can arise through cult figures or occult actions/attitudes/imagined unrealistic fantasies - e.g. persecution and torture of certain groups or individuals).

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." (Exodus 20:7.)
My interpretation:
Do not justify your actions and omissions in the name of God.

So, wouldn't you say then that it doesn't really make a difference if belief in God exists or not?"

No. I would not say that. It does in deed make a difference.

  • Firstly: as a matter of fact, people believe in God.
  • Secondly: since "God" is used as a term in connection with a spiritual method to relate to something (inexplicable), because, as a matter of fact, you need something other than yourself, other than your neighbor, your colleague, your doctor, your man or woman, your government, towards you want to orientate yourself (bring yourself in the mood of prayer/contemplation/inner important talk). This "other" is God, the strangest otherness one can come up with. (I see it as a method to bring me into a state of a quiet sincerity and respect towards the wonder that I and all others exist. Since I want to address someone when I start my inner talk - but I actually do not need to say "God" out loud or inwardly, but I think indirectly so.)