No. Any god whose existence can be empirically proved and demonstrated is no God at all, as far as I'm concerned. And if God ever pokes His head through the veil of time and space, then we would be right to demand that He show His credentials.
Confirmation of the Higgs boson or something very much like it would constitute a rendezvous with destiny for a generation of physicists who have believed in the boson for half a century without ever seeing it.
Believe without seeing? What an idea!
And you, theme, are a flaw in the symmetry of the universe.
No, not at all! In fact, perhaps it has deepened? Well, that's not the right word, but something shifted, faithwise and in an appropriate direction, as I read about this event. Or so it seems!
To paraphrase Doug, the Buddhists have a phrase: "If you meet The Buddha on the road, kill him" (i.e., The Buddha CANNOT be met on the road. You're run into a demonic deception. Saying isn't literal!)
I liked the Newsthump headline: "Fake Higgs-Bosons start showing up on Ebay" *LOL*
I Googled around to see the reaction of the folks who believe dinosaurs walked the earth with humans, but I didn't find anything. I meant the post more humorously than not.
Damn! I'd written a comment here, and I lost it through my own fault.
Russ, I ask you why the particular atrocities committed against the Australian nurses, horrible as they were, rather than other atrocities, some happening today or very recently, would trouble your belief in a good God?
From an early age, I was taught that God is all-powerful, but even as a child, it seemed to me that in giving humans free will, God self-limited God's power. For many years, I let this seeming contradiction lie dormant, but a few years ago, I decided that God is not all-powerful. Humans committed the atrocities, and having given the gift of free will, God could not stop them from happening. Evidence of the goodness of God is reflected in the many kindnesses displayed by the nurses and those who helped them during their severe trials and the deaths of many of them.
With respect to the poisonous manicheel tree, why would the particular tree trouble you more than other poisonous plants? The tree evolved in that way and serves the good purpose of preventing erosion. I don't believe that God is involved in every tweak of the beak of a finch in the evolutionary process, thus the existence of a deadly poisonous tree would not call into question God's goodness for me.
Examples of both kinds can be multiplied ad infinitum, of course, and have been discussed and debated down through the centuries. Your answers are the standard ones that on another occasion I would give, myself; and perhaps no better answers are possible. Free will, time, and chance all trump our comfortable beliefs in a special Providence.
But this week, sitting on an ash heap, as it were, somewhere between the plaint of Job and the cry from the Cross - these two hitherto unknown things just saddened and astonished me deeply.
There are no good answers. Only faith. For whatever that's worth.
There is always something beyond what can be seen. The Higgs boson is a thing that exists - so, how did it come into existence? It's just another thing - only a really parochial mind would let it trouble their belief in God.
Put simply, no, I have not lost my faith.
ReplyDeleteNo. Any god whose existence can be empirically proved and demonstrated is no God at all, as far as I'm concerned. And if God ever pokes His head through the veil of time and space, then we would be right to demand that He show His credentials.
ReplyDeleteGood, you two. I'm glad to hear it.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Counterlight...credentials!
I can't imagine a scientific discovery that would affect my faith.
No, bloody scientists, can't trust them an inch. It only raises the next question otherwise they'd be out of jobs.
ReplyDeleteAnd what's this?
ReplyDeleteConfirmation of the Higgs boson or something very much like it would constitute a rendezvous with destiny for a generation of physicists who have believed in the boson for half a century without ever seeing it.
Believe without seeing? What an idea!
And you, theme, are a flaw in the symmetry of the universe.
No, not at all! In fact, perhaps it has deepened? Well, that's not the right word, but something shifted, faithwise and in an appropriate direction, as I read about this event. Or so it seems!
ReplyDeleteFran, I agree. Something fell into place for me, too, which is probably not quite the right way to express it, either.
ReplyDeleteWhy, thank you...
ReplyDeleteI knew you'd be pleased.
ReplyDeleteWho or what created Higgs-boson? 8>) there was no chamber in those days!
ReplyDeleteMuthah, the scientists have to have something to do. Higgs boson can't be the end of the story.
ReplyDeleteThey should never have called it The God Particle. I'm sure they will eventually find an even smaller one.
ReplyDeletesusan s., a good many of Higgs' fellow scientists are not happy with the the label.
ReplyDeleteTo paraphrase Doug, the Buddhists have a phrase: "If you meet The Buddha on the road, kill him" (i.e., The Buddha CANNOT be met on the road. You're run into a demonic deception. Saying isn't literal!)
ReplyDeleteI liked the Newsthump headline: "Fake Higgs-Bosons start showing up on Ebay" *LOL*
Both God and Higgs are utterly unknowable to any ordinary mind; both move in a mysterious way their wonders to perform. Don't bother me none.
ReplyDeleteI Googled around to see the reaction of the folks who believe dinosaurs walked the earth with humans, but I didn't find anything. I meant the post more humorously than not.
ReplyDeleteHowever, two things I recently came across do trouble my belief in a good God, I wonder what you make of them:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.battleforaustralia.org/Theyalsoserved/AustArmNurses.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchioneel
Damn! I'd written a comment here, and I lost it through my own fault.
ReplyDeleteRuss, I ask you why the particular atrocities committed against the Australian nurses, horrible as they were, rather than other atrocities, some happening today or very recently, would trouble your belief in a good God?
From an early age, I was taught that God is all-powerful, but even as a child, it seemed to me that in giving humans free will, God self-limited God's power. For many years, I let this seeming contradiction lie dormant, but a few years ago, I decided that God is not all-powerful. Humans committed the atrocities, and having given the gift of free will, God could not stop them from happening. Evidence of the goodness of God is reflected in the many kindnesses displayed by the nurses and those who helped them during their severe trials and the deaths of many of them.
With respect to the poisonous manicheel tree, why would the particular tree trouble you more than other poisonous plants? The tree evolved in that way and serves the good purpose of preventing erosion. I don't believe that God is involved in every tweak of the beak of a finch in the evolutionary process, thus the existence of a deadly poisonous tree would not call into question God's goodness for me.
Examples of both kinds can be multiplied ad infinitum, of course, and have been discussed and debated down through the centuries. Your answers are the standard ones that on another occasion I would give, myself; and perhaps no better answers are possible. Free will, time, and chance all trump our comfortable beliefs in a special Providence.
ReplyDeleteBut this week, sitting on an ash heap, as it were, somewhere between the plaint of Job and the cry from the Cross - these two hitherto unknown things just saddened and astonished me deeply.
There are no good answers. Only faith. For whatever that's worth.
There is always something beyond what can be seen. The Higgs boson is a thing that exists - so, how did it come into existence? It's just another thing - only a really parochial mind would let it trouble their belief in God.
ReplyDeleteExactly, Mark. There's always something beyond the beyond.
ReplyDelete