Thu 17 Oct 91 21:00 By: John Kuhne To: All Re: Existence of God ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The following is a short essay on Christianity and the existence of God that I have written. On behalf of Mr. Simpson and others who said it would stimulate a bit of debate I have uploaded it. Please note that in an attempt to remove the pro-Christian bias that permiates the English language the words God, Christian, Bible, et genus hoc omne are all written in lower case. *** God does not exist. By refuting several christian beliefs it can be clearly shown that god is merely an abstraction of the human mind. There are many reasons to believe in the non-existence of god. The most compelling arguments against god's existence are the relationships between the universe and the earth, and the earth and human beings. It must be mentioned before these three relationships are analyzed that there are many separate christian orders, each with their own rites and rituals. Trying to nullify all the theological rationalizations for god's existence would be a daunting task, and would require several volumes to do adequately. Instead, the christian beliefs that the earth is the centre and most important place situated in the universe, the singularity of life's existence on earth, the belief that human beings are moral and spiritual children of god and that human beings are superior to animals are to be examined. It is hoped by refuting these beliefs, the validity of the remaining arguments for the existence of god can also be questioned. The very size of the universe in comparison to the earth is one relationship that questions the existence of god. The universe contains many galaxies. Each galaxy is an amalgamation of thousands of millions of stars, and around every star there is the possibility of planets on which life, not unlike humans in composition and intellect, may live. The universe is great and vast, unlike the small insignificant earth. Compared to the universe, the earth is like a small blade of grass, dwarfed by the very field in which it sits. It is hard to believe that minuscule planet earth is the only place in the universe where life exists. Still harder to believe is that of the multitude of worlds from which to choose, a supreme being would choose earth as the place to centre all its affections. Yet both of these fantasies are upheld by christianity. Nowhere in any ancient religious chronicles are other worlds mentioned, or the actions of distant races discussed. It may sound petty belittling those of past ages because of their ignorance, but these omissions suggest that god never helped pen any christian documents. The knowledge and wisdom imparted in written texts can be easily learned solely by human experience on earth. All the fables, histories and stories recorded need no god for assistance. Their lessons are of an earthly origin. By neglecting to tell of distant worlds and their inhabitants, and by making beliefs that contradict their existence, god's authenticity can be questioned. Human beings' relationship to the earth and its creatures also suggests that there is no god. All true believers are told that they have souls which separate them from animals which exhibit none of the pious' lofty sentimentality. No doubt the devout believe this statement of their superiority, and cherish the gift that god has given them -- what many fail to note is the hypocrisy under which they live. Few christians today take the scripture's account of creation in a literal sense. Instead, they are quite content to mix religion and science, believing that god created the earth from which homo sapiens were destined to evolve into their present form in the image of god. Unfortunately, religion and science are two totally different paradigms, one built on faith, the other on observable, concrete fact. Mixing these two philosophies leads only to fallacies in reasoning. Thus, the belief that homo sapiens did evolve and yet are still the children of god is invalid. Worse yet, the argument creates one large unremediable contradiction: The origin of the soul can not be accounted for. If these earthly mortals were to have evolved from the unspiritual, savage, unmoral animals there could be no human soul, unless god disturbed the evolutionary process and magically imparted it to them. Instead of this messy mix of religion and science it is easier to believe in one of these paradigms or the other; the religious explanation seems fanciful, and the majority of christianity's followers, if pressed, would favour the more believable evolutionary explanation. The interaction between human societies and their environments would also suggest that humans are merely a highly-developed type of animal. Like the animals that are detested, human beings lie, steal, murder, destroy, ruin and defile just as easily as other organisms do. In actuality, the self-proclaimed children of god may actually be worse in behaviour than the beasts which their religion despises. Unlike any other creature's social groups, human societies must be governed constantly so that individuals do not kill, maim, rape, or torture one another. Without laws, kindly, caring christian society would dissolve into an anarchist mass of people warring with each other over petty disputes. The failure of christianity to explain the origin of the soul, without making fallacious statements, and that the behaviour of man is essentially like that of any other animal, would suggest that human beings are not the special creations of god. These two failings also suggest that there is no god. By refuting the christian beliefs that human beings and the planet on which they reside are special, and in some way isolated and distinct from both the universe and the animals which surround them, the need for a god to explain human beings' existence is unneeded. God's influence is these matters is non- existent, just like the supreme beings' existence itself. - John Frederick Kuhne September 1991