
Questions on Creation
Reader Comment: I’ve seen the terms evidence confused with ‘proof’. Evidence is anything USED to demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Evidence is NOT proof of the truth of the assertion unless it is SUFFICIENT in accordance with an accepted quantitative standard.
JJ: Technically one could say there is only proof of one thing and that is Descartes’ statement, “I think, therefore, I Am.” You could even be dreaming that you are at the computer reading this. Maybe you are really a green-eyed monster dreaming about living as a human on planet earth.
Generally, we accept something as proof if there is a very high probability that it is true. For instance, finding an iPad in a forest presents such strong evidence that the device was not created by elements of the forest, but designed and left by some intelligence. One would accept such a premise as proof, and not considering being worth debating.
DNA is more complex than the iPad and it is amazing that this is not considered proof of design, but even more amazing is that some do not even consider it evidence, let alone, reasonable evidence.
It will be fun, when we pass over, to watch atheists after they die and discover themselves still alive in a spiritual body in the spirit world. Then they will encounter spiritual scientists that work on stimulating our evolution and it will become obvious that the complexity of life didn’t happen by chance but the improvement through greater complexity happens by design just as an improvement in Microsoft Word has to happen by design.
When they see how things are put together through intelligent design, they will feel like whacking themselves on the side of the head and saying, “Why couldn’t I have seen this when I was on earth?” He will indeed be amazed by his previous ignorance. He’ll feel like the guy that finds an iPad in a Forest who thought the forest made it and then discovers the obvious truth.
This group takes a number of items for granted as a foundation for what is discussed. Among them are:
[1] There is a God or Higher Intelligence.
[2] There are higher lives with higher intelligence than generally acknowledged by humans.
[3] Death is not the end, neither is birth the beginning to our existence.
[4] Our consciousness can contact soul energy which is the bridge between spirit and matter and access true principles.
[5] The spirit/soul within us can recognize truth and if we tune into it we will experience the ultimate proof/evidence.
Concepts that fall within these five categories are generally discussed, not as to whether or not they are true, but in the direction of seeking greater understanding on them. On the other hand, nothing is off limits if it is of interest to the group.
Reader Question: Some have argued that only an intelligent creator could create intelligent beings. Again, what definition of intelligent are we accepting for this analysis?
JJ: I would say intelligence is that which is capable of creating complex order that is not random.
Reader Comment: All but abstract thought can be explained by evolution.
JJ: But the question is not based on evolution or no evolution, but whether evolution takes place because it is guided by higher intelligence – just as computer programs evolve because they are improved through intelligent effort.
Reader Comment: I think the strongest evidence of the existence of a God or intelligent creator is what I believe to be the innate moral compass. Quoting Sam Harris [The Moral Landscape]: “… people who draw their worldview from religion generally believe that moral truth exists, but only because God has woven it into the very fabric of reality; while those who lack such faith tend to think that notions of “good” and “evil” must be the product of evolutionary pressure and cultural intervention.”
JJ: I wouldn’t consider a moral compass to be powerful evidence that there is a God or Higher Intelligence. Any sense of morality you want could be programmed into a computer program using current technology. I would say that a living cell and the DNA is many times more powerful evidence.
In addition to this the basic morality of the atheist and believer is very similar. Both generally believe we should not murder, steal, lie, rape, plunder etc.
Reader Comment: While all of these factors, admittedly, influence human values there is empirical evidence that that the brain has an innate ability to recognize right from wrong and trigger responses to the body. If a human was isolated from the above influences and kept in a sterile environment for years, receiving nutritional sustenance, his response to a posed moral dilemma would mirror most of civilized society. Science has identified hormones known as vasopressin and oxytocin, considered to be stress regulators. The brain signals the body to produce levels appropriate to respond to the impulse presented to the body.
JJ: Everything manifesting in the physical body are the result of designs first made in the world of Spirit.
If one says Microsoft Word has a spell checker and explains how words get spelled correctly, he would be far from the full explanation. The much fuller explanation is that the spell corrector was intelligently designed and added to Word. This is the real reason spelling is corrected by the program.
Reader Comment: Guilt isn’t something learned [although one often hears about it]. Guilt is an emotion from within!
JJ: I have written a lot about guilt and illusions around it. If you do a Google search in the archives on the word you’ll find a plethora of material.
Guilt is learned and can be unleared. All the guilt I have felt in my life was learned and I unlearned it and have not had a twinge of guilt in decades. If I make a mistake I now just see it as a mistake that needs corrected. If I hurt someone I will feel bad about it but not guilty. Guilt has no reason behind it. One can be made to feel guilty about eating peas or drinking coffee – as in the Mormon church.
Reader Comment: I’ve also seen some discussion here about the ‘special’ status of humans in the mind of God. [I’m paraphrasing] Well let me try to look at that another way: What if this [meaning this human life] is the reward for prior existence or prior deeds?
JJ: Just about all members here believe in reincarnation and believe that the situation we are in now was influenced by past lives.
Reader Comment: What if the senses are the ultimate gift?
JJ Our senses are indeed important. The inner connection with Spirit is perhaps even more important.
Reader Question: What is the defining difference between “feeling bad” and “feeling guilty” in this context?
JJ: Sin comes from a Greek word meaning “to miss the mark.” When the ancient Greeks shot an arrow at a target and missed, they said they sinned. When they missed the target they felt bad but they didn’t feel guilty and unworthy to try again.
Unlike the original meaning, when the religious person “sins’ he not only feels bad he missed the mark but adds the dimension of guilt where he feels unworthy to try again until a period of self loathing has passed and the feeling of guilt has lowered in intensity.
He who is without guilt can make a mistake and get right back in the game without the drawback of the self-loathing feeling holding him back. Without guilt your feelings are governed by the reasoning mind.
I can do only one thing at a time, but I can avoid doing many things simultaneously. – Ashleigh Brilliant
May 26, 2012
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