Over-Belief

I will only believe in NDEs when Abraham Lincoln comes back and tells us what he has been doing for the past 150 years. In that case it would be a Far Death Experience or FDE.  Near Death Experiences are really a case of over-belief. Personal experience is not enough. There has to be more evidence than that.

Scientists are open minded people and other myths.

Scientists don’t really have to be opened minded. This is a myth. I am sure that the average scientist is as close minded as the average non-scientist.  It is a myth perpetuated by many groups of atheists to suggest that this is the difference between science and religion. The implication is that religion is by its very nature a close minded operation and science is an open minded operation.  

What is religion? Religion is connecting to the universe and finding meaning in that connection. There is a tendency to become more and more disconnected from nature and the universe the more advanced we become. The invention of language has created a wedge between us and nature. We are not about to give up our advances. I am not suggesting that we do that. Religion is a way humans have tried to keep themselves grounded.  Other living things do not have this problem. They do not need religion.

Our perception of the universe changes as we make advances. We become disconnected from nature and from the truth. The process of reconnecting to nature and truth is what I mean when I speak of religion.  Religion is not really about believing in a god or gods. This is also a myth perpetuated by atheists groups.

All atheists are religious just like the non-atheists.  However, atheism is not a religion. We all naturally seek to connect to nature and the universe and to maintain that connection throughout our lives. Being eternal means being connected to nature and the universe. The truth is that we are all connected to the universe. It is the one undeniable thing we all have in common with everything.

There are many people who have a very narrow idea of what is religion or eternity or faith. I listen to the endless silly debates by people who are speaking from misinformation and sheer ignorance.  There is so much misrepresentation and downright dishonesty in those debates. People are more interested in debates and winning that they do not care how they twist and distort the facts.

Being religious is not something anyone should be ashamed of or hide. I see so much meanness and nastiness in these debates and arguments. I for one do not participate in these things because I think it only contributes to something I find distasteful and demeaning to good intellectual discussion.

My thoughts on religion

Religion and superstition have come to be seen as the same things. To me religion is more than that. It is a matter of devotion and connection. Us religious folks are very committed and devoted to what we believe. It is not some kind of superstition or trivial thing. Religion is not science but in science one can be dedicated and devoted to one's work to the point where we can call it religious. It is the religious devotion and dedication that is at the heart of the creation of the religious experience. Dedication and devotion helps to create the deeply felt experience that all truly religious people feel. Religion is not anti anything or pro anything but people can do this if they want. However, this is not a requisite part of being religious. Those who think it is do not know what religion is.

Poets create a reality and so do scientist and so does religion. This is a truth we have never considered. There is no romantic love without poetry. There is no salvation or damnation without religion and there is no gravity without science. I don't care about the lack of perfection of what I am saying. My best friend is my best friend because I have created that reality in my mind and I live as close as possible to it. It is like geometry. There are no squires, circles triangles or octagons in reality but we see them everywhere. This computer screen is a rectangle. this "0" is a circle.

The limit of logic and reason

I think that people can be too logical at times. People can take things too far. There are limits to logic and reason. Logic and reason do not prove anything about reality. It is like with the sunrise problem. No one can prove that the sun will rise tomorrow. You can explain the mechanical workings of things and why we see this phenomenon all the time but you cannot prove the sun will rise tomorrow. Logic is limited here. logical proofs are not the same as proving something in the physical world. We all jump the gap and accept things without proof that it really is so. We act as if we knew already. Logic cannot prove that there is a god. However, it cannot prove there is no god. Whatever position you take on this subject you are doing so with no evidence or proof. I am using logic and reason in this little essay. We use logic and reason to help us to judge things and to organize things in our experiential world. It is all about arranging things in your mind. The sun will rise tomorrow because the earth is rotating on its axis and from were we are in relation to the sun it appears to be rising in the sky until it reaches it zenith and then it appears to set but in fact it is neither raising or setting but only it appears to do so. I use logic and reason to organize my thoughts to communicate something about what I witness. However, logic and reason do not prove that what I am experiencing is real. It may all be a dream or I may be a brain in a vat or I may only be a character in a computer program. Logic and reason cannot prove nor disprove the reality of any of this.