Confession

My personality has two sides — a spiritual side and a rational side. They are often in creative conflict: they represent the yin and yang of my soul.

In discourse and conversation, my rational side usually dominates. But when I wish to be creative, or when I contemplate the absurdities of existence, it is my spiritual side from which I draw inspiration and hope.

Some may consider me Christian, although I don’t believe in the core tenets of the Christian faith, namely, that Jesus is the means by which we come to know God. Some may consider me an atheist, because my rationality and my Socratic dialectic compel me to seek proof and evidence.

I cannot assent to the claim “God exists;” but neither can I assent to its negation “There is no God.” Because I am a finite primate, a Homo sapien who will die — I believe in no afterlife — I consider it the height of hubris to make any claims about the existence or non-existence of a transcendent reality.

I believe that God is an idea: one that lives and breathes in the realm of the mind. But this idea animates me, inspires me, and teaches me.

Can an atheist be inspired by God?

So what am I? First and foremost I am a critical thinker who regards inquiry and analysis as the best means to discover and learn about the cosmos. But my longing for transcendence and mystery has led me to embrace Taoism, a non-theistic spiritual philosophy.

But if God is only an idea — only? as if ideas are not themselves as unto god! — and if the cosmos is ultimately without meaning or purpose, then I feel it is our duty to fill it with meaning and purpose.

Why?

Maybe because I’m a primate of faith.

Against exceptionalism

America is not an exceptional nation. Nor is America an exceptional civilization. Human civilization has existed for more than 10,000 years. What is two hundred plus years of national history compared to 10,000 years of human civilization?

Civilization is based on irrigation, agriculture, and sanitation. Every viable civilization on this planet has had those technologies. If you believe in the myth of American exceptionalism, you need to read more history. And sincerely ask yourself: What is so exceptional about America?

The Aztecs had irrigation and urban planning. The Egyptians completed massive public works. And Athens had democracy.

What is so special about America? Why do people’s hearts swell with pride when they see a tattered banner flapping in the wind?

All of the presidential candidates buy into the myth of American exceptionalism. But I never believed that America was exceptional — even after thousands of recitations of compulsory indoctrination — worshipping an ugly and inelegant icon — and I no longer believe in the myth of American greatness. And I do not quite understand the point of “electing” a “president” to the greatest military empire that this world has ever seen. (And I distrust the motives of anyone who would be King.)

If you believe that America is exceptional because it is a liberal democracy, you haven’t been reading the news. As Noam Chomsky never tires of pointing out, America is not a functioning democracy because public opinion does not matter. America is not a liberal democracy: it is an oligarchy: Our political class is made up of the rich and rules for the rich. Is that fact in doubt?

While I do admit that America is better than other nations, especially if you’re a sexual minority, it is past time we abandoned the myth that we live in a country that is exceptional; that we live in a land that is blessed by God. What does it mean for God to bless a nation? Does God bless Algeria? Does God bless Morocco? Does God bless Zimbabwe? Do you actually believe that the Creator of the Cosmos is really concerned with geopolitics? (If you answer yes to that question, I assume you’re still stuck in the narrative of the Old Testament.)

I’m tired of the myth of American exceptionalism. I’m tired of the narrative of nationalism. And I’m tired of the belief that patriotism — the Religion of the State, which is a form of prejudice — is a virtue.

I wish people would abandon these tattered security blankets.

And wake up.

I don’t get it : 1 0

Socrates: Do you know what hyperbole is?

Pupil: No. I do not.

S: Hyperbole is exaggeration for deliberate, sometimes comic, affect.

P: I don’t get it.

S: Hyperbole is overstatement.

P: I thought it was exaggeration.

S: It is.

P: I don’t get it.

S: Maybe because you are so god damned stupid!

P: Who?

S: YOU!

P: You’re not being very nice to me today.

S: Just shut up and go home.

P: But you still haven’t told me what hyperbole is!

S: You won’t get it today.

P: When?

S: Probably never.

P: You’re not very nice.

S: *Sigh*

I don’t get it : 1

Socrates: Do you know what an analogy is?

Pupil: No. I do not.

S: An analogy is like a comparison.

P: A comparison?

S: Yes.

P: Between what and what?

S: Exactly. What is a question.

P: What?

S: A question.

P: What?

S: A question.

P: I don’t get it.

S: Precisely.

P: But what is an analogy?

S: No, an analogy is a comparison.

P: What?

S: Never mind.

On the Cultivation of Eros

Although I find clerical celibacy stupid — I would make a horrible ascetic monk — I find that temporary periods of reduced sexual activity enhance my understanding of Eros, the Greek God of erotic love.

I cultivate Eros toward a young man, and dream of one day waking at his side. And if Eros should ever mate Aphrodite, metaphorically speaking, then, on that wondrous day, shall I — in my flesh and in his — see God. (Job 19:26)

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Note to the overly literal: I sorely doubt Job had sex on the brain. Ditto Isaiah 40:5.

I don’t get it : 0

Socrates: Do you know what a metaphor is?

Pupil: No. I do not.

S: A metaphor is a number. It is the number after three.

P: I don’t get it.

S: Is three a number?

P: Yes.

S: And what is the number after three?

P: Four.

S: Meta. . .

P: Four.

S: Meta. . .

P: Four.

S: Meta. . .

P: Four.

S: See?

P: See what?

S: Never mind.

On The Infinity of Ignorance

Homo sapiens are often stupid, slow to learn, and slow to abandon moldy doctrines that are demonstrably false.

Proof?

The following graph shows public acceptance of evolution as scientific fact. The data is across countries.

 

And people wonder why I’m so cynical about America: Only Turkey has a higher percentage of morons in the general population. Maybe I should move to Iceland.

But then again, there are still some who believe the Earth is flat. And that the rapture is imminent. And who don’t know what LEM means.

And who believe that American Idol and Harry Potter constitute culture. And who believe Americans humans are God’s greatest, finest, and final creation. And that Oprah Winfrey is the anti-christ. And
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On Faith in Primates

You and I are primates. Or, to put it more colorfully, we’re a bunch of fucking monkeys. This fact is lost on people who believe that Homo sapiens are God’s finest and final creation. Such people, usually called creationists — aka morons — don’t like to be compared with monkeys and shudder at the thought that we evolve.

But we did evolve from other animals. And we behave like other animals: We have feelings, we sexually reproduce, we exist in a social hierarchy, we care for our young, we defecate and die. Although these brute facts might seem objectionable, they are nonetheless true.

My last boyfriend was a creationist. He also had a habit of grooming me. When I pointed out that monkeys also groom one another, he agreed. But a moment later, when I asked him why he didn’t believe that we evolved from primates, he said that it was a matter of faith. As you can imagine, our relationship didn’t last very long.

(As an aside, my Christian ex-boyfriend was in the military, he didn’t recycle, he didn’t care about climate change, and he believed that when the rapture happened, people who do not accept Jesus Christ — more than three quarters of the earth’s population — would be denied entry into the kingdom of God. But the sex was good.)

I have very little patience for people who do not embrace the truth of evolution, the simple truth that demonstrates irrefutably that all life on this planet is interconnected, interwoven, and related. I find this truth stunningly beautiful: it resonates with the teachings of our spiritual traditions.

Imagine! Every person you see, every animal you see, every plant you see, is a member of your family. A family that has been alive for billions of years, developing at a magisterial pace, learning about itself, reaching towards intelligence, and reaching out into the stars.

Christians conceptualize God as our heavenly father, and cultivate feelings of love towards that father figure. I conceptualize Gaia as our heavenly mother, and I cultivate love towards her.

Does that make me a primate of faith?

. . .

C J C : Synchronicity Across Languages

Synchronicity can occur across languages with the gestures of assent, dissent, and gratitude.

Or, in English, the gestures yes, no, and thank you.

Test

On the Emerging Intelligence

I believe that the network of computers that composes the Internet approaches intelligence.

Although this hypothesis might strike some as fanciful, here is a simple analogy: What if a network of computers has the emergent properties of a network of neurons? Somehow, in a neural system, the interaction of billions of neurons results in intelligence. Leap!

And if a network of computers is an emerging intelligence, I recognize that its intelligence is different from our own, because our intelligence is embodied, based on flesh and blood and bone and the animal senses that have developed for billions of years.

And just as our intelligence is dependent on the system of which we are a part, the emerging intelligence of the Internet is dependent on us. Because we shape it; we contribute to it; we instantiate it; and we develop it and care for it. As any parent would a child.

In the end, I recognize that this may be just a myth, a fanciful tale that comforts me and inspires my dreams.

Everyone needs dreams to survive.