Check out this Opus cartoon on Salon.com [1], then come on back.
I’ve long thought it self-important to think that a God would pay attention to anyone in particular, given that there are so many other people on Earth. But this Earthbound sense of self-importance is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many other planets to consider.
Carl Sagan offered his own spin on this same general point. [2] This undeniable point that we are each such a tiny speck in a tiny corner of the universe convinces me that most organized religions are absoutely wrong when they confidently tout that their version of “God” cares. To think that God (if there even is a sentient God) has nothing better to do than to fret about whether YOU:
1. went to church last week to grovel before Him,
2. had sex with someone to whom you weren’t officially married, or
3. cursed, or got drunk or whatever . . .
. . . is the height of parochial arrogance and ignorance. Believers who are truly humble must consider that if there is a God, that God might not have any interest or capacity to care for you. Ignoring this possibilty is not the humility so many believers claim to have. God (if He/She exists) might find humans to be boring just like most of us get bored with ants after looking at them for a few seconds.
Most bureacratic religions claim that each of us is important enough to merit personalized attention from the alleged Creater of the Universe. To the extent that religions hold this belief, they are holding it without a shred of justification. My point is simply this: it is sheer arrogance to think that the Creator of the Universe notices anything you do.
Whether or not a God exists, then we are alone. Maybe we are truly alone or maybe we’re alone for all intents and purposes. But we are on our own. We need to work together, respecting each other as real sentient beings if we are to find any meaning in our lives.
Print this post [3]
[4]