I apply my Theory of God when assessing a broad variety of social issues including capital punishment, abortion, dealing with unfair people, the environment, Jesus and other messengers from God, organized religion, the many forms of love and hate, and how I view of death. I find it comforting to find answers to difficult questions based in my theory of God.
If you have had enough of the introduction and disclaimers from the previous blogs, skip ahead to the section titled Social Issues through the lens of the Theory of God. Otherwise...
Welcome to my blog on a Theory of God. Let me emphasis this is just what I believe. I am not asking anybody else to believe the theory. I am sharing it because I think others may find value in it and because I think it’s a paradigm that could bring peace.
There are seven sessions planned, so far;
1. An Introduction to the Theory of God
2. Where is God?
3. A look at our Soul.
4. What did God Create?
5. Social Issues through the lens of the Theory of God.
6. How did I get here?
7. The Theory of God Hate-loss program
In the first session, an introduction to my Theory of God was presented.
The second session covered ‘Where is God’. Considering; if God is present, why can’t we see God?
The third session took a look at the soul. From the perspective of the Theory of God, souls are not binary and through our choices, we are in control of it.
The fourth session explored creation. What did God create; one blue planet, or a vast universe? Did God tune the strings that made it all work?
This, the fifth session, explores social issues through the lens of the Theory of God.
The sixth session covers how I came up with the theory, and why I am sharing it now.
The seventh session will look at forms of love and hate to help steer us away from hateful behaviors.
I hope you find the theory compatible with your own beliefs and thought provoking. I’d love to hear what you think of the theory.
A Theory of God
I begin again with the disclaimer that this is ‘My’ Theory of God because it’s what ‘I’ believe. But I don’t own it. If you like the theory, it’s yours, too. I am NOT a religious scholar nor am I a saint. So, I am not sharing this theory from a position of authority or some moral higher ground. This is simply my paradigm of God, for your consideration.
I have, for the most part, kept my Theory of God to myself for the last 40+ years because it is my personal belief. I have chosen to share it now because I think there may be value in it for others and because I think it’s a paradigm that could bring peace.
The theory is based on the premise that God is real. To me that means that God exists even if all the religious text did not. God does not exist because men wrote about God in ancient texts. The texts were written because God exists. Which is why my Theory of God had to be independent of the ancient texts.
To reiterate from previous sessions, the theory is that God is a sentient force in dimensions that overlap ours. In other words, God is here.
God seeks the senses of life and is the soul of life. ALL life.
No two souls are alike. It’s not ‘You have one or you don’t’. Souls vary in size and hue and change over the course of our life. Our life choices and our actions establish the size and hue of our own soul.
I believe there is symmetry in nature and that Evil, the symmetrical force of God, also exists.
The Benefits of the Theory of God
To reiterate the benefits of the theory; It emphasizes the common ground that all religions share. They share that common ground because God was present LONG before religions were established. If God, by any name, is the common ground of all religions, people should accept that different religions are just culturally different ways of connecting with God. One is not better than another. It’s just a different means to the same end. So, there should be mutual respect among various religions.
I believe my Theory of God is NOT in conflict with ANY of the world’s religions. As I see it, It can’t be. God, by name, is at the core of all religions.
I think the theory provides an understanding that enables anybody to build a closer relationship with God individually or through organized religion. I believe organized religions already teach and practice the behaviors that help people connect with God. But there are simple things that anyone can do every day that enables each of us to do our own part to make the world a better place.
It also gives a deeper appreciation for all life on earth. And I use the theory as the basis by which I assess contemporary social issues such as capital punishment and abortion, which will be considered further in this session. It also has given me a new perspective on death.
To me, those are valuable benefits. So, despite my reticence to sharing my own personal beliefs, if there is ANY chance that this could make the world a better place, I feel obligated to share. So, my beliefs are offered here for your consideration. I hope you find the theory compatible with your beliefs and enlightening.
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Social Issues through the lens of the Theory of God
I apply my Theory of God when assessing a broad variety of social issues including; capital punishment, abortion, dealing with unfair people, the environment, Jesus and other messengers from God, organized religion, the many forms of love and hate, and how I view of death. I find it comforting to find answers to difficult questions based in my theory of God.
Capital Punishment
I believe capital punishment is a mistake. Everybody has a soul of some size and hue. It might be good, it might be bad, or it might be pure evil. I believe that as our body dies, or is executed as in capital punishment, our soul moves on. It doesn’t stay with the corpse.
If we execute a convict with some good in their soul, we’ve made a big mistake. If we execute a convict whose soul is pure evil, killing them simply releases that evil soul. We’ve made a big mistake.
I think, from a theological perspective, that it is better to keep evil souls locked up in a prison, than to release that evil soul.
From the perspective of the Theory of God, capital punishment is always going to be a big mistake, whether you killed an evil person or not.
Abortion
I believe abortion should be banned once the fetus has the beginnings of a soul.
But a clump of fetal cells is not aware, so it has no soul, yet. The thalamo-cortical complex that provides consciousness begins to be in place between the 24th and 28th week of gestation. So, abortion should be banned prior to that, perhaps a couple weeks earlier, just to be safe.
So, I support banning abortions after 22 weeks, with exceptions for extenuating circumstances, of course.
That gives an expectant mother 5 months of pregnancy to make her choice without taking the life of a fetus that is aware and may have begun developing a soul.
Dealing with unfair people
How do you deal with bad people? There is no simple answer because there are so many variations and circumstances in which somebody may mistreat us. And while I might say don’t engage with it, there are certainly times in which bad behavior must be addressed head on. But in most circumstances, it’s best to just steer clear of hateful people.
But in general, from the perspective of the Theory of God, if you want to be a good person, you want to lose the hate. I consider anger a form of hate, so I try to avoid anger. I have learned to feel sorry for people that do me wrong. If they are bad, their life must really suck because evil handed out, comes back to them. It’s hard to be angry at somebody you feel sorry for. And feeling sorry for somebody feels a lot better than being angry with them.
The Environment
This is really straightforward. If God is in all life, all life should be treated accordingly.
I have interacted with lots of creatures, with some very surprising results. I have found that snakes and lizards have very little soul. They will never show any affection. Bugs, birds, mammals, and fish have a broad range of souls, from minimal to ebullient, depending on the species. Some bugs have more than other bugs, Some birds have more than other birds. Some fish have more than other fish. If you want to know which is which, you have to interact with them without threatening them (or get eaten by them)
I remain uncertain about trees. Could they have a soul of some kind? If God seeks the sense of life, then perhaps. I’m not sure how to connect with a tree, but there were a couple trees that made me pause.
Prophets and Messiah
There have been a couple of people, that have taught about God that are still revered centuries later.
According to the Theory of God, the soul can be an infinite range of size and hue. It seems to me that a sentient force should be able to congregate in an individual, like Jesus and Prophet Mohammed, to share the message about God. That is one of the reasons I see no conflict between the Theory of God and Christianity and Islam. In my humble opinion, the focus should be on the messages, rather than the messengers, but to each their own.
Organized Religion
At first glance it may appear that the Theory of God is incompatible with modern religions. And it probably doesn’t help that I talk about setting aside the ancient texts to consider God. But I think organized religion and the Theory of God are compatible. I think organized religion helps people connect with God, which is a good thing no matter how it is done. I do not use ancient texts for scientific knowledge. The fact that some people insist on a creation based on ancient texts does not impact my beliefs, so they are welcome to have those beliefs.
There are as many forms of love as there are of hate. Some are subtle, some aren’t. And it’s not always readily apparent. For example, prejudice is a form of hate. It may be as subtle as implicit bias, or as blatant as banning or subjugating a category of people.
I think being judgmental of other religions is a form of prejudice; a form of hate. I don’t go there. Connecting with God is never wrong, no matter how it is done.
I think it is possible to create a list of words that have implicit love or hate in them. Words like revenge, annoy, gripe, on one side, and respect, empathy and appreciation on the other. I have not created such a list, yet, but it seems like that might prove useful in tuning the soul. This will be a topic on the Theory of God Forum to enable readers to contribute and learn about the various forms of hate and love.
If our soul is God, it never dies. Our loved ones live on in our spirit, forever. I am comfortable with that.
Your questions, comments, and feedback are welcome and invited on the Theory of God Forum.
The next session will cover how I came up with the Theory of God and why I have chosen to share it now.
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