The Prime Question: A Universal Power Source
As religious fanaticism continues to pester civilized people, one wonders how civilization has managed to advance as far as it has. One would have thought that by this time, religious fanaticism and intolerance would have become passé.
Religion aside, it would seem that the least everyone could agree on is a single, self-evident point: that a Universal Intelligence exists. I guess if an individual chooses not to believe that there is a Universal Intelligence (“God,” “Conscious Universal Power Source,” “the Universe,” “Supreme Being,” etc.), there’s nothing wrong with that — provided he doesn’t try to interfere with the rights of others to connect in their own way.
Over the past twenty-five years or so, an increasing number of scientists have arrived at the conclusion that there is something unknowable beyond science, primarily because science cannot answer the “how” and “why” questions: Why do scientific laws work the way they do? Why do human beings have the ability to discover and understand these laws? If the universe is “dead,” how could we have evolved from dead cosmic dust into cognitive beings? And so on.
To those who insist that humankind is the result of one big accident, I must confess that I don’t know what they mean by the word accident in this context. How does dead matter “accidentally” become conscious matter — atoms combined in such a way that the resulting mass can reflect on its own existence? Quite an accident, to say the least.
Many people get off track because they begin with a false premise — that science is in opposition to God. On the contrary, I believe that science, along with everything else in the universe, is part of the Universal Intelligence. In fact, science itself, which is bound by universal laws, is a miracle. Why? Because it works! No one has, or will ever have, any idea why it works — or why it works the way it does. It just does.
I’m not a proselytizer. I’m a social observer and social commentator. My only reason for sharing my insights into this subject is because I genuinely believe that you can benefit — right here and now, in this life — by making the effort to connect with Universal Intelligence. Regardless of your belief system, you’ve probably already done it many times over the years, though you may not have been consciously aware of it.
Has anyone ever called you at almost the exact moment you were thinking of him, someone with whom you had not spoken for many months, or even years? Have you ever taken action on a hunch, and it led you to something wonderful that you would never have been able to imagine?
My doctor recently told me that he was introduced to his wife at a party by a woman — a total stranger — who said she believed they would make a perfect couple. Sure enough, it was love at first sight, and they’ve been happily married for more than thirty years. But guess what? Neither of them ever saw that mysterious woman again, nor do they have any idea who she was. It makes one wonder why the metaphysical world operate the way it does.
Try making a list of all the big “coincidences” in your life — things you cannot explain in logical terms — and dump them into a mental compartment labeled “Universal Intelligence.” Then, be sure to review its contents — often. If you’re not already there, you may ultimately come to the conclusion that pretty much anything is possible if you can just find a way to plug into the Infinite Power Source that is behind those things we cannot explain.
Which brings me back to how each of us chooses to relate to the Universal Intelligence of which all atoms are a part. What the precise form of that Power Source is, no one can say with any degree of certainty. And how a person chooses to “worship” Universal Intelligence is most decidedly his own business. Surely, all rational, civilized people can agree on this self-evident, natural right.
Sadly, however, they do not. Which makes this the overriding question of our time: What are we to do with the childish but dangerous religionists who seem more intent than ever on making other people’s spiritual business their business? It is the prime question that civilized people around the globe must answer as our world continues to spin ever faster out of control.
The survival of modern civilization may very well depend on the answer.
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Copyright © 2012 Robert Ringer
ROBERT RINGER is a New York Times #1 bestselling author and host of the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with top political, economic, and social leaders. He has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, The Tonight Show, Today, The Dennis Miller Show, Good Morning America, The Lars Larson Show, ABC Nightline, and The Charlie Rose Show, and has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron's, and The New York Times.
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Very good insight. Your ideas have been shared by many people and far to many to list. I’m sure at one point you read their work or they read your works. I believe science proves there is a God or Universal Intelligence since they can’t prove otherwise. There are many things science can prove don’t exist or do exist, but they can’t prove God does not exist or does exist. Therefore God does exist. Every great religion and culture has or had something they called God. Once again far to many to list.
Once again great insight. Hopefully many will read and believe.
In college I remember one of my Bible teachers talking about how they would go through the library and invite students to Bible study. Most would say no and it was slow going.
However occasionally you met up with someone that didn’t believe anything. They followed the cosmic accident theory of creation, after all since they were in college they had to be smarter than everyone else.
My teacher would patiently ask them to look out the window at a building or house. He would then explain that this building or this house simply began to form one day. The wood transformed from trees into finished lumber and the plumbing just grew out the ground, ditto for the electrical, etc. By this time the person would look at my teacher as if he had rocks in his head.
The person that was presented with this new explanation for this house or building would ask him if he was crazy, something that complex had to be built by someone. He would then ask them a simple question. How much more complex is the human body than that house and yet you say the house is too complex to simply be the result of an “accident”, but the human body is. They were generally left without an argument. I have never forgotten that story after all these years.
Robert,
You are stepping rather awkwardly into this one. Marx called religion “the opiate of the masses” There has yet to be a better way of describing it. And funny that he was using this way of Lampooning religion as a way to get other people to agree with him.
As for Your quote at the beginning of the article:
“I guess if an individual chooses not to believe that there is a Universal Intelligence (”God,” “Conscious Universal Power Source,” “the Universe,” “Supreme Being,” etc.), there’s nothing wrong with that — provided he doesn’t try to interfere with the rights of others to connect in their own way.”
You call out non believes first, as if they were the main issue. Wouldn’t it be just as important – and deserve the earliest mentions – to call out those people who are at the forefront of religious intollerance (Shiites, Sunnis, The American Religious right and Barack Obama’s UCC to name a few)
Anyone who uses religious beliefs as the groundwork for bolster legitimating myths is guilty. Don’t single out any one group as being any worse than the others. Maybe just a little more fanatic.
God Bless
andrew
Reading, PA
I think the biggest problem people have, and bring upon themselves, when it comes to spiritual and philosophical matters, is trying to separate God from Nature, when it is readily apparent that they are one and the same. God IS NATURE, NATURE IS GOD. It really simplifies and clarifies all the rampant confusion in people’s minds, those who think that they can pray for rain, or pray for the Titanic not to sink, etc., when in fact, the handiwork of God/Nature is in place and is ongoing, at any given time.
To pray to God and ask “Divine Intervention” when it comes to this phenomenon or that phenominon is the height of ignorance. To separate God from Nature is to separate the head from the body. Dummies.
Response to Robert Ringer
I enjoyed your article. I’m sure many people find it quite comforting to believe there is a Universal Source – a source they can depend on in their time of need. How frightening to believe that you are alone and just an insignificant spec in a vast universe. Imagine the pain a person suffers when the only solace he finds is from other people who are in the same boat – a boat named “No Destiny.”
Atheists of the Objectivist persuasion claim that an individual finds self-realization and self-esteem in the efficacy of his reasoning ability. A man of reason is a man with inestimable power. A mystic is a person who has relinquished his power to the unprovable – to the non-existent. They call this amorphous state of existence “Anti-Life.”
A person lacking an independent mind is a person who easily succumbs to what his sponge-like brain has absorbed from others less informed than he is. Since religion is a firmly entrenched part of civilization is it any wonder that religious fanaticism takes root and grows to a destructive monstrosity. People who refuse to think turn with confused minds and vacant stares to anyone who claims to possess firm answers. There is no shortage of charlatans, altruists, world-improvers and do-gooders to fill the role of “spiritual” leader. We all know what these types of individuals achieve – misery, death and destruction on a mass scale.
Still, it seems logical there is a first cause to all that exists – although I used to wonder what caused the first cause. I gave up that exercise in futility. If there is a powerful source operating in the universe and it is possible to tap that source, it makes perfect sense for an individual to do so. A utilitarian might tell you “If tapping the Universal Source improves my well-being I’d be a fool if I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to do so.”
Personally, as long as I’m not violating another person’s life, liberty and property – and my own value system, I am open to tapping a source of power that enhances my well-being.
Robert A. Meyer
Robert:
You touch on what I have believed for some time – to develop spiritual insight actually requires one to separate God from religion. God is God, whatever the term one uses. Religion, however, is a creation of man. The Bible (insert Koran, Torah, Vedanta, etc)is in reality a translation of a recollection of an interpretation of God’s word, subject to man’s limitations.
I have spent substantial effort researching religions (I am a practicing Catholic, though had I been born into any other religion, that is what I would practice). I have learned much by comparing the views other religions take of God. The similarities are rather enlightening. My belief about the nature of God is simply a distillation of the many writings and teachings.
Religious fanaticism of any kind is very disheartening because the focus is always on words written by man, not on the true nature of God. God, I believe, is us and we are he. He is not a distinct entity upon a throne, passing judgment. When I came to see him in this way, he finally – in my mind at least – transcended religion.
since it is embedded in man’s DNA, in his nature, to dominate his environment to survive, hijacking religion for political reasons is but a strategy of some. they aren’t pursuing God’s truth. they are pursuing their very personal political goals following the call of nature. Peace on earth and goodwill to men is only possible if we truly believe in Him or to a Universal Mind.
This article raises some good questions. Though I do not believe the problem lies with “dangerous religionists” unless you mean fanatical/dogmatic Islam which is dangerous, where everything is interpreted literally from the Koran and then applied to modern contexts instead of adapting to modern civilization.
The problem seems to be to me that religion is getting more persecution in the Western context from godlessness and Atheism (which is illogical since they cannot disprove the existence of God and therefore violate scientific principles they espouse so much, the only logical position being Agnosticism) and this rejection of religion and it’s benefits to a modern society and of course the attending denial of said benefits, all in the name of “progress” which happened during and in spite of religion supposed hinderances. There is no acknowledgement of morality having a good effect on society as these same peoples try to implement the same ideals that communist governments have tried in the past with disastrous consequences. The godless and Atheistic forces/people of the West are running the same game plan expecting different results and our technological achievements are blinding them to the facts of religions benefits and actual aid to technological achievement by creating a more stable society based in morality and the family unit. The problem is the complete short-sightedness and rampant denial from the media, governments ie.. powers that be, of these facts and an almost daily undermining of religions benefits through Law and risque media.
Yes there is God. With all the wisdom of medicine and knowing all the components of a life form, no one has been able to create life. Mix some enzymes and proteins and add electricity… hmmm doesn’t work. Why is the life force so extremely strong?
What about gravity? No one in history, including today’s scientists, knows what it is or how it works. Electric fields and magnetism can be controlled and switched on and off. Why not gravity?
Why does light travel at the same speed even if you are going away form it or moving closer? Nothing else does that.
Why in the new physics of quantum mechanics does matter just disappear and then reappear? Where does it go?
All the great scientists and doctors through history and today are very spiritual.
Thanks for listening,
Mike Raymond
Newark DE
Reply to bigT
Where did you get the idea that godlessness and Atheism is persecuting religion? If anything, religion seems to have a firm grip on our political system. Just look at all the laws against victimless crimes. Our political leaders claim to be religious individuals. George Bush believed he was the beneficiary of divine guidance.
I’m not saying I agree or disagree with the Atheists. However, I don’t believe it is up to them to disprove the existence of God. I always thought the burden of proof was on the individual making the claim. It should be up to the believers to prove the existence of God.
Anyway, religious and spiritual beliefs are a personal thing. If these beliefs inspire, give comfort or bring hope they could actually supply immeasurable benefits to an individual. The trouble begins when believers think everyone else should adopt these beliefs—and they start forcing them on innocent victims.
By the way, Ayn Rand was an Atheist, yet she was an ardent supporter of Laissez faire capitalism. She was also a fervent anti-communist. It is incorrect to state that Atheism and communism go hand-in-hand. In fact, many religious people are socialists.
I’ve read “Atlas Shrugged” several times. It is a spiritual masterpiece—which proves that religion and the spiritual aren’t necessarily the same thing. In fact at times they are diametrically opposed.
Robert A. Meyer
As always I’m pleased that intelligent people are discussing these things at all.
The truth is; as a 7 year old school boy (and many times since) I was beaten and punished for questioning the truth of a virgin birth or a talking malevolent snake. Protestant parents and school teachers aside; it is wonderful that these question are being raised; and books like The God Delusion & God Is Not Great are out there now.
How I would have LOVED to quote from such books as a younger man.
Our children (particularly my own) ARE allowed to laugh at the ludicrous & childish religious concepts whilst seeking some measure of understanding relating to where we are and what we are actually doing here. It is NECESSARY for people to ask intelligent questions and to reconcile actual good sense from dogma and nonsense. Keep it coming!!
Truth is; (and you stated it obviously and simply) nobody knows what we are and what is truly going on…. but let’s not downplay the enormous benefit from saying that to each other. With the admission of truth; obvious truth comes the synergistic process of comparing what we don’t know to what we think we know. We can investigate scientifically and idealistically so that a true “standard” can be hammered out somewhere along the line.
I think the Moslems are right to “control” each other. I disagree with the “how” but I agree with the concept of guiding each other and standardising conduct. I fear for Western Civilisation as our daughters discard traditional morality and sleep with ever increasing numbers of men…. I worry about what they wear and how they speak to each other. I am horrified by the way our sons ignore the sensitivity of their sisters and frantic about music and the deepening decline as lyrics get worse and worse daily. I think it’s incredibly important that we start talking honestly and work toward some vestige of a sane solution for everyday life as humans. We’re in big trouble unless we get “back” to a civilised community society.
I am no libertarian. I believe people (in general) are way too stupid, lazy and wilful to be entrusted with the power that freedom allows…I would like to see these freedoms curtailed in an imperial fashion (I’m British) but recognise fully that my philosophy is dying out. In the absence of draconian leadership and moral standardisation; I’d like to see intelligent people discussing the problems, finding solutions and putting those prescriptions in place.
I care about our world and I worry for it. Religion is the smallest part of the problem.
Response to jonjayjordan
I applaud the fact that you encourage your children to ask questions—even if they are questions that could make some people uncomfortable. I also admire the courage you displayed when you shed the religious beliefs your authority figures attempted to pound into you. You must have experienced much pain and suffering for your intelligence and open-mindedness.
However, I don’t understand this statement. “I am no libertarian. I believe people (in general) are way too stupid, lazy and wilful to be entrusted with the power that freedom allows…I would like to see these freedoms curtailed in an imperial fashion (I’m British) but recognize fully that my philosophy is dying out.” .
You know that politicians, altruists, do-gooders and world-improvers are people too. What makes you believe they possess the ability to curtail our freedoms in a way that is beneficial for all. I believe the evidence is to the contrary. War, tyranny and economic crisis have caused immeasurable suffering for millions of innocent people throughout the bloody history of man—all the way to the economic collapse we are currently experiencing. It is apparent these so-called leaders of men are stupider and more avaricious than the people they are attempting to control.
You also mentioned that Moslems are right to control each other. That statement is rather disturbing. The idea of a religion controlling anybody is truly frightening.
Anyway, the laws of praxeology (economic science) as presented by such great philosopher-economists as Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, F.A Hayek and Henry Hazlitt prove beyond any reasonable doubt that all interference with voluntary exchanges on the marketplace have undesirable consequences and are detrimental to all—except maybe power-seekers and liberty violators.
Robert A. Meyer
I believe that there are a few people living at all times who have grasped the long sought after answers and have the deeper insights that the vast numbers of people of all various religious seek. However, I believe that due to what they have come to understand and transcendentally know, they do not feel compelled to convert or proselytize anyone else, thus they remain content and silent in their own knowledge and understanding of the nature of God, or The Creator if you wish.
In countries where “the state” took absolute power and thus made itself the absolute arbiter of law and morality(banning the belief in God), the rights of those living in those government states were granted solely by the states including the basic right to exist…and as a result, over 100 million people were murdered by their own governments in the 20th century as a result.
Voltaire wrote, “”What is faith? Is it to believe that which is evident? No. It is perfectly evident to my mind that there exists a necessary, eternal, supreme, and intelligent being. This is no matter of faith, but of reason.”
I believe that humanity as a whole has merely drank from the cup, too deeply, of insatiable materialism and is now drunk on it’s own egotistical hedonistic desires to see beyond anything it cannot control, manipulate, or at present scientifically prove.
As always this is an article worth contemplating.
Here’s my humble take on this article. I believe that the subject of “Universal Intelligence” belongs in an category all on its own. The category should be called Faith. Faith is not logic and its not illogic. It’s a personal perspective of a belief that derives its root from one’s spiritual nature. It’s a step out of the finite world into the infinite nature of life. It’s a place where there are no limits and no boundaries and a universe filled in by one’s own personal beliefs. It’s a world where you can take off your chains of daily limitations and scan the infinity through your imagination guided by your heart. If you want to hug the Infinity or the Lord you can. If not you don’t have to. Did you know only a human Being can provide Faith?
A rock cannot have faith, nor the moon or the bright stars at night. They are what they are but You (the individual) gives it in any recognization or any added significance if that’s your choice. But make sure you distinguish between things that belong in the Physical universe from those things that are of the spiritual universe.
In other words, I would paraphrase what Jesus has said when he was presented with the same argument and that was: “render unto the physical universe what belongs to the physical universe and render unto spiritual universe what’s the spiritual universe’s”. The subject of Faith belongs in that spiritual universe. It just makes for an easier understanding of things of this nature.
One more thing, here’s a definition of Intelligence that I have found useful:
“Intelligence/Sanity is the ability to recognize differences, similarities and identities.” by L.Ron Hubbard.
Well, that’s my take on it. I hope it’s worth something.
Best,
Bruce (freedomviaorder)