Some thoughts on God, faith and religion in the 21st century

Dedicated to my late father Horst Bingel!

It is probably an undeniable truth that most human individuals have continued for thousands of years a quest to explain or figure out what the essence of life means and where life comes from etc. 

Humanity and civilization are unthinkable and would not exist without thousands of years of God, faith and religion. However, as they like to say, civilization is a thin veneer that would be even thinner without God, faith, and religion.

Over human history, many religions and faith have come and gone! Many of the currently still dominant existing or traditional religions are not very convincing anymore in the 21st century. Understandably, more individuals have doubts and turn away from them. Atheism and agnosticism and the like are among the weirdest or most illogical of all religions. A number of Pseudo religions like science (not science proper), environmentalism, climate change have emerged and cause confusion and worse. Nihilism and misanthropy have gained ground!

Religious freedom and tolerance are sacrosanct!

Who or what created the awesome, majestic universe and all its magic and mysteries? Maybe the greatest question of all matters related to religion. Who or what is the God that created the universe or what is even beyond?

Why life on earth has been possible and is so rare in our Milky Way galaxy to the best of our current knowledge. How life evolved in so many different forms? Why most likely extraterrestrial life exists, but has yet to be discovered? Is life more than just some form of chemistry combined with  physics developed over eons from some kind of primordial soup? 

What are the eternal fundamental principles of life if they exist? How strong are these principles?
Here are a some major ones (in no particular order):

• Generally no cannibalism
• Change is the only constant in life. Though the fundamental principles of science and mathematics rarely change since they replaced alchemy or what became before science
• A sense of caring for offspring, family members, friends, and strangers 
• Peace generally and most of the time dominates war. Similarly, good over evil
• Honesty generally and most of the time dominates dishonesty and crime
• A distinct preference for voluntary self-interested action, decisions, and fairness towards others
• A distinct preference and longing for community, cooperation, learning, virtue, humility, dignity, mercy, compromise, solidarity  and harmony
• A sense of individual liberty and individual responsibility. More liberty means more responsibility and accountability
• A sense of and strive for individual and/or group achievement
• A sense for the importance of equality and it trumps egality/equity. But not all humans are equal by nature and birth
• The Golden Rule: Do unto others what you would like to be done to yourself
• Variety, curiosity and experiments are the very spice of life
• All animal and human lives matter, every life (born and unborn) is precious. Killing, murder, harming and maiming of life are generally abhorred and tolerated only in a very few exceptional cases

What is love? What is the power of love that bears all, believes all, hopes all, overcomes all, and endures all? Why do we trust other human beings? Why does hope spring eternal?

Do prayers make a difference? Can faith move mountains figuratively speaking? Affirmative, to both questions.

Is there a soul? Does life after death continue or what about rebirth? 

What is divine intervention if it exists? Why so random? Why so unpredictable?

Can any human being be a God or a child of God or the like in the past present, or future? Most likely this is not possible! Such claims belong rather to fairy tales, wishful thinking, and mythology!

Or is every human a God or made in the image of God? Most certainly not!

What about the future? Human ingenuity is working on less dependence on nature and evolution. Some examples: Artificial intelligence, superhuman capabilities, robotics, humans overtaking natural evolution, better food and energy supplies, and artificial reproduction and/or eternal healthy life and much more.

Let me close with this version of the Serenity Prayer attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."

What am I missing or in Socrates's unforgettable famous words: I know that I know nothing!