Beyond Time and Space?

What exists outside of space and time? I started pondering this idea recently, having talked with a theist about it not long ago. Now, I know that there's no definitive answer to this question from a scientific standpoint. Some scientists believe that nothing exists beyond our universe, whether it's infinite or just unimaginably vast; others believe that other universes are beyond ours in a multiverse, containing possibly an infinite number of these other universes, which also may or may not be infinite in size and may or may not be similar to our own. These are the predominant theories according to the most brilliant minds that humanity has to offer, and I accept that we as a species may never know the actual answer to this particular debate, but these are both plausible compared to the third alternative that I have stumbled across. Theists have provided this third alternative, which states that God is beyond time and space.

So, in the thinking about this third alternative, I have to reject it. The idea that a single entity that is infinite and timeless could not be feasible if it exists outside the universe it is credited with interacting within. If God is outside the universe, how could it possibly be everywhere within the universe? If God is outside time, how could it be every when in our universe? Logically, it couldn't exist outside space/time and be omnipresent within the boundaries of it, right? I believe so.

Nothing that we have observed within our universe has come from without, so far as I know. I'll admit that I'm not a cosmologist or astronomer, so I haven't made very many observations into the deepest regions of space. However, according to every study I've read and every scientist I've heard speak via video, this is true. There are only objects from our universe in our universe, from the moment time started until now and likely on into the future.

So where does that leave God? Nowhere in the observable universe, not in any spectrum of detectable energy from radio waves to gamma waves. Considering we also see the universe as it was relative to it's distance away from us, God is also not in any period of time that we can observe. I posit then that there is no God in this universe, at the very least, especially not one that is described by most theists. 

I know that these points are not new by any means, and I'm sure that you have probably heard/read this a plethora of times before. I just felt that I needed to share my take on the subject. Now I want to leave you with a couple of questions, because I want to see what you all have to say. 

First, what do God and nothing share in common?
Second, what do you think exists beyond the time and space that we exist in?
Finally, what is nothing capable of that God is not?

God's Plan?

Does God have a plan for us?

According to the Bible, yes. Everything that has ever occurred, or ever will, is part of his master plan. Including war, disease, genocide, bigotry, and all the other evils of the world. He planned all of it from the moment of creation.

The fall of Lucifer and his host was no surprise, as it was inevitable. The people who now worship Satan are part of God's plan, paying homage to the darker side of his plans. That's right, devil worship is part of God's plan! If it wasn't, there are only two explanations that it exists: God didn't plan anything, or there is no god to make any plans.

I have expressed this sentiment to theists in conversations about religion, and it flummoxes them. I don't know why, they (mostly) believe in God's infallible plan for everything, so they should accept that this is part of it. However, they get bent out of shape when I mention that the plan isn't all benevolent.

I mention the fact that the Bible states that God wishes for everyone to worship him, and obey his every whim, but he has created those who will not. Why would an egotistical megalomaniac would pre-condemn any group that he demands be obedient and worshipful? It's part of the plan, I guess.

Does that mean that we are all acting according to this divine script? Devil-worshippers, warmongers, gays, atheists, righteous bigots, hypocrites, the infirm, and everyone else playing their part in a grand play that can't be strayed from? I don't think so, personally. I believe in free will, and I believe in no deities.

I strongly believe in being your own person, and working toward improving life for yourself and those around you. I will mention that there is a growing number of scientists and science-minded people who believe that the universe is acting in a manner that resembles a predetermined path. This doesn't put God into science, though the plan part is kinda there.

In a predeterministic universe, everything follows a set path that cannot be strayed from, much like God's plan, but more like a complex chain reaction with no one overseeing the experiment. I can at least acknowledge that a predeterministic universe is plausible, but I don't personally put stock into it. Otherwise, this rant would have been inevitable, like in the God's plan model.

In conclusion, God's plan contains evils, and therefore isn't omnibenevolent. I can't believe in a plan like that, and no one that uses logical thinking shouldn't either.

God Vs. Science 1

Well, you knew it was only a matter of time before I weighed in on the most heated debate in Midwest School Board curriculum setting meeting rooms and public hearings related to it. So ready yourselves, and I'll try to power through it without getting obnoxious.

First, I found a #Psychiatry study that proposed an interesting premise, though finding any summarizations that remained untouched by bias was difficult, but I think I found one. Either way, upon reading the various different synapses, I got the impression that they gathered 159 subjects of varying age and religiosity, and all diagnosed with some variant of depression. The subjects were essentially rated on a scale of 1-10 in terms of belief, and then rated on a similar gradient for severity of their diagnosis. It seems that those with a high amount of faith tend to be more receptive to this specific treatment than those who are more disillusioned about magic. I don't know what to make of it, so I'll post the results of the study, and also a link to a peer-reviewed site that has the short form of the findings and processes.

"RESULTS: Belief in God was significantly higher among treatment responders than non-responders F(1,114)=4.81, p<.05. Higher levels of belief were also associated with greater reductions in depression (r=.21, p<.05) and self-harm (r=.24, p<.01), and greater improvements in psychological well-being (r=.19, p<.05) over course of treatment. Belief remained correlated with changes in depression and self-harm after controlling for age and gender. Perceived treatment credibility/expectancy, but not emotional regulation or community support, mediated relationships between belief in God and reductions in depression. No variables mediated relationships to other outcomes. Religious affiliation was also associated with treatment credibility/expectancy but not treatment outcomes." -
Faith aids Psychiatric treatment of depression?

It's weird to see any kind of credit given to faith being constructive to the human experience, right? Especially in a peer-reviewed journal. even if it's not a really accurate type of experiment. However, now that religion has had it's short moment in the sun, I must attempt to drown it in torrential storms of #logic and #morality that will flood that news for 40 days and 40 nights, because this next study is amazing news for the morality debaters.

#Frans de Waal,
a prominent primatologist, recently completed a long-term study on chimpanzees and bonobos that explored their capacity to display morality. Understanding, without any outside entity bestowing the knowledge of, what was right and wrong to do.
"For example, Lody, a bonobo in the Milwaukee County Zoo, bit the hand -- apparently accidentally -- of a veterinarian who was feeding him vitamin pills.
'Hearing a crunching sound, Lody looked up, seemingly surprised, and released the hand minus a digit,' de Waal said. 'Days later the vet revisited the zoo and held up her bandaged left hand. Lody looked at the hand and retreated to a distant corner of the enclosure where he held his head down and wrapped his arms around himself, signs of both grief and guilt.
And here's the amazing part. About 15 years later the vet returned to the zoo and was standing among a crowd of visitors when Lody recognized her and rushed over. He tried to see her left hand, which was hidden behind the railing. The vet lifted up her incomplete hand and Lody looked at it, then at the vet's face, then back at the hand again.'"That's right, a lower primate understanding that they did something wrong, and felt bad about it, and bore the guilt for at least 15 years afterwards. How much of it came from some deity claiming to be the source of all morality? None, and the study continues...
The chimpanzees and bonobos also display empathy for the less fortunate in their troops, mothers will take in orphaned young, thievery is punished, and other amazingly moral-like mechanisms are in place in these species. There's so much more, but I provided the link and I don't want to spoil the best part.
Primates answer God and morals debate!

Now that I have provided scientists that have straddled either side of this issue, the time has come to weigh in myself, I suppose. Those of you who know me  already know where I stand on this debate, and won't be disappointed by my vote. I have to go with science, the evidence is still in favor of it actually existing and doing useful things, unlike God. I was really surprised to even find any real scientists entertaining the idea that God affected any kind of treatments since the last batch of #prayerasmedicine experiments that pretty much resolved that issue. If that study didn't get the point across, then I refer you to the #PAcouple prays baby to death instead of getting it medical treatment, PART 2!!! Meaning they failed to have that work before, in 2009, had a child die from a totally curable illness that God was powerless against. The parents got a smack on the hand, charged with "Unintentional Manslaughter" for the first instance of this. Now that it's happened again, to the same family AGAIN, and another child of theirs died AGAIN, and their prayers failed AGAIN, these people and EVERY member of the congregation they are members of should be arrested and tried as accomplices and hazards to public safety, as well as intentional murderers that allow defenseless children die from something that could have been treated by science instead of faith.

There it is, the first of an inevitably long series of #GodVs.Science articles that I will probably end up writing for the sheer amusement of reading the source materials.

This article uses excerpts from outside materials, and is intended to be used for educational and satirical purposes only, any infringement is strictly accidental, and will be noted in future revisions if any action is brought forward. All sources cited and linked, except the smartest family in PA, but you can Google them later.

Where Is Your Personal God?

I have looked myself for the possibilty of some kind of deity. My family has a fair amount of religion, my grandfather being a Southern Baptist preacher(or minister? Maybe reverend? I never know which denomination calls them which title) and every member of the generation prior to me were all deeply involved with every aspect of running a church and being model fundamentalists. I came along and the indoctrination started from birth, practically. I thought the stories were fun, but never believed that any of the tales could be remotely true. I asked why God wanted to do such terrible things to us if He loved us, which never wound up with a satisfactory explanation. I decided that if there were no logical reasons for it, then I didn't need it in my life. I spent the first decade of my memorable life trying to understand the people who were supposed to be my family, knowing that alienation was soon going to cause me to move in with other relatives, searching for the feeling they called God, and never finding it in the places that others claimed to experience it.

As I grew older, I read more and more, studying the human condition as best I could in a poorly funded public library with books 35 years out of date. Eventually I stumbled upon hallucinogens, and found the feeling that so eluded me during my youth. The only difference was that I didn't find God or have any religious experience while tripping, and was fully conscious of the fact that I was hallucinating throughout that entire experience. It was the final proof I needed to temper my resolve in non-belief, I never wasted my time looking for something that isn't there again. I had found a way to feel the same mind-blowing awe that others felt by "communing with God," and I could control it, learning what it must be like to live with such heavy mental and emotional castration tainting every aspect of life in believers.

I am glad that I can at least put myself in the shoes of someone with untreated schizophrenia that is capable of living among hordes of similar patients. It worries me, however, because I remember the horrible things these ill people are capable of in order to maintain the illusion that they're disease is saving them from their inevitable, and hopefully sudden, end.

The quest to find my personal God led me down the path of actual understanding and wisdom. I didn't find any deity, I found the chemistry that makes people think a deity is there.

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