by James Lynne

Created on: August 19, 2008   Last Updated: August 20, 2008

The idea of a god concept has existed since the beginning of time in virtually all cultures. It is used to explain what men do not understand. Historically, the god-concept has been a tool of the powerful for exploiting the weak and willing. As the line goes in Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, Caesar would not be so willing to be a wolf if the Romans were not so willing to be sheep. A god, any god, would not exist if believers did not grant existence to him. God is a creation of man, not man a creation of God. My understanding of God is that he exists in the minds of those who choose for Him to exist.

"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," said the wizard as Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Lion, and the Scarecrow uncovered his scam. There is no wizard in Oz, just as there is no omnipotent wizard controlling the universe. There is as much evidence supporting the existence of Santa Clause or UFOs, as there is the existence of God. Certainly, there is belief, conjecture, and desire, but none of these abstractions is supported by a single fact.

There are those who claim the wisest scientific minds of modern times, Darrow, Einstein, Hawking believe in God, but this is incorrect. Each of these scientists recognizes the universe as a spectacular and magnificent entity of the highest order, but does not attribute its creation to God. Einstein and Hawking acquiesce to the idea that this "order" is worthy of a kind of godliness, if that is the name one wants to apply to it, but neither accepts the concept of a God-creator, God-the-father, God-the-intervener. Darrow disavowed God altogether as he matured.

My understanding of god is that man created him out of the need to explain what we can not readily explain. To that extent, he exists in our minds, hearts, and theories as a construct, but not necessarily as anything tangible or rational. Having a God to believe in fulfills our need to extend our lives beyond one lifetime, to generate "after life." We are a creative lot, we humans. Our ability to scheme, devise, and create is apparently boundless. If necessity is the mother of invention, historically we humans need and invent "gods-du-jour." We have done so since the beginning of time. The modern (in reality, ancient) God of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam shares many of our human characteristics. It is hard to accept that he passed those traits on to us. It is more logical that in our creating him, we endowed him with our own traits.

I've always been intrigued

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