Started 15 Dec 1988
Another Attempt To Describe The Human Dilemma
As time passes - we learn - ever so slowly about many things.
The field of medicine finds new cures. Astronauts proceed beyond our world. Historians dig up our past.
And on and on we go.
We humans learn about our existence, about what makes us tick, about what makes our world tick and about what is beyond.
We have come far - we have yet far to go.
Is there a God? Of what phenomena He? or She? or It? How did it all begin? How will it all end? What is the meaning of life? What are we all about?
To humans - these are very profound questions. Throughout the history of humanity, theories have been proposed suggesting answers. These theories have become beliefs and religions. They have become ingrained in our minds as facts and we have ruled ourselves accordingly.
On some remote jungle island - a volcano comes to life. We now know that this activity is the handiwork of nature. The internal guts of our planet is belching and an eruption occurs. But a thousand years ago the natives on this island believed it to be the doings of an angry god. And somebody got the bright idea that maybe if they threw a few virgins into the stew, this might somehow appease the gods. And sometimes it worked. Woe to the virgins on this island if it did work. The sacrifice of a few virgins could spare the many. What a powerful fact to learn.
Indians - on the plains of the Dakotas- eventual developed agricultural skills. They learned to grow corn - maize they called it. In some years they reaped bountiful crops but in others there was drought. Clouds would come over, they hoped it would rain, but all too often the clouds passed on and the drought continued. One day, during a particularly bad year, as some clouds gathered overhead, one of the natives start jumping around and lo and behold - a few drops of rain fell! He called to his friends and they all jumped and shouted with him - and more rain fell. As their fervor grew, so did the downpour. This was the invention of the rain dance.
Time went on and we learned and learned. Moses, while fleeing Egypt to find the promised land, ran into a few problems. First, with the Egyptians in hot pursuit. they were blocked by the Red Sea. But, not to worry. A few words with the Man Upstairs and the sea separated and there was a path to freedom. Later on this trek, the multitudes were starving. Again, a few words with the Man and walla, Manna from heaven. What a power to discover. A few words to the Man Upstairs and all sorts of problems could be solved.
But it didn't come free. The next thing you know, the Man Upstairs put down a few rules. If people were going to be asking his intervention in solving their problems - he had a few rules for them to live by. These rules were provided as an ultimatum. Live by his rule or be cast into eternal hell fire! YIPES! And this message was carried to the multitudes throughout the land.
Eventually, we learned that tossing virgins into volcanos usually doesn't stop the eruption, In fact what we have learned about volcanos to date is that we haven't figured out any way to stop them. Instead we have learned that when a volcano does start to erupt, the best thing to do is to get the hell out of there. Get out of its way - including virgins.
We have also learned that rain dances don't have a real big impact on whether or not it rains. In this area science has made a little progress in learning that clouds can be sprinkled with a few powders and sometimes we can make a little bit of rain.. A better approach, however, has been a new tactic called irrigation. You save up water from past rains in dams and use that to irrigate your crops during the dry periods. Its not perfect, but it works better than rain dances.
And what about this talking to the guy upstairs and living by his rules. Does it work? Is this the answer? I think not. I think its about as effective as tossing virgins into craters or dancing under the clouds. The reasons I believe this way are laid out in this book - along with my views of what REALLY IS - and how I think we might live our lives to keep the gods happy. I believe that herein lies the path for greater happiness and peace and love for all.
Jesus (or whomever) said it best when he said;
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
or
"Love thy neighbor as you love yourself."
or something like that.
Human harmony would be facilitated if everyone followed these wise adages but how do we get every one to do so. I contend that this would be best achieved by facing the "Realities" of life and by dealing with them in "Realistic" scientific ways. I believe we need to forego rain dances and sacrificing virgins and instead start building dams of human harmony undiluted by ignorance and superstition.That's why this book is called "The Pursuit Of Human Harmony" It reflects my ideas on how we might start building those dams.
This section was last updated 29 November, 2004