In Defense Of Pantheism

by metatron 10 Replies latest jw friends

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  metatron

  http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2014/03/a-new-form-of-intelligent-life-on-earth-plants-found-to-have-a-memory-and-make-complex-decisions.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheDailyGalaxyNewsFromPlanetEarthBeyond+%28The+Daily+Galaxy+--Great+Discoveries+Channel%3A+Sci%2C+Space%2C+Tech.%29

  I hope the link works....it's on dailygalaxy anyway and deals with the mystery of how plants seem to make decisions.

  Rather than choose between atheism or theism, I choose pantheism - that the universe has a degree of consciousness distributed thruout it, perhaps even down to the quantum level. We can call this background of a maintained cosmos "God" if we want. It is why the universe has consistent laws and standards and keeps them going across billions of miles and eons of time - but it isn't a person, as we think of it.

  When the Apostle Paul wrote that "God" was made manifest thru looking at creation, he was simply wrong because there is no morality in creation - a fact recognized by Darwin and various philosophers thruout centuries.

  I wish we could explore the idea of "intelligent design" without reference to a personal creator. Unfortunately, that may not be possible as I found out after attending a screening of "Expelled" years ago which documented suppression of such research. Immediately after it ended, a lay pastor got up and started preaching about how this should motivate people to reject evolution, blah, blah, blah. I sighed and left.

  I think we will see more and more discoveries about mind and consciousness around us in the future. That's my speculation. For some, the idea of a synthesis between atheism and theism is revolutionary. If so, more power to them.

  metatron
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  prologos

  I am not good at dealing with these links, prefer your personal digest.

  There is this buiding, the PANTHEON, dedicated to ALL Gods, or like Pan-American Airlines of old, flying to all countries on the dual continents so,

  Is Pan-theism a form of theism embracing all divinties real and fictional (if there is a real)?
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  breakfast of champions

  "I choose pantheism - that the universe has a degree of consciousness distributed thruout it, perhaps even down to the quantum level."

  I think what you are describing here might be panpsychism.
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  EndofMysteries

  If not creation by a single being, I find that easier to buy then just athiesm and random chance spontaneous life out of nothing. I was contemplating the other day how within our body there exists a world / ecosystem w/ cells, t cells, invaders, viruses, etc, and how remarkable how they interact and such, then how within a cell there is a whole world itself. It made me think how our whole planet may be just a cell within something else, etc.
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  EndofMysteries

  O and thanks for posting that article, that was a very interesting read!
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  jwfacts

  I am an Agnostic that feels most comfortable with Pantheism.
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  metatron

  Yes, Breakfast, you are probably correct as to strict definitions. I just see panpsychism as a practical equivalent to pantheism.

  http://www.iep.utm.edu/panpsych/

  As I was thinking about this topic, I just noticed that "The Week" magazine had "Do Atoms Play?" as its final article in which it discusses Galen Strawson and his theories about universal mind and atoms.

  I can also recommend Mind and Cosmos by Nagel. Not an easy read but he is an atheist who nevertheless forcefully rejects a purely Darwinist, materialist view of the universe. There is also the recent book on Biocentrism by Lanza - although his ideas seem unfalsifiable.

  The Bible seems to contain two contradictory views of God: a gray haired eminence on a throne or a universal spirit that the Psalmist saw as being everywhere at once. I think the universal spirit makes a lot more sense especially in view of our universe's maintained coherence.

  metatron
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  prologos

  The idea that entities in universe, that have no brains can "think", because they are somehown endowed with intelligence implies directed autonomy. I am not ready for that leap, but no doubt

  the ecomomic laws in nature are amazing.

  I am thinking of the refraction laws, that always result in the light or other radiations? taking a path that gives them the shortest TRAVEL TIME, like the life-guard running, then swimming just the right distance to save the drowning swimmer ASAP.

  it remains the question of the origin, smeared out or not.
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  cofty

  Have you researched the distinction between pantheism and panentheism?
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  Satanus

  I am in this camp, too. Playing w the words and their exact meanings is a going back to religion and then, theology. The reality is all around us, imo. Until it is explored to a much greater extent, terms can wait (unless you wanna learn sanskrit. I don't.).

  S