When I use the word “god” I’m not talking about any particular religious image. For lack of a better word, I’m using “god” to mean whatever force created and/or governs this universe. It could be a bearded dude on a throne, it could be a mathematical equation or it could be a random spark that started a fire. But whatever it is, I hate it.
I hate the rules and patterns of existence that we live by. Universal laws like “survival of the fittest”, “kill or be killed” and “consume others so that you may live” are the laws of all living organisms, whether we’re talking about people, fish or blobs of organic matter on some distant planet. Life is not benevolent by nature. We would like to believe that it is; we would like to invent a cosmic force that is, and I actually admire people who have the ability to imagine an idealistic universe where kindness wins, despite all indications to the contrary. But even the religious parables agree that kindness is met with cruelty and torture. The bottom line, according to everything we observe in nature, is that nothing in this universe is nice to us.
We have to fight for every scrap. Even worse, we have to hurt others so that we may live. The cows that we slaughter for a Big Mac, the Chinese orphans that we enslave for our Nike sneakers, the weeds that we kill because they get in the way of our sidewalks. The universe rewards us for doing these atrocities. We are rewarded with longer life, comfort, ownership of the planet, and worst of all the righteous hypocrisy of being the dominant life form as far as telescopes can see.
And if this is “god” then I hate it. If this is the mathematical equation that defines the growth and evolution of organic life forms, then it’s a total crock and I want no part of it. The one consolation is that we (supposedly) have the ability to leave the world at any time. I highly doubt that the world, or “god” will miss me.
17 comments
I understand some of what you’re saying. A few of the things you point out are problems with man made society and not the natural universe, though. “God” or the universe did not decide that in some countries, children should be working in shoe factories. Humanity did that. According to natural law we probably aren’t even supposed to wear shoes, or clothes for that matter. Same with killing weeds that grow on sidewalks. Humanity kills the weeds, humanity created the sidewalks. If god/nature wanted there to be sidewalks, they’d form naturally.
The one thing you mentioned that is just plain old nature is the idea of things killing other things for food or sport. I forget who first phrased it this way, but someone referred to all forms of life as just tubes that eat at one end and poop out the other. No matter how complex the life form, it’s all just a digestive system. Microscopic organisms eat certain things and excrete waste, all the way up to humans. Again, this is something that started out natural, but humanity made it worse. Bad enough if animals have to be killed for food, but factory farming and animals living in small pens their entire lives is our fault, not “god” or nature. I struggle with the idea of eating animals too because I love animals. In a perfect world, I would never have to eat something that had to die first. But I’m not convinced that vegan or vegetarian is truly what we are designed for. More and more there are books coming out saying that grains and all the non-animal stuff we eat is actually what’s bad for us, not animal protein and saturated fat like the “experts” claimed were unhealthy for so many decades. But again, I get your point, if there were a magical world where none of this needed to happen and “food” could just be some other non-living thing, I’d want tha too. Some day in the not too distant future we probably will be creating all of our food in the lab and none of it will have to be something that died.
Overall I get your point. Yes, this entire thing is violent. Stars go through massive explosions to create planets. Life forms are constantly killing and feeding off of each other. If “something” was responsible for designing this, why couldn’t it have been all fun and fluffy and none of this death and pain. I can somewhat come to terms with the design of nature and respect it for what it is, though. Most of the truly upsetting things are the things that humans alone are responsible for. Although you could also look at it from the perspective that nature allowed for the evolution of humans, nature allowed for creatures like us to exist, so in that sense everything we are doing is “natural” because we are a natural creation, in which case children working in sweat shops and the destruction of nature for man-made things still is “nature’s” fault.
It is indeed a pretty brutal universe. I’d choose one with a more merciful design as well.
ThousandCuts, you pegged it. Especially your last paragraph is what I’m getting at… I believe that humanity, in all its tyrannical glory, is the culmination of nature. We are, after all, just the latest step in nature’s design. The sophisticated apes who, themselves, came from a long progress of mammals, amphibians before them, fish and microbes and primordial sludge. Humans are natire’s greatest accomplishment to date, and I shudder to think of what will be next. Gods? More gods to create more flawed universes like this one?
Well that’s speculation, but going back to the fundamentals of natural law, or “our god”, yes it seems that we are all little more than tubes that consume other lives and poop out the filth that we can’t use.
I went vegetarian years ago, but it’s not making a shit’s worth of difference. I do it just as my own personal rebellion against whatever programmed me to be a carnivore. I guess in the same way, my suicide will be my rebellion against whatever programmed me to exist in this corrupt world.
“The bottom line, according to everything we observe in nature, is that nothing in this universe is nice to us.”
I think it´s the perception of things, we as humans have developed brains which allow us to feel, be good and bad. We have emotions as do some of the animals residing on this planet too. I think your God did not make the universe for beings with feelings, we´re the very top of the line in evolution – as far as we know at the moment. And the mere existence of evolution and the survivalism of the fittest makes the living for the intelligent beings so much harder; an ant for example don´t give a shit if the other ant beside it dies, I suppose – not sure though.
What I mean is life and the laws of universe are brutal for beings which have feelings, we all are under mercy of evolutionary laws also. Survival of the fittest as an ancient but continuing law for men still affects our current development; a woman wants a strong man for the best possible continuation of their offspring.
This all makes the world for men seem so cruel and brutal. We still act under “prehistoric” laws and the wars, killing, bullying and other wrongdoings are just part of laws of nature and evolution. The emotional aspect in all of this is what makes people go insane and they start to feel the globe is nothing but an abomination of horror – but after all it and its residents are just merely acting under the universal laws.
“I think it´s the perception of things, we as humans have developed brains which allow us to feel, be good and bad. We have emotions as do some of the animals residing on this planet too.”
That’s an interesting and valid point. Emotions are the root of all suffering. I’ve seen some animals missing limbs and not seeming to care. Most probably because they don’t have an emotional attachment to their bodies (vanity?) the way humans do. I’ve also seen insects repeatedly get their homes destroyed but they don’t sit around sulking like you or I would if our house got washed away for the 10th time.
On the flip side, we know that “higher order” animals like dogs, cats & horses definitely suffer from depression and anxiety when abandoned or tormented. (Like you said, maybe other animals do too, but it’s most noticeable in the domesticated, “evolved” ones.)
So now my question is: Are emotions part of progressive evolution? Or are they some mutation, a wrong turn that nature took just like Down’s Syndrome or Autism or any of the genetic conditions that make people less likely to survive in our world?
I agree that brutality & cruelty are perceptions. If a baby bunny drowns in a flood we see it as tragedy, but really it’s just a random event. If an entire planet gets swallowed by a black hole it’s just a random event. In a sense, I can almost accept the “brutality” of predators & prey that way.
But where it gets blurry is when humans deliberately inflict emotional pain on others. Things like rape & murder & domestic abuse are not driven by survival but by some twisted emotional need of the aggressor. And guess what, it does make the aggressor more powerful. So I’m thinking maybe emotions (or at least the violent ones) are part of evolutionary superiority?
Again it all falls back to universal laws that just stink. I know my perspective is skewed because I am an emotional person (the weak emotions like caring and pity unfortunately), but I just don’t like the way the universe is set up. Even an emotionless universe seems awfully sterile and pointless to me.
But if the universe has been doing this for 10 kajillion years, while I’m not even a molecule of dust in comparison, I guess we can see who the “recessive gene” is. Me and anyone like me. In a sick way, it makes sense that this would lead to suicide. It’s a convenient way for nature to get rid of its mistakes. Well, doesn’t “god” think of everything. It’s just so frustrating to see how efficient & airtight the universe has been designed for its purposes. I just strongly disagree with what those purposes are.
Very good points there Stain,
Emotions certainly are the very cause for suffering to exist, unless we are talking about some very primal pain which comes from an act of an animal killing for feeding the offspring for example; does a gnu feel sadness and desperation while it´s hunted down and savaged by a lion – or just pain. But what kind of pain.
As we agreed, seems like the evolved animals have the capability of emotional interaction or feelings; so in a sense we as humans are the very top notch. But is that a progressive evolution or a mutation – good question. I feel that it has to be some form of progression; mutations often only occur rarely and are only seen in certain groups of people or creatures – whether for genetic reasons, pollution or chance. If emotions were part of a mutation they would not have evolved like they have. Emotional evolution would have had come to stop at some point – or at least some other mutation would have overpowered it if it had been there for pure chance or even in vein. Overall it seems that a mutation could possibly start a progressive evolution if it´s useful for the creature in any way – and ineffectual ones would ultimately meet their demise, be recessive.
A nature never takes a wrong turn unless it´s an accidental mistake; like a mutation, but it´s only there for a brief time and hence usually not progressive. These syndromes, like Downs, are very good examples of nature taking the very wrong way. But nowadays we keep these beings – as harsh as it may sound – alive because we have the power. And there the evolution gets eventually perhaps even overpowered by the intelligence of men – and in a way it already has.
Scientists seem to be on their way of really getting to the roots of genetics as we speak and who know what will happen; stem cells, overly developed treatments for certain conditions and other “mumbo-jumbos†to prolong our disgraceful existence. If we continue to develop our science and cross a certain threshold at some point, the evolution might eventually be clueless; we have then won the battle for survival of the fittest.
This is already seen in some aspects in our everyday lives; internet, computers and other apps have changed the world. Geeks for example are starting to take over the planet – although the word geek is no more valid, since we all seem to fit the category in a sense these days. But women still unfortunately seek mainly the strong and protective men for their companions and for breeding purposes.
As for you talking about senseless acts of violence: murder, rape and abuse. There I think something could have gone wrong in genetics. Why don´t genetics prefer good traits over bad: empathy, sympathy, compassion, benevolence and honesty for example. Maybe they do but it´s not as black and white as it may seem. Are having certain genes merely a chance or are we as we speak in some evolutionary transition so at the moment this all may seem very vague for us – who knows. Good and bad gene traits are often seen to affect together with an upbringing and environment rather than genes only of course.
It´s sadly clear that not so respected personality traits are nowadays too often seen in some places quite abundantly – is it a coincidence that the majority of people running firms, being in an executive status are usually narcissistic and even psycho- or sociopaths. And thinking about some of the former leaders in the world; upbringing and childhood experiences are in my opinion the biggest factors for what becomes of a child – Hitler, some serial killers. But I´m afraid to say that violent emotions could be linked to an evolutionary superiority; could they merely be a condition of bad parenting, abuse or from another environmental cause. Violent or abusive people often do have the power though and seem superior, you´re very right on that one, but most are in jails these days or have a shorter life span and hence can´t produce offspring. We also have laws and rules in our society nowadays that prevent emotionally violent people from distributing their twisted justice to the innocent and to the good folks as much as they would like. So even if there once were superiority in some violent gene pool; I suppose it´s receding as we speak and has already.
But the most important factors for human development are the environmental affects; when a child is born it´s almost an empty canvas in my opinion. And the childhood experiences overcome the natural instincts and gene factors; personality is created from an external and internal experiences. Gradually evolving into a good or bad person. So universal evolution has no saying in this, other than that of how certain genes might endanger a person for some illnesses or other unnatural desires.
So, is there any involvement with evolution any more in human emotional growth; we control our offspring from the day they are born and raise them as we please. Parents can easily make a child into a killer if they want to. So it seems that we as humanity have in a sense beaten the evolutionary laws – and we can create our own future and children as we desire.
And finally, seems like the people with these weak emotions as you said Stain, are the ones who suffer nowadays the most, life is hard and very difficult to cope with if having overly emotional and sensitive personality. Those traits could indeed be recessive. I am very emotional too. So here we are.
You cant hate god for how humans treat each other, if we take example of mother Teresa they are some good people and they are some bad people, we humans chooses the path we need to follow either the right or the wrong one that depends on us.
Mother Teresa is a great example of an evolved soul driven by compassion. But the universe didn’t exactly reward her for good service (at least not the physical universe we live in). That’s what makes me sad. Some murdering dictator can live in a castle with all the pleasures, a dozen wives and scores of offspring to carry on his genetic filth. But Mother Teresa lived in squalor, suffering every day with the knowledge of the work ahead of her. No children, no genetic continuation.
I know there have been exceptional humans who have a difference in this world. It just seems like the world is fighting them with everything it’s got. For once I’d like to see that kindness leads to biological superiority. Like people live 100 years longer or sprout wings or ANYTHING to reassure us that nature/god likes a “good guy”. But doesn’t the opposite always seem to happen?
Neil deGrasse-Tyson said, “And what comedian configured the region between our legs—an entertainment complex built around a sewage system?” in regards to “intelligent design”/creation
Nope – there is no “god” to hate … but the “god” that many believe in that does not exist is the catalyst for innumerable suffering beyond what nature intended. And since man created god(s) it really is ourselves that we hate if we’re to hate the world that “god” created because man created both “god” and the world which we currently live and the laws and rules that ostracize anyone who doesn’t fit the mold the majority approves of.
So basically, cut out the middle man that is a creator god and go straight to hating man and the “humanity” and condition man created. Although in fairness, man uses his gods to cast his responsibility off onto a scapegoat (jesus) and shirk his personal responsibility for the harm he causes others through the human sacrifice of the son of god – who, of course, is also a creation of man – not sure how some of the other main religions do this process but i’m sure they have a way for their god to extract their responsibility so they can proclaim themselves “good” while they torture animals and watch babies starve or labor in slavery.
In fairness to science and nature – humans are evolved to be omnivores – we can survive on whatever is available.
Anyway, my point is that as evolved primates, we “created” the world in which we live and the laws and systems that govern us but we’ve allowed the man-made concept of “god” to dictate, justify and actually necessitate the evils we visit or ourselves, others and other species, and those who have assumed power use god(s) to wash the blood off their hands. One thing you cannot do as an individual, is assume the responsibility for the actions of others. We can only hope to intellectually show them the error of their ways. Your suicide will not stand as a rebellion to anything … and will only stand to be corrupted by the living as an example of why we need more “god”. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on that front :/
Choosing to live or die … or how … are your choices – you’re free to make them as you wish. There is nothing in the natural world that prevents this – nor that really cares either way. It’s a hard reality that the world and nature is indifferent to us as individuals … the laws and minds of men, however, your choices have consequences, so choose carefully.
If we’re to give the bible stories any credence historically, the 12 disciples of jesus went on to create generations and billions of believers in a complete and utter hoax (christianity) … conversely … perhaps your voice and ideas could change humanity to end factory farming or sweat shop labor or whatever your passion is. It all starts one mind at a time.
Live or die – the world will see your self inflicted death as “your fault” because it cannot stand dissent and certainly won’t accept responsibility – there is no “god” to choose either way – but your living voice or logic and reason cannot be completely ignored by everyone – no matter how quiet, and insignificant it may seem … the proverbial thorn in the side that gnaws for attention at every turn despite not being seen … fuck em up by being there to expose them for the lemmings they are 😉
reality dawg
ohoo i had no clue about teresa thanks for sharing it
“your choices – you’re free to make them as you wish. There is nothing in the natural world that prevents this – nor that really cares either way.”
That’s both bleak and inspiring. It’s bleak because we all desperately want someone or something to care about us. But it’s inspiring to think that the universe doesn’t care enough to make my life hell.
Yes, “god” has been used to validate countless acts of depravity. And I suppose in some cases (like me) “god” is a convenient focus for my frustrations at the world. But in both cases it’s a tool used to transfer responsibility away.
I do wish, like many people, I could use “god” as an ideal to work toward. In that sense, real or not, it can provide stability. And I guess that’s what faith is all about. But I don’t see any ideal kingdom where everything makes sense, especially not with the observations I’ve made of the world so far.
All the same, that’s good advice to keep fighting for what we believe in, pointless as it may seem. If you caught me on a good day I’d take you up on it. At the moment I don’t have any fight left.
” At the moment I don’t have any fight left.”
Cool thing about the natural universe – it won’t be upset if you take a 15 minute smoke break from engaging in the cause du jour … or 15 years for that matter. Fight when you feel up to it, rest when you don’t.
I suppose i forgot to mention – since i got off on a tangent about the lack of god – that “hate”, no matter who/what the intended target, is a very tiring activity that nets the hater no positive gain or outcome … i try to refrain from such a strenuous and time consuming activity. I tend to utilize “indifference” instead of hate … it can have a much greater effect on the intended target if they/it can not get any reaction pro or con from you … similar to the muhammad ali “rope-a-dope” strategy in boxing … he allowed his opponent to actively expend their energy while minimizing the effect of the opponent’s attacks/punches … like the old cliche “roll with the punches” … when you move in same the direction as the punch, when it makes contact it is significantly less effective.
It’s fine to “dislike” something and avoid it and indoing so you can be indifferent to it when it happens elsewhere far away from you … but to “hate” means you’re seeking out that which you dislike and confronting it (whether figuratively in your mind or actually) and taking some action against it … it wears one down after a while – and there is no requirement or mandate that says we MUST search and destroy all things we dislike, because that is an unrealistic goal.
meh dawg
I was thinking about the same thing recently that LovingLife said.
I’ve been playing a game called Tokyo Jungle lately (yeah, stupid thing, i know) and since the playthroughs are like 1-3 hours each time, i started thinking “This is really what life is about”. In that game you feed killing animals, reproduce in order to keep playing with your offsprings (or you die from old age), the more you level up before reproducing you can access to a better mate or they reject you… you get the idea.
The thing is, while playing it made sense to me. It made sense that if you were to leave feelings aside and act feraly, you would be doing the same exact thing, killing to eat, trying to acquire the best reproductive mate you can, and just plain out surviving along the years. And in a sense, most of humanity does that, in a slightly more polite way. Not to say that i agree with that or that i will go out and jump at people and eat them, but it’s just the way nature is, and it would be like that with or without human intervention.
That’s a great analogy, and sometimes I’ve wondered if life (consciousness) is just a videogame. When I think of things that way it makes life easier to handle. The “bad guys” aren’t really there, they are just pixels on a screen, and I have to deal with them appropriately.
More importantly, when I think of life as a videogame I get the peace of knowing that I haven’t actually hurt anyone in the past because they were just pixels on a screen. All my fuckups are no big deal and I can move on without guilt or conscience. Maybe that’s how we were designed to make it through this world, with emotional detachment. I just don’t know why I can’t do that.
Everyone has their own interpretations of God, and what “He” is in their own respective lives. To many, He’s simply some mystical figure that many conjure up to instill some semblance of order in the populace. To others, he’s a heavenly father who’s guiding and improving our lives from afar. I’m a christian, and I respect and value each and every one of your opinions. We each have an intrinsic desire to see the world–and the people in it, as we’d like them to be. When that vision is blurred by killing, injustice and unfairness, we often dismiss any sort of higher power. I don’t have all of the answers in regards to religion. Believing in God, or any sort of higher power, is a journey that each of us go through in our lives. It is one that constantly changes as we experience new things and face different obstacles. Keep an open mind. Be the change you wish to see in the world.
@dawg, because I feel like not nesting my quote (i’mma rebel, yo); hate is a time-consuming, soul-devouring, mind-destroying, peace-insulting passion that’s enjoyed by many a crazy person, and many an angry person. It’s fruitless, but sometimes it can be useful in moderation. Hey – nature gave it to us for a reason, it’s not just some quirky flaw that sneaked its way into the mix. But like all things that work well in moderation, when it becomes the entire focus, things go spiraling into the seven circles of emotional hell. Humans need to God or Satan to mete out the paradise or condemnation – humans choose the outcome all by themselves.
Humans need no God or Satan*
Whoops. Almost made a faux-theism there.
I hate god more than anything else in the WORLD