No God Anywhere
Good field guides warn about places that seem likely places to spot your quarry, but are in fact devoid of any. It is like warning a train spotter not to waste time at a disused railway line. Indeed, some NOs see our quest as a waste of time.
This brings us to Divebottom’s second category. As my contribution to the science of God observation field guides, I have proposed the term WON’T (Waste Of Non-observers’ Time). They are not simply disinterested in our quest like the NOs; they positively deny that it is achievable. They go beyond the NO position and say that God cannot be observed by anyone, anywhere, any time. WON’Ts refuse to set out on the expedition to observe God saying that our quest is a waste of time, to use the WON’Ts favourite phrase.
Most WON’Ts think God is non-existent. They reason that since they have not seen God, and they do not believe anyone else has seen God either, God is a delusion. How a WON’T could know what everyone else knows is a great mystery. It must be recognised that WON’Ts have failed to prove the non— existence of God and they cannot show that all God observers are deceived.
Observing God among nasty things
Stephen Carbody, the well-known celebrity and WON’T, said that he does not believe God exists because of the nasty things that happen in the world. This objection is as old as God observation itself. Carbody blames God for the nasties because God, if he exists, made the world. Carbody demands an explanation and accuses his Maker of not doing a good enough job. If I were God, I would have marked Carbody for scrapping. Fortunately for Carbody, God is not like me. God is good; remember?
I phoned Dr Lee to ask him if I could discuss the problem of observing God among nasty things. He thought we best do it over a yum cha. I like this man. He knows how to tackle a difficult problem.
Yum Cha
We met at a large restaurant in Chinatown where the bustling and noisy crowd added excitement to the occasion. After selecting from a passing food cart, Dr Lee went into his stride. “You will remember Albert that I told you God is good. This means the nasty things cannot be his doing. There must be a secondary cause in the universe able to introduce nasty things into the world. I am sure God would agree with Carbody that nastiness is a blight on creation that God would have to remove.”
“Are you saying people are the problem?” I clarified.
Dr Lee nodded. “People are without doubt among the secondary causes responsible for nasty things. This has implications for your quest to see God.”
“God has a problem with us,” I observed. “People can’t even get on with each other.”
Lee continued, “Why would a good God keep a world contaminated with nastiness in existence? God must have a means of redeeming the situation, or else why maintain it? So, the problem of nasty things from God’s point of view, is allowing the secondary causes to continue, albeit temporarily, while those secondary causes who want to see God, achieve their goal.”
“Gosh, I didn’t expect God observation to be involved in this,” I said pouring a Chinese tea.
“The problem of nasty things is not the devastating problem that Stephen Carbody thinks it is. Firstly, Carbody does not believe there is such a thing as evil. Secondly, he thinks some things are nasty. So why does he think that evil, which is something he does not think exists, is a problem for God observation? On the contrary, the existence of nasty things provides us with the confidence that God has a way of overcoming them.”
“It does?” I queried, distracted by a waiter taking photographs of the people at the next table.
Dr Lee replied, “It stands to reason Albert that God has a way to allow God observation without the attendant demise of the God observer, or else why allow a universe with nasty things to continue? Neither God nor God observer would ever make contact.”
“Yes, I see,” I said. The food cart came by. I passed up the fried chicken feet and played it safe by taking the dim sims.
Dr Lee paused while he took an unidentified food morsel (a UFM) in his chopsticks, and then continued, “People are social beings. Our very culture is socially determined. Human identity forms through relationships with others. Observing one another is the stuff of life. This provides a means for people, who are admittedly by nature secondary causes of nasty things, to see a perfectly good God. So you see your quest must have a way forward.”
This was encouraging news. Dr Lee went on to explain something that I will disclose later, because at the time I did not fully understand his point. We finished the yum cha and I headed back to my office with confidence that I would succeed in my quest. It was also good to know that the nastiness in the world is the very reason that God observation is not as easy as the casual observer would like. On the other hand, the nastiness in the world gives us reason to expect that God has a way of dealing with it. I knew that a good field guide would come in handy, and I would have to write one! [Note from Dorothy: GO Albert!]