(December 16, 2011 at 8:31 pm)Rhythm Wrote: God is probably a poor choice of word for the sentiment you're trying to express. "God" comes with a hefty amount of baggage. A strange choice considering the amount of words available to you in the attempt to express such wonder or beauty. What's wrong with "wonder" and "beauty"?
Perhaps, but I think the word God only comes with baggage when it is observed as a divine and mythical entity. I do not view the universe as divine, nor the natural laws as a provision of a mythical entity. I observe these wonders as being or existing. There is no reason, nor goal, nor wish that they possess. Simply a state of being.
Pantheism addresses this idea of simply existing in a way which agrees with my own opinions. To view the universe (or everything) - pan as God - theist is simply to say that I call the universe something different than you do. I believe in spirituality in the sense of self reflection and personal growth without a divine intention. I believe that there are wonders in this world that may never be explained (as hard as it is for me to rationally say that) and I believe in human ignorance and naivety (of which I have my fair share of). These come together to form my belief system from which I associate with pantheism more so than atheism or theism.
If I cannot ever objectively state either way that God (a personal creator and divine being) exists or does not exist then I have no reason to dwell on the subject. I assert that there is a unity which we all share by nature with nature and thus with all worldly things. We all are in a state of existence with one another with no defined reason or end goal - this state of existence is something I refer to as God - not meaning a person or a divine deity which I praise, simply a word for unity and oneness.
Once again, if you wish to read on pantheism further you could reference http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pantheism/
These quotes form Einstein effectively sum up my opinion on the subject:
"Enough for me the mystery of the eternity of life, and the inkling of the marvelous structure of reality. There is in this neither a will nor a goal, nor a must, but only sheer being."
"I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with the fates and actions of human beings." (I would exchange himself with itself in this quote)
Brevity is the soul of wit.