So, if there is any kind of Higher Intelligence however concieved behind the universe, I would assume that it must be beyond the kind of crass and superstitious notions entertained by most of the poe faced advocates of the main religions. The notion of a god, infinitely more moral than we can dream of, who nonetheless has less compassion than the average human child, is a very strange one indeed. I mean of course the god who has built an eternal hell in order to punish those who transgress the regulations it has instigated via whatever prophet or other spokesperson. Or the one who will send us hurtling through ten thousand lifetimes unless we play the game. I think it was Terrence McKenna who said that religion is a "neotonizing" institution. Neotony is a biolological term which refers to the retention of infantile traits in the adult. Our lack of body hair being an example. Foetal apes is what we look like. But in the realm of mind, the belief in a "big daddy" who will incinerate us for eternity is a striking example. Briefly, my view is that god, He She It Not it or whatever, is not really that interested in our morals or in our beliefs. I think we have to differentiate and distinguish between the spiritual and moral realms. So whatever you may believe or disbelieve, the thing is I think, as the Stoics of ancient Rome said. To act in a virtuous way just for its own sake, with no expectation of a reward for being good. And no fear of divine retribution for being bad. Any reasonably intelligent human knows what is good and bad. If they dont, then life, as they say, is for learning. You have to admit that if everytime we think we have done good, we expect god to be there noting down how many brownie points we scored, it is a little bit wierd. To say the least. In the end, if its there, we will all go back to the spirit world. Without the body, and the enormous anxiety that can attach to having one, none of these moral issues will have much meaning for us then.
I believe in the philosophy of "infinite resignation" as expounded by Arthur Schopenhauer: "Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world."
But maybe if you see that the statement is correct you might be more inclined not to assume that what you see is all there is.
