When you are young you think you have it all very nearly figured out. You think that its all simple and one dimensional.
Then you get older and find out that things are not so simple. What at first sight appears to be one-dimensional often turns out to be multi-dimensional.
Male-female seems to be one dimensional but its not that simple. Its actually two dimensional.
- male
- female
- both (hermaphrodite)
- neither (schizoid)
Its the same with atheism vs theism which at first appears to be one dimensional.
Religion is how autistic people (strictly speaking hyper-empirical people) see civilization. They see a distorted image because they do not fully understand emergence. (Law and life are emergent properties.)
- 1 Corinthians 13:12
- Now we see things imperfectly as though through a distorting lens but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.
In autistic minds:
- where there are laws there must be a law-giver.
- where there is life there must be a life-giver.
In autistic minds:
- without a law-giver all laws are arbitrary and meaningless.
- without a life-giver life is arbitrary and meaningless.
Therefore:
- The Theist position: God exists and therefore law and life are neither arbitrary nor meaningless.
- The Atheist position: God doesnt exist and therefore law and life are arbitrary and meaningless.
But it isnt that simple. There are 2 more possibilities
- God exists and law and life are arbitrary and meaningless.
- God doesnt exist and law and life are neither arbitrary nor meaningless.
So its actually 2 dimensional.
God exists God doesnt exist Theism Civilizationism Life and law are neither arbitrary nor meaningless Dystheism Atheism Life and law are arbitrary and meaningless
- What is the purpose of living? Living IS the purpose.
- What is the purpose of our purpose? Its doesnt have one. It doesnt need one.
- Civilized behavior is behavior that respects civilized laws, rules, and expectations. Civilized laws are laws that do not give any one person or any one group of people any special rights above what all others have. The more a society treats everyone as equals the more civilized it is. (Equal rights. Equal protection. Equal pay for equal work. Equal punishment for equal crimes.)
Another example would be the Olivet prophecy. Some are convinced that it was fulfilled in 70 AD but others are equally convinced that it isnt fulfilled until the Great Tribulation. But it isnt as simple as either one thinks. The correct answer is both. Both interpretations are correct.
Its not that people are wrong exactly. Things are just more complicated than they first appear. More importantly, its more complicated in a way that isnt intuitive. You would think that your intuition would eventually figure it out but it doesnt.
The bible is like this image. It says something different when viewed from different angles. Thats called speaking in (multiple) tongues at once