Good-bye to the Reader from
A Case for God (forthcoming)
Carmine Gorga
The case for God is overwhelming.
I, and those who have wanted to listen, have found God everywhere across space and time. We have found God in the Zero, One, and Infinity of mathematics. We have found God in the Matter, Energy, and Spirit of physics. We have found God in the Being, Becoming, and Existence of ontology. We have found God in the concepts of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit of theology.
Most exciting of all our discoveries, for me, are those yet unexplored, the relationships among the Infinity of mathematics with the unknowability of Being, a concept that is indeed, perfected only in the unknowability of not-Being. If you see Zero as not-Being and Nirvana, all barriers tumble down.
With which investigation we most certainly hope that the silly disputes between Eastern and Western philosophy will come to a rest.
We can of course find God in the Jewish, Christian, and African American tradition.
Does this list leave Islam out? Not at all. The best practice of Islam has always shown itself to be a complete fusion of the Jewish with the Christian tradition.
Is it too much to hope that from now on we are no longer Jews, Christians, or Muslims—but simply and primarily Human Beings? Human Beings in the full flower of relationships with other Human Beings. Should we even dare to call ourselves Concordians from now on?
Being a Concordian does not require the abandonment of one’s rich tradition. It only requires the utter respect for the most certainly equally rich tradition of the other. Being a Concordian requires the development of the ability to live like a Jew or a Muslim—for at least a day—if you are a Christian. And I do not need to enumerate all combinations and permutations of this prerequisite.
Do not look at what you might lose for a day, O Reader. Look at what you might gain in a day. And your gain will be for life!
Nowhere have I, and those who have wanted to listen, found a case against God, except in the stale repetitive expressions of intellectualism, which we have not completely and utterly skirted because they have been disputed over and over again in the course of the centuries.
Have these disputes added anything to our lives? Hardly anything. But the one thing that they offer must be acknowledged here. They all show a certain freshness and innovation of spirit—only to rehash old grounds! Is that worth much? Think of the potentiality of walking all together in the exploration of a new age. There will be diversity and disputes aplenty there too, but let them be friendly forms of diversity and dispute,
The standard thanks that believers must offer to nonbelievers are warmly extended here: Thank you for holding the feet of believers to the fire of truth and absence of hypocrisy!
I hope, dear Reader, that you will incorporate in your daily life the practice of the New Humanism advocated in these pages. I certainly hope you will no longer see any aspects of creation without seeing the face of God, the Creator/Creatrix, and his/her Love, in it. I most certainly hope that, fighting against all temptations of the world, you will no longer see other human beings in any other fashion than as belonging to the Human Race.
If we had had the practice of such Humanism in the past, we might have avoided some of the horrible experiences we put ourselves through in the past centuries; and I certainly hope we will practice this New Humanism in the future relationships among men and women. I most certainly hope you, dear Reader, will enjoy the sweet fruit of practicing this New Humanism everywhere you are at every moment in you life.
That is what the new contemporary definition of morality urges you on. But why? Certainly not for God, but for yourself—for ourselves. We must assume that God does not need to receive anything from us. We are only allowed to assume that God loves to receive our love.
But why? There we go to the mysteries of God. Your guess is as
good as mine. Is it possible that God, being love, accepts only love—
and refuses any other thing? If He is sovereign, He sets the rules.
And another thing. Let us try to experience this reality: God loves us. This is the most unfathomable reality of all. But God’s love is there for the asking.
And, no! God never imposes His will on us. He cannot. He has created us with freedom and in freedom and for freedom.
Indeed, in the practice of this New Humanism it will be easy even to do the hardest thing on earth: to pray for our enemy; even to love our enemy! And why is that? Simply because we will realize that, if our enemies will be converted to your point of view, we will truly live at peace.
Will this New Humanism ever be practiced? Oh, yes. Look at the alternative otherwise. Will it be practiced every time and everywhere with the same urgency? No, it will not because we are not angels and, no matter our efforts, we will never become angels.
And the Devil? Have you taken the Devil and the forces of evil into account? Didn’t the Devil make us create Buchenwald and all the rest? Well, NO. The Devil does not do anything, nor does he/she/it make us do anything. That is a lie. It is always us as human beings who are capable of committing unspeakable atrocities—and the next atrocity has to be in a sense worse than the last, because otherwise we will not be able to put our own individual stamp on it. No, we have to be inventive and individual in this too.
The Devil is a little force. The Devil is an excuse. Jesus taught us how to deal with the Devil. He gave us a simple instruction. All we have to do is to have enough sense and strength to say Vade retro, Satan, Go away Devil.
Can we summon this strength? Can we call upon this, our inner strength, our power to do good? Our power to say, Go away Satan?
We most certainly can. No excuse. The antidote is to summon our power to love!
Love, of course, is not a feeling. It is not sentimentality. Love is a virtue, which can be exercised in full when it is deployed in full concord with all other virtues.
Until we meet again, dear Reader. Now the responsibility is on your shoulders. If you wish to get in touch with me, do not hesitate to send me a shout at cgorga(@)jhu.edu. If you wish to be inspired by a program of concrete actions, please visit www.Concord-InPoliticsEconomicsAndCulture.org.
And what is your primary responsibility. O Reader? Clearly, you have faithfully listened to the case for God. Your primary responsibility now is to be the Devil’s Advocate. You have the responsibility to let me—and conceivably other readers—know where did my reasoning, where did my observations lead me astray.
This responsibility is primarily to yourself. Should you feel the urge to help, please keep My Mantra in mind:
- If you agree with me, tell your fiends and relatives.
- If you disagree, tell me—but tell me why.
A final apology to the reader. In the interest of directness and concerned about our use of time, the argument is at times abrupt and blunt. Dear Reader, try not to feel offended. Keep one of My Mottos in mind. I am only certain at 99.99%. Do prove me wrong and I will thank you for the rest of my life. Think of all the errors that you will prevent me for making for the rest of my life.