God for Atheists and Scientists

By Tor Guimaraes

This book proposes a new religion that links a person directly to God and the universe. To learn about God, mankind uses scientific methods to accumulate scientific knowledge. The biggest problem with organized religions (including voodoo, black magic, etc.) is that they have led mankind nowhere over the centuries. Without science, mankind would still be living in caves and eating raw meat despite following their religions over the centuries. In view of the obvious necessity for increasing scientific knowledge, a disturbing sign is that, perhaps in frustration, religious leaders increasingly show disrespect for scientific knowledge; to them, incredibly and incorrectly, faith should trump science. This blindness to scientific facts underlies much of the social, economic, and political behavior that has brought us to todays reality: a world incapable of living without very destructive wars, massive flows of refugees, growing poverty, environmental pollution, increasing scarcity of fresh water, increasing encounters with microorganisms capable of defeating our most powerful antibiotics, etc. A religion based on science hopefully provides the way to reverse all these negative trends, lest mankind destroys itself by default while indulging in mysticism and the adoration of false gods.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 6, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524549206

Tor Guimaraes

Tor Guimaraes has been rated by several independent sources as one of the top researchers in the world based on publications in the top IS journals. He holds the Jesse E. Owen Chair of Excellence at Tennessee Technological University. He earned a PhD in MIS from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from California State University, Los Angeles. Tor was department chairman and professor at St. Cloud State University. Before that, he was assistant professor and director of the MIS Certificate Program at Case Western Reserve University. He has been the keynote speaker at numerous national and international meetings sponsored by organizations, such as the Information Processing Society of Japan; Institute of Industrial Engineers, Sales, and Marketing Executives; IEEE; Association for Systems Management; and American Society for Quality Control. Tor has consulted with many leading organizations including TRW, American Greetings, AT&T, IBM, and the Department of Defense. He is on the board of directors of several national and international business organizations and is a top strategic advisor to their CEOs. Working with partners in more than thirty countries, Tor has published over one hundred and fifty articles dealing with the effective use and management of IS and related technologies.

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Copyright © 2016 by Tor Guimaraes.

Library of Congress Control Number:   PENDING

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-5245-4922-0

   Softcover   978-1-5245-4921-3

   eBook   978-1-5245-4920-6

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Rev. date: 10/04/2016

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CONTENTS

PREFACE

Introduction

Chapter 1: Why Humans Need God? Who Created God?

Search For God: A Personal Voyage

For Questions Science Cannot Address, We Need Faith?

In Summary, The Concept Of God The Universe

Chapter 2: The Good And Evil From Existing Religions

The Clash Of Religious Geocentrism And Science

The Clash Of Religious Creationism And Science

How Interreligious Conflict Has Hurt People Over Time

Why Do Good And Evil Exist?

Religion Begets Ethics, And Ethics Begets Behavior

Chapter 3: God The Universe Compared To Other Religions

There Are Some Major Differences

We Need A Morality Code

Comparison With Secular Humanism

Is God The Universe Same As Jefferson’s Deism?

Chapter 4: God The Universe: Specific Questions

Is God The Universe Expressed

Universe Depend On Science

Who Interprets Results From Science?

Is God The Universe A Sentient Being?

Is God Always Right?

Multiverse Universes Theories Imply Multiple Gods

Does One Pray To God The Universe?

God The Universe: Myths, Faith, And Miracles

Chapter 5: The Evolution Of Science

The Nature Of Science

The Evolution Of Science And Of The Scientific Method

Just Like Religion, Science Can Be Corrupted

Chapter 6: Science Versus Religion

Can Science Make A Case For God?

Chapter 7: Truth And Scientific Arrogance?

Chapter 8: The Impact Of Science On Society

Early Benefits From Science

The Scientific Revolution To Show Aristotle Was Wrong

The Subatomic Scientific Revolution

If Science Is So Great, Why Is Mankind In Trouble?

Chapter 9: The Impact Of Society On Science

Most Societies Recognize The Need And Benefits From Science

Chapter 10: What Should We Do About It?

Epilogue

References

PREFACE

From the dawn of humanity people realized that that the universe is a beautiful and mysterious place with many phenomena beyond their control. That created great anxiety and fear; thus humans always needed to believe in some sort of all powerful being(s) who would protect them against bad things and evil of any sort. Further, humans capable of learning are naturally curious and have a strong urge to understand how the universe works. For these reasons hundreds, perhaps thousands of religions have been created by humans for a variety of purposes but always underlined by the motivators above.

For those people satisfied with their organized religion, my advice is to stay with it and try to behave in your life according to its preaching. For those questioning organized religions, this book offers an alternative way of viewing and enjoying the universe more fully by making it an integral part of how we think and feel about life including your own, about good and evil, and about how to behave in a more joyful, harmonious, and productive way. Furthermore, the philosophy prescribed here provides an intimate integration of science and religion, it is built on a God that is the Universe and has created itself thus coincidently matching the latest scientific theories about the universe. God is the Universe, It is beautiful and mysterious, It is truth and omniscient, It needs no decision making because It is always right thus needing no ethical rules.

A friend who is a devout Christian thinks that my definition of God as the Universe enables a religion which may be fine for elite, educated people, but … will [not] attract the common masses. Christianity has grown so rapidly because people found a leader who identified with them, the common people. … People need a model to pattern their behavior on, and Christ is unexcelled for this purpose. He is probably right. Contrary to all organized religions the one proposed in this book does not have an establishment supporting priests and organizations to run the religion as a business. Thus, it is not important to me if the common masses believe as I do. Took me more than fifty years for me to arrive at what I think is the most spiritually fulfilling, intellectually stable, explanation for God and the universe. Without a relatively deep understanding of science and the wide use of scientific methods to discover new knowledge about God the Universe, such religion is not possible. Thus, it would be too much for me to expect that uneducated people without even a minimum knowledge of science to embrace a religion which proposes a God for Atheists and Scientists, the title for my book. As discussed early in the book, even though I think all organized religions are detrimental to mankind’s long term wellbeing, I refuse to pick anyone specific religion for criticism. People must be allowed to believe whatever they want, from voodoo and black magic to the most sanctimonious socially politically well-established religions. Thus it is with interest and respect that I read my friend’s story: I was raised in New Mexico and spent much of my life in Mexico. In both places, there are sites dedicated to Christ because of supernatural experiences. There are three shrines in Jalisco that are visited by millions of pilgrims annually: San Juan de los Lagos, Talpa de Allende and Zapopan. The most fascinating conference that we ever held at Hacienda El Cóbano was on Religion and Occultism. If one sentence would summarize my experience in Mexico, it would be his statement: ‘Mexico is a treasure house of spiritual riches.’

Another friend, an Agnostic expert on Latin America, commented: sometimes you want your religion to be tangible and immediate. Latin America, with its ubiquitous religious imagery, fits the bill. No one can deny that any religion can provide immediate solace to believers under pain and stress; indeed I have seen a person’s faith in a specific religion save him or her from the ravages of drugs, crime, or probable suicide. Nevertheless, besides the increasing problem of interreligious violence, the biggest problem with organized religions is that they have led mankind nowhere as a whole. Without science mankind would still live in caves eating raw meat despite following their religions over the centuries.

To understand the real world we need scientific knowledge, we need to educate the masses, not condemn them to embrace superstition for lack of understanding about what is real, what may be real, and what is not possible based on scientific knowledge which over time has expanded and become immutable like God, the Truth. Another important benefit from shared scientific knowledge that works in everyday practice is improved communication between individuals, organizations, and nations. Science is a common denominator for all civilizations. Yes, one can use science to build weapons of war, but mostly science has been a source of good technology and innovation capable of improving mankind’s quality of life. The definition of God as the Universe which has created itself provides the basis for more emphasis on scientific development. For ethical behavior all we need is to jealously enforce democratically the Golden Rule: Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you.

In view of the obvious necessity for increasing scientific knowledge, a disturbing sign is that, perhaps in frustration, religious leaders increasingly show disrespect for scientific knowledge; to them incredibly and incorrectly faith should trump science. This blindness to scientific facts underlies much of the social economical political behavior which has brought us to today’s reality: a world incapable of living without very destructive wars, massive flows of refugees, growing poverty, environment pollution, increasing scarcity of fresh water, increasing encounters with microorganisms capable of defeating our most powerful antibiotics, etc. A religion based on science hopefully provides the way to reverse all these negative trends, lest mankind destroy itself by default while indulging in mysticism and the adoration of false gods.

INTRODUCTION

Mankind has experienced incredible progress -— from its early days of eating raw meat in a dark cave to now living quite comfortably in a wide variety of very difficult environments, landing on the moon and building space stations, conquering numerous diseases, having instant worldwide multimedia communication through the Internet, and a long list of other major accomplishments. Most if not all that progress must be credited to the historical development of scientific knowledge. Needless to say, without science and the scientific method on which it is based, none of the great human accomplishments would have been possible.

Unfortunately, this marvelous progress has also been continuously marred by social/political conflict where the world today seems constantly on the verge of committing suicide, continuously prone to aggressive human behavior against their own living environment, against other species, and other human individuals and subgroups. No doubt, mankind has paid and continues to pay an extremely high price for such unnecessarily dysfunctional behavior in terms of lost lives and capital, as well as a lower quality of life for all involved. While this great cost can be easily recognized by most people, it pales in comparison with the related opportunity cost: how much more beneficial for mankind if the effort and resources wasted by the dysfunctional behavior would have been used for extending scientific knowledge and for improving the quality of live for humankind.

It might be a sobering exercise for humans to contemplate that the universe, despite its magnificent beauty, is also a place with numerous very violent phenomena, each capable of destroying our planet Earth as easily as a person can destroy an ant colony. Therefore, it behooves us to learn as much as we can and as quickly as possible about the universe through the only human activities (science and technological development) that, despite limitations, have overall produced excellent results for mankind. Lest we humans wish to surrender our lives to the self-fulfilling doomsday prophecies of ancient religions, we need to learn how to build space age proverbial Noah’s Ark to colonize new planets at least beyond our solar system and eventually beyond the Milky Way. While no one knows specifically what might destroy Earth before we humans turn it into an unlivable planet, for humanity’s very long-term survival, God has already told us through unforgivable science that sooner or later we will need to move. Given the lead times necessary for accomplishing such a huge project, our local and world leaders must stop the bickering and destructive behavior and get everyone to work developing science broadly defined to include all areas of knowledge and human activity, including the study of the arts, the humanities, social sciences, and the use of scientific knowledge in all professions.

Even if we face this clear necessity to engage in more rational and constructive behavior for the benefit (and likely the survival) of mankind, why do people presently seem unable to change course away from increasingly negative activity and increased ignorance about scientific knowledge? There seems to be at least three major factors driving or at least allowing humanity to drift in the wrong direction. In every case, these factors stem from human nature and represent historical realities very difficult to change, requiring strong deliberate efforts.

The first factor stems from the very nature of religion, which seems to have a predisposition to, based on superficial observation and careless conclusions, develop explanations for natural phenomena that become dogma and are later proven by science and experience to be wrong. Even when faced with clear evidence, the religious mind