Religions exist because we can't grasp that the cosmos just is

For most of my life I marveled at the classic question, "Why is there something rather than nothing?"

But with advancing age, and maybe some advancing wisdom, I came to prefer "There is something rather than nothing."

No why required. Just a factual statement. 

Because that why takes us into the realm of religion, and I'm no longer religious. Most religions, with the notable exception of Buddhism, assume there was a creator of the cosmos. 

So God is the answer to the why question. There's something rather than nothing due to God bringing the creation into being.

Of course, we then have to ask, "Why is there God?" For religions have to believe that something has always existed: God. 

While atheists like me prefer to believe that it is the cosmos that has always existed.

Sure, that's a mind-boggling notion. But only because the human mind is prone to boggle at the idea that existence has no beginning and no end. 

It just is. No creator of creation required.

The way I see it, our difficulty in wrapping our minds around that proposition is a big reason, maybe even the primary reason, why religions came into being and have such an attraction to most people.

For everything else we're familiar with has a cause that brought it into being. Even our universe, which is why I prefer to use the term "cosmos" when referring to everything in existence.

Science is confident that the big bang was how the universe came to be.

However, big bang theories don't start with absolutely nothing. They start with something: the laws of nature, and matter/energy that the laws of nature operate on.

So it seems clear that something always has existed. Those four words, something always has existed, never fail to produce a tingling sense of awe in me. 

I guess that feeling is somewhat akin to how religious people look upon God. However, there's a big difference between religious awe and secular awe.

I'm blown away by my inability to fathom how existence could have always existed. I don't have an answer for this. The question seems to be forever beyond human comprehension. 

By contrast, religious believers push this mystery away by assuming that God has always existed, and God created the cosmos.

They choose not to grapple with the notion that the cosmos just is. Always has been. Always will be. It just is.

I sympathize with that choice, though I think it leads to the false conclusion of God. 

For there's no doubt that the human mind is limited. We see beginnings everywhere in our world and the universe at large. Most people assume, then, that the cosmos must have had a beginning.

Our inability to rest easily in the blunt fact of the cosmos' "is'ness" seems to relate to a fundamental limitation of the human mind. 

We're habituated to causes and effects. So the idea of existence having no cause elicits a short-circuit in the human mind, which I believe results in awe. 

There is something rather than nothing. Wow! How freaking awesome!

But another sort of mind -- like an artificial intelligence or alien intelligence -- could look upon the simple "Is" of the cosmos as being completely natural. 

That other sort of mind wouldn't have any inclination to fashion a creator God, since that other sort of mind would see reality much differently than we do. Obviously I don't know what that vision would be like, since I have a limited human mind.

And maybe I've gone too far in even speculating about what that other sort of mind might be like.

All I'm saying is that I see a distinct possibility that religion has developed as a crutch to explain what our human minds struggle to comprehend about the cosmos. 

Being largely eludes us. We're much more comfortable with becoming, with creation. Yet what if the cosmos simply is? 

Nothing to figure out. No God stories required. Just an is with no beginning and no end.

Comments

[Ron E]

@Brian “Religions exist because we can't grasp that the cosmos just is.”

Religious thinking has always attempted to fill the void of our questioning, fears and wonderment. I was reading up recently on theories of how religion – and more pertinently, religious beliefs – got started. The thinking is that it all kicked off with primitive humans believing spirits were animating forces dwelling in trees, animals, rivers etc. With the early Greeks and with religions like Hinduism a whole host of Gods appeared. And perhaps later the ‘One God’ idea emerged.

When it comes to the cosmos – as Brian states: - “Our inability to rest easily in the blunt fact of the cosmos' "is'ness" seems to relate to a fundamental limitation of the human mind.” And I believe this is so, but I reckon that much of the problem lies in not understanding what the mind is, how it manifests and generally how ‘it’ is not an organ or entity that can know any-thing

It is the brain that gathers information and channels it as memory and all this network of information constitutes what we call mind. Mind is all about thoughts, feelings, emotions, wills, imagination, memory and perception and is limited by the amount of information that the brain has or can acquire.

So basically, if we do away with the almost magical interpretation of mind, we end up acknowledging that a simple (perhaps not that simple!) brain/body organism does not have and may never have, the ability to take in the kind of information that explains the cosmos. Apart that is, from the ability to imagine spirits, Gods or ad hoc supernatural forces to account for what we cannot comprehend.

We do tend to use the term mind in an almost reverential manner, forgetting that it may merely be the conscious end product of all the knowledge and information that the brain/body has accrued.

[SantMat64]

You're right, we thinking humans can't accept that the cosmos just came into being all on its own.

That's because it's the most preposterous idea possible: that the entire universe, with all its incomprehensibly vast and manifold laws of order, just "bing* appeared one day out of total nothingness.

And that life *bing* just happened to appear on day on earth. There are no words to fairly describe how absurd that notion is. What could be more absurd?

How about that transgenderism is perfectly normal, and that when a trans pumped full of drugs and woke concepts about God being passe murders children at a Christian school, it's somehow the fault of the people who won't disarm the public. A close second in absurdity for sure.

[Dungeness]

@ Brian ji [ They ("religious believers") choose not to grapple with the notion that the cosmos just is. Always has been. Always will be. It just is. ]

Not all of them do, imo. Mystics for instance invest notionally in a
God or guru as a starting point but jettison grappling with the mind.
Instead they rely on mindfulness and resultant growing awareness
to first quiet the mind's chatter and then distance themselves from
it. With lessened distractability, they see within and transcend the
trap of dualism, beyond past and future, beyond being and nothing-
ness, etc. They don't have to bet on either 'GOD" or "Just is"
without experiencing the actuality first.

[Kranvir]

Religions exist for the foolish people that are looking for a saviour figure. Take for example Gurinder singh dhillon, the fake ass guru who is more than happy to entice innocent souls into his web of lies, deception; using his system of mind numbing satanic mantra and hard work resulting in a worthless empty life for a complete stranger. Don't fall for this trap as all he wants is to be worshiped as a god on the outside and on the inner realms, as he hates souls which are particals of god. Remember only kaal and satan require your worship . Gurinder your fully exposed as the evil baba , a soul reaper for your for your god (Lucifer), and you will face your karma.

[um]

@ Kranvir

>> Remember only kaal and satan require your worship <<

How do you know Kranvir?
Have you met Kal and Satan?