| Naturalism vs. God |
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| Throughout history, mankind has endeavored to explain what is happening in the world around him. Early in this history we blamed the �gods�, and other supernatural entities for the things that we could not explain. In modern times however we have discovered that many of the mysteries that perplexed and terrified our ancestors have reasonable if not mundane explanations that have been discovered through science. One might argue that as mankind has become more educated over the centuries, it was only natural for us to drop the myths that we had held for the events around us. For example, we now know that eclipses, the setting and the rising of the sun, the changing of the seasons, etc�are not the result of the �gods�. We know that they are natural changes. In the case of these three examples they are the result of the earths axis tilt, its rotation on this axis, and the earths revolution around the sun. All three of these concepts were foreign until fairly recently in our history. We can�t blame our ancestors for attributing things they did not understand to the �gods� when they had no way of discovering the truth. They just explained things to the best of there abilities. However, one might also argue that attributing natural events to supernatural personalities is completely reasonable. After all, the question �why� can be applied to any situation. Eventually one just runs out of reasonable explanations. It is a reasonable assumption that there are things in this world that defy a natural explanation. Take for example the creation of the universe. We still have no idea how or even why it happened. Why should we try to explain the unexplainable? That is a paradox in itself. The lack of a �natural� explanation should itself be evidence of a �supernatural� one. Of course terms like natural and supernatural are relative. Just because an explanation of an event is a natural one, doesn�t mean that there isn�t a supernatural explanation really behind it. My personal view on the subject is mixed. I am by no means a deeply religious man. As a matter of fact, when it comes to religion I am a big skeptic. To me the idea that �supernatural personalities� are responsible is to be questioned. Over the centuries mankind has proved that events that seem to have no explanation, in reality, really do. We just have to look for it. If we give up looking for the answers than what good are we? From the first use of fire to splitting atoms, the search for knowledge has driven human kind to the great heights it has reached. To give up the search and just accept that things happen solely as an act of God is to deny our existence for the last 35,000 years. This is not to say that there is no God. This is also not to say that, in the end, God is not responsible for what goes on. Human kind just shouldn�t give up the search for the natural reasons for the events around us. To give up this search denies who we really are as a people, which I am sure no �supernatural personality� would want. |