@Tom, going back to the "
God or Religion" thread combined with your stance in this thread why "ghosts" can't exist or do some of the actions attributed to them, how do reconcile your belief in "God" taking into account the science principles to which you dismiss the notion of ghosts?
Interesting question, Kevin.
My 'belief' in God stands with my understanding of The Universe and the reality in which I exist. Do you recall Crom, the God of Conan the Barbarian (Crom exists but does not interfere). God is the essence of life in the Universe that exists in opposite of natural decay. God is also the essence of decay. This is the same essence that exists in the Chaos and the Order of the Universe.
God is not a puppeteer at the individual level. All parts of the Universe are pieces of the whole.
God is however, aware of everything because being the Universe and everything is within the Universe any awareness is the Universe aware.
Existence is a series of random chaotic events set in motion at the instant of creation. The God part is the essence that became aware and affected a change - Religion says "Let There Be Light". Science says Big Bang.
God is the Essence of both in that the Universe changed from static to not static.
Over time, chaos created understanding within the Universe (God) and it became aware of itself and that it has definition.
The essence of the Universe is energy. Matter is made up of energy. Life is a form of energy.
Over time, Every thing in the Universe, living or not will convert back to its baseline form, which is energy.
Some forms of energy are released back into the Universe rapidly and some take eons to be released.
As we die. Our "Soul" (Life Essence) is released back into the Universe.
That energy merges with the baseline energy of the Universe.
In a way, it can be likened to going back to God.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed in this Universe because the Universe is made of energy.
Even our bodies will someday be returned to the energy of the Universe as the matter converts back to energy.
The Universe recycles the energy as it exists. The energy that was once "me" is merged with the energy of the Universe (God) and is reborn to a new form/forms of matter. Not in whole but in part.
Sorta like pouring a glass of water into the ocean. The water that was once in the glass is never fully recaptured back into the glass no matter how hard you try.
Given the age and expanse of the Universe these time periods can be fathomed as eternity. While eternity is relative to the observer since the Universe is the Essence of everything it is the Alpha and the Omega.
Alpha being the first spark of energy created and Omega being the final spark of energy at the end.
God (The Universe) is not based on human concepts like salvation, divine or damned. Human concepts are based on our impression of the nature of the Universe as we see it. As we learn to understand the Universe better, we in turn understand ourselves. Since we are the Universe, our understanding is the Universe also understanding.
The Universe is diverse.
The Universe is huge.
Chances are very good that there are life forms in this Universe that understand better than us.
Those life forms might present to us as divine intervention releasing concepts to help us understand ourselves and our part in the whole. We call these divine interventions religion sometimes.
This is because we haven't actually figured out what is evident around us.
We are still trying to understand.
Its possible that other forms of life are not clouded by reasoning. That a plant, a bacterium, an insect or another animal may understand what we can't understand because we have made it complicated by intelligence. We have isolated our Universal Harmony with reason and questions.
Some religions mark Knowledge as the "forbidden fruit". Some religions tell us to seek harmony with God.
In a way, it is correct. The Knowledge is a need for understanding. The Question must be asked and answered. Harmony is the act of no longer needing confirmation of truths. It is alignment.
Religions ask us to "believe" but restrict our levels of belief to the parameters those specific religions set.
Reality requires no justification. The Universe requires no justification. It is all right there in the open for all to experience.
The unity is there.
The harmony is there.
We just can't experience it because WE are making it complicated.