More Lifenotes
Please read all the LifeNotes on the LifeNotes homepage before reading these Notes.
(a one page pamphlet)
LOVE – In Search of a Reason for
Living
Our original publication, it contains essentially the same text as LifeNotes
with slightly expanded Appendices.
There are three controversial conclusions we
reached many years ago that influence what we believe and have faith in:
First, we concluded that the universe is far
more complex than most people realize. The theory of evolution has led many of
us to believe that all systems evolve through a natural process of adaptation.
However physical processes on a planck
scale that resulted in gasses coalescing into atoms and molecules and living
cells are far more difficult to explain than the evolution of living creatures.
Agnostics and atheists often assume that the cosmos is the product of some kind
of mechanistic evolutionary process. However it is in fact impossible to
understand how billions of stars could spontaneously burst out of a pinhead at
the “big bang”. Roger Penrose, a respected mathematician and cosmologist,
calculated the probability that the universe could be created at random. The
work of Penrose and others led us to conclude that the low entropy universe in
which we live cannot be the product of random processes, and that it had to be
“designed” to be as it is. Our faith that God exists is strengthened by the
objective evidence that we do not live in a “random” universe.
Second, we looked at the question of physical existence,
of being and becoming. We considered the fact that human beings appear to be
physically aware of their past only in their present memories. We deduced that
if a human being does not exist in the present then they cannot be aware of
their past. We concluded that if human beings are physical creatures only, then
on their physical death their past, present, and future are annihilated. This
is contrary to common sense, which dictates that life has existential meaning.
If we are twenty years old, almost everyone believes that the first twenty
years of our life have meaning and value that cannot be lost.
We go against common sense and against the most
popular physical models which say that we live in a block universe where our
past and present are a permanent physical part of the universe. Virtually every
theologian and philosopher reaches the opposite conclusion to ours, they find existential value in all physical human
lives. Many believe that life has meaning and value even if God does not exist
and even if there is no life after death. Because no one really understands the
fundamental nature of space and time and existence, we cannot say with absolute
certainty that a purely physical life does not have meaning and value. We
believe that we are right, and that belief strengthens the conclusions we reach
in our writings, yet we may be wrong.
We are convinced that if God does not exist and
if there is no life after physical death then our lives have no meaning. That
conclusion strengthens our belief that the existence of God is what gives us
hope.
Some people are frightened by our conclusions,
even though we are careful to explain that if we experience a nihilistic death
there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. We make it clear that it does not
matter if we are right or if we are wrong, there is absolutely no reason not to
live for the possibility that life has meaning and value.
Third, we asked ourselves whether we should live
a “fanatic” or a “normal” life. If love is the best we can give a neighbor,
then we conclude that each of us should love our neighbor. No matter how hard
we tried, we always came back to the conclusion that if we love a neighbor and
that neighbor is hungry, thirsty, or homeless, we will give them food, water,
and shelter. That leads us to believe that if we love our neighbor we will live
a fanatic life and not a normal life, with the hope that when we die we will
live forever in heaven. Almost no theologian or philosopher agrees with us.
Almost everyone believes that if God exists he wants us to live a normal life
that is a “good” life, where we maximize the positive aspects of the physical
lives of our family and friends while minimizing the negative impact on other
people’s lives. Almost every human being believes that God would have us
maximize the lives our families live on earth while still helping those outside
our extended family.
A fanatic life is a very hard life to live. We
believe that if you love someone you will not do physical harm to them no
matter what they do to you and your family. If we are right, then living a
fanatic life would probably allow those who choose to do evil to torture and
kill innocent men, women, and children. For that reason we conclude that almost
no one will be willing to live a fanatic life, almost everyone, including you,
will choose to live a normal life where you love God with as much of your
heart, soul, mind, and strength as you are willing to love him with, and love
your neighbor as much as yourself as you are willing to love them, with the
hope that God will forgive you.
These are the three very difficult conclusions
that strengthen our belief and faith, yet we realize that the second and third
go against what almost every human being accepts as true. We think we are
right, but we may be wrong. You will have to decide for yourself what you
choose to believe and have faith in.