More Proofs and Puzzlements

Gonyaul was once again meditating later in the day. His routine was consistent and helped him manage the passage of time while locked away from the outside world. He established his daily routine back when he was still in the hole, when he could gauge his day by the sun. Now, he simply used his self-discipline to maintain the ordering of his private world; the only thing he still had any semblance of control over.

Currently, he was orbiting the event horizon of rational thought around the deep void that emerges from prolonged concentration and release. His mind reinvestigated a topic that he had once pondered back before life had changed so dramatically. The concept of absolute right and wrong and the supernatural sovereignty which may have generated such limits.

Proofs & Puzzlements

Unlike the laws of nature, which tell us what is, the laws of morality tell us what ought to be. But like physical laws, they direct and order something. And that something is right human behavior. But since morality doesn’t exist physically – there are no moral or immoral basic foundational elements – its cause has to be something that exists apart from the physical world. That thing must therefore be above nature – or super-natural. The very existence of morality proves the existence of something beyond nature and beyond man. Just as a design suggests a designer, moral commands suggest a moral commander.

Those thoughts from before replayed over and over in his mind, mixed with all the new experiences and information he now had regarding deities. He knew that the Pillars existed ... and therefore, it was safe to conjecture that other claimed deities also existed; however, he was still perplexed about something.

When Voah explained how Vastad and Zin weren't able to set foot this far into Arcadia until the stage had been set for them.

Gonyaul questioned silently, ~If the laws of nature and morality were created by these powers, then why did they behave as if they required their creations to perform in order to operate? If I created a doll, I would not need the doll's assistance. Why did gods and goddesses seem to behave in ways that needed help ... did they do that on purpose? Why did they seem to have a selfish bent towards themselves without regards to the pain and suffering of others that didn't follow them? Why was religion in general so rooted in everything?~

The last question, about why religion must come into play so often, lingered. Coming from an upbringing without a deity, as well as a peaceful and prospering society, he was confused why everyone else was willing to go to extremes in the name of their religion ... even if that meant doing things that were morally vexing.

Gonyaul thought for a long while in silence. He finally came up with the following continuation to his internal discourse.

~All of our ideas, including those of politics, rest on ideas of applied morality ... what is good and what is bad. Morality rests on the basis of our understanding of knowledge, especially in regards to its methods, validity, and scope. It is the investigation of what distinguishes belief from mere opinion. And this understanding of knowledge, which is how we can know anything at all, rests on the basis of the study of the origins and development of societies and cultures. This questioning of human nature itself, and what is a human to even know about anything, rests on the basis of our understanding on what it means to 'be'. And our grappling with the concept of existence rests on the basis of what are the fundaments of reality. What are the forces that sustains and created all life.~

Gonyaul paused to let the parade of thoughts pass by completely before continuing.

~So the forces that created and sustain all life construct reality. This allows us to exist and to experience 'being'. Since we 'are', then we can interact and relate with things outside of ourselves, which leads to learned behaviors. And finally that means that we have the capability to know things ... like the correct application of morality. So the issue then is that different religions have different rules regarding morality. Is there one in particular which is higher than the rest? Are they all equal? Are they static or always in flux? I would argue that morality is absolute instead of relative. So why are there so many religions?~

Gonyaul sighed. There was always another unanswered question around each discovery. He needed another good question. ~What is religion itself?~

~Religions is the habit of justice that renders to a higher power what it is due. It leads to the service and worship of the supernatural higher power. But with all the variety of religions, how was one to establish any metric for truth? While they had similarities, they also had differences. Unless, there was something still greater than them all.~

Gonyaul finished his meditation leaning in that direction. There was something, still unknown, that was even higher up the hierarchy of creation ... even higher than the gods and goddesses. It wasn't kagim. Since kagim was just how things work, flow and connect within the nature that they were created. So what was it?