It’s always irritating to me when certain individuals (you know who you are) jump into in-depth discussions about the “big questions” in life (i.e., who are we, why are we here, etc.). It’s not because the questions don’t interest me, because they do. I think it would be rare to have the capability for critical thought and not consider what this is all for. The discussions bother me because people scarcely consider options beyond the scope of their general system of beliefs. If we both agree, for the sake of civility, that God does exist and has a general plan for creation, very few individuals will consider the prospect that humanity is not a central part of that plan. The God premise always seems to come with the built in assumption that people are his greatest creation. I think it more likely that we’re just a rough draft of a more civilized race he was working on, or an experiment in free will that got out of control.
Maybe Satan’s rebellion and subsequent fall made God think that maybe, just maybe, he was too controlling of his creations and should breath life into a sentient being with the freedom to choose: something with the option to resent, and rebel, and serve only themselves. If he just instilled in them the capacity for love, then maybe, just maybe, they would choose to be caring and selfless and good, and would in turn create something even more beautiful. Then we popped into existence and fucked it all up. I used to think that the simple fact of our existence meant that we had an ultimate purpose, because why else would he allow us to so ruthlessly dominate this planet without penalty? Now I’m not so sure. Now, I think that he permits our continued existence because he can see how the events unfold and has stepped aside to let us barrel headlong into our own destruction, saving him the trouble. Alternatively, there’s the idea that mankind is just a pawn, inventing and engineering things we don’t understand so a more deserving species can take the reins when we’re gone. Maybe we’re just renting this planet until the real tenants get here and evict us, like the Book of Joshua*, but with aliens.
Even with the knowledge that there are billions of galaxies and trillions of stars with innumerable planets orbiting them, human arrogance still has us convinced that we somehow play an important role in the whole scheme of time and space; and further, that the mere fact or our existence qualifies us for an eternity of happiness. Just keep your head down, your mouth shut, and don’t do irreparable damage to another human being, and heaven awaits. HA! Maybe God keeps this planet around for entertainment, so he has a species he can vent his aggression on without feeling guilty, like a giant stress ball hanging in space. Any time he’s irritated, he sends a comet whizzing past just to see us scramble, or whips up a hurricane just because he feels like breaking something. In his defense (or my defense), tragedy really is the only thing that makes us shut the fuck up and exercise some human decency. At least when the disasters are natural, there’s no country or group of people we can use as an outlet for our grief and anger, because if we can blame someone, we will, regardless of how weak the connection:
“Let’s go kill those people!”
“Why?”
“Because they look vaguely similar to the physical manifestation of my hatred and fear!”
We are, as a whole, the worst thing that has ever happened to this planet, and while it will be a bummer, I won’t be surprised in the slightest when we finally get wiped out.
* For those readers who aren’t familiar, the Book of Joshua is when God finally makes good on bringing the Israelites to the promised land by helping them conquer the people that are already there.