Thursday, October 24, 2013

Truth, Fact and the Consequences Therof: Part 2

Author's Note:  I am sorry for the long hiatus between this blog post and its predecessor.  As I mentioned before, this is a part of a series and should be read as such.  Thank you for your patience. 
 
       Our second proof of existence and thus absolute truth is that there is a force greater than our own.  I will discuss this scientifically later on in this publication, but for now, let us remain in the realm of philosophy.  We know this because of the mark of the divine on ourselves through what was called “Natural Law.”  C.S. Lewis defines this natural law not as something physical, like gravity or Newton’s Laws of Relativity, but as a moral law to which we all ascribe. 

There is a code of conduct that is written on every human out there.  While some of the specifics of this code to vary from culture to culture, the base issues of murder, thievery, rape and the like remain taboo throughout.  Some of you may point to cultures that have robbed and murdered as a way of life, but those cultures also established a method to divide themselves and those that they robbed and murdered.  For example, it is ok in muslim culture to subject a non-muslim to a tax for being a non-muslim when they are living in muslim lands under muslim law.  They are referred to as a “dhimmi” which is akin to being a second class citizen and many of the laws of Islam are not equally applied to them.  This is the establishing of an “us vs. them” attitude in Islam. 

This code often finds itself played out in the idea that something is not fair, or that equality is desired.  C.S. Lewis teaches us that we do not have to instruct a child as to what is fair and what is not.  It is ingrained into them as a human.  It is the idea that leaves us with “I gave you X, and therefore you owe it to me to return the favor with Y.”  We feel compelled then to give because of this unspoken code of good conduct and fairness towards our fellow man.  The idea that man is subject to return kindness for kindness is born out in that idea that we all feel this need.  Mankind lives and breathes and creates whole systems to ensure that fairness is passed on.  We believe it makes us better people to ensure that it is fair, and that we are doing kindness to our fellow man.  A prime example of this is the Equal Opportunity program in the United States today.  Our government believes that to be fair and to establish a base for all races to be equally supported and recognized it needs a program to help under-privileged people to achieve entry into colleges, and equal treatment in the work place and classroom.   We want to see “fair” enforced so much that we have created a government program to make sure it does. 

 

The question of this code, though, is why do we feel the need to repay good for good?  Why do we feel that we must do right, and live by this unspoken natural law?  The answer lies in our nature as humans.  It is our nature to follow this natural law and we are predisposed to live by it, even though never taught it formally.  It comes from our nature, but why is in included in that nature?  In the natural or animal world, we do not see it.  Just because you give a steak to a tiger does not mean that this tiger will give you one in return, or even not consume you for dinner next.  It is not even among like species that we see this.  A grizzly bear will not surrender its fresh catch of salmon to another grizzly, even as a favor, and cannot expect that in return from the first bear.  It is a human trait that we see passed on from man to man as an essential part of our nature.  All of the laws and codes that we as humans have established point to the existence in humanity of this natural law, but they do not define its origin. 

With that being the case, that this code is natural to mankind, but not to the animal kingdom, where did we draw it?  It must be the influence of an outside force acting on mankind setting them aside to reflect a part of its essential nature.  In short, it is because whatever higher power has included mankind on this planet must have desired this to be a part of humanity, as if we were an off-shoot or self-portrait in some way of this higher power.  We have been established as such to show a part of the nature of this power and thus do not reflect the animal kingdom in our being.

People will say that this is inaccurate because of the instincts that mankind displays, but it is a remainder of the physical and not our dominant being that gives us the instincts.  We can, as people, overcome instinct which is not true of the animal kingdom.  We also can give that ability in a limited fashion to other creatures on this planet, a prime example being a trained monkey or a police attack dog.  

In all this indicates a greater power than mankind.  Something or someone has instilled in us a complete moral code, not founded in the blood and flesh of the world.  It indicates that we are not alone, because of the creation within us of something that is not of our bodies.  It indicates that we are not alone, absolutely, and therefore that there is a truth, and being higher than our mere minds.  It is the proof of the idea that we are not isolated beings in a world of thought where we are the creator of all we know, but that there is a higher power.  A being outside of our being and that being is an absolute.  It is a truth, and in the knowledge of this being’s existence we can begin our search for truth. 

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