True Freedom from the Supernatural

To me, the naturalistic worldview brought my mind down from the heavens (focused on pleasing God) to the present life (focused on improving the world). My mind no longer spends time/energy processing the possibility of an eternal being and rather spends its energy on this world, in this moment.

A limited supply of "brainpower"

Allow me to go nerd-mode for a moment. If you've ever pulled up the Windows Task Manager on a PC, you've seen the real-time feed of CPU usage.

Our brains are like computers - as a single processor, we have limited capacity to analyze information. And unlike computers, our brains require a period of rest to recharge (we cannot run at 100% for 24 hours).  So hypothetically, for any given day in your life, you have the capacity to analyze X amount of information.

Experiment: Let's say that for Wade's brain today:

X = 100 AIUs (arbitrary informational units)

Now, after picking out your outfit, choosing your breakfast, and reading the paper, you've already burnt up 10 AIUs before you've left your house. Each thought, decision, mental output requires some of your limited supply of AIUs.  Each day, you can spend your limited supply of precious AIUs contemplating the desires of a spiritual higher being (that cannot be proven or disproven).

With a naturalistic worldview, you are freed from the need to contemplate the ethereal realm and can spend more of your AIUs in this world.  With this newly repurposed supply of AIUs, maybe you find yourself spending them on changing our world, increasing the freedom and happiness of our fellow beings.

Jesus himself advocated the wise use of precious AIUs:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?"

He is saying not to waste your mental resources thinking about things that don't matter, like your clothing or food.

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Ingersoll's freedom from the supernatural

Again, here is the quote that prompted this discussion on naturalism:

"The nineteenth-century philosopher Robert G. Ingersoll, a secular moral hero if ever there was one, found additional freedoms in a naturalistic worldview, including freedom from

the fear of eternal pain . . . from the winged monsters of the night . . . from devils, ghosts, and gods . . . no chains for my limbs - no lashes for my back - no fires for my flesh - no master's frown or threat - no following another's steps - no need to bow, or cringe, or crawl . . . I was free. I stood erect and fearlessly, joyously, faced all worlds . . . And then my heart was filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, and went out in love to all the heroes, the thinkers who gave their lives for the liberty of hand and brain - for the freedom of labor and thought - to those who fell in the fierce fields of war, to those who died in dungeons bound with chains - to those who proudly mounted scaffold's stairs - to those whose bones were crushed, whose flesh was scarred and torn - to those by fire consumed - to all the wise, the good, the brave of every land, whose thoughts and deeds have given freedom to the sons of me. And then I vowed to grasp the torch that they had held, and hold it high, that light might conquer darkness still."

Ingersoll's freedom came as a gradual process of deconversion from religion and his beliefs in the supernatural.  No one person set him free - it was likely a combination of sources of knowledge and inspiration that led him to the realization that he needn't worry about a higher realm.

The concept of universal self

I have only glimpsed true freedom in some of my most enlightening sessions of meditation.  Stepping outside of time and viewing life as a flow of kinetic energy and matter, the lines that divide "me" from "you" are no longer definite. "You" spend energy to share knowledge through this blog post, and that energy becomes "me" in the form of new neurons.

On the surface, you and I are >99% different.  At the genetic level, you and I are <1% different.  At the atomic level, you and I are <0.001% different.  As you peel off layers of reality, you begin to see that self is an illusion that exists only in our minds.  A remnant of evolution.

My concept of "self" is becoming more of a "universal self".  Sure, at this very moment, we are each a single human being.  But we exist as a part of an global human society.  We contribute to the knowledge of a global system every day through the internet.  We are a piece of thousands of years of human history.  This universal view of self frees us from petty needs, like "what will I eat for dinner" or "what shirt should I wear today?"  I think if Jesus were alive today, he would certainly embrace this Universal Self.

The guide to recognizing this Universal Self is knowledge (of science and the world) combined with the practice of meditation, which allows you to connect the pieces in new ways and get a larger overarching view.  Meditation allows you to take all of your wonderful left-brain acquired knowledge, and pump it into a right-brain inspired global picture.

Response to Naturalistic Freedom

Noah,

I apologize for my slow response.

This quote intrigues me. I find his desire for freedom from chains, suffering, fear, and monsters something that I also long for myself. I also was encouraged by his desire to applaud those who sacrificed their lives so that we can have freedom. "that light might conquer darkness still". Good stuff.

Yet I don't understand the basis of the claims of his freedom. We all want freedom from our shackles and shame, but does the naturalistic worldview really provide them for us? If so, how? How is Ingersoll able to claim that he is free? Has someone set him free? Did he set himself free? Could you please provide more context or explanation of this quote?

Here is my Christian response: Jesus gives the true freedom that Ingersoll longed for. I wonder what Ingersoll believed about Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? That is the question we all must answer and commit ourselves to our belief.

Noah, what is true Freedom for you? What brings you greatest freedom?


Ingersoll may have experienced those freedoms, yet did he experience the freedom from sin that Christianity offers? We need to go back to the BIG theme of Christianity: JESUS DELIVERS SINNERS. It is the shackles of sin and the chains of guilt that come from a heart that revolves around Self, instead of Jesus, that keeps us captured in our prisons. Freedom can only happen when we come to Jesus on His terms, not our own. If Jesus is God, then we must listen to His understanding of what Freedom is all about. In my understanding, naturalism sets us free through self-will, rational thinking, and science. Yet the problem is that science and human reasoning has actually brought chains to people all around the world. Both religion AND atheism have to own up to the fact that HUMANS have been enslaving each other (literally and metaphorically) for centuries. Wars, disintegration of the environment  greedy CEO's, broken marriages, abusive relationships, racism, poverty, etc.  The point here is this: HUMANS create the chains we are enslaved to. We would be at peace with ourselves and others if we learned how to fix what has been broken by us all. We have a natural tendency to screw everything up. Christianity calls this bondage= sin.  Only Christianity, I believe  provides the most satisfying solution to this dilemma of this bondage by offering us freedom in Jesus Christ.

So i believe that SIN, defined as an attitude of life that seeks freedom from any place or person other than Jesus, is what brings the chains. And I believe Jesus is the One who gave himself to death on a cross for our sin because he wants to free us. That is why the resurrection is so powerful== the chains of death, sin, and decay cannot hold God! And those of us who accept his freedom will start to become the real Selves we have always longed to be. Unchained, unfettered=Finally Free.

What do you think, Noah? Can you help me better understand naturalism and how it brings the freedom that Ingersoll talks about?