What I Believe: On being Moral

"What I Believe" is a series of posts on my current personal spiritual/religious beliefs. At least, my beliefs at the point of time of the post. These beliefs are personal and don't represent those of any larger group. I am proudly a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), but this blog is no way endorsed by Friends or meant to represent that community.

If you come across this before reading "On Points and God," you probably want to read that first.

If there is no toll for getting into heaven, no fear of what dreams may come after we shuffle off this mortal coil, then what is to keep us from being rapists and murders? Does moral action only come from the constructs of society? Do you enjoy repeatedly hitting yourself in the head with a hammer?

What I Believe: On Belief and Faith

"What I Believe" is a series of posts on my current personal spiritual/religious beliefs. At least, my beliefs at the point of time of the post. These beliefs are personal and don't represent those of any larger group. I am proudly a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), but this blog is no way endorsed by Friends or meant to represent that community.

If you come across this before reading "On Points and God," you probably want to read that first.

This entire series is about what I believe, but what does it mean to "believe" something? Most people base their belief on evidence, either in the form of science or tradition. I find a place for both in my life, but my belief is not rooted in either.

What I Believe: On the End of a Time

"What I Believe" is a series of posts on my current personal spiritual/religious beliefs. At least, my beliefs at the point of time of the post. These beliefs are personal and don't represent those of any larger group. I am proudly a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), but this blog is no way endorsed by Friends or meant to represent that community.

If you come across this before reading "On Points and God," you probably want to read that first.

Will the universe come to an end? And, if so, what will happen after that? This question has plagued science and religion almost as long as the after death one.

The question is not one of physics or of theology, but of psychology. Can one ever truly understand one's self? God is certainly greater and more complete a being than man, but I believe there is a paradox which prevents God from ever completing the experiment of self discovery. If God were ever to know everything about God then God would need to know what knowing everything was like for the next minute. God would then need to know what knowing everything plus knowing the next minute was like for the minute after that.

Writing: The Web of Future Winds: A Calling

The Web of Future Winds: A Calling

At the Friends General Conference: Gathering of 2019 I took a wonderful workshop called “Being a Modern Prophet” led by Gail Thomas. That inspired this story, which turned out to be an origin story. As such, I have become more interested in the story after this one, but I don’t know when I will have time to write that, so I am sharing this.

She sat down at her desk. It was easily the nicest piece of furniture in the small flat. Well, maybe not as nice as the chair she had just upgraded to. It was far more comfortable than the bed, which doubled as a couch, or the single stool at the counter next to hot plate and microwave. She didn't entertain here and saw no need to improve the accommodations.

She slid her mobile into its dock and the three large screens in front of her came to life. She scanned them left to right. In the top left was the news box where talking heads were going on about the Net Identity Act. She didn't think it would pass, but she didn't really care, she had the money to incorporate and make her identities legal if she needed.

Her eyes moved on to the feeds for her primary identities. A quick scan showed nothing new from anyone important. Although someone had written a nasty note to Gordon about some review of some singer’s last performance. She added a flag and set a reminder to reply later, Gordon had a reputation to uphold.

What I Believe: On Life After Death

"What I Believe" is a series of posts on my current personal spiritual/religious beliefs. At least, my beliefs at the point of time of the post. These beliefs are personal and don't represent those of any larger group. I am proudly a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), but this blog is no way endorsed by Friends or meant to represent that community.

If you come across this before reading "On Points and God," you probably want to read that first.

We are all God. God is everything. For a period of time we are given free will because otherwise we are not points of reference. If we go back to our point; it makes no sense to compare the point to itself. The point being compared to must be distinct and separate. This creates a problem for God, which is solved by giving creation autonomy. This autonomy is most easily illustrated by free will. The idea that we can make a decision and take an action not predetermined by God or anything else.

We look at the world around us and see predictability. If I put the cup down with water in it, there will be water when I pick it up. This sort of object permanence is important to how we organize our lives. But science has already shown that this predictability is a macro thing. On the micro scale probability rules. On the micro scale it is possible that the water may pass through the glass and get someone wet in the next room.

Writing: Disconnected (a rough draft)

Disconnected

By Sam Schifman

September 15, 2017

Pro-log: I have been thinking a lot recently abut how connected our society is becoming. About the fact that with in a generation or two kids will no longer lack access to information or the opinions of their friends ever. This story is my attempt to explore that subject. It is not meant to represent conclusions, just ask questions.

Nat opened his eyes slowly. On the surface the physical sensations of the IV in his arm, the canvas of the cheep cot, the musty air of the dimly lit cinder block room all registered, but they were pushed aside by the crushing silence. Gone was the hum of his friends and the feeds he listened to, most recently dominated by the new hire training from Dynmatic. There was just a void where the stats of the day should be. He asked first for the time, the temperature, his location, but nothing was forthcoming. Panic danced at the side of his mind, but then he came to the obvious conclusion.

Very funny Marco – Nat lynked. – My first day of work and you figured out how to blip me. You and Quan can stop laughing now and unlock me… No really this isn’t funny anymore. Marge tell those yokels that is enough.

The silence persisted and the shades of panic started to creep in again. He tried calling out to others, but no one answered. Then the reality of the IV and the pressure on the side of his face started to set in.

What I Believe: On Points and God

"What I Believe" is a series of posts on my current personal spiritual/religious beliefs. At least, my beliefs at the point of time of the post. These beliefs are personal and don't represent those of any larger group. I am proudly a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), but this blog is no way endorsed by Friends or meant to represent that community.

“We are the universe trying to understand itself.”

Imagine a point, a single point. It has no width, it has no height, it has no depth. It has no size or color or any other descriptive qualities. It is just a lone point. It doesn’t even have a location. At least not a place we can describe. If we ask any of these questions about the point it makes just as much sense to say it is everywhere and everything as to say it is not. In other words, the point, by itself, is infinite.

However, what if there was another point. Now we can say how far the two points are apart from one another. We can draw a line between them. This line can extend beyond the points. Now we can talk about the lines that intersect that line. We can also talk about the lines that don’t intersect that line. Those lines form a plain. We can also talk about lines that go through one point, but not the other. These lines are at an angle to the plain. Now we have depth to our world and we can start to define the location of the point in space.

If we accept that God is greater than everything, then God must be infinite. Now if we look back, way back, before time began, we have something that is infinite but completely alone. God is our point. By itself the point has no definition. God, by God’s self, has no definition. What separates God from the point is that God is curious. God wishes to know about God.