Micromanagment

The universe is the way it is. Our understanding of the universe is incomplete. If we are atheistic then we say the universe is the way it is because that's how it is. If we are theistic but do not believe in an omnipotent, omniscient, and perfect deity then we may say that this is the intended universe or we may claim that somewhere something went wrong. If, however, we do believe in the aforementioned deity, God, then we can only state that the universe is currently functioning exactly as intended, has always done so and will continue to do so until the end of time.

You see if the universe was not designed then there is no designer and it functions according to the natural laws governing it and will continue to do so until the end of time. If it was designed, by God, then it functions according to the natural laws governing it and will continue to do so until the end of time.

Identical? You bet. Here is why. When you assign to God the ability to enact anything, the knowledge to compensate for everything and the inability to get it wrong in the process. Then, at the moment of creation, everything can only go right. All decisions would be locked in. All persons and events in all places would have been known and taken into account. All places objects trajectories and everything would have been known and allotted for, perfectly. Put simply at the moment of creation God's participation becomes nil. He has already done everything he needs to. Any further micromanagement, at all, flies in the face of the definition of the being.

What does this mean?

This realization hit me when I was thinking about a comic which articulately stated, "If the only prayer you ever said was, 'Thank you.' That would be enough."

It caused me to ask questions. What do I pray for? Should God have to respond? If he already knew what I wanted would he be insecure and need me to ask for it? More importantly if it needs to happen, would he risk his plan on the chance that I may not ask for it? Do I really think I have a better understanding of what should happen, in any situation, than the entity which set all situations into motion in the first place? If I do than I must not believe in the being I say I believe in. Nothing short of that definition is worthy of the title.

This line of reasoning leads to a disturbing conclusion. All requests for intervention are the very worst case of arrogance and metaphysical back seat driving. Imagine a batch of single cell organisms advising an astrophysicist on the best trajectory for his rocket and you still fall short of the level of arrogance needed to tell God what ought to happen next.

If we can't ask for intervention with out arrogance what is left? Ask for knowledge? Ask for certainty? It stands to reason that if we are meant to have these things than the mechanic to achieve them is already internal. After all, God knew we would go looking and built accordingly. He doesn't need to push the 'accept request' button or take any other action anywhere. All the mechanics of everything are inherent within the design. It can be no other way.

This concept runs in direct contradiction to every religious service I have participated in. By this logic prayer, outside of meditative centering, is arrogance. That is a tough pill to swallow in the face of most religious conditioning. However if you believe in God you must acknowledge it is the only rational perspective.