Quantum Physics? Magical… but Atheism? Boring!

Romans 1:18-22

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools…

There are two reasons why I could never be an atheist; no, actually there are a plethora of reasons why I could never be an atheist, but two stellar reasons, in particular, that are pertinent to today’s conversation… 1.) atheism is far too “PC” – it’s the “politically correct” position to take. It’s the popular opinion, the correct opinion, the easy opinion, the opinion many people take even if they don’t adhere to it, even if they are believers in God, simply because of political and social pressure; and they’re afraid of the consequences of not professing that position. So, that’s one reason, it’s just far too “politically correct”… and I don’t do “PC” very well.

The other reason is that it’s just plain old boring! Now, I love the sciences and I DO get excited at some of the amazing research coming out of the realm of quantum theory, quantum mechanics, and how things operate at the very smallest scales of matter and energy It’s amazing, it challenges so much of what we “think” we already know and upsets the applecart of the heretofore known laws of physics. For example, the whole idea of “quantum entanglement.” From an article in The Washington Post (Kaplan, 2017), we read:

Imagine you are a photon, a packet of light. You are a tiny blip of energy, hurtling through the universe on your own. But you have a twin, another photon to whom you have been intimately connected since the day you were born. No matter what distance separates you, be it the width of a lab bench or the breadth of the universe, you mirror each other. Whatever happens to your twin instantaneously affects you, and vice versa…

This is quantum entanglement… and indeed, plenty of physicists have problems with the phenomenon. Albert Einstein, whose own research helped give rise to quantum theory, derisively called the concept “spooky action at a distance.” Quantum entanglement seems to break some of the bedrock rules of standard physics: that nothing can travel faster than light, that objects are only influenced by their immediate surroundings. And scientists still can’t explain how the particles are linked. Is it wormholes? An unknown dimension? The power of love? (That last one’s a joke.)

I’m thinking, “Wait! Contrary to what the journalist just said, maybe that’s NOT a joke? Maybe “love” involves some measure of particle entanglement? And that’s why it hurts so much when she’s far away. But, can you imagine, there is something going on there that is acting, relaying information – if you will – faster than the speed of light! Nothing moves faster than the speed of light – 186,000 miles per second – does it? Well, not only does particle entanglement, on the quantum level, seem to indicate some kind of signal movement that is infinitely faster than the speed of light, but so does the entire universe, on the cosmic level, when we consider: the expansion of the universe. In an article by Dave Rothstein (2016), a former researcher at Cornell University, he states:

“…the universe does expand faster than the speed of light, and, perhaps more surprisingly, some of the galaxies we can see right now are currently moving away from us faster than the speed of light! As a consequence of their great speeds, these galaxies will likely not be visible to us forever; some of them are right now emitting their last bit of light that will ever be able to make it all the way across space and reach us (billions of years from now). After that, we will observe them to freeze and fade, never to be seen again.”

So, both at the tiniest quantum level, with particle entanglement, and on an extreme cosmic scale, with the expanding universe, at both ends of the spectrum, our perceptions of “reality” are challenged. We are discovering that there are things – quantum connections, even entire galaxies – that are moving at speeds that are simply beyond the realm of time and at which time simply ceases to exist… So, how “old” is our universe? How “long” has the earth been in existence? These are questions that, outside of our own psychological perception of time, and at both a quantum and cosmic scale, may simply have no relevance at all because, time simply does not exist! (Believers call that “eternity.”)

Oh, the things we were so sure of YESTERDAY… but today, the rules are broken and our theories fall apart. So, what will science reveal tomorrow; and how will THAT new finding challenge our perceptions of reality?

I think it’s interesting how that new findings in the area of quantum “string theory,” particularly M-theory, is mathematically predicting the possible existence of multiple dimensions beyond the four that we think we live in and experience every day. I mean, I’m consciously aware of, well, up-down, forward-backward, left-right, and “time.” That’s the world I know and experience each day. But the sophisticated mathematic equations associated with string theory – you know, the concept that at the very root of all matter are itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, quantum size energy packets consisting of strings of energy/particle waves – anyway the mathematical models indicate up to 11 possible dimensions; maybe more! In case you’re not counting, that’s 7 dimensions beyond the 4 we typically experience every day. What are these dimensions? What is their nature, their character, their influence on our material world? No one knows, because we don’t have any way of consciously experiencing them – that we’re aware of – or do we? I have to ask, “hummm, were does “mind” or “intellect,” or “consciousness” itself fit into this picture? But not only does string theory possibly allow for more dimensions of reality, but perhaps even parallel universes, or a multi-verse, consisting of unlimited, maybe even an infinite number of universes – some quite like ours, but others where the “laws of physics” are, perhaps, entirely different and where matter and energy and gravity and time interact with one another in unique ways quite unlike anything we can ever imagine in our known universe. Yes, the math seems to work! And while there are many challenges as to the interpretation of some of these mathematical equations and formulas, and what they really may be indicating, still, the possibilities are mind boggling!

So we now have these “scientific” evidences – if you will – granted, all still highly theoretical, and that’s why these researchers are called “theoretical physicists” – but some evidences, nonetheless, that would indicate that this material universe as we experience it on a daily basis is not all there is… that there is more! And yet, people can’t allow themselves to believe in a “spiritual” dimension? They can’t allow themselves to believe in a “spiritual” realm? Or in “spiritual” beings – some of which may very well be interacting with the physical realm, as we know it? There is room in their mind for accommodating multiple dimensions beyond those we typically experience each day, but no room in their thinking for a spiritual realm coexisting with, and in very close proximity to our physical realm? There is room in their thinking for contemplating a multi-verse, with parallel universes, some, perhaps, overlapping and even interacting with our own, but there is no room in their heart or mind for a spiritual realm, or spiritual beings, or God?

I’m a materialists, they say, I only believe in what I can see, what I can experience, what I can measure and consciously interact with? Well then, you don’t believe in much, do you? Because there are only about a million billion things going on all around you every moment that you can’t see, you can’t physically experience, or consciously interact with on a personal level! The only way you even know such things exist is by contemplating the evidence that has been made available to you. You haven’t seen or handled or personally, consciously experienced a quark, a lepton, a gauge boson (including photons), or a scalar boson (which would, of course, be only the Higgs boson). You’ve never personally seen an electron – but there is plenty of evidence that they exist, and if you pee on a hotwire, you may just get to experience a few very intimately. Just because you can’t see these things individually, doesn’t mean they’re not there. They are affecting everything you do, everything you are, they are YOU, or you are them!

So how is it that human beings can be so arrogant about what is and what isn’t? How can people be so quick to deny the spiritual dimension, a dimension where mind continues to exist as energy beyond matter, or even as matter in a realm where our material laws of physics, as we know them, just do not apply? How can you be so quick to deny the existence of God – whatever God is? And, what is God, anyway? Perhaps a mind, or a collection of minds (since the Bible often uses the word God in the plural – the Elohim – yes, a plural word), multiple intelligences, that have unified and evolved billions of years ahead of us and who are capable of micro-dimensional mastery and can manipulate not only the most elementary particles matter but the very fabric of space and time? Maybe! Why is it so impossible to believe, especially in light of the scientific/quantum-cosmic evidence, as well as the historical/literary evidence, available to us that this being is responsible for bringing our world, and humanity itself, into existence, and is still interacting with creation, and will hold every living being accountable for how they have used the opportunity of life in this material world that has been granted to them? Why is that so hard to believe, and why are people so arrogant that they feel like as though they have to, in some way, put down those who do believe?

In their minds, there was no Garden of Eden, no flood of global dimensions, no parting of the Red Sea, no walking on the water, no feeding 5,000 with a hand full of fish and bread, no healing the sick, the blind, the disabled, no raising the dead, no resurrection from the dead, no “miracles” of any kind; no dark, sinister forces of evil, no spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (the spiritual realm); and no eternal kingdom of light; and things like good and evil, light and darkness, and even faith, and hope, and love are, ultimately, just meaningless, temporary psychological constructs…

Ahhhh… what a dry, dull, boring, hopeless, materialistic existence that would prove to be… these poor secular humanists so full of themselves, thinking that humanity is the be all and end all, that there is nothing else, no one else, beyond just US… they seem scared to death to admit to a little magic in the universe!