Where did that get us?

So, what did you come up with? Did the world go down in flames or become reborn in a new tomorrow? Probably neither; most likely, somewhere in between.

Regardless of what you might have come up with in detail, I'm pretty sure that we can agree that the only instance to whom we may appeal for order and justice is ourselves ... we humans. Of course, depending on how you see this, you've got a vision of hope or despair. Without Gd, as most non-believers feel right now, there is just us. We have to figure it out.

I realize that believers don't like to think these thoughts, but if we're honest with each other, we all know, as Hans Küng so cogently argued, we can't prove that Gd exists, any more than we can prove that He doesn't. In the end, it is a matter of belief, or perhaps better, a matter of faith. Since we can't know for sure one way or the other, it is perhaps worthwhile to think about how we could/should act if He weren't there. Is it even possible to organize our societies such that things might even "work"?

Oddly enough, there is one principle that has been found in every religious belief system and in every society. A principle that has been derived even in the absence of Gd (for it will be remembered that this notion is alien to Buddhism), namely what we most generally recognize as the "Golden Rule". This most basic principle, don't do to others what you wouldn't want them to do to you transcends time, place, culture and any other separatist classification we've come up with so far. It would seem, then, that there just might be a part of human nature itself that desires what everyone else desires, but rejects what anyone else would reject as well. A principle of balance. A principle of fairness. A principle that works, provided we allow each and every person to be what s/he is: a person. Race doesn't matter, we've eliminated creeds in our experiment, social status doesn't matter, nor does class or place in some hierarchy, for without Gd, let's face it: there's just us. There is no "natural order", no "natural hierarchy", only that which some might like to impose, but always at the expense of others.

My point is very simple: while things (at least for some) might be easier with Gd in the scenario, it is nevertheless possible, even if all there is is us, to find a way toward a reasonable and just world. A world in which fairness is important because it simply reflects how we are. This one principle, this rule ... the Golden Rule ... if applied, is really all we need. And, we are capable of grasping it, all on our own. Each and every one of us.