The God Book Introduction

Preface

         I present here my theory that all persons are gods, and that no god can be almighty. In so doing we dare hope that the reader who seriously considerers our new idea will experience some personal benefit. We are heartened by the fact that the website statistics for danmahony.com show that approximately 25,000 persons have read of the idea that they are gods.
         We ask any reader who might come to agree that he or she is a god not to urge anyone else to agree, or to form any organization for such a purpose. The last thing the we gods need is another religious organization. The ideas in this book should sink or swim on their own.
         On the other hand, there is the power that a supportive community can give to willing participants. Should individual gods, who agree with the idea that they are indeed gods, form communities for supportive purposes such as to further their personal evolution?
        It has been suggested to us that the best type of community for such a purpose should be structured like the various addiction recovery groups which typically describe themselves as follows.

There are no social, religious, economic, racial, ethnic, national, gender, or class-status membership restrictions. There are no dues or fees. Most members regularly contribute small sums to help cover the expenses of meetings, but such contributions are not mandatory. The organization itself is non-religious, and each member is encouraged to cultivate an individual understanding—religious or not—of “spiritual awakening."

Such a self-governed federation of individuals would not be a wealth-and-power hierarchy, and so it might escape the fate of the many religion corporations described by me in Wealth & Power: Assets or Addictions?

We are the most powerful of all living things. We reign supreme on earth and even rule the jungle. And that is not the half of it. We leave our bodies and exercise extraordinary powers. We are eternal and indestructible, only our bodies can be destroyed, not us. What else could we be but gods?

INTRODUCTION

A logical faith consists of beliefs chosen according to the logical probability of their being true. Logical faith rejects beliefs which have so low a logical probability they are virtually impossible.

A faith is a set of theories. The particular logical faith presented here includes theories chosen for their higher degree of logical probability. In addition we welcome any contribution science might make such as (1) the theory of evolution, (2) the theory that universe is eternal, and (3) the theory that both randomness and order coexist, not only in the universe but also in our thought and action. Theories (2) and (3) are not popular but they have yet to be disproved, and they are not without at least two powerful advocates: the great American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce, and the great psychologist Boris Sidis.

Our logical faith, like most faiths, leaves some mysteries unsolved, for example its theory that we and our universe are eternal. This does not satisfy the human desire for a beginning, an explanation. And our theory does not explain the nature of randomness.

Some surprises have occurred during the writing this book. One is that a faith derived by using the theory of logical probability could be compatible with our idea that each and every one of us is a god. The latter idea came to us more than a year earlier. Another surprise came after it was suggested to us in a few emails that Zen Buddhists have long taught that we are all gods, and so our little book is saying nothing new. In response we have many times googled but have found only such teachings as (1) questioning the existence of an almighty god will lead nowhere; (2) there is no afterlife; and (3) we should deny the very existence of Self. Say the Buddhists: "The seed of God is in us. ... God himself has sown this seed and inserted it and bourne it. (Meister Eckhardt)―bridges-across.org We would be indebted to any reader who emails us any writing, Zen or otherwise, which offers our idea that all persons are gods and that no god can be almighty.

Yet another surprise arose when we considered the logical probability of the existence of an almighty god. The belief with the very lowest probability, it seems to us, is that there exists a god capable of determining not only every twist of every leaf in the wind, and each and every movement and (intensity thereof) of each and every atom and molecule within each leaf, throughout the universe, and also every thought and feeling, in every mind, now and for all eternity past and future. Apparently when one avoids appeal to mystery, and holds beliefs logically more probable, one finds the existence of any almighty god to be so extremely unlikely as to warrant no reason to believe there is one.

We say here in our little book that all persons are gods—including atheists; but we say also that such gods as Jesus, Allah, Passaconaway, and a number of others, possessed—and still possess—powers that appear almighty. This is because they have evolved to such a high degree that they are able to use some of their own superconscious powers―powers which we all possess to some degree or other.