Periodically I feel inclined to write something about what some
call the "God Meme." But after I do some research, whether
aboard the Net, whether outside in the old-fashioned library,
I feel at a loss as to what to say specifically.
Memetics is a scientific field now, in that it follows a certain line
of cultural thought that seems to propagate itself in a kind of
continuous direction. Likened to the physical gene, there's
the cultural meme that seems to carry through rather endlessly.
It's more than just an idea that may or may not catch attention.
It's a *continuum* of thought that mutates and evolves!
Hence we have the God Meme.
Researching this, I had to smile at myself--because for years
I have had fun following what I call the "Continuum." Like lots
of scholars, I have pursued both Philosophy and Theology--and
even Science--when it comes to tracing the God Meme. These
days the God Meme has even jumped into Spirituality, thus
universalizing itself beyond various religious faith systems.
I had hoped to launch into a special study, mainly focusing on
how the Universal Spirit might employ the meme to advance
Consciousness. Maybe it does, but I've decided that such a
study on my part would be endless--and, ultimately, answer-less.
Teilhard inferred that God (or Omega) is an Attractor, the Ahead
(or Future) that draws us forth. Well one can switch names, and
think Meme instead of Attractor. Rather fascinating...
More fascinating, however, is the trick of proving "God" via
the Meme. There's definitely no question that God has been
in our head, probably all the way back to the dawn of human
consciousness. Psychologists have had a wonderful time
tracing this God in our head, sprouting forth from animism to
polytheism to monotheism to modern deism to WHAT.
It would be interesting to inject this cultural God Meme into
Spiritual Development Theory, tracing how we humans try to
answer our two great questions: what is this universe, and
who are we in it? No doubt some already have embarked on
such a journey.
Curiously, all I can think about this God Meme is that in the
end it's not about our usual considerations, such as Religion or
even Theology, but rather more so about the Evolution of
Consciousness! Some day we may call the God Meme
something altogether different.
