Adrian Ferrer asked James Morcan:

What is your view about God and religion, James?

James Morcan Well it's complex, ain't it?
Especially when many people, especially in modern times in the West, have a very narrow definition of God as they have unfortunately only been exposed to organized religions' definition...Most are not aware, or have never taken time to study, older pre-Christian/pre-Islamic/pre-Judaic beliefs about God (which these organized religions essentially took from including from the pagan world, Ancient Egypt etc, etc).

I'm not religious, at least not in terms of organized religions, but I do resonate with the Gnostics and I do believe in a non-anthropomorphic, infinite, eternal, God-like energy that connects every one and every thing - an energy that flows through every living thing (that's right, I don't separate man from God, which I think was the worst crime of organized religions). I guess that makes me spiritual and not religions by modern definitions. According to my research of the Ancients, this divine energy I call God was the one that all native people's on every corner of the Earth from ancient times right up until the dawn of Christianity believed in. Post-Christiniaty the accepted definition changed to a humanised God (e.g. "Son of God", "God sent his only son to Earth", "God made man in likeness of himself" etc)...Judaism from what I can work out lies somewhere in between pagan beliefs about God and the Christian version, but it was essentially the Jesus Godman in element in Christianity that suddenly humanised the whole thing...Something which we have the Romans to blame for in their 4th Century Biblical edits (especially The First Council of Nicea in 325AD).

Having spent quite a bit of time with an Aboriginal elder on a movie I did recently, and listening and learning about what I think is the oldest surviving spiritual belief system on Earth pre-dating organized religions by 50,000 years, a lot of the indigenous "religion" here in Australia makes sense to me to...More on a gut level admittedly, as I don't pretend to understand their faith as it seems to be a very intricate web and lines seem to get blurred between this world and the Afterlife.

I know quite a few scientists, and have read quantum physicists' beliefs, and some also describe their own versions of God and an afterlife.

Also, I had a series of Out of Body Experiences in my pre-teens and teens which to a degree guide me from direct experience rather than just "faith". These experiences allowed me to understand we are more than our physical bodies and that our brains are essentially receivers not the originators of consciousness. Can't prove any of those things of course!

So, like I said, it's complex, but those are my viewpoints as of today!

Thanks,
James

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