Tom, I have a background in teaching comparative religion and when people get into a debate about the reality of the divine, I like to tell them that Godls existence is contingent on Godʻs definition. Do the mythical gods worshipped by first nations and aboriginal societies exist—in the form that these culturēs conceived them? No, certainly not. But what about the god of the pantheist, who argues that the ʻAllʻ (the totality of being) is the only thing wortjy of worship? That may or may not excite you spiritually, but it has the distinct advantage of being real … that god does exist. Or how about those who identify god, above all else, as the creator? The multiverse may (or may not) be eternal, but our universe—the only one that we know—is a process that has been unfolding and expanding since the sōcalled ʻBig Bang.’ Some creative agency of one sort or another set it into motion … so if that is your idea of god, then your god exists. We could also cite the moral impetus that has taken humanity from oppressive feudal societies that burned heretics at the stake to modern liberal democracies that have enshrined human rights (while admittedly struggling to guarantee those rights). Perhaps god is an ideal that we strive to recognize.

At the end of the day, some god-concepts arguably are “real,” while others are best left behind. The good news: your conscience is a pretty good guide to what most people believe their god would have us do. Being decent, fair and treating all people equally isnʻt rocket science. And in our ignorance, as we try to navigate our way through this mystery that we call life without fucking the world up any more than we already have, the golden rule may be as close to godliness as we are fated to get.