It's not clear where Carl Sagan stood on God. He of course, like most scientists and rational thinkers, thought religious claims were nonsense. The world is not flat. But on God (speaking about religious beliefs now) he said things like "Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality." He also pointed out once "The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard, who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by 'God,' one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying. It does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity." Here are some more of his quotes. "We should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit." "I don't want to believe. I want to know." "Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of this astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy." "A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism." "Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?" "It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." "Skeptical scrutiny is the means, in both science and religion, by which deep thoughts can be winnowed from deep nonsense." "Probably a dozen times since their death I've heard my mother or father, in an ordinary conversational tone of voice, call my name. They had called my name often during my life with them ... It doesn't seem strange to me." "A religion old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science, might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths. Sooner or later such a religion will emerge." "In many cultures it is customary to answer that God created the universe out of nothing. But this is mere temporizing. If we wish courageously to pursue the question, we must, of course ask next where God comes from? And if we decide this to be unanswerable, why not save a step and conclude that the universe has always existed?" "If you want to save your child from polio, you can pray or you can inoculate....Try science." "In Italy, the Inquisition was condemning people to death until the end of the eighteenth century, and inquisitional torture was not abolished in the Catholic Church until 1816. The last bastion of support for the reality of witchcraft and the necessity of punishment has been the Christian churches." "Is it fair to be suspicious of an entire profession because of a few bad apples? There are at least two important differences, it seems to me. First, no one doubts that science actually works, whatever mistaken and fraudulent claim may from time to time be offered. But whether there are any miraculous cures from faith-healing, beyond the body's own ability to cure itself, is very much at issue. Secondly, the expose' of fraud and error in science is made almost exclusively by science. But the exposure of fraud and error in faith-healing is almost never done by other faith-healers." "How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, 'This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?' Instead they say, 'No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.' A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths."
All of the current religions completely ignore the one being that brings us life, light, warmth and "wrath" as well. A being we literally could not live without. They should be worshipping this being as a God. This God is visible, but you cannot stare at it for long. Previous civilisations did worship the sun, as well as those like George Hamilton who spend way too much time in reverence. Yes, we can thank the Sun for so many blessings we take for granted. But to remind us of that, the Sun can give life and take it away, individually or on a planetary scale. A God you can see, feel, worship and has the power of life and death over all of us. So why is it not the Primary God of earthlings and Martians, and Venusians!
If you can see the Sun as God or even a frog, what need have you for priests and churches, eh? Ya gotta cut out the middlemen making money by cultivating the weak willed, gullible and ignorant.
