The ultimate solution to moral and cultural relativism?

The “multiverse” theory may not solve the perplexing problem of our origin, as discussed in a previous entry, but perhaps, as Ben W. suggests, it solves the even trickier problem of our destination.

Ben W. writes:

I’m not sure that the theory of multiple universes is a bad thing. Think of the possibilities.

For one thing, there could be multiple gods, one for each universe. And multiple heavens (for life after death).

Here is the advantage of such a scheme. I really don’t want to have Muslims or homosexuals in my heaven. Nor do I want a God catering to their needs. So if the homosexual has his own universe and his own God and his own heaven, I’m fine with that. Out of sight and out of mind.

An alternate universe for Muslims fulfills our need (and Auster’s dictum) to isolate Muslims and separate them from us. Let them live in their own universe tailored absolutely to their needs. Allah can reign supreme in that cosmos.

One thing I have learned in my years here on earth is that there are people with whom I do not want to associate or congregate. If, after this life, we can be winnowed out to go to our own heaven and live eternally in our own universe, that solves a multitude of problems. The homosexual would consider my heaven his hell; so why not customize a heaven for the homosexual culture? I would consider a Muslim heaven hell for me. Customize a heaven for me and my kind.

The solution to our earthly multicultural mess may be a heavenly multi-universe.

LA replies:

I laughed out loud reading Ben’s comment, which deals in a humorous way with the ultimate dilemma created by the fact that mankind has such different ideas of true and false, of right and wrong. How do we reconcile our belief that God is one, that truth is one, and that the truth shall ultimately be realized, with the actual differences between humans on earth, their seemingly irreconcilable notions of both earthly and spiritual truth? We don’t know and we can’t know the answer. It’s beyond our pay grade. But Ben solves the problem humorously, by giving up on the idea of a single truth for all and simply projecting the human diversity of beliefs and customs that exists in this world into the next world.

There’s something Woody Allenesque in the way Ben imagines earthly conditions obtaining in the spiritual world. I’m reminded in particular of a line from one of Woody Allen’s collections of essays and short stories in the 1970s (you know, back in his earlier, funnier days), which went something like this:

There is no doubt that there is an afterlife. The question is, how far is it from midtown and how late is it open?

Posted by Lawrence Auster at November 28, 2008 11:23 PM | Send