On Diagonal Quantifiers; 9 of 9

9.    Diagonal Quantifiers in Theology

Consider the concept of a Holy Land. For this phrase to bear non-zero information, then there must be some land that is holy, and some land that is not holy. Sumbunall!         

If you don’t care to argue about which lands are holy, and which aren’t, then you should affirm the opposite of “sumbunall lands are holy”; namely “ollerno lands are holy”.

“All or no lands are holy”: equivalently, “All lands are equally holy”. This is equivalent to “God is present everywhere or nowhere”, i.e. “God is equally present everywhere”. Call the property of being present everywhere or nowhere “equipresence”. The equipresence of God implies that any land is just as holy as any other.

Divine equipresence appeals to both theists and atheists, for opposite reasons. Taken as an ambiguous balance, it appeals to agnostics. It does not appeal to theocrats, who have an institutional need for some lands to be holier than others. Equipresence is anti-theocratic.

          The opposite of equipresence is varipresence; the property of being present some places but not all. I am varipresent; so are you; and according to theocrats, so is God.

          What other equiproperties might one attribute to God? How about power, knowledge and compassion?

          An equipotent God has all power, or no power.

          An equiscient God knows everything or nothing.

          An equicompassionate God loves everyone or no-one.

          Both theist and atheist can agree that God is equipotent, equiscient, and equicompassionate; though for opposite reasons.

          Their opposites are varipotence, variscience, and varicompassion. I have all these attributes, as do you. Theocrats tend to assign at least one of these attributes to God, usually varicompassion.

I’ve discovered that there’s equiscience in my work-life. At the start of every semester, I tell the students in my classes that I will run review sessions for each chapter of the book; and during those sessions they may ask any questions about that chapter; and that I welcome all questions; and that the only thing that I do not want to hear during question-time is silence. “Because if you have no questions, then you know either everything or nothing, and in neither case can I teach you anything!” Equiscience vs. teachability; education requires variscience.

          Here is an Equipresence Troika:

Moe: “God is present nowhere.”

Larry: “God is present everywhere.”

Curly: “God is present somewhere, but not everywhere.”

When the Stooges vote, the following three propositions each pass by 2/3 majorities:

God is present somewhere.

God is absent somewhere.

God is equipresent.