Lay Theism

I wrote a while back about the inadequacy of the study by Bruce Hunsberger and Altemeyer of non-believers entitled Atheists.  In fact, the subtitle of their book is at best misleading because of the focus on the atheists in only three samples. Their surveys were very well written, but their samples were terrible. But that was another day (more here).

Today, I want to point out an impressive study with a strong methodology, large sample (35,000), and fascinating conclusions.  The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has just completed a tremendous survey of religion in the United States and has revealed exactly what I suspected (emphasis mine):

More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion – or no religion at all. If change in affiliation from one type of Protestantism to another is included, 44% of adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from being unaffiliated with any religion to being affiliated with a particular faith, or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition altogether.

The survey finds that the number of people who say they are unaffiliated with any particular faith today (16.1%) is more than double the number who say they were not affiliated with any particular religion as children.

My guess is that religion is NOT supplying the answers that people seek.  How can it?  It’s mythology. All religions were completely, 100% dreamt up my men… typically primitive men desperate for explanations regarding tragedy and natural phenomena. 

As more information becomes available via the Internet, our 250+ channels, modern schooling, book stores, etc., people will have more and more difficulty reconciling truth and reality with ancient texts.  Another highlight of the study includes the numbers of “Unaffiliated”. 

Hey, there I am!  I like the description “Secular Unaffiliated”.  How cool is that?  The term Atheist always gives me heartburn because it seems to be used almost like a weapon… for shock and awe. It certainly cuts to the chase. Although, almost anything is better than “bright” – oh, please…

I am not sure what “Religious Unaffiliated” means, but in the future, I would rather see a category called Non-Believer or Non-Theist, and I’m happy to join the atheists there.  I know there is really no distinction between my non-belief and atheism, but note that only 1.6% were comfortable identifying as the latter. 

It’s one of those weird things… when you find that you are an atheist… because it is essentially impossible for you to believe in the claims of religion – you have no choice of succinct label.  Once you are at the point of non-belief, you are, in fact, an a-theist.  HOWEVER, many people (ahem, present company included) still have trouble identifying with that lot.  I have found when it comes right down to picking the words that come out of my mouth when asked (what I am) are “non-believer”. That quickly turns to “You’re an ATHEIST?!” (typically with significantly increased volume on the respondent’s part). To which I must reply, “Yeah, I guess I am.” Then, because I am choosy about the company I keep and allowing the conversation to steer into that area, we usually proceed to have an intelligent conversation.

I know this veered off into “me” territory, but I think this survey is strongly indicative of the unraveling of organized religion, which is exactly what happened to me.  And, unlike over the last several millenia, once the genie is out of the bottle this time, no one will be able to put him back.

As an aside, great post from Majikthise.

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I wanted to take a sec and point out something I have enjoyed…  Mr. Deity.  Very clever. I liked it so much, including the theme music, that I made it my ringtone.  What I like even more is when my phone rings and I get to have a brief moment to reflect on my beliefs wherever I am.  It’s nice to be able to have that brief, yet clearly audible rebellion when I get a call. 

The creator of the show indicates he is a Formon (former Mormon), and as far as I can tell, an atheist.  On his home page (http://www.mrdeity.com) he has a link disguised in the HTML that would certainly imply so.  He directly links http://www.skeptic.com but has it in black-on-black to conceal it ever so slightly.  I guess like many of us, he’s trying to play it cool so he can lock down a lucrative TV deal and appeal to a wider audience.  Why is it that people of completely different religions have more tolerance for each other than for those of us who have essentially no mystical beliefs?  Go figure.

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The meaning of life is simple:

You have been granted a single life. You may choose to do with your life anything that you like. You give life meaning by choosing what you want to do with it.

That’s it… You, and only you, give your life its meaning.  It’s that simple.

What I find deeply meaningful and satisfying may be of little interest to you. Similarly, the things you cherish most in life may bore me to tears. Generally speaking, however, I would say that most people, including myself, find family relationships to be among life’s most meaningful aspects. But I respect others who might disagree with what I find most meaningful. The error in searching for one common meaning of life is to assume that every human being is wired the same way and sees the world the same. Every individual is different, and has a perfect right to be different.

What should you do with your life? You should pick whatever it is that you believe in, or whatever it is that makes you happy, or whatever it is that is most important to you, or whatever it is that you most enjoy doing. Then you should work to make it happen. Choose the thing or things that you want to do with your single, unique, precious, human life, and make those things happen.

It does not matter what it is that you choose to do — do whatever is important to you:

• If it is saving the environment, then go do that
• If it is making beautiful art for yourself and other to enjoy, do that
• If it is finding a cure for cancer, go do that
• If it is making a film about something that you feel strongly, do it
• If it is entertaining people to brighten their lives, go do that
• If it is making lots of money so that you can buy more stuff, go do that

And so on…

So how do we give life meaning? It is about loving and being loved. It is about helping and being helped. It is about giving and receiving, asking and accepting. It is about working with other people and allowing them to work with you. Life is about dreaming of something better, and then making it happen. Life’s meaning is about what we do today and tomorrow with the time we have available. It comes in thinking about that time — that precious moment that is your life — and making the most of it in a way that is unique to you.

The fact is that you, and only you, give your life its own, personal meaning. You can choose to do absolutely anything you like. Each life is unique to the human being who designs it, and the way you define your life’s meaning is up to you. This is how it always has been, and how it always will be. 

You can give your life whatever meaning you want. Pick whatever it is that is important to you. Decide what you think you can do to help your fellow human beings move forward, and then go do it in whatever way that you think is appropriate. It is your life and it lasts about 30,000 days if you’re lucky — make the most of it. 

Adapted from “Why Doesn’t God Heal Amputees?“

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Now that I am not consuming a constant stream of right-leaning rhetoric via radio, TV, church, or otherwise, I don’t have the same knee-jerk reaction to “liberal” thinking as I used to.  I now seek a very wide variety of news and information sources (including the occasional conservative rant).  After reading for a while the other night, I ran across this passage by Robert B. Reich on his web site:

Liberalism is the opposite of fanaticism. We cherish tolerance. We value deliberation. We respect rational argument. We oppose all forms of tyranny. We have faith — and it is nothing but faith — that, in the end, they won’t be able to drown us out, because common sense and common decency are on our side.

What I find interesting about this quote is that it should apply to all people… this is not an extremist viewpoint owned by the left.  It’s a humanist point-of-view.  It’s the way it should be.

The older I get, and the more I study the human condition, the more tolerant I am… the more thoughtful. However, he is not quite right – replace Liberalism above with Humanism (or even Atheism) and then we are getting somewhere.  I think there are opportunists and idiots on both extremes of the left and right. I find that the folks in The Great Middle are the ones that respect human rights and liberty regardless of personal beliefs, ethnic background, or lifestyle.  The people that I know that strongly identify with either conservatives or liberals tend to be judgmental, closed-minded, dogmatic goofballs.

And, switching gears, I’ll go out on a limb and say that “The Great Middle” is the slice of our US population that is going to elect Senator John McCain as the next President of the United States.  Why a Mormon and an Evangelical Christian thought they were electable illustrates what a bubble they live in.  And on the left, Barack Obama is just too far to the left… and we won’t even talk about Hillary Clinton.  That leaves the most “moderate” candidate standing at the end of the day.

Congratulations extremists on both sides!  You’ve chosen our next Commander in Chief.

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Nicely done Atheist Revolution and Hopeful Spirit for collaborating on the Christian Blog Carnival.  Atheist Revolution quotes Hopeful Spirit as quoting Atheist Revolution as follows:

Kudos to Christian blogger, Hopeful Spirit of On the Horizon for including my post, “Doubting Your Faith?” in The Seventh Day blog carnival. Hopeful’s rationale for including the post?

Why is a post from an atheist included in a blog carnival hosted at a Christian site? Because the philosophy here at On the Horizon is and always will be “radical inclusivity.” Christians are called to love everyone, including — and many would say especially — our atheist and agnostic brothers and sisters. The author included this description when submitting his article to the carnival:

This post asks Christians who are doubting their faith to consider a possibility that may be new to them – the possibility that their doubt is a healthy reflection of their rational mind trying to break free from superstition to experience genuine meaning.

Here’s an opportunity for Christian and nonbelieving readers to engage in a meaningful dialogue!

If you are interested in this sort of dialogue, check out the carnival and let them know you were there.

I couldn’t resist.

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